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Hattie’s friends are interesting, and I feel a smidge bad for Bryce the boy band wannabe, since it’s clear he’s interested in Kitty and I came in and stole his thunder without even trying.
We stay for one drink before Kitty starts covering her mouth to hide her yawns. She pays for both of our drinks, despite my telling her it’s not necessary.
Kitty hugs Hattie, who must whisper something in her ear that she finds embarrassing, because her face turns bright red again. We leave the pub together. “Are you staying in town tonight, or do you have to go back to the city?”
“The team has practice early tomorrow, so I have to head home tonight.”
She adjusts the strap of her purse and nods a few times. “That makes sense. I didn’t even think to ask what you were doing in town in the first place.”
“I had to sign paperwork for my mother. We’ll be able to move her into the home this weekend. And they’ve agreed to let me bring Prince Francis by for a visit, which is great because she’s been asking about him a lot.”
“I bet she misses him.”
“When she remembers she has a cat, yes.”
Kitty’s expression turns sad. “Is there anything I can do to help?”
“You’ve done more than enough. I’ll be by the house tomorrow sometime so I can do some packing.” I shove a hand in my pocket and figure now is as good a time as any to ask her out. “I was wondering if you’d like to go for dinner, maybe next weekend? With me?” I don’t know why I add the last part. Obviously, I’m not going to ask her to go out with someone else.
“You mean as a thank-you?” Kitty’s bottom lip slides through her teeth.
“I mean, it could be a thank-you, but I’m more inclined to classify this as a date. I’ve been meaning to ask you, but I didn’t want you to say yes out of obligation. However, since the lip attack happened, I feel a bit more confident that you might say yes because you want to and not because you don’t want to hurt my feelings.”
Kitty smiles and ducks her head. “I would definitely like to go on a date with you.”
“Okay. Well, that’s great.” It’s started to rain a little. Tiny drops land on my glasses, obscuring parts of Kitty’s face. “I guess we can plan that tomorrow. I’ll message when I’ll be at the house?”
“Perfect. I’m going there now, so Prince Francis has a head to curl his body around tonight.”
“I can honestly say I’m jealous of Prince Francis.”
We smile and stare at each other’s mouths for several seconds before we both take a step closer. Her hand slides over my chest and around the back of my neck while I wrap an arm around her waist. We both tip our heads to the left and she lifts her chin while I drop mine.
When our lips connect it feels like a whole truck full of fireworks have just gone off. In my pants.
I’m not sure how long we kiss for, but the rain picks up to the point that we’re both going to be soaked to the bone if we keep it up much longer. I’d suggest we continue in either of our cars, but I worry that I won’t have the ability to put a pin in it before it escalates to a potential indecent exposure charge.
“I’m sort of glad I attacked you with my lips tonight.”
“Me too. And I’m hopeful that from now on it’s going to be a regular occurrence.” I open her car door and usher her in, then wave at her through the window before I rush to my own vehicle. The urge to follow her back to my mother’s house is strong, but I remind myself that it would be a lot better to wait until I’ve had the opportunity to take her on a date, and hopefully end up back at my place, rather than in my childhood bedroom.
chapter sixteen
LITTLE PIECES
Kitty
The next week is filled with emergencies, which means I don’t see Miles or Kat. Every time I think I’m about to get in time with either of them, I’m called away to another catastrophe. It also means all the effort I’ve put into upping my makeup game has been a complete waste.
It’s mid-afternoon on Thursday, and Miles’s mother is moving into the home this weekend. Miles has been here the past few days packing up things. I was supposed to stop by last night, but Mr. O’Toole called very upset because Bumbles had gotten stuck in the wall again. I was certain he was just trapped in the food cupboard and that it would only take ten minutes and I’d be on my way to Miles’s mother’s place, but when I arrived, I was shocked to discover this time he really had gotten stuck in the wall. How he got there remains a mystery, but we cut a hole in the drywall to get him out.
