Page 16 of Flame Kissed

She rolled her eyes. “You sound like Captain Hunter.”

Kaia rolled her eyes. “I wonder why that could be?”

They shared a laugh.

“But the two of you are still doing good?”

Kaia smiled. “We‘re doing great. I think moving here was the best decision we could have made.”

“Good, I’m so glad you both decided to move here. It’s been great having you both as part of the team.”

“Thanks, it's been great being here. We picked a good place to build our lives. You guys are better than we could have hoped for.”

The rest of the night was slow. They got a few calls, but nothing serious. There was a slightly out of hand campfire and a call to help locate a kid who wandered off in a nearby park. Fortunately, he hadn’t made it far, just past the tree line. Mostly though they just talked and spent time as a team.

When her shift was over, Leilani made the drive back to her place. As much as she loved downtown Phoenix Ridge, when she got home to unwind, she needed to be somewhere away from the hustle and bustle.

Yeah, maybe her commute was a little longer than it needed to be, but it was worth it to have a little place for herself outside the busy city limits.

It was a small one-floor home made of light brown stones with a flat roof. At first glance, it almost seemed to blend into the warm sandy dirt and sparse grass of desert surrounding it. Some of the other houses in the area had traditional grass yards, but there was something about keeping the natural landscape that added to the beauty for Leilani. Her nearest neighbor wasn’t far, but the row of thin trees gave the illusion of privacy.

The second she got inside, there was a loud meow and the sound of little paws racing over to her. Jaspurr, her small one-eyed black cat was butting his head against her legs before her shoes were off. He was still in his dark green cable knit sweater Amara had knit for him. He let out another meow, looking up at her with his bright green eyes.

She laughed. “Yes, yes, I’ve missed you too, my Jazzy boy.”

He let out another meow before turning and walking off, losing interest in Leilani once he had been adequately greeted. He would return as soon as she started trying to eat or work on a craft.

For now, she headed off to get a shower then heat herself up some dinner. It wasn’t anything special, just leftover meatloaf and mashed potatoes. She brought her plate over to the sofa, turning on a reality competition show and started piling her food on a slice of bread.

Sure enough, a few seconds later, there was a loud meow before Jaspurr hopped up next to her, begging desperately for just a bite.

Leilani chuckled. “Sure, but only a little.”

She broke off a piece of meat and offered it to the cat. As she ate, doing her best to force her focus to the show, her thoughts drifted to Adaze.

She couldn’t help but wonder what the other woman was doing. The thought of calling or at least texting her crossed her mind, but she hesitated.

They’d only just met. She didn’t want to come on too strong or be too clingy. She didn’t want to risk scaring her off.

For now, she tossed her phone onto the coffee table where it slid safely out of reach. Temptation inaccessible, she turned her focus back to Jaspurr.

“So what do you think of the cat tree? Did I make the right choice with the green or should I have gone with the brown? That one had the extra hammock, so I thought you'd appreciate that.”

He huffed and walked away, but he did lay in the aforementioned hammock, so it felt like a win. She smiled and pulled out a notebook and pen.

She listed out a few restaurants they could go to on Friday then she frowned. Were the restaurants fancy enough for someone like Adaze? Was it enough to just take her out to dinner? Maybe she should plan some kind of activity?

They could go for a walk in the park.

But what if she dressed nice or wore heels? She probably wouldn’t want to go for a walk in those kinds of shoes. She seemed like the kind of woman who would absolutely dress up and wear heels for a dinner date.

Did Adaze wear heels?

She shook her head. She could just text her and ask what she wanted to do.

But that felt like a cop out. She was the one who asked her out. She should plan their date.

It wasn’t that hard. She’d asked her to dinner. She would just take her to dinner.

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