Page 42 of Home This Christmas

THIRTY-SEVEN

Just over an hour later, as I am settling down to watch a film, there is a tap on the cottage door.

‘Do you still like sweet and sour chicken?’ asks Nathan as he stands before me. ‘I included it in the banquet that has just arrived. You must come and join us,’ he offers.

‘I’m not sure…’ I tell him. ‘It’s your first evening with your sons; I’m sure you have a lot to catch up on.’

He deserves some alone time with his sons. I feel guilty for thinking earlier that Nathan saw me as someone who simply is renting the cottage.

‘We have spent the last hour doing just that. Well, at least I have told them who you really are, which is quite up there as news goes,’ he tells me as he steps inside.

‘You have? What did they say?’

‘They think it’s cool that you were my first girlfriend. And Dylan said you are really pretty, and that I am punching above my weight, the cheek.’ He laughs. ‘So, are you joining us? The food will be getting cold.’

‘I guess so,’ I say, wishing I had maybe refreshed my make-up, but thought I was spending the evening alone.

‘I feel a bit nervous,’ I confess as I grab my coat to join him for the short walk to his place.

A bit nervous is actually an understatement. I feel sick at the thought of getting to know his sons. I don’t have a lot of experience talking to young men.

‘There is no need to be anxious. The boys want me to be happy. They have seen their mum settled, and I know they would like that for me too,’ he assures me. ‘In fact, I have never introduced them to anyone else.’

‘Really?’

‘Nope. Sure, I have been out on a few dates, but I have never met anyone I was interested in enough to introduce them to the boys. Until now,’ he reveals.

He circles his arms around my waist and pulls me in for a kiss.

‘Okay,’ I say, my head spinning, as it does every time he kisses me. ‘Let’s do it. It’s ages since I have eaten sweet and sour chicken.’