Page 94 of One Golden Summer

Saffron balled up a fist, her nails digging into her palm. “Geez, you’re aren’t making this easy, are you?”

“What?” Kirsty’s eyes sparkled.

“Me asking you out on a date. I’ve never done it before.”

“And here I thought we were turning a new page.” Kirsty mimed this.

“We are!”

“I’m supposed to believe you’ve never asked a girl out on a date?” Kirsty tapped a foot, shaking her head.

“I really haven’t. I started acting when I was a teenager. This kind of thing wasn’t allowed.”

“Dating?”

“Being normal. Everything was staged. For the public.”

“Will you miss it? Even a tiny bit.” Kirsty held two fingers in the air, barely apart.

“Living in a fishbowl? No.”

“You say that now.”

“Shall we bet? One year from now, I bet I don’t miss it at all.” Saffron stuck her hand out.

“What do I get if I win?”

“What do you want?”

“I’m not sure you can give me what I want.”

“Movie star.” Saffron waved a hand in front of her face. “Try me.”

“You know you’re proving me right well ahead of the deadline?” Kirsty smirked.

Saffron snorted impatiently. “Still waiting for your answer. What do you want to wager? Because I’m all in on restarting my life away from the spotlight to be with you.”

The band started to play the Abba song “Take a Chance on Me.”

Kirsty looked at the stage and then back to Saffron. “Did you plan that?”

“What?” Saffron didn’t have to feign innocence.

“You were in charge of music. But how did you get them to sing that song right now?”

Saffron bobbed her head as realisation washed over her. “I think fate gets the credit and I’m still waiting to hear what you want from me. Tell me how hard I have to work to convince you I’m in this for the long haul.”

Kirsty pulled Saffron close. “I want this.”

They kissed.

“Christ! That took you two forever,” Ginger shouted.

There was clapping and hooting.

Neither of them stopped kissing.

Chapter 32