I was about to open my mouth to protest and say I did, I definitely did, but she was already gone.
* * *
A little while later, Nate and I went back into the house.
“I’m beat,” he said, running his hand through his dark hair, then retreated to his room. The sound of his door shutting echoed through the house, and the hall was strangely quiet for a few seconds as I headed to the guest bedroom, wondering if Kat was asleep. Look, I wasn’t thinking of slinking into her bedroom. It was the first night I was in her house. Even if it was the fiftieth night I wouldn’t do that. Sneaking into her bedroom would be the height of tacky.
But I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t happy when I bumped into her in the hall.
She wore loose shorts and a gray tank top with a pink Hello Kitty across the chest, and I wasn’t checking out the illustration so much as I was lingering on what it covered up. More than I should. When I realized what I was doing – staring at her br**sts, at their lush curves, and the barest bit of skin showing – I snapped my gaze up. Then I was looking her in the eyes, those gorgeous brown eyes, so pure and such a rich shade.
It was as if I had no choice in the matter. The wagons were circling me, and I was nearly toppled.
She was breaking down all my defenses and she didn’t even know it. Everything about her was alluring, down to the fact that she wore a cartoon cat to bed. It was cute, it was retro, it was girly all at once. It also reminded me of my own favorite comic.
“You like Hello Kitty?”
“Uh, yeah,” she said, as if she were thrown off by my question.
“That’s really cute,” I said, trying to hold back a smile.
“Really?”
“Yeah. Definitely. Hello Kitty is totally adorable.”
“Wow. Nate never told me his best friend was such a huge fan of cartoon cats,” she said playfully.
“I’m personally a bigger fan of Bucky from the comic Get Fuzzy.”
“I love that crazy Siamese,” she said, and I wanted to ask her out right then and there. She liked Office Space, she knew the characters in my favorite comic strip, and she was completely unaware of her effect on me.
“I defy anyone who doesn’t find cats amusing to read that comic.”
“That is an awesome challenge. Let’s make posters and start a campaign. I’ll even break out my Get Fuzzy tee-shirt when we start planning a march to the capital,” she said, smiling brightly again, easily picking up the back and forth vibe of our late-night chatter in the hallway. Maybe that’s why I said the next thing. Because I wanted her to know. I wanted her to have an inkling that she was already working her way into my heart.
“Generally speaking, I’m good with all cartoon cats,” I said, then paused, taking a beat before I said the next thing. “Especially when cute girls wear them.”
Her lips quirked up briefly, and before I did what I truly wanted to do – kiss her, ask her out, tell her that even though I’d only known her for twelve hours, was there a chance she was feeling some kind of spark too – I swiveled around and walked off.
I wanted to do all of those things.
So much. Too much.
Chapter Three
Kat
I blow dried my hair the next morning.
I rarely blow dried my hair in the summer.
But I wanted to look good in case I ran into Bryan again in the hall. Or anywhere really. Evidently, I was going to have to make sure I looked good all the time since he was staying in my house for two weeks. But I was up to that challenge, because hello – hot and sweet guy staying in my house for two weeks.
Lucky me.
As I applied lip gloss, I asked myself once again how it was possible I’d never known that Nate had such a good-looking best friend? They’d been buddies all through college but it had never once occurred to me that the Bryan my brother had mentioned was gorgeous, with hair I wanted to run my fingers through, and eyes I could barely look away from – a forest green with gold flecks.
The house was quiet when I left for the store, and I wondered momentarily if Bryan was still sleeping. Or if he was an early riser and was out for a morning jog. He looked the type. The guy didn’t have an ounce of fat on him, and his arms had the perfect amount of tone to them. Muscled and trim, and with that boyish smile, he was so easy on eyes.
As I walked to the store, I realized his looks weren’t the only reason I wanted to make sure I had a good hair day. He was so easy to talk to, and we had an instant repartee from the second he’d hugged me in the driveway. I didn’t want to read too much into our connection since he was Nate’s friend, even though I couldn’t help but hope that he sensed a spark too when we’d been talking about movies out on the deck last night, or even when I bumped into him in the hall.
I popped into my favorite cafe, picturing walking into this shop with him, ordering a coffee drink on a first date. Would be take me out for coffee if he asked me out? No, that was silly. He knew I was fond of movies, and he seemed like the type of guy who truly listened to a girl, the kind who would arrange a date to be exactly what she wanted. We’d go to the movies, and he’d hold my hand at some point as the storyline unfolded on screen.
I smiled at that image. Then I promptly reprimanded myself for thinking of him that way. Even if we had an ease of conversation, even if he was handsome, even if we liked the same things, getting involved with him would be trouble for my heart. I was starting college in the fall, and he was starting the real world. There would simply be no us.
Better to erase those ideas now.
That was easier said then done though because my stomach flipped when I spotted him waiting outside Mystic Landing. He had a cup of coffee in his hand, and the ends of his dark hair were still wet. Soon, I was near enough to breathe in that clean, freshly showered scent.
“Hi there.”
“I’m a morning person too,” he offered with a sheepish little shrug. “Hope you don’t mind if I share the morning shift with you. Nate’ll sleep past noon anyway.”
“Not at all,” I said as I hunted for the keys in my purse, as if that action would mask the butterflies racing inside me from knowing I’d get to spend the next several hours with him.
* * *
Bryan
I was slated for the afternoon shift with Nate, but hell if I was sticking to the schedule. I figured one of two things would happen the more time I spent with her. I’d learn she was annoying, a pain in the ass, or silly, and all of those would be great because I could get her out of my system.