Page 47 of Sit, Stay, Love
Her chest tightened. ‘Oh. Um. Can I take a raincheck? I’ve got changes to make to my cremation urn copy. But I’ll see you a bit later, okay? With the cats.’
‘Sure thing. No worries.’
She hit end and scrunched up her nose. The cremation urn copy didn’t need changes. At least not tonight. Why had she said that?
When her phone rang again, she grizzled. ‘Hello?’ she snapped.
‘Hello to you too,’ Ethan said cheerfully.
‘Sorry. I’ve had a morning. What’s up?’
‘I wanted to thank you for yesterday. I had a good day. It was really good. I went home feeling… well… good.’
She laughed. ‘That’s… good?’
‘Okay, okay. I’m not very articulate first thing. Anyway, what are you up to?’
‘I have a bunch of newborn kittens, a traumatised mother cat and a case of the bad moods.’
‘I’m guessing you’re not up for a walk down the beach with me and Buffy then?’
‘Look at you, instigating dog walks.’
‘Are you proud of me?’
She smiled to herself. ‘I am proud of you. But I’m sorry, I really can’t.’
‘How about dinner then? I’ll cook for you. I’m a surprisingly good cook.’
She chewed on her cheek. She’d just said no to dinner with Toby. Could she now say yes to Ethan?That would be a pretty shitty move.
‘I shouldn’t,’ she said. ‘I’ve got a bit on.’
‘I’ll make it an early dinner. You’ll be home before you know it. You can bring Buffy if you like.’
‘I don’t know.’ She turned down her driveway, pulled up in front of her house and switched off the engine. ‘Hey, guess what I watched last night?’ she said, deliberately changing the subject. ‘One of theThrone of Kingsmovies.’
‘Yeah? Which one?’
‘The third one.’
‘The one with the nude river swim?’
‘Oh um. I think so. Yeah. That one.’ She inwardly cringed.
‘So now you’ve seen me naked. Seems you know all my secrets.’
‘Not all your secrets,’ she said. ‘It was only your arse.’ She gasped. ‘I didn’t mean… oh my god. I totally didn’t mean that how it came out.’
‘Not all my secrets?’ He laughed. ‘I guess not.’
Sera wanted the earth to open and swallow her up. ‘Ethan. I’m so sorry. I honestly didn’t… and that was… I’m sorry. It was inappropriate. I’m working for you.’
His laughter stopped. ‘With me, Sera. You’re workingwithme. And don’t worry, I won’t dob you in to Human Resources.’
She chuckled. ‘Thank you. And I’m home, so I’d better go before I end up with both feet in my mouth.’
‘And what about dinner? You’ve got to eat something other than your feet.’
