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as possible, but the kitchen and the bathroom were definitely all brand new,

despite the retro fixtures and furniture.

Plus, the backyard had a pool which had been a late addition to the house

in the nineties by the previous owners. That, and the huge double lot with

the immaculate landscaping made the house feel ultra-luxurious.

After debating until she nearly gave herself a breakdown, Kiera decided

on steaks, no flowers, and a bottle of wine as a backup just in case. She

bought red and white because she knew red went with steak, but she wasn’t

sure Romi liked it. She spent the entire afternoon cleaning and tidying her

already neat house, just so that she wouldn’t have time to worry that maybe

Romi wouldn’t like any of it or that what she was trying to do wasn’t

special enough because it wasn’t overly original. Thoughts like that

spiralled into thoughts about how Romi might be so disappointed or even

disgusted that she’d change her mind about the whole thing. About her.

She shouldn’t have worried.

The first thing Romi did when Kiera opened the front door was to step

inside and throw her arms around Kiera’s neck. She wasn’t shy about

hugging her or holding on those few extra seconds that she somehow

sensed Kiera needed. After, she gave her a chaste peck on the lips. Kiera

would have liked more, but she knew Romi was intentionally trying not to

push her.

Plus, she had things she needed to tell Romi. She didn’t want to just fall

into bed with her. She did, but she also didn’t. She wanted this evening to

be special. Romantic. She wanted them to be able to talk. She didn’t want

Romi to think it was just about sex for her.

“I bought steaks,” Kiera blurted awkwardly. “I hope you like that.”

“That’s perfect,” Romi assured her. Her face shone. She was so beautiful

it was hard to look at her, but it was even harder to look away. Kiera’s chest

squeezed. She’d never allowed herself to have this. To even think about

doing this. Yes, there had been other women, but for her, it was always