“No.”I take her hand and bring it to my lap.“Everything you’re saying makes sense.”
“Yeah.I do that sometimes.”
Her smile grows, and I lean in, touching my mouth to hers.This time, our kiss isn’t frantic or rough.It’s soft and slow, but it steals my breath all the same.
“I should go,” Chloe says against my lips.“Want to come over for dinner?”She climbs to her feet, tightening her lemon-yellow apron.“I should be home by sixish.”
“Sounds good.”It’s not lost on me that I’ve barely left Chloe’s side these past few days, and I’m not craving time to myself, which is so unlike me.
What does it mean?
Not that the answer matters, because we’re not meant for anything more than this.
A brief fling at the start of summer.
A drop in the ocean of our lives.
“I’ll see you later,” I say to Chloe with a tight-lipped smile.
After I drive home, I settle on the back deck with my book and end up catching about thirty minutes of shut-eye in the warm sun.Jeez, I’m not usually one to nap.
Later, I take a long shower, then change into jeans and a white T-shirt.I stare at myself in the mirror.My hair curls at the base of my neck, and my palm drags over the scruff on my jaw.I’m usually way more put together than this, but… I can’t say I hate how relaxed I look.
Just before six, I feed Kat and set her up in the laundry room with her bed, litter, and a few toys.
Clutching a bottle of wine I picked up on the way home, I head over to Chloe’s and rap my knuckles on the door.Silence.Her bike is here, so I knock again, but it goes unanswered.Panic sweeps through me.What if she slipped in the shower?Or that fucking ridiculous shell chandelier she owns fell on her head?
The handle twists and the door opens.So sheishome.I step inside, calling out Chloe’s name.There’s no response, and the lights are off.I dart into each room, but there’s no sign of her.
Frowning, I pull out my phone and call her number.
Relief floods my chest when she answers, sounding breathless.“I’msosorry,” she says.“I’m leaving right now, promise.We had some plumbing issues that threw everything off.”
I catch my reflection in the window, my lips falling open.Chloe left her front door unlocked again.How many times have I told her how dangerous that is?
“Do you want me to come take a look?”I ask.
“No, it’s fine, but thanks.Willow is dropping me home now.Meet you at mine in ten?”
“Sure.”I decide not to tell Chloe that I’m already standing in her cottage, along with the ghosts of Ted Bundy and Jack the Ripper.“See you soon.”
CHAPTERTWENTY-FOUR
CHLOE
I am so freaking late.
I should’ve called Ethan to reschedule the moment the dang pipe started leaking, but I was a little preoccupied.Thankfully, Dad offered to stick around and fix it.Otherwise, I would’ve had to call and cancel altogether, which would have delayed our rendezvous even longer since Lola has declared tomorrow an official girls’ night.
You don’t cross Lola.
Plus, it’ll be good to have a bit of space between me and my neighbor.With his departure looming on the horizon, I need my girls to keep me grounded.
When I first invited Ethan to dinner, I had this great plan to swing by the grocery store, grab a couple of steaks, a bottle of red, and fire up the grill on my back deck.
Now we’re going to have to settle for the burgers I bribed Willow into picking up for me.Sitting in her passenger seat, my stomach groans with hunger.If I wasn’t expecting a guest, I’d totally have these fries swallowed by now, but I’m not going to do that after Ethan was good enough to wait for me.
Willow flicks the blinker to turn down my street and shoots me a knowing side-eye.We’ve been so busy today, there hasn’t been much time for chatting.I’ve caught her giving me more than one meaningful look since a certain neighbor showed up at Mugs today.
