He nodded. “Can I kiss you right now? Because I sure would like to kiss you.”

I could barely nod, and he put his hand to my cheek and slowly cupped my jaw. His thumb scraped along my scruff and he smiled before he leaned in real slow. It was that moment before the kiss, where you’re sure your heart will pop or your lungs will squeeze too hard, and the butterflies are in a flurry. That perfect pre-kiss moment, where he’s close enough that I can see just how beautiful his irises are, and the warmth of his palm on my cheek is keeping me from floating away. His lips, so close they almost touched mine, the barest hint of touch made me gasp, and my heart rate kicked it up a gear, and then he did it. He pressed his lips to mine, soft and warm and slightly open, and his other hand cupped my jaw, and he kissed me so perfectly, all I could do was melt into him.

The most perfect kiss.

He pulled away all too soon and I almost fell forward. He caught me and chuckled. “You okay?”

“I’m um… that was… wow,” I put my hand to my forehead, then took Hennessy’s hand, and sliding it inside my coat, I held it over my heart. “Can you feel that?”

My heart was hammering so goddamn fast he had to be able to feel it.

He sucked back a breath, his eyes grew dark and intense, his pink lips parted, and he nodded. “I can.”

“That’s what you do to me.”

He smiled then and leaned in again, pressing his lips to mine one more time. Chaste and sweet and so utterly perfect. “I’m so glad we’re on the same page,” he said, his hand still to my chest, he slid it up to my neck, his thumb tracing my cheekbone. “It’s a relief I can’t even describe.”

“Me too. Merry will be over the moon, and Angus will be pleased too. Though I will admit, he said if I found out today you weren’t into the same things as me, that we would spend all day tomorrow watching Pride and Prejudice, eating pizza, and drinking beer. And I’m not gonna lie, that sounded pretty damn good.”

Hennessy took my hand and we started to walk again. “There’s no reason we can’t do that.”

“Really? You would do that? Pride and Prejudice? I mean, I’m almost certain it bores Angus to tears, but he said he’d do it if it made me feel better.”

Now he laughed. “Well, Angus sounds like a helluva good friend, and yes I would totally watch it. I do prefer Colin Firth as Mr Darcy, though Matthew Macfadyen gets an honourable mention for his voice alone.”