‘No.’
‘It’s not?’
‘Not at all. I was just going to say, with the kids and everything…’
‘Oh, right. Yeah, of course.’ So he had been giving her the brush-off. She’d just got his excuse wrong. ‘You’re right. Not a good idea. I mean, it’s been fun but?—’
‘Really?’ Aidan’s face looked… strange. Was he hurt? ‘You really don’t think… I mean, I think we’re pretty great together, once we put down our weapons.’
‘We are. Last night was amazing. I’m not saying…’ She broke off.
‘So what are you saying?’
Whatwasshe saying? She wished she hadn’t interrupted him now because she was getting the feeling maybe she’d jumped to the wrong conclusion.
‘I don’t know.’ She shrugged helplessly. ‘You go on. Say whatever you were going to say.’
‘I was just going to say I think we should take it slowly… maybe not have sleepovers just yet when Jack and Bo are around. I thought we should get them used to the idea of us first.’
‘Oh.’ Lou really wished she hadn’t interrupted him. He thought there was an ‘us’, that last night was just the start of something, and now she’d probably ruined everything by opening her stupid mouth. Why did she have to be so defensive and spoil things?
‘Sorry, I thought you were going to say…’ To her horror, her chin trembled and tears sprang to her eyes.
‘What?’ Aidan asked softly.
‘Wham, bam, thank you ma’am, basically,’ she said with a light laugh. ‘That last night was great, but it shouldn’t happen again.’
‘Ever?’
‘Um… yeah.’
‘Is that what you want?’
She shook her head. ‘No. It’s the opposite of what I want.’
‘Then why…’
‘Pre-emptive strike,’ she said, blinking away her tears. ‘I thought I’d beat you to it – save face by getting in first.’
He shook his head. ‘Well, it’s definitely a face worth saving. But I was only going to suggest that maybe we shouldn’t have a sleepover tonight.’
‘Oh, okay.’ Lou nodded. ‘That sounds reasonable.’
‘But we’re both off tomorrow. I thought maybe we could go out. Like a date, you know – start this off the old-fashioned way.’
‘A date! You’re asking me out?’
‘Yeah. I don’t think Bo would approve if we started having sleepovers when we haven’t even been on a date. She has very firm ideas about proper dating etiquette. So, what do you think?’
She dived off the bed and flung herself at him. ‘I’d love to go on a date with you.’
