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He turned to head back in, and Nisa stood straight again, coming over to me and putting her arms around my waist. I held the back of her neck, stroking a stray strand of hair away from her face with my other hand. “Happy?”

She nodded, her face tipped up and open. “Very much. Thank you for recommending Greg to me.”

Christ, she was gorgeous. “No problem.” I shifted my hand to brush my thumb over her bottom lip, taking in the flare of heat in her eyes. My heart beat a little harder in my chest and I was about to kiss her again when Greg cleared his throat behind us.

“Sorry,” he said with a wince. “Here’s the machine.”

Nisa disentangled herself from me, cheeks flushed, and pulled out her card to complete the payment.

“Nice doing business with you,” Greg said. He eyed the two of us. “Perhaps we could have you guys over for dinner sometime?”

I looked at Nisa, not wanting to assume that she’d be up for the idea, but she was nodding enthusiastically. “Yes, please!” She glanced at me. “As long as that’s all right with you?”

I slid an arm around her shoulders. “Of course.”

We stood staring at each other for a couple of seconds as I remembered how soft her lips were under mine and how she’d tasted, and I wondered if she was thinking along the same lines. Something in her eyes told me that she was.

“Anyway . . .” Greg said, taking a couple of steps back. “I’ll see you later.” He continued to back off, sending me a shit-​eating grin, and I covertly flipped him the finger from my other side.

Once he was safely ensconced inside his house with Lynn, I turned to Nisa and placed my other arm around her waist. “Now, where were we?”

She smiled, rising up onto her tiptoes, and I took the invite to claim her mouth again. Her lips were pillowy soft, still warm despite the frigid temperature, her tongue sweet as it answered mine. The blood zipped faster through my veins, warming every extremity, pulsing deep into my belly and making me strain against my jeans. It seemed that kissing Nisa always had the same effect on me.

We broke off, foreheads resting together. “When can I see you again?” I asked, feeling as if I couldn’t catch my breath.

She tipped her face up. “Whenever you like.”

I smiled, my face heating. “It’s the official town lights switch-on on December first, which is Wednesday night. Want to be my date for it?”

Her eyes widened in excitement. “Yes, please! I’m on an early shift that day so I’ll be free.”

The switch-on was just after nightfall, at four p.m.

“We could walk into town and get a mulled wine?” I suggested, stroking her cheek.

“Sounds perfect,” she said, lifting herself up to give me another soft kiss. “I’ll see you then.”

I released her and watched as she walked to her car, climbed in, and started the engine. Then I got into my car, staying behind her on the way home to ensure she reached the destination safely before heading to Aileen’s to pick up Dave the dog. Not that I didn’t trust Greg’s workmanship; it just seemed that when it came to Nisa, I was driven to protect her—​the same way that she herself protected all her family, friends, and patients.

24

Nisa

I WASN’T NORMALLY one to deliberate over what to wear for an evening out, especially at this time of year when it didn’t matter how nice or how shite your outfit was because it was bundled under a million warm winter layers and a big thick coat.

However, tonight was different. Kerr and I were going out on an actual date. It could be said that our meet-​ups so far didn’t exactly qualify, because we’d only defined them as hanging out. But this time he’d actually used the word date when he’d asked me. And I hadn’t been on a date in . . . I don’t know how many years.

I didn’t want to wear anything too shabby under my coat just in case there was any hanging out after the lights switch-on. I was hoping that Kerr might come back to my place afterward. So I put on my best pair of black skinny jeans and a sparkly baby-​pink jumper that made me look like a glittery cloud of cotton candy. I turned to where Izzy was sitting on my bed, curled up and eyeing me with a sleepy expression. “What do you think, Iz?”

She meowed, and I took that as a sign of approval, even though she was probably just saying, Hurry up and get downstairs, woman, so you can give me my supper.

For good measure, I had chosen my lucky bra and panties to wear underneath. Lucky because maybe, deep down, I was hoping to get lucky. This was a thought that I would have been mortified at myself for thinking just a couple of weeks ago, but Kerr Murdoch was the sexiest man I had ever encountered. And I could now admit to myself that he always had been—​I just hadn’t been in a position to acknowledge it before because (a) I had been married, and (b) he had been my mortal enemy.

Where the hell had he learned to kiss like that? It was as if he’d graduated from kissing university with first-​class honors. His kissing résumé must boast stellar references. When his lips met mine it was as if the world around us was blown away by a starlight so dazzling that it heated my blood to a thousand degrees and sent my pulse throbbing into every nerve ending.

One thing was for sure: I was planning on kissing him a lot more tonight.

Finally dressed, I made my way downstairs with Izzy trotting along behind me, meowing insistently in a manner that was definitely chastising me for taking too long to get changed when she wanted her food.