“There’s my number,” she said.
“What—” He broke off, no doubt felt the buzz of the text she sent him “Oh.”
“Consider it supervised release.”
He laughed, a loud guffaw that resounded through the door and warmed her heart.
“Goodnight, Garret.”
“Goodnight, sweetheart.”
She heard his footsteps as he crossed the porch and made his way down the steps. Then listened to the slam of the car door and the rev of the engine as it started up. Kay was just starting to shrug out of her coat when her cell buzzed.
Look in your right coat pocket.
“What?”
Her hand darted down, felt something hard and rectangular and—
She pulled out a book.
The book.
She opened it, surprised when a note fell out. Scooping it up from the floor, she unfolded it and read:
Sorry I was late rescuing you. I had something really important I needed to bid on. Heather promised the other books would be delivered next week sometime. I figured you would want to keep this one safe.
-G
When had he found time to write her a note?
But then she smiled, remembered Garret talking to the kid at the coat check stand. He’d been there awhile, longer than it should have taken to just pick up her jacket.
Sneaky man.
Wonderful man.
She held the book to her chest as she typed out a text.
Thank you. So, so much. Then before he could reply, she added, I think you should be up to unsupervised release now.
His response made her laugh aloud.
Two months and twenty-nine days.
Chapter Seven
Garret, Two months and twenty-eight days later
He whistled as he hopped up the stairs leading to Kay’s house then softly knocked on the front door.
They’d fallen into a pleasant routine over the last few months. During the week, he’d pop over after work and they’d eat dinner together. On the weekends, they would hang out, walk around the city, go to the beach or see a movie. It was funny—in a crazy-because-it-felt-so-right-way rather than a funny-but-weird way—but since the night of the fundraiser they hadn’t gone a day without seeing each other.
Garret liked that. A lot.
In fact, he loved it.
He loved her.