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It was hard to tell with the rapid changes of light as well as how swollen her face was, but I swore she looked a bit disappointed. “I suppose so, yeah.”

“In that case, since we’re no longer in business, would you like to go on a date? And by that, I mean a proper one, with flowers and everything.”

Her responding smile was so bright, and her lip split again. “Do you mean it?”

“More than anything,” I answered, and I was comforted by the fact that even though I wasn’t being suave or eloquent, she could see my emotions and whatever picture they painted for her.

“I thought you’d never ask!”

Chapter 24

Cheribelle

Triple 5000 Ollie Lux a Deux

I was sonervous I could eat a sock.

Except that would be a textural nightmare, so maybe not.

Breathe in, breathe out.

Is my outfit okay?

Wait, did I take my medicine?OMG! A date, a date, a date!

Does my outfit look all right?

Am I dressed too casual?

Will he think I’m not taking this seriously?

Am I dressed too formal?

Will he think I’m being a poser?

I’m twenty-six and he’s in his thirties, both of us are too old to be posers.

But not too old for cringe!

Very helpful.

I glanced at the time on my phone again, sure that at least an hour had passed since the last time I checked, only to see that it had only been ten whole minutes.

Damn it!

Full of all sorts of nervous energy, I began to pace, then stopped myself because I didn’t want to work up a sweat and ruin my makeup.

“Mrrrrow?”

“I know, I know, my pacing makes you nervous,” I told Hudson, who was winding around my feet. IfIwas a tiny, eight-pound thing and two of those pounds were just fur, I wouldn’t be cozying up to a giant stomping around with essentially knives strapped to their shoes.

“Mrrp!”

“You’re right, I should save my feet.”

Although I had a collection of high heels, I rarely wore them, so I’d break a pair out for my first date in… God, how long was it?

At least a couple of years. And a few of those felt like they were contained within the past week.