16
Kit
“Well,”I said as we stood in front of my parent’s London home. I’d always liked this place, just across the street from Regent’s Park. Far enough away from the city center to be quiet, close enough to have all the convenience of inner-city living, and there was a tree outside my bedroom where squirrels and magpies had often come to visit.
For all that I’d had a lonely childhood, there were happy memories here. Memories of walking the family dog with Father, or trying and failing to fly a kite but coming home covered in mud and grinning anyway.
Memories of long summers sitting under a shade tree and reading something that took me to a far-off place.
It wasn’tallbad, and I wanted to share the good with Andy.
“This is, umm. It,” I finished eventually, looking up at the door, fiddling with the key I’d always kept for the place.
“Which floor?” Andy asked.
“Oh, uh. All, umm. Of them,” I said, looking down at my feet, embarrassed once again by what Andy could clearly tell was wealth so far beyond his experience I might as well have taken him to Mars.
“There arefour,” Andy said.
“Yes. Well. The top windows are attic space, the ceilings are too low to really use it as a room. Although I did always enjoy hiding up there as a child, among the antiques Father hadn’t sent down to the hall yet.”
“Okay,” Andy said, taking a deep breath. “Still not used to this.”
“Let’s drop our bags off inside, and you won’t have to think about it until later,” I offered, stepping forward to unlock the front door.
Andy looked around the surprisingly light-filled space with obvious interest, taking in the details one by one as I led him up the stairs and into my childhood bedroom on the floor beneath the attic, which remained untouched since the last time I’d lived here, nearly a decade ago.
“Is that a Doctor Who poster?” he asked, making a beeline for what was absolutely a Doctor Who poster.
My teenage imagination had gotten a lot of mileage out of the fantasy of David Tennant appearing in a police box in my bedroom and offering to take me away on an adventure.
I scratched the back of my neck as Andy looked around, wonder in his eyes. “Oh my gosh,” he said, delighted. “I could spend weeks in here finding out all about baby Kit.”
That was somewhere between horrifying and incredibly flattering. The idea that Andywantedto know all about me made my insides flutter, but the thought that he might actuallydoit made me clench involuntarily.
“Umm. But obviously I’ll let you keep your privacy,” he said, turning to look at me with big, soft, apologetic eyes. “I know it’s important to you.”
My nerves evaporated instantly. This wasAndy. For reasons I didn’t entirely understand, he liked me.
“I promised you I was an open book,” I said. “I don’t mind you knowing who I fancied when I was a teenager.”
“Fancied,” Andy repeated, eyes lighting up again. “Did youfancyme, Kit?”
“Not when I was a teenager,” I said, rubbing the back of my neck.
“More recently?” Andy asked, stepping toward me so there was only the barest gap between us.
“From the moment we met,” I confessed. “You’ve been all my heart wanted from the moment we met.”
That was vastly too much of a confession to make, too soon into this fragile new thing between us. I might easily have scared Andy off for good.
But instead of looking alarmed, his face softened.
“Hey,” Andy murmured, splaying his hand over my chest as he leaned in. “Me too.”
My fingers curled around the edge of his coat as he kissed me, a giddy rush of happiness making me whimper into his gorgeous, perfect mouth.
Andy’s hand slid up to my neck, thumb stroking under my jaw, a happy sound vibrating in his chest. He kissed like we had all the time in the world, like he would have been content to stand here until New Year’s kissing me without so much as a pause for breath.
