Page 8 of Deja Brew

I shake my head. She leans closer to me, and her eyes dart to my lips as she lets out a shaky breath. It brushes my face and my hand snags hers. The light is dimmer here and it creates shadows on her face. Contours that carve out her nose and slant across her cheekbones. Sound comes from above us, but I ignore it. She’s here in front of me, and I can almost taste her.

We flinch apart when footsteps thud on the staircase.

“Lil? You stuck down here? I keep telling Lucy to remember the key, but does she listen to me? Clearly not.” Gemma’s eyes dart around the room and widen in surprise when they land on me sitting beside her boss. “Oh, hello.” She raises an eyebrow atLily and moves back up the stairs with a grin. “I’ll put the key by the door.”

Lily glances at me. “Sorry about that.” Her hands move in a circle encompassing the stairs, but I can’t tell if she’s sorry for Gemma interrupting or that there was something to interrupt.

“I should get back anyway.” I shoot her a tight smile and aim for the stairs. Disappointment floods through me. She’s probably regretting whatever just happened and thanking Gemma for finally showing up.

As I reach the first step, she speaks. “Go out with me.”

I turn to her in surprise. She’s standing now and her face contorts in a grimace with red splashed across her cheeks. I want to lick it.

She tucks hair behind her ears and takes a long breath. “I mean, would you like to get a drink sometime?”

“We had one a few days ago.” I’m still shocked at what she said, unable to comprehend what she apparently wants. Did she ask me out or am I imagining it? An attempted kiss is one thing, going out with someone is another.

“Oh, right. Okay.” She crosses her arms and smiles, but it’s not her usual smile. It’s tight and drawn. “Guess I’ll see you in a few days.”

My eyes narrow. She’s upset. What did I say to upset her? We did have a drink a few days ago. The tea thing she made. She can’t be upset because she thinks I don’t want… Oh shit.

“I want to go out with you.” It bursts out of me, and I close my eyes in mortification. A little smoother would’ve been good instead of shouting at her.

“You do?”

Cheeks burning, I open my eyes and meet hers. She’s grinning at me and I can’t help but grin in return and nod.

“You don’t want a drink?”

“We should get dinner instead.”

“Okay,” she breathes out.

Before I can congratulate myself on the slightly smoother delivery, the door crashes open at the stairs and we both jump. I step in front of her, but the tension in my shoulders release when I see Gemma.

“Your alarm’s going off.” Gemma’s eyebrow lifts as she scans us and focuses on my hot cheeks. “Want me to deal with it?”

Lily continues to grin. “No, I’ll get it.”

Gemma’s gaze darts between us before she trots upstairs with a smirk and leaves us alone again.

“I’ve got to go, but I’ll see you soon.” Lily hands me a piece of paper and with a brush of her hand goes upstairs to deal with the alarm.

I watch her ascend the stairs, her curvy hips swaying, and don’t look at the paper until she’s out of sight. The packing slip from today now holds her scribbled phone number on it with a smiley-face under the digits. My stomach churns with excitement, and a sense of satisfaction settles in my chest.

We’re going on a date. She askedmeon a date. I never imagined she actually liked me or wanted to date me. A perfect start to the day after the early delivery.

Leaving the storeroom, I wave to Lily before I exit her store and duck inside my closed and locked truck. Put the paper on the dashboard where I can see it and drive out of the alleyway to finish the rest of the deliveries.

That could have gone a lot smoother. For one, I could’ve answered her question calmly instead of nearly yelling in panic and stumbling over my words. When I had coffee with her, I managed to keep my cool, but this time I got a date. Maybe acting dumbstruck isn’t a bad thing.

One delivery takes me past her flat, and I glance towards it and see her cat darting across the window. My lips tilt up at the sight before fading. My hands clench on the steering wheel.

What happens if she finds out what I’ve been doing? That I’ve been following her.

Granted, it’s mostly to make sure she gets to work safely, but I can’t imagine the conversation going well on a first date.

Hey, Lily. I follow you to work at four in the morning to make sure you’re safe and sometimes stand outside your flat, and one day I want to marry you and befriend your cat.

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