Page 10 of The Weekend Getaway

“The table is made of wood,” she said, knocking on the surface of it.

He stared at her. “What?”

“I thought we were playing a game of state the obvious.”

Angling the phone into his chest, he held her gaze until she grimaced.

“Sorry. I think my relationship with Mel has made me forget about boundaries. We share everything. Anyway, stop looking so shocked and tell me who Kit is and why he thinks there’s no way you could be on a date.”

It was difficult to be annoyed when she smiled so sweetly. “Kit’s my younger brother. The reason he doesn’t believe I’m on a date is because he’s my younger brother.He’s just being annoying.”

“And who’s Seren?”

“She’s my best friend.”

The flash of surprise in her features was hard to miss. “Oh.”

“I know. Everyone thinks there must be more to it … like a man and a woman can’t really be best friends and nothing more, but we are.”

“Okay.” Quietly, she moved around the table and slipped into the booth beside him. He looked at her quizzically, trying to figure out what was going through her mind. “You need a photo,” she said, tipping her head towards his phone. “For your brother.”

“I could also just ignore him,” Noah said, looking dubiously at his phone.

“Yes. That would also be a plan.” As she began to move away again, he realised his mistake. Since she’d probably run a mile when she found out he was leaving, a photo would be a nice keepsake. Plus, he liked having her on his side of the booth.

“Wait. It’ll be more fun to send him a photo.” He opened the camera on his phone and held it out for a selfie.

“Hold it higher.” Keira nudged his arm up. “Less likely to get my double chin that way.”

Smiling, he took the picture, then got Keira’s approval before sending it to Kit with a message telling him he was busy for the evening and he should stop messaging him. Once he’d hit send, he placed the phone face down on the table, not wanting to be interrupted by the inevitable string of replies.

“I have a question,” Keira said seriously. “How would you feel about sharing tiramisu for dessert?”

He smiled widely. “I’d be okay with that.”

“That’s a shame. I was hoping you’d say there was no way you’d ever share dessert and insist on getting your own.”

“We can also get two, if you’d prefer?”

“I’d prefer it if you ordered the hot chocolate brownie and we shared them both.”

“Let’s do that then.”

As they fell silent, she pointed across the booth. “Should I go back over there?”

“Why?”

“Because I just realised that I invaded your privacy by reading your message and then I encroached on your personal space too.”

“I don’t mind you being in my personal space.” He shifted in his seat so his knee touched hers. All thoughts of telling her about his move vanished from his mind.

* * *

When Noah talked about them getting a taxi home, Keira suggested they walk instead. She’d used the mild weather as an excuse, when in reality she wanted to stretch out the evening for as long as possible. Walking home gave her an extra twenty minutes in Noah’s company. As they walked through the city centre, the backs of their hands grazed against each other and she felt like a teenager on her first date as she fought for the courage to be the one to make the move and entwine her fingers with his. With her thoughts on their hands, she didn’t notice the guy handing out flyers until he thrust one at her. She took it automatically.

“That looks really cool,” Noah said, leaning in to read the information on the paper.

“I’ve never heard of it.” She scanned the advert for the outdoor cinema in one of the city parks.