Chapter 66
CHAPTER 66
S o far, she and Kent had only met out and about, and while he had dropped her at her house a couple of times, she had never invited him in, and he had never asked to come inside. They had somehow found an unspoken rule that neither of them would push things. But when they finished their drinks at the Queen’s Head, something told her it was the night she was going to ask him if he wanted to stay.
Of course, it wasn’t like they’d been dating that long—not in the grand scheme of things. It had only been a week, but it had been a week in which they’d spent every spare moment together. Dates she’d been on before had lasted a couple of hours at most and if she was really into the guy, she might see him twice in one week, though that had only happened once since the breakup with Robert.
With Kent, they had been staying together until the bars and pubs kicked them out, and that night wasn’t any different. Seven days with a minimum of five hours a day together was essentially the same as seeing a guy for two months. And that was what it felt like to her. Like they had been together for months.
Once again, Gemma was wearing his jacket, and as they walked down towards her house, she considered how she would ask him in. She would have to ask him. She knew that. There was no way he would ask. Yet when they reached her front door, Kent’s phone started ringing. When he pulled it out of his pocket, a deep shadow clouded his expression.
“I’m sorry,” he said to Gemma. “I’m going to have to get this. I’ll see you at work tomorrow.”
“Oh, okay, yes, sure,” Gemma said.
She reached up to kiss him goodbye, but he had already turned his head and was walking the other way with his phone pressed against his ear. It was a strange reaction for sure, Gemma thought, as he walked away without a backward glance. The disappointment was like a pain in her gut. For a split second she considered calling out to him, just so she got the goodbye kiss she had grown used to, but then that felt childish. It wasn’t like he had known she was planning on inviting him inside, after all. And it wasn’t as if they had to rush things. They had plenty of time to get to know each other.
As Gemma walked into her kitchen, she switched on the kettle and let out a long sigh. The more time they spent together, the harder she was finding it to deny the way she felt. Despite all the boundaries she had put up with Robert, she was falling in love. And it felt easy. It felt right because she was sure he felt the same. This was the real thing. Tonight with the phone call was just a little blip, wasn’t it?