Chapter Twenty
Kivi
Kivi had expected the first meeting with Saskia since their almost-kiss to have been awkward.
After all, she herself was the Queen of Awkward Interactions, and the more she got to know Saskia, the more the realised that the other woman should probably be the second-in-line.
A veritable Princess of Awkward Interactions.
Wait – no, that would imply that she was your child. NOT appropriate, considering the fact that you’re physically attracted to her.
‘Physically attracted.’ That was an understatement.
She… how was it that Eva had put it that morning after their almost-kiss…
she ‘fancied the pants off’ the hot, intimidating journalist. So much so, she hadn’t been able to focus on the rest of her morning’s work because her body was so charged up with endorphins.
It had taken a long, brisk walk with Toto to calm her down again.
And that was just from standing close to her!
God only knew what an actual kiss would have done.
Blown the top of her head off, probably.
She didn’t need to experience it to know what a kiss with Saskia would be like. Warm, and soft, so unbelievably soft… and warm, and soft, and warm…
The oven timer beeped, as if to bring her back down to Earth.
As she pulled the individual cottage pies out of the oven and placed them on hot plates, she forced herself to accept reality.
Saskia was probably straight. She certainly would never ping somebody’s gaydar.
Kivi would never again make the mistake of assuming that somebody batted for her side – kissing a stranger up against the wall of a pub, years ago, and being rejected, had put her off for life.
These days, if she made any moves (and she seldom did), it was only after ascertaining a woman’s Sapphic inclinations.
She wasn’t the barrier-breaking whirlwind she had once been.
All of this meant that there was no real chance of kissing Saskia. If Kivi tried, she had no doubt that the beautiful redhead would reject her. An expression of disgust would melt over her face, her hands would push at Kivi’s shoulders, and she’d say something cutting, like-
“Ow! Jesus Christ!”
Kivi dropped the plate she was holding with a crash. She had been so occupied in her gloomy daydream that she’d forgotten it was red-hot. Luckily, there had been nothing on it except the side salad, but the plate itself was now in shards on the floor.
“Everything all right?” Saskia appeared in the doorway. For a split-second, Kivi pictured herself in this moment through Saskia’s eyes: dishevelled, nursing her burnt hand, and covered in salad leaves.
“Yeah, I just dropped the ffff—” Other customers were about. “-fffflipping plate. Burnt my hand.”
“Come here,” Saskia said, and took three confident strides forward until she was standing in front of Kivi. Without any hesitation, she grabbed Kivi’s hand, and turned it this way and that, inspecting it with narrowed eyes.
Kivi almost forgot how to breathe.
When she saw the red mark on the soft pad of skin between Kivi’s index finger and thumb, Saskia pulled her towards the handwashing sink, turned the tap on cold and stuck Kivi’s hand under it.
“Ten minutes,” she said. “Then cling-film it.”
“I know,” Kivi said. “I’m a qualified first-aider. I just need to get the food on the tables, and then I’ll do that.”
“Stay there,” Saskia commanded. She picked up two tea-towels, one in each hand, then picked up two plates, using the towel as a makeshift oven glove. “One per person, yes? All the same?”
“Yes, but – you can’t do it – Saskia!”
In a flurry of red hair and green blouse, Saskia was gone. She made several return trips, steadfastly ignoring Kivi’s protests from her position at the sink, and only paid her any sort of heed when the final plate was gone and the towels hanging back up where they had been.
“How’s this hand looking now?”
“Saskia. You really didn’t need to do that. I was perfectly capable!”
“I waitressed at uni.” The woman shrugged. “I am also perfectly capable. Our teamwork need not be restricted to wedding planning.”
Kivi’s mind immediately went to a different kind of teamwork, and she set her jaw. Bad brain, bad, BAD brain.
Saskia must have interpreted this as an expression of stubbornness, because she set her jaw in return.
“I don’t want to have to fall out with you twice in the space of twenty-four hours, but I will not let you jeopardise your safety just for the sake of duty.
Where’s Eva? Doesn’t she help you with the waitressing? ”
“No, just the daytime stuff,” Kivi managed. Her brain was still trying to steer itself off-track. “She’s at the florist tonight. Helping Anastasia… count petals or something.”
“Sounds thrilling,” Saskia said dryly. “Well, consider me your extra set of hands. What do you need me to do? Since you’re one hand down at the moment?”
“You can help me cling-film this burn,” Kivi sighed, giving in.
Saskia had such a forceful nature, it was impossible to resist. Within a few minutes, they had the burn expertly wrapped, and they were holding up a stream of steady, inoffensive chatter while they wiped down the surfaces and loaded the dishwasher ready for the plates.
“Good job Toto’s not in here now,” Kivi said at one point.
“He always senses when something’s wrong.
The headmistress, Anastasia’s girlfriend, badly injured her back last year.
We bumped into them out walking several months later, and he wouldn’t leave Miss Berry alone.
Kept going around behind her and whining.
After a while, she admitted that her back was hurting.
He could sense it, somehow. Even in someone with such a stiff upper lip, as she has. ”
“I’m very glad Toto’s not in here now,” Saskia remarked dryly. “If he’s anything like my ex’s French Bulldog, he’d have his nose in the dishwasher and be licking the plates. Aaron called it his pre-cycle rinse.”
“Oh, God,” Kivi said. “Absolutely not. Toto doesn’t do that. He wouldn’t dare. That’s disgusting.”
“I’m glad you agree,” Saskia said. “I loved that dog, more than I loved his owner in fact, but I drew the line there.”
“Is that why he’s an ex?” Kivi joked, despite the dejection filling the bottom of her stomach. Saskia had mentioned an ex, who was a male. Unless Aaron was actually Erin…
“Aaron had a lot of redeeming qualities, but let’s just say that he wanted more than I was willing to offer.”
Nope. Aaron. Male.
Piss.
Kivi moved the subject on before Saskia could ask her about any of her romantic liaisons. It helped that they were almost done.
It was only after Saskia had gone upstairs for the night that Kivi realised… she’d not eaten dinner at all.