Page 49

I didn’t mind staying behind with her one bit. I was glad I was asked. I hadn’t been ready for the date to end three hours ago and something told me I wouldn’t be ready for it to end later either.

“Kittens feel like a million years ago,” she said, opening one eye to look at me. “I miss the kitten part of the day.”

“We can go back tomorrow if you want. We can go after work. Or before. I’m sure Jane wouldn’t mind.”

She turned away from me and went quiet for a moment. “I should probably try to spend some time with my mom. I don’t know how long she’ll be here.”

I nodded. “Right. I didn’t think about that.” Damn. “If Neil’s coming, I could always go as your plus one,” I offered.

“All right. I might take you up on that.”

“So how long is she staying?” I asked.

“I honestly don’t know.”

“Well, where does she live?”

“Nowhere. Anywhere.”

She stared out into the galley, deep in thought. “You know what I wish?” She paused. “I wish I could ask questions and always get the truth.”

“You don’t get the truth from her?”

She scoffed. “No.”

I peered into the galley too. “How about we make a deal. If you ever ask me what I’m thinking, I’ll always tell you the truth.”

She looked at me with a raised eyebrow. “What if it’s embarrassing?”

“The truth isn’t supposed to be pretty, right? It’s the truth.”

She smiled. The first real smile I’d seen since her mom showed up. “Okay,” she said. “What are you thinking right now?”

I laughed. “Wow, just coming in hot.”

“Well, you said I could.”

I smiled at her. Then I looked away when I realized what the answer to the What Are You Thinking question was. I glanced back at her. “This is going to be harder than I thought.”

“Oh, it’s that bad, is it?” She looked amused.

“It’s not bad. It’s just, you know, my thoughts.”

“Okay.” She tucked her leg under her. “How about this. I’ll do it too.”

Now I arched my eyebrow. “You’re going to tell me what you’re thinking when I ask?”

“Yup.”

“So you and I are never going to bullshit each other. The stone-cold truth, on demand, no filter, whenever we want it. That’s what we’re agreeing on?”

“Yes. The truth, whenever we want it,” she said.

“I guess we’ll always know where we stand, right?”

“Right.”

“We have a deal then,” I said.