He’d known Kate was not his type. He’d known she was different. What he hadn’t known was that her difference put her on the same planet he inhabited. They were two of a kind.
Made for each other?
Connor felt an odd sensation in his gut. It wasn’t desire this time. It was a strange feeling. Like a smile that wasn’t going to make it as far as his face. A sort of contentment.
It was a nebulous sensation, though. Newborn and fragile. Did Kate sense that he was at a bit of a loss? She picked something up from the table.
‘Look at this.’
The device looked like a remote control for a car lock, but when Kate pressed the button, the kitten scrambled from Connor’s hands and shot across the flagstones of the courtyard like a bolt of furry lightning.
‘What the?—?’
And then Connor saw the red dot of the laser light that the kitten was chasing.
Kate was laughing again. She held out the device. ‘Here, have a go while I get dinner started.’
Suddenly the tension had gone. Onto his second glass of wine with the entertainment the kitten was effortlessly providing, Connor realised he was thoroughly enjoying himself. He picked the kitten up and tucked it into the crook of his arm, rubbing it gently under its small white chin.
‘You should keep it,’ he told Kate. ‘I’ve heard that the best cats are the ones that choose you, not the other way around.’
‘Maybe I will. Shall I put the steaks on now or do you want to wait a bit?’
Connor didn’t want the evening to end too soon. ‘Let’s wait.’ He looked around. ‘This is nice,’ he pronounced. ‘So peaceful.’
He smiled at Kate.
She smiled back.
And the silence suddenly seemed loud. Kate must have heard it too because he saw the way her eyes widened. Connor realised then that Kate was just as nervous as he’d been such a short time ago.
‘Music,’ she said hurriedly. ‘I forgot to put it on. Darn.’
‘Better late than never.’
It was like Kate had taken his nervousness and kept it. Connor felt confident now. Quite sure he was in the right place at the right time.
Kate was heading into the living area of her house. ‘What do you like to listen to?’
‘What have you got?’
‘A bit of everything really. Except for country and western.’
‘Thank goodness for that.’ Connor followed her to the vintage-style turntable on top of a rack of vinyl records. He looked at the cover of the album she chose and tilted his head in agreement. He knew the music was slow. Romantic.
That smile feeling inside grew stronger. When the first lilting ballad filled the air and they had stepped outside again, Connor held out his hand.
‘Shall we?’
Again, Kate’s eyes widened but this time Connor saw them darken as well, and he knew that she wanted this as much as he did. She came into his arms willingly and, despite the unevenness of the courtyard surface, he found she was as easy to dance with as she’d been the night of that fancy-dress ball.
Not that they were doing anything particularly fancy. Slow dancing. Holding her close. His head bent lower over hers until he could touch his lips to the side of her neck.
And then Kate’s head turned and her lips were right there. Soft and inviting.
He hadn’t kissed Kate since that evening on the beach when she’d made it clear that she wasn’t in the market for a relationship.
So much had changed between them since then. Had that conviction changed as well?
