The Decoy Date

Chapter Eleven

"They all really like you by the way, my mum especially. Anyone who likes her food is already in her good books." Imogen led the way up the stairs to her flat above the shop, she'd invited Charlie in for a coffee again hoping the lack of alcohol meant both of them would be a bit more sensible. She'd spent most of the night laughing at his mother's stories and his embarrassment, it was nice to see a side to him that didn't exude confidence.

"Well she's a great cook, I think that chicken is the best I've had in my life." She smiled dreamily remembering it, food was an important part of her life it always had been. She could never be one of those stick-thin women who could live on a glass of water and a salad, she loved steak and chips and roast dinner with sticky toffee pudding for desert; no matter how much dieting and nagging from her mother, she just couldn't give up food.

When he didn't say anything she turned to look at him, one glance down showed he was staring at her arse. It was pretty sizable, one of the things she loved now she'd lost a little weight was that she now had curves in the right places; she'd caught men checking her out before but felt too embarrassed to say anything to them. Charlie's eyes slowly moved up to hers and his cheeks flushed bright red as he realised he'd been caught ogling her, she smiled as he stuttered out an apology and climbed the last couple of steps.

Reaching the top she smiled to herself as she thought about the effect she was having on him, if only she could tell her sixteen year-old self that one day Charlie George Ramsey would be lusting after her. She walked into her open plan kitchen and living area and placed her iPhone on the breakfast bar, Charlie walked in behind her and looked around.

"Coffee, alright?" She flicked on the coffee machine and put a new filter paper in, it had been a present from Jess when she'd moved out a few months ago trying to soften the blow of her leaving. Grabbing a couple of mugs, she followed Charlie into the lounge area and breathed a sigh of relief at the fact she'd tidied this morning. Ten hours earlier Charlie would have been wading through piles of newspapers, books and dirty washing – including her underwear, not what he would have wanted to see.

Walking back into the kitchen she poured the coffee, keeping a close eye on Charlie who was looking along her book shelves; she kept her own personal books up here, the ones she loved to reread over and over again.

"Why do you have so many copies of Pride and Prejudice?" She placed the two mugs on the coffee table in front of her sofa and joined him in front of the bookcase.

"I collect them, it's one of my favourite books. My parents gave me a copy for my twelfth birthday and I just fell in love with it, every time I pass a second-hand bookshop I have to go in and see if they've got a different copy. Any of the copies downstairs are duplicates of ones I've got up here." She looked up at him slightly embarrassed, he probably thought she was crazy keeping lots of copies of the same book. She could see him trying to assess if she was obsessed with Colin Firth emerging from the lake in a wet shirt, which she sort of was; the show had definitely made her like the book even more and fancy Colin Firth something rotten.

"Lizzie is definitely Austen's best heroine. I never got on with Anne, she always seemed so weak if she loved Wentworth she should have just ignored her father and Mrs Jenkins and Emma always seemed way too pretentious and up herself."

Imogen raised her eyebrows in surprise, she hadn't come across many men who'd read Pride and Prejudice let alone the other Austen classics. "You've read Jane Austen?" She tried to keep the disbelief out of her voice but completely failed.

"Is that so unbelievable? I love reading, especially the classics. Around the World in 80 Days is my all-time favourite book, Jules Verne was just a master of adventure writing, I always wanted to be Philieas Fogg and travel around the world in a hot-air balloon and ride on an elephant. I'd still love to do it." He turned and smiled at her, the innocence of childhood still shining in his blue eyes.