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“Depends on how many more women you plan on proposing to before I get there,” I teased.
* * *
By the time I helped close Lyla’s and make it to Jim’s place, I was half-dead on my feet.
Well, not literally because I was a good girl and followed the doctor’s orders, making sure I took breaks, drank tons of water, and munched on healthy snacks between tables.
Now, I was hoping I could getJimto call me his good girl because that really did do something to my damn brain chemistry. I could be a strong, independent woman during the day all I wanted, but come night time? I was more than ready to do anything and everything to get him to say those two little words. And the fact that he gave me the space to be both versions of that woman made me love him even more.
Not that I’d told him yet.
Because I was terrified of making things too serious too quickly.
One day at a time.
“You’re here,” Jim called as I let myself into his house. The man had already given me a key, and it felt like Christmas even though it was a week away.
“I’m here,” I said, dropping my bag on the little table he had in his entryway. I kicked off my shoes, sighing in relief.
“Come back here,” he called from what sounded like his back patio. “I have a surprise for you.”
Excitement fluttered through me, hurrying my steps as I made my way through the kitchen and out the back door.
“Wow,” I said, surveying the scene.
Flames flickered in the center of an outdoor table, sparkling gravel lining either side of the burner, casting everything in a rich, warm glow. A bottle of sparkling apple juice sat in a bucket of ice, two glasses beside it. Jim stood next to one of the cushioned patio chairs, a sheepish look on his face as he held something behind his back.
“What’s the occasion?” I asked, practically brimming at the romantic scene.
“You’re always the occasion,” he continued. “But if you need a label, you can call this an early Christmas present.”
I pressed my lips together, suddenly feeling out of the loop. “I don’t have your gift here,” I said. I had it at my house, wrapped and under my Charlie Brown tree.
“I don’t need a gift in return,” he said, shaking his head. “This was a spur of the moment type of thing and if you hate it, we can make other arrangements.”
“Okay, now the suspense is killing me.” I stepped closer to him, the warmth of the small flames chasing away the slight bite to the air. Christmas time in South Carolina was never freezing, but at night it could get cooler, so the fire was a nice touch. “What are you hiding back there?”
“Well—”
A very crankymeowsounded from behind him, and Jim cringed a little as he brought his hands in front of him.
Shock had me gaping at the black bundle clinging in his arms, the cat looking downrightpissedto be there.
“Surprise,” he said, worry coating his features.
“That’s not the…” My voice trailed off as the cat wiggled awkwardly in Jim’s arms.
“The same cat from the night I almost had to arrest you?” he asked, laughing as he struggled to hang on to the creature.
“Oh my goodness,” I said, reaching between us to take it from him. “Where did you find him?” I asked, tucking the cat between my arms. “It is ahimright?”
Jim nodded. “It’s a him. And I never lost him,” he explained. “I took him to the animal shelter, who adopted him out to Barbara.”
“The elderly woman you check on every week?” I asked, my heart warming at how damn sweet he was. He never missed his Wednesday night check in with her.
“Right,” he said. “But it turns out it wasn’t such a great fit. He didn’t get along with her dog Dane. It turns out this little beast only seems to calm down for you.”
The beast was currently purring in my arms, his golden eyes almost shut as he settled into my hold. I tsked him, moving to sit down on one of the patio chairs. “I guess that’s what happens when you go through extreme situations together,” I teased. “We formed a bond among the chaos.”
