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Nodding, she says, “Yes.”
I know how hard it is for her to take a leap of faith with me. “I would love to.”
She looks ahead as we approach the shop, unable to hide the smile on her lips.
“If you change your mind at any point, I’ll go to the hotel, okay? And nothing will change between us. I won’t take it personal, Little Dove, I promise,” I assure her so she knows she has control the whole time.
She turns back to me with glistening eyes and whispers, “Thank you.”
Nodding, I support her weight and bend down so she can reach the handle. “Can you get that for me?”
She leans down and throws the door open, and I catch it with my foot.
“Thanks.”
“Whoa, what do we have here? Cam! What a surprise!” Chloe shouts at us across the now-empty shop.
I lower Nikki to the ground as she laughs. “Shut up! Thanks for the heads-up!”
We approach the counter as I say, “I’m so thankful you didn’t say anything because I caught her creeping on photos of me.”
Chloe cackles. “Oh my God, I’m so sorry.”
Nikki fake glares at her. “Mmhmm.”
An awkward silence falls over us before Chloe says, “Well, I’ll lock up. You crazy kids have a good night. Cam, your bags are back here.”
I step behind the counter and notice that my duffel is unzipped and a complete mess. “Um, what happened?”
“Oh, well, I had to make sure you didn’t have, like, a serial killer kit in there or anything weird, you know. All checked out,” she says as she walks up to Nikki and pulls her into a hug, whispering something in her ear.
Laughing to myself, I zip my bag up.
“Call if you need anything.” She points at Nikki as she walks backward toward the door. “Cam, be good. But remember, I can make you disappear like that.” She snaps her fingers.
Lifting my hands in surrender, I say, “I believe you. I promise to be on my best behavior.”
She squints her eyes before turning around and walking through the door, locking it behind her.
The thought of my girl and me being alone together for the rest of the night is suddenly very real, and I couldn’t be happier.
“Have you eaten?” she asks me as she grabs my backpack.
I take it out of her hands and grab my duffel bag. “I’ve got it. I ate lunch and a snack on the plane. I’ll definitely need to grab something in a bit. Do you have something in mind? Are you craving anything?”
She continues down the hallway and unlocks a door that leads to a staircase. “Pizza. But I’m always craving pizza.”
We ascend the stairs that lead to a door with more than enough locks on it.
“Pizza it is.”
She begins to unlock the door, starting at the top, and I don’t question why she has as many locks as she does. She’s a single woman who lives alone—that’s answer enough.
“I have some fresh dough and toppings in the fridge, if that works. Or we can order from next door,” she says as she undoes the last lock and opens the door to the small studio apartment.
Up to this point, I have only seen glimpses of her space from whatever has been behind her during FaceTime. It’s small, but it has charm. I’ll probably just sleep on the floor tonight. I’m not going to invite myself into her bed unless she wants me there.
“I would love to make pizzas here. Homemade dough? I might never leave,” I say with exaggeration.
