Page 109 of The Blind Date

I went through the rest of the work afternoon with a silly smile on my face that only got sillier the more I thought of Cedric. When I finished work, thankfully only a little after five, I was surprised to find Cedric waiting outside the building.

“Are you waiting for me?” I asked, walking straight into his arms when he held them open for me.

"No, I was waiting for my other girlfriend," he snorted but yelped when I pinched his side for the comment.

“I’d like to see this other girlfriend of yours,” I huffed.

“As if there could be anyone else, darling,” he chuckled and dipped his head to claim my mouth in that hot and hard kiss he couldn’t give me earlier in front of our co-workers. “As annoying and hot-headed as you can be sometimes, I wouldn’t switch you out for anyone else, so you have nothing to worry about, darling. I sincerely believe I’ve met my match with you, Saffron Remington, and there’s no going up from that.”

“Me? Hot-heated?” I scoffed. “That’s rich coming from you.”

“Is that all you got from what I just said?” Cedric deadpanned.

“I also got the part where you said you’re the luckiest man in the world to end up with a girlfriend as great as me,” I grinned cheekily, leaning up to press my lips to his, erasing the small pout on his face. “If it’s any consolation, I feel like I’ve lucked out with you, too.”

“It is,” he murmured, kissing me back. “What do you say to coming back to my place and eating dumplings with me?”

“What?” I quirked a teasing brow at him. “First, you wouldn't let me into your apartment, and now you’re desperate to get me back there every opportunity you get?”

“It’s funny how life works out, eh?” He chuckled and threw his arm over my shoulder, leading us to the nearest tube station.

* * *

“I spoke to my mum today,”Cedric began, helping himself to another dumpling. “They played in the semi-finals last weekend and won. The finals are this weekend."

“I got a similar text from my mum,” I said. “I was planning on heading down to Bath to watch them play. What about you?”

“Both Cillian and are going. Though Mum wouldn’t accept no as an answer if we tried to get out of it,” he chuckled.

“My mum was pretty forceful about it over text as well.” My lips curled down at the corners.

“There’s no point in you heading down there alone when Cillian and I are going as well. You can join us. I’m driving.”

“It’s a date,” I grinned. “I have a feeling this is their last attempt at getting us together.”

“You think they’d have an ulterior motive like that at the golf finals? Are they going to focus on the game or play Cupid?”

“I certainly wouldn’t put it past them,” I laughed. "My parents may have backed off for a while, but I know that's only temporary. If they don't try to force us alone sometime this weekend, I'm going to think that something is severely wrong."

“You’ve got a point there,” he said in a low murmur, a thoughtful expression on his face. “Do you think we should just come clean to them?”

"Is that a good idea? Should we be getting them that excited before the game?"

His lips tugged down slightly at the corners as he thought for a moment. “How about after the game?”

"I'm happy to tell them we've been seeing each other after the game.” I nodded. "Think about it. If they win, it'll just give them something else to celebrate, and if they lose, well, it'll be something to soften the blow."

Cedric nodded and swiped the half-eaten dumpling off my plate even though there were still two in the box. I narrowed my eyes at him, but he scoffed the whole thing before I could reprimand him for the thievery.

“That means we’re going to have to keep up the act before the final,” I told him. “And we’ve got my friend Victor’s birthday party this Friday.”

“Are you sure you want to tell your friends about us before your parents?”

I shrugged. “They’ve already got it all figured out. It’s hard not to when you were messaging me every few minutes when I was with them yesterday.”

“I just wanted to see if you wanted to get dinner with me,” he pouted.

“You’re such a baby sometimes,” I giggled at the soft, petulant expression on his face.

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