Page 185 of Falling for You

I’ve found her. I can’t believe I found her. She’s even better than the version of her that I’d made up in my mind. She is funny, she is gorgeous, she’sfun. And somehow, she seems to find me fun, too. It wasn’t just a fluke on the night we met that I felt like our conversation was the best I’d had since I got to London. It feels easy with her. It feels like the most normal thing in the world.

She takes another huge bite of her kebab and catches my eye, immediately giggling madly again.

God, I love the way she laughs.

She waves her hand at me and turns her back on me again.

‘Sorry,’ I say. ‘It’s fine, I’m not laughing at you. I told you, I think it’s sexy.’

I see her back hunch over as she laughs even harder and I battle with the urge to make her laugh as much as I can without making her choke.

Eventually, she turns around to face me.

‘You’ve barely eaten yours,’ she says, looking down at my damp kebab. ‘Don’t you like it?’

‘No comment.’

She gasps. ‘How can you not like kebabs?’

‘Shh!’ I lean forward and grab her hands. ‘Keep your voice down. I’m still on the run from all my colleagues after telling them I don’t like tea.’

Her eyes shine at me, and she doesn’t take her hands away. ‘Gosh, I wonder if I should even be seen in public with you.’

‘You’re not the first person to wonder that.’ She laughs again and my chest lifts. ‘So,’ I say. ‘Where is the bat costume? I almost didn’t recognise you.’

She raises her eyebrows at me. ‘Youdidn’trecognise me! If I hadn’t come up to you then we’d have walked into the abyss, never to see each other again.’

‘Well, I was looking for Bat Girl.’

‘She only comes out on special occasions,’ Annie says from under her lashes, and then immediately bursts out laughing. ‘Can we pretend that didn’t happen? God, why am I so cringe?’

‘I think you’re great.’

‘You don’t know anything about me,’ she says, her cheeks still tinged pink. ‘I could be a serial killer.’

‘Is that why you’ve taken me to a kebab shop?’

She laughs, hitting me lightly on the arm.

‘I know that you’re talented,’ I say after a pause. ‘I know you’re funny and interesting. I know that you’re gorgeous.’

Her eyes flick up at me. ‘Whatever,’ she mumbles. ‘Oh!’ she snaps her fingers, putting down her kebab. ‘Before I forget, Mr Cinderella, is this yours?’

My eyes widen as she pulls out my ring from inside her purse. It gleams up at me from her open palm.

‘Yeah,’ I say, feeling myself soften with relief. ‘I thought I’d lost it.’

She smiles, handing it over to me. ‘I kept it in my purse in case I …’ She trails off, her cheeks turning pink.

‘In case you walked past a pawn shop and needed some cash?’ I finish, grinning.

She laughs. ‘Yeah, exactly. Whose is it, then?’ She gestures down to the ring.

‘It’s mine.’ I blink at her in mock confusion. ‘I don’t go around stealing jewellery from people.’

She rolls her eyes at me. ‘Who gave it to you?’

I place the ring on my pinkie finger. ‘It’s my mom’s. My brother used to borrow her jewellery when we were kids and I got jealous one day, so she gave me this.’