Page 140 of Away We Go

“Pardon?”

He grins, stepping inside and closing the door. “Are you okay?”

The combination of the cold air breezing through the now closed door and his scent, that unmistakable scent, finally cuts through. I’m not dreaming. I’m awake. Standing in my pyjamas with bed hair and morning breath, looking at a very real Nathan standing in front of me.

This is not good.

“Arrggh.” I take off running, closing my bedroom door behind me. If this isn’t a dream, then that man out there has caught me at my absolute worst.

“I’ll get the tea going, shall I?” he yells through the door, like this is all so very normal.

“M-kay,” I mumble back, shoving my legs into a pair of black leggings and pulling on an oversized, chunky knit cardigan. Once dressed, I peep out of my bedroom, and with the coast clear, I bolt to the bathroom, brushing my hair and my teeth and rubbing the mascara away from under my eyes. If my mind isn’t playing tricks on me, he somehow came here to ask me to be his girlfriend, but I’m pretty sure after being confronted with the absolute mess I wasat the door this morning, whatever that was will by now have passed.

Disappointing. But also, fair.

“Nathan.” I clear my throat to get his attention. He’s in my kitchen pouring tea into two cups. One for me, the other in what may as well be his cup. He’s also assembled a tower of bagels on a plate, and my stomach groans with appreciation at the sight of it.

“Kitty Kat!” He turns and beams at me, his gaze taking a trip over my face, down to my shoulders, my chest, and then to the tips of my toes. His eyes are a warm, clear blue as he looks me over and I feel the heat of it like he’d reached out and touched me. “Here, sit. Drink your tea and eat your breakfast. We’ve got a lot to discuss.”

Bamboozled, I let him take the lead, taking a sip from my cup and biting into a bagel. No, scrap that. Biting into the

perfect

bagel.

“Ohmigosh, this is amazing.”

He leans back with a satisfied smirk on his face. “That’s good to hear. Because they’re bribery bagels.”

I chew, swallow, bite, and chew some more. As curious as I am to hear all about this bribery business, I can’t seem to stop eating. These bagels are magical.

“Um, okay, yum.”

His chuckle is deep and fills my bagel-filled belly with warmth. He both looks and sounds so delighted to be here with me. I can almost forgive him for showing up unannounced. Again.

“Nathan, do you have an aversion to using the telephone?”

His quirks a brow. “Not particularly.”

“Then please explain why you’ve not once, but twice ambushed me in my flat, unannounced, in the morning? Are you trying to catch me at my worst?”

His eyes take another leisurely trip over me.

“If this is you at your worst…”

I lean forward.

“Yes?”

He shakes his head. “We’ve gone off topic.”

We have? Were we ever on topic?

“I came here this morning bearing bagels because I need to ask you a favour.”

Ah, well, this makes more sense.

“Okay…” I take another bite of bagel and fix him with my best ‘spit it out’ stare.

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