Free Loving Danny by Hilary Freeman

prepared, to
be wearing the right clothes and to have my things with me, just in case. What’s more, I’m not a good actress – my real emotions are too transparent – and surprises are
almost always a disappointment for me. Generally, I end up feeling guilty and the person who has gone to the trouble of surprising me wonders why they bothered.
    So, while it was a lovely, romantic idea, Danny’s surprise date had me fretting. You know where you are with a bar, restaurant, cinema or club – but a park? At the end of October? I
had absolutely no idea what to wear (it might rain or be muddy), how much make-up to put on (bright sunshine can be unforgiving), and whether to shave my legs to the knee or all the way up. I was
afraid I would be forced to do something I hated, like rollerblading, or something which might require me to take off my clothes and reveal my pale, untoned body, like swimming (which, I’ll
admit, was highly unlikely at that time of year). There were simply too many unknown quantities.
    In the event, I left all my options open. I wore combats (hard-wearing, comfortable) and a pretty top (for glamour), draped a chunky, wool zip-up cardigan over my shoulders, and I packed my most
compact umbrella in my shoulder bag, together with a swimming costume and a small towel – just in case – and my make-up bag. I shaved my legs from ankle to thigh, applied fake tan,
waterproof mascara, concealer and long-lasting lipstick. I felt like a soldier, preparing myself for a campaign in a foreign country.
    And, like every good soldier, I was on time, arriving at the park at fourteen-hundred hours prompt. Danny was late again – eighteen minutes and twenty three seconds late, if we’re
being (militarily) precise. On this occasion I had no doubt that he would turn up and I was merely annoyed. It may have been mid-afternoon, but I was alone in a wide open space and I felt
vulnerable. I didn’t even have anywhere to sit – there were no benches near the pond. It was a grey and sunless day, and I shivered, wishing I’d brought a coat. Still, waiting for
Danny again, and now beginning to recognise that he had at least one flaw, made me less nervous about this, our second date.
    I saw him before he saw me. He was walking up the path that leads from the main entrance of the park and snakes around its perimeter, branching off in several directions towards the pond or the
tennis courts or the cricket pitch. He appeared to be carrying something heavy, which was causing him to stoop and making his progress uneven and slow. I wondered if I should run towards him and
offer to help, but I didn’t want to spoil his surprise. So I turned the other way and feigned intense interest in a family of swans swimming across the pond. When his footsteps drew close
behind me, I pretended not to hear them and tried to stifle the smile that was involuntarily spreading across my face.
    ‘Hello, Naomi,’ he said, over my shoulder. He was panting. ‘Are you ready for your surprise?’
    Not as ready as I was twenty minutes ago
, I felt like saying. He hadn’t even apologised this time. But when I turned and looked at him, breathless and stiff-armed from carrying what
was now obviously an enormous picnic basket, my irritation vanished. ‘Absolutely,’ I said, allowing him to kiss me on the cheek. The sensation of his lips on my skin again made my heart
lurch. I ached for him to kiss me again, properly, like he had two nights before. ‘Bring it on.’
    ‘OK, but first you need to trust me. I’m going to blindfold you. Is that all right?’
    ‘Um, yes, OK.’ I was nervous and excited at the same time. ‘You’re not going to push me in the pond, are you?’
    ‘Not my style,’ he said, smiling. ‘Maybe it was, ten years ago, but no, what I’ve got planned does not involve dunking you.’
    Danny placed his hands on my shoulders and I let him turn me around. Then I felt the caress of smooth fabric – it must have been