‘We could,’ Issy agreed. ‘Or Kat could invite us over for a housewarming party.’
‘What’s this now?’ Chloe’s head swivelled so quickly towards her, Kat was surprised she didn’t pull a muscle.
‘It’s no big deal,’ Kat said, keeping her voice casual as she tried once again to locate her coat. ‘I’m just swapping out one spare room for another and moving across the street from Issy’s into Harry’s place.’
‘You’re moving in with Harry?’ Chloe gaped at her. ‘As in my annoying idiot of a cousin, Harry?’
‘He’s not that bad!’ Kat’s giggle turned into a sigh of relief as she finally spotted the familiar fur lining of her hood. She yanked her coat out of the pile and dropped it at her feet before scrabbling back in the pile and tugging out Harry’s jacket. ‘You’re just biased against him because you’re related to him.’
‘You’re just deluded about him because you’renotrelated to him,’ Chloe countered. ‘The only thing worse than living with him would be moving in with my brother and Ed!’
Kat shuddered. She could still remember the time Matt and Ed had hosted a games night at their cottage and had sprayed the entire place with Febreze in lieu of actually doing any cleaning. It had taken ages to dispel the sickly-sweet taste of it from the back of her throat. ‘It won’t be that bad, surely?’
‘It won’t be bad at all.’ Harry’s deep voice startled them all. ‘Chloe’s forgetting I lived with Ma and Pa so I am fully house-trained.’
He turned to Kat and the smile he shot her was enough to make her knees wobble just a little. Enough! She really needed to get a grip before this silly crush got out of hand. She thrust his coat at him. ‘Here you go.’
‘Thanks.’ He shot her that mega-watt smile again as he shoved his arm in one sleeve. ‘Plus there’ll be a never-ending supply of leftovers from the restaurant.’
‘Well, if I wasn’t sold before, I certainly am now,’ Kat said as she bent to scoop up her coat. Putting it on was the perfect excuse not to check if he was still smiling at her.
Never one to be put off for long, Chloe flicked her hair over her shoulder in a dismissive gesture. ‘Just don’t come crying to me when it all goes wrong.’
‘The thing I love the most about you, Chlo,’ Harry said as he slung an arm around his cousin’s shoulders, ‘is the way you always have my back.’
‘You’re welcome,’ she replied, blowing him a kiss. ‘Right, are we making a move, or what?’
‘Where’s your coat?’ Kat asked her.
Chloe glanced at the stacks of clothing and immediately reached for an emerald-green wool coat with black embroidery around the collar and cuffs. No boring black for her! ‘Here it is.’
‘I’ll go and round up the others,’ Harry said. ‘You wait here and Chloe can finish denigrating my character.’ He turned towards the kitchen before she could stop him.
‘I hope we haven’t upset him!’ Kat said with a groan. ‘Honestly, Chloe, I could wring your neck sometimes!’
‘What did I do?’ Chloe paused in the act of buttoning her coat to give Kat a wide-eyed look of surprised innocence. ‘Other than speak the truth. Unlike you, I know what these Penrose men are like – all farts and dirty socks everywhere.’ She pointed at Issy. ‘Ask her, she’ll tell you.’
‘Hey, don’t drag me into your nonsense,’ Issy protested. ‘Liam’s not like that.’
‘Only because he’s still trying to impress you. Give it another couple of months and you’ll be singing a different tune.’
Issy blew a raspberry. ‘You’re just jealous because you’ve not got anyone bringing you a cup of tea in bed every morning. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to find my fiancé. Oh my God, Ilovesaying that word!’ She skipped off with a grin.
Kat’s laugh was quickly stifled when she caught the hurt expression on Chloe’s face. Their lack of relationship success had long been a mutual bonding between the four of them, but with both Anya and Issy finding love, the dynamic within their group was changing. Seeing them both happy was wonderful, but it served to enhance Kat’s awareness of her own poor prospects and clearly she wasn’t the only one feeling it. ‘Hey, come on, Chlo, she was only joking.’
Chloe’s shoulders straightened as she plastered a smile across her face. ‘Of course she was. Come on, we need to get a wiggle on or we’ll be too late for the fireworks.’ Before she could stop her, Chloe had turned on her heel and walked off, almost colliding with a returning Harry.
‘What’s the matter with her?’ he asked with a frown.
Kat shook her head, not sure how or even if she wanted to explain. ‘She just wants to make sure we get to the seafront in time.’
‘I never knew she was that keen on fireworks. The one time our parents took us all to Port Petroc to watch them, she hated the noise and covered her ears.’ He took a step closer and surprised Kat by reaching for the bottom of the zip on her coat. ‘We don’t want you getting cold again.’
‘I can do that.’ She reached down but he gently brushed her hands aside and returned to his self-appointed task. It was the silliest, simplest thing, but it was an act of caretakingnonetheless. Like the way he’d insisted on cooking for her earlier. It was yet more proof he wasn’t the man she’d always assumed him to be.‘Are you sure that’s the only reason he’s asked you?’Could Issy have had a point after all?Kat stared down at the top of his head, wishing she was a mind reader while he fiddled with the two ends, oblivious to her turmoil.
‘Bloody stupid thing,’ he muttered before letting out a small cry of triumph as he finally connected the zip and slid it closed all the way up to her chin. ‘There you go.’ Was it her imagination or did his knuckles brush her skin for a moment? What if Issy was right and Harry had an ulterior motive for asking her to move in?
Oh, God, what if he had a crush on her, too?
