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“What matter is that?”
“Us. When I told your neighbor I was courting you, you didn’t contradict me. Were you just being polite?”
I chuckle. In spite of all the drama surrounding my apartment building, he can still make me laugh. “No. You know I’m not that polite.”
He smiles. “Then you’ll consider it?”
“Connor.” I let out a heavy sigh.
He leans down and kisses my forehead. “Just say the word, Ken, and I’ll move heaven and earth to make you happy. And as far as my relatives go, we need never see them again.”
“You can’t be serious.”
“Oh, I assure you, I am.” He releases me and props his hands on his hips. “Now, what’s for dinner? I skipped breakfast and lunch, and now I’m starving. Can we have pizza? I’ve heard New York pizza is not to be missed.” He pulls out his phone. “What’s your favorite local pizzeria?”
I know how Connor gets when he’s hangry—he’s got a one-track mind, like a dog with a bone. I sigh. “That would be Grimaldi’s.”
He grins. “Please tell me they deliver,” he says as he looks up their phone number.
Chapter 19
Connor Murphy
While we wait for the pizza to arrive, I peruse Kennedy’s bookshelf. I flip through the pages of a well-loved and obviously ancient copy ofPride and Prejudice. Then I return it to the shelf and pick up a copy ofEmma. “I particularly liked this one. It was quite humorous.”
She looks shocked. “You’ve readEmma?”
“Well, not exactly. I saw the film—with you, remember?”
Kennedy plucks the novel from my hands and returns it to the shelf. “These are first editions. I’m trying to keep them in good condition, but that won’t happen if you keep handling them.”
“I’m sorry. I thought books were meant to be handled. If they’re so precious, shouldn’t they be in a vault, under lock and key?”
“No. I like to look at them.”
I reach for a copy ofPersuasion, another Austen classic. “This one was good, too.”
“Are you referring to the book or the movie?” she asks.
“The film, of course. Is this a first edition as well?” I open it to the copyright page.
“Yes, it is.” Laughing, Kennedy snatches it out of my hands. “My god, Connor, I’m going to hit you over the head with one of these books if you don’t stop touching them.”
“That’s hardly the right way to treat a first edition, is it?” As soon as she reshelves the book, I grab her around the waist and pull her down beside me onto the bed. Rolling on top, I loom over her and cup her face in my hands. “You’re pretty when you’re riled up. Of course, you’re pretty all the time.”
When she smiles up at me like she used to, another piece of my broken heart falls back into place.
“You’re incorrigible,” she says.
In that moment, a sense of peace and rightness comes over me. This ismyKennedy talking. She’s back. I lean down and kiss her. “I love you, Ken.”
Her beautiful dark eyes shine. “Connor.”
When her voice catches on a shaky breath, I realize we’re at a crossroads here.Please say it back, Kennedy. Please.
She reaches up and brushes my hair out of my eyes. “I love you, too.”
Relief washes through me, and I realize I was holding my breath. “Then it’s settled? We’re back together? It’s official?”
