Page 77 of The Heiress's First Date

Three dots.

I wait.

I hold my breath.

They disappear again, and I sag.

But then they reappear. What the hell is wrong with me? Seriously? Why am I hanging on to his every word?

“Breathe, K.”

Ava puts her food down and turns toward me, tucking her foot under the knee of her other leg. With her arm on the back of the sofa, I feel her attention. She’s not trying to read over my shoulder. That’s something Mel would do. But Ava’s curiosity is legendary.

“You like him, don’t you?”

Do I like him? Yeah, when he’s not playing hot and cold. I shrug.

“It’s okay if you do.”

Of course it’s okay. I mean, well, maybe it’s not okay in the scheme of this... relationship? Situationship? Whatever the heck this is.

“It’s okay to be infatuated, attracted, in love with him. As long as you’reallokay with it, right?”

I hear the question in her voice. How does Katherine fit into all this? And that’s an excellent question. I came back forher. To sort out things between the two of us.

This would change things. You know, if we acted on the connection that sizzles whenever we’re within five feet of each other.

My phone vibrates in my hand.

Gabe: yeah. important deal came up and I had to jump on it.

That actually explains a lot.

Kingston: understandable.

What must that be like? Driven and determined with big goals and bigger dreams?

“Your shoulders just crawled up around your ears. What’d he say?” She rubs a hand over my back, soothing the wildness in me.

I tip the phone toward her so she can read the conversation.

“I don’t get it.”

“I’ve just never had that kind of drive, you know?” I wave my hand around as if that explains everything. He’s not that much older than me, but he’s done so much in his life. He certainly didn’t run halfway around the world to serve drinks in a beach town bar.

Reminder, King, there’s nothing wrong with that.

I love those types of towns and that type of job because I enjoy meeting new people and making their day a little brighter. I don’t want... Ican’tbe stuck in a glass cube on the sixtieth floor of a building watching the world go by.

“Yeah, you have.” She nods. “Just not in business. But when it comes to your fitness and your nutrition—” She cuts a glance to the containers on the coffee table. “Present selection excluded. You’ve always known what you want and gone after it.”

“I thought I did. This week feels different.”

“I would imagine so. Your dreams are coming true.”

This time when my phone alerts us to an incoming text, she cocks her head to see the screen.

Gabe: wanna watch the next movie tonight?

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