“Foreplay,” Bea whispered.
“Then we shared mango pancakes.”
Bea stared at her. “Youshareda plate? That’s three quarters minimum.”
Lillian sipped her coffee. “It felt like…zero point six.”
Bea grinned. “So after three point six dates, have we unveiled the wordboyfriendyet?”
“No!” But she was biting her lip. “But he’s asked if we could.”
“And you’re going to say?”
“Maybe…yes?”
Bea held up her hand for a high-five. “Lils, I amsoproud of you.”
A companionable silence fell between them. They both stared across the road.
Outside the window, the apartment building sat like it, too, was waiting for them to say yes. It looked like the perfect building to begin.
“We should…maybe ask the realtor to hold it?” Lillian suggested.
Bea nodded, her smile tight. “Yeah. Just until we’re sure.”
The low hum of the Aston filled the space between them. City lights slid across the windscreen as Gage turned onto the boulevard, one hand steady on the wheel. They were on their way to Naomi’s opening night.
Bea shifted slightly in her seat, smoothing the hem of her dress over her knee. “Do you remember how St. Ives approved the off-campus accommodation request for Lillian and me?”
His eyes didn’t leave the road. “Yeah.”
“We found a place in Northgate today,” she added. “It’s perfect. There’s this amazing bakery across the road. The current tenants leave late November and we could move in early to mid-December.”
He paused. Glanced at her, then nodded once. “I’ll book packers for you both.”
“Movers would probably be fine.”
“You’ll have too much going on with finals. Packers can get done in one afternoon what you’d take days to do.”
That was true. It would be a relief to outsource one thing from her ever-increasing to-do list for that part of the year.
“Early to mid-December makes sense.” Gage merged into the faster lane. “I’ll likely need to move first anyway. I thought I could delay until late January, but London’s pushing for an earlier start.”
“How early?” she asked.
“Second of January.”
She looked out the window. “That is early.”
“There’s a boutique firm in London,” Gage said after a beat. “Not female-run like Monaghan and Stowe, but a lean operation. Everyone gets pulled into the real work.” His voice was even, almost idle. “I think you’d thrive there.”
Bea turned toward him.
“I could ask Victoria to set up a coffee with the founder. If you’re interested.”
The lights of Southgate were coming into view in the distance.
“Sure. That sounds good.”
