Chapter Fifteen
WE RETURN TO THE PT Cruiser, and as usual, all heaters go on blast, with a local radio station playing only the most generic Christmas music selections.
Not to brag, but my car has seat warmers. And a heated steering wheel. In case you want me to drive next time, I mention as we drive back into town to retrieve my vehicle.
Right, that’s just showing off, he says. But I guess it’s something to aspire to. When he parks near my car, we sit there for a moment or two, neither of us sure what to do next.
I should go home and feed Steven, I say, finally unbuckling my seat belt.
Steven is…your cat, yes?
Yes. A cat I found in a Toronto alleyway that I initially thought was a raccoon, I explain. He followed me for a very long while before I gave up and brought him home. Are you alright with cats?
I like them fine, but they never like me, he says. I mean, they don’t dislike me, either. I lived with a roommate for two years, and in that entire time, I don’t think their tabby ever made direct eye contact with me.
I’d love to tell you that Steven would be different, but he’d likely be jealous and weird about you.
Such is my fate.
Thanks for the fries, I say. And for everything. I’ll see you tomorrow…as Boss Kate.
I do like Boss Kate, he says. She gets things done.
I sigh. She sure does.
Is…Boss Kate in the car with us now?
I look over at him, and he’s got a hopeful, sly little smile.
Not presently. I move away from the door and closer to him.
Our cheeks are warm and rosy from being outside, and I feel like a giddy teenager.
It’s an absurd setting for a first kiss: he’s in his ridiculous coat, and we’re parked on the side of a street in the most ridiculous vehicle, but I decide then and there that I will not let this go the same way as the sauna.
So when his gloved hand softly lifts my chin, I close the distance.
If he’s surprised, he takes it in stride, and his other hand gently wraps in my snow-dampened hair.
He kisses me softly, and I’m suddenly glad it didn’t work out back in the sauna.
Would it have been sexy? Absolutely. But it would have happened too much, too fast, and risked feeling like a mistake afterward.
This feels exactly right. For a few moments, I have absolutely lost sight of where I am and anything that exists outside the confines of the purple PT Cruiser, and when we break away, I’m startled to remember that people exist outside, and the radio is still playing, and the full-blast heaters are, in fact, responsible for the car being a thousand degrees, not just the kiss.
Steven is going to hate you, I whisper. But you’ll have to come over sometime to find out for sure. After this workweek, I add.
I look forward to giving Steven some friendly competition, he says. After the workweek.