It felt strange having him in her ap
artment.
“How was work? Are you fully recovered?”
“I’m tired, but doing okay. Thanks to you. I suspect my recovery wouldn’t have been so swift if you hadn’t been there making everything easy for me.” He took a silver decoration from her hand, his fingers brushing against hers. “I owe you dinner.”
“You don’t owe me anything.”
“Have you been on a date since you moved out of my apartment?”
She slid the decoration onto the tree. “It’s only been a week. Give me time.”
“In other words, no. I finish early tomorrow. I’ll pick you up at seven.”
“Ethan—”
“Don’t argue. I want to take you to dinner.”
The question “why” hovered on her lips, but she didn’t say it because she already knew the answer. He’d promised, and he was a man of his word. Knowing that, she decided it was better to go along with this and get it out of the way. Then both of them could get on with their lives, debt free. “Fine. Great. Dinner. Where do you want me to meet you?”
“I’ll pick you up.” He finished hanging the decorations and stepped back. “It’s looking good. Now all you need is gifts.”
“I have a whole heap of them ready to be wrapped.”
“Then you’re all ready for the holidays. Still planning to spend it alone?”
“I won’t be alone. Just not with my family. I’m cooking lunch for Glenys and I plan on going over to the animal shelter for a few hours to help out. They struggle to find people on Christmas Day.”
“The animal shelter?”
“I foster for them, and occasionally help out walking and socializing the animals.”
“Socializing?”
“Some of these animals haven’t had happy lives. It increases the likelihood of finding a forever family if they have some positive experiences with people.”
“And that’s the goal?” His gaze held hers. “Finding a forever family?”
Why was he looking at her like that?
And what had happened to her voice? It had been working perfectly fine a few moments earlier.
“Yes. We try and find good homes for them where they’re loved and wanted.”
And that, she thought, was exactly what she wanted for herself.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
THE RESTAURANT WAS COZY, warm and decorated for Christmas. Candles flickered in the center of the tables and fairy lights were strung around the low beams.
As Harriet slid into her seat by the window, she felt oddly nervous. She wasn’t sure she was going to be able to eat anything. This pretend date was turning out to be more stressful than a real date, and the reason was that this was the date she really wanted to be on.
The only one that had ever mattered.
Ethan Black was the first man in a long time she’d been excited to spend time with.
She’d spent close to an hour making her hair smooth and applying makeup that was hopefully going to look as if she hadn’t tried too hard.