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“Huh? Ah, yeah.” I grip the back of my neck, trying to get ahold of myself. “Let’s go.”

I spin around and walk as fast as I can to my SUV, pressing the fob and pulling the driver’s door open.

“Ahem.”

“Oh, shit, sorry.” I jog around to the other side and open up the door, closing it when she’s safely inside.

“Charlie?” she asks as I start the engine.

“Yeah?”

She places her hand on my forearm, squeezing gently. “Calm down, it’s just me.”

It’s just her. Just. Her.

I take a deep breath and close my eyes, opening them back up after a couple of seconds and pulling her hand off my arm, bringing it to my lips and kissing her palm.

“Sorry, I’m just—”

“Nervous.” She smiles.

“Yeah.” I blow out an audible breath and let her hand go, grinning and then driving out of there.

Kitty turns the stereo on and starts to sing along to the country song playing, the sound of her sweet voice calming me down enough that when we get to the restaurant I’m not so nervous anymore.

“Fancy,” Kitty comments with a raised brow as I help her down from the SUV.

“Too much?” I ask, flitting my eyes from her and to the restaurant front, unsure.

“No.” She smiles, hooking her arm through mine. “It’s nice.”

I stay silent as we walk to the main door and just as I’m about to pull the door open, she stops me.

“Okay, stop.” She grabs the edge of my jacket, pulling me closer and I allow her to, my hands going to her hips. “Just be you.”

“I’m trying.”

“I know, baby. But just be you, okay?”

“Okay.” I nod.

She lifts up on her toes and brings her lips closer to me. Meeting her halfway, I press my lips against hers, my tongue seeking entrance and when it touches hers, I lose it. I step forward, pushing her around the corner and against the wall.

“Fuck,” I spit when I pull away, hovering above her. “This wasn’t meant to happen tonight.”

“Don’t think like that.” Her eyes plead with me. “Let’s just have some dinner and go from there. None of this what ‘should’ or ‘shouldn’t’ happen. We didn’t exactly start out like normal, did we? Let’s just do us.”

“Do us?” I grin. “Yeah, let’s do us.”

I lean down and press my lips against hers again before I grab her hand and pull her

into the restaurant.

We’re led to a table toward the back and handed menus for food and also a wine list. I thank the waitress and look down at the menu and then back up at Kitty.

“Do you want wine?”

“I’ll stick to water,” she answers. “But you have a drink and I can always drive home.”