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“Hmm. That’s an idea.” I heard the bells on the door jangle. “Oh. Gotta go. Text me or something. Okay? Bye.”
I shook my head and switched back to the radio. So much for talking to Megan about the fact that I was poised to be her sister-in-law.
Oh well, we had time.
And now that I thought about it, I liked the idea of springing it on her when I had a ring.
I pulled into my parking spot and cut the engine. I grabbed my things and pushed open the car door. I saw Austin pulling into a visitor spot nearby and gave him a quick wave as I headed inside.
Charles and Ada greeted me at the door. Their bells jingled cheerily as they followed me to the bedroom. I changed out of the skirt and blouse I’d worn to school and into dark jeans and a nice shirt. Maybe I should have stuck with dressier, but I was ready to be in comfortable clothes. Most afternoons, I got home and changed straight into pajamas.
Most afternoons, I hadn’t just gotten engaged.
I grinned and scooped up Ada, who was doing her best to make life challenging by winding through my legs. “Austin asked me to marry him. What do you think about that?”
Ada didn’t answer, but I liked to think she approved.
We’d obviously live in Austin’s townhouse after we got married. Wouldn’t we? The cats would like it there—more room to scamper. More places to hide.
Would Megan mind? Would she want to live in my apartment? I’d renewed my lease in January and they had pretty stiff terms for breaking it.
When would we get married?
There were a lot of questions to answer, and maybe I shouldn’t be worried about them right now. Maybe I was supposed to be basking in the glow of my shiny new ring for a few days—weeks?—before getting caught up in the next steps.
Except what I was most excited about was starting my life with Austin.
It felt like I’d been waiting on that most of my life.
I slid back into my flats and headed toward the kitchen. “I’ll get your dinner out for you. I know it’s early, but you don’t have to eat this minute. You can wait until you’re hungry.”
I glanced at Charles and chuckled. “You’re always hungry. But I’m feeding you, so don’t expect a second dinner when I get back. Got it?”
He meowed innocently. I didn’t buy it.
I scooped kibble into their bowls, checked their water, and, satisfied, ran my hands over both of their furry backs.
“Be good, okay? I’ll be back in a bit. With a new sparkly for you to admire.” I grinned as I hooked my purse over my shoulder. I locked the door behind me and hurried down to the parking area.
Austin was waiting in the lobby.
My mouth watered at the sight of him leaning, like he didn’t have a care in the world, against the wall by the door.
He pushed off and pulled his hands out of his pockets as I approached. “Ready? I was going to come up, but then figured I might miss you if you took the elevator.”
“I’m ready.” And, unaccountably, nervous. But he didn’t need to know that.
“Did you call Megan?” He took my hand as we passed through the doors and out into the parking lot. The spring air carried hints of the river on its breeze.
“I did.” He knew me too well. “But she was on a tear and I couldn’t get a word in. Then someone came in so she hung up.”
Austin laughed. “Maybe we’ll stop by after we’re done.”
“My thoughts, exactly.” I squeezed his hand before letting go to climb in to the passenger side of his car when he opened it for me.
He shut the car door, then rounded the hood to his side and slid behind the wheel. “Dinner first?”
“It’s a little early?” Even considering the time it would take to get over to Tyson’s, I wasn’t going to be hungry for a while yet. And I really wanted our engagement to be ring-official.
