Page 9 of The Weekend Getaway

“I know. I wanted to …” Crap. He should explain the situation about him moving in a matter of weeks. Except then she might turn him down. Now that she was in front of him, looking so adorably bashful, all he wanted to do was spend more time with her. “I wasn’t sure if Mel was just messing around or if you really wanted me to call.”

She glanced at the pavement. “I wanted you to call.”

“I’m sorry.” He hated that she’d thought he wasn’t interested when it couldn’t have been further from the truth. “So, do you want to go out tomorrow?”

“Yes.” Her face lit up with an infectious smile. “I’d really like that.”

Chapter Three

For dinner, Noah had picked an Italian restaurant that was one of a chain. Nothing too romantic, so it could just be two friends out for dinner if they wanted. No doubt that’d be what Keira wanted once he told her his plans to move away. Which he was gearing up to tell her … as soon as there was an appropriate lull in the conversation. It wasn’t as though he could blurt it out amid their casual chatter about the pub and her job in marketing.

“You’re not from Bristol, are you?” she asked, leaning on the table across the booth.

“No. Cornwall.” Usually he chose not to specify where exactly, unless asked. People tended to find it weirdly amusing when he said he was from the Isles of Scilly. Then there were the jokes about it being asillyplace to live.

“Are your family still there?” Keira asked.

This was a perfect time to mention his upcoming plans. “Yeah. Actually …” The waitress approached with their pizzas, giving him an excuse to postpone the conversation a little longer.

While they ate he asked about her family, but she didn’t have much to say on the subject and switched to telling him about how she’d met Mel in sixth form when they were sixteen and they’d been inseparable ever since.

As she chatted away, he felt increasingly deceitful for not telling her about his plans to move. And it wasn’t just for her sake that he should say something. If his feelings for her progressed at the rate they had been for the past week, he was going to have trouble walking away from her when the time came to leave. He needed to nip this in the bud. The sooner the better.

When there was a lull in the conversation, he jumped on it.

“I’ve been wanting to tell you something,” he began hesitantly. “But I’m worried it might sound a bit weird.” Or possibly quite presumptuous. Maybe she wouldn’t even care about him leaving.

“What is it?”

He scratched at his temple, then reached into his pocket when his phone began to vibrate.

“Sorry,” he muttered as he stared at his phone.

“Do you need to answer it?” Keira asked.

He shook his head. “No. I’ll call back later.” As the call went to voicemail, he set the phone on the table. “What was I saying?”

“You wanted to tell me something.”

“Oh. Yeah. It’s nothing really … um … ”

Keira’s smile was full of teasing as he tripped over his words. “You’ve switched to inarticulate mode again, like outside of the pub yesterday.”

“Hey!” He laughed indignantly. “I’ve been on a roll with putting sentences together this evening, don’t discourage me now.”

“Sorry. Do you need me to congratulate you when you manage to put words together in the correct order?”

“Praise where it’s due,” he said, his eyes drifting to his phone, which lit up with a message notification. Then another and another.

“You don’t have to ignore it on my account,” Keira said. “It might be important.”

“I doubt it.'' He picked the phone up anyway.

There was a confusing moment as his eyes scanned the message where his brain couldn’t comprehend why he was also hearing it out loud. Until his eyes snapped up to Keira, who was leaning across the table.

“Seren says you're on a date,” she said, her eyes on the phone as she read the message. “I don’t believe it for a second. Photo evidence or it’s not true.”

“You read my message!” Noah said, blinking rapidly.