Page 30 of Flame Kissed
“Just to an Indian restaurant. Then I invited her upstairs.”
Her jaw dropped. “Hang on, you invited her upstairs!?”
“Yep, she stayed the night and the next. Oh, and she invited me to her place to meet her cat.”
“Is that a euphemism or…” she trailed off.
Adaze actually laughed. “No, she has a cat. His name is Jaspurr and he’s a sweetheart. Sheds like you wouldn’t believe.”
“You played with a cat? You?”
“Yes, me. Why is that so hard to believe?”
“I’ve just never seen you interact with an animal once in all our years together. I didn’t even know you liked animals.”
She rolled her eyes. “That doesn’t mean I don’t like animals. There’s just not a lot of time for them in my everyday life. What am I going to do? Get a pet?” She shook her head. “With the hours I work and the time I spend away from home I just don’t have time. Besides, all the phones and computers we share and you’ve never noticed the sheer amount of animal-based accounts on my social media?”
“I guess not.” Diana smiled, moving to sit near her. “Either way, I’m happy for you.”
Adaze didn’t say anything.
“Does this mean I can make a thing of it now?”
She sighed. “If I say no, will that actually stop you?”
“Of course not. You should know me better than that by now.”
“Then I don’t know why you even bother asking? Can we get some work done now or do we need to keep talking?”
She shrugged. “I suppose we have time to get a few things done.”
A week later, Leilani had invited her out to dinner to meet some of her friends and coworkers.
In some ways, Adaze felt even more anxious than she had for their first date. Now she knew what she had to lose.
She was still debating between her navy vest and her red vest when there was a knock at the door.
With her time up, it looked like she was stuck with the navy.
When she opened the door and saw Leilani, her anxiety melted away under the warmth of her smile.
“Hey,” she grinned.
“Hey,” Adaze echoed, pulling her in for a passionate kiss.
Leilani giggled against her lips. “I’ve missed you too, but if we don’t want to be late we really need to get going.”
“And we can’t be late?”
“Not this time, but I’ll make it up to you later.”
She took her hand and pulled her down to the familiar sight of her car. As they drove, Adaze could feel her palms beginning to sweat.
She’d have to avoid holding Leilani’s hand for longer than she’d like, but she didn’t want her to realize just how nervous she was.
Finally, they got to the restaurant, and Leilani turned to her with that bright smile. “Ready?”
“As long as you are. You sure it isn’t too early to start introducing me to everyone?”