And there it was.
Again, that flicker of something in his eyes as he stared at her. It wasn’t a glare, a frown, or something remotely encouraging. His eyes were intense, and it was a little overwhelming. He looked at her sometimes like… like he knew her, like he could see her in a way no one else could.
“I should go,” she said nervously, scrambling to her feet. “Thanks for the tea.”
“Thank you for coming over.”
It was on the tip of her tongue to say ‘I’m sorry again’ when she turned to look at him – only to realize he was right behind her, following her to the door. “I’m good. It’s a short walk home.”
“I know.”
“You don’t have to follow me.”
“I’m not.”
“Are we doing this weird thing again?”
“Does it have to be weird between us?”
Again – he was doing it, making it… special.
“Steffi?”
She started and looked up into his eyes once more, swallowing. Neither of them spoke as they stood there. She had the box containing the elegant shoes clutched to her chest, and he had an elbow against the wall over his head, leaning into it… leaning into her. He was so close that it was making her feel like a caged animal – or a woman.
“Drake?” she whispered, melting into his dark eyes as he stared at her.
“Yeah?”
“Thank you for everything – this, the tea, the shoes, the company – all of it.”
He seemed to want to say something, took a step toward her in the already crowded entryway where they were both standing much too close together, and then nodded… retreating into whatever shell that was there.
“You’re very welcome.”
And that was it.
He lowered his elbow and reached around her to open the front door, giving her space to leave, to escape. Steffi walked out the front door, clutching the box like a shield, and then looked back at him. He was watching her once more, waiting, and a part of her wanted to climb into his head, diving into that confusingmind to see what he was thinking right now, what made him tick… instead, she gave him a slight smile.
“Good night,” she whispered – and ran.
9
STEFFI
Something changed.
Steffi couldn’t put her finger on it, couldn’t tell what had happened, but there was a difference between them ever since they’d had tea together and talked about kettles.
Kettles.
A conversation about kettles had led to the sweetest text message from him that left her smiling last night. She’d heard a beep, rolled over to check her phone, and saw what could only be described as flirting.
Deep-field Winner
Dugout Wonder
Dusty Wonder
