Locked Down In Watch Hill : A Small Town Romance by Sara Celi & S. Celi

Author:Sara Celi & S. Celi [Celi , Sara & Celi , S.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Lowe Interactive Media, LLC
Published: 2021-02-28T18:00:00+00:00

SEVEN

ASHLEY

This wasn’t a date; it was a delivery.

How many times do I have to keep reminding myself of that fact?

Still, I was excited about it in the same way I’d previously been for dates, when I took for granted the usual rhythms of getting out and meeting people in the endless spiral that made up being single in the twenty-first century. Especially since this delivery also came on my birthday, a day that looked nothing like what I excepted. In fact, I’d spent some of the day moping, and feeling sorry for myself that I had to spend it alone.

But I wasn’t about to be totally alone.

And even though I couldn’t invite Kyle in, couldn’t ask him to stay for a drink, or suggest he hang out while we watched yet another round of streaming television, I could at least look decent when he showed up at my apartment.

That meant spending an inordinate amount of time on what I would wear to retrieve the takeout that Kyle was about to deliver. I finally settled on a part of black jogger Ponte pants, gray short-sleeved bodysuit, and lightweight red bomber jacket that could have doubled as a sweatshirt. Casual but fashionable in a I’m-not-trying-at-all kind of way. I styled my hair for the first time in weeks, then concentrated my efforts on my eye makeup, making sure the hazel in them popped against my sallow, vitamin D-deprived skin. By the time I slipped on my favorite pair of black velvet slippers, I had to admit I felt like me again.

Somewhat.

Kyle said he’d show up at seven, and he was right on time, ringing the buzzer to my apartment as the clock switched from 6:59 to 7:00. I slipped my mask on my face and took three deep breaths before I opened it.

“Hey there.” I stepped back from the doorway, making sure to maintain six feet of distance between myself and him. “Thanks for stopping by.”

Kyle stood on the opposite side of the door, his shoes not touching the woven mat I’d thrown across the threshold on the night I moved into the unit. “My pleasure.”

I glanced at the coffee carrier in his hands, the telltale font used by Already Perked scrawled across one side. “Oh my God, you got them.”

“I most certainly did. One for you”—he looked at the coffee cups— “and one for me.”

“I love their Mexicocoas. Even the thought of one of them is enough to make me salivate.”

“I haven’t ever tried one, but I figured now was a good a time as any.” Kyle picked up a small pastry bag from the other side of the carrier. The dark fabric of his Watch Hill Pizza mask muffled his next words. “Also picked up two spinach and asiago cheese croissants, because I don’t think fancy hot chocolate alone qualifies as a meal.”

“You’re right. It probably doesn’t.”

I glanced back at my living room. Here it was—the moment that I would normally invite him in, the second things would go from regular drop off to something more, and yet I couldn’t get there from here.

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