Page 57 of Never Date a Celebrity

“Oh my God. I can’t believe you’re here. You’re an eejit,” Imogen said, fondness pouring out of her despite all her efforts to keep a lid on it. Amy had literally walked through a storm to see her.

They stood there grinning at each other for several seconds like they’d forgotten anyone else existed until someone—Piper—cleared her throat loudly enough to snap Imogen out of it.

“Right.” Imogen laughed, suddenly aware of herself again. “Amy, you haven’t officially met my friends yet. This is Piper, and this is Niamh.”

“I haven’t, though I feel like I have from the way Imogen talks about you both. I’ve been looking forward to officially saying hi.” Even though her clothes were probably absolutely soaked through, Amy walked forward and greeted them both individually. “It’s so great to meet you,” she said with a genuine smile as she shook Piper’s hand. “I’d hug you, but you wouldn’t thank me for it right now.”

“It’s…it’s amazing to meet you.” Holy shit, was Piper blushing? So much for all her big talk. Imogen rolled her lips in and made a mental note to tease her at the earliest opportunity.

Niamh was much better at keeping her cool. “Really good to meet you, Amelia. Piper and I are both big fans of your work, though I’m sure people say that to you all the time.” Piper turned and gave Niamh a grateful look for rescuing their big moment. Imogen found it all much too entertaining.

Amy beamed. “Thank you. Don’t worry, hearing that never gets old. Who doesn’t love a compliment, am I right?”

“You so are,” Niamh said with obvious relief. Amy was good at putting people at ease. Imogen shouldn’t be surprised by that given how comfortable she had been with her from the start.

“I hope I didn’t interrupt you guys.” Amy turned back to Imogen. “I know you weren’t expecting me, so I can grab a chair and wait until you’re free. There’s no rush.”

Imogen scanned her gaze across the room. “Do I look not free to you?”

Amy looked around and laughed softly. “I guess so.” She ran her hand through her dripping wet hair again, pushing it back off her face.

Imogen frowned. “You must be foundered. We need to dry you off. Come on upstairs and I’ll grab you some fresh clothes.” Amy was a few inches shorter than she was, but a similar build. Imogen was sure she had stuff that would fit.

Amy looked down again at the outfit that was now clinging to her. Imogen knew it was clinging, because she had been trying very hard not to stare—not an easy feat. “Probably a good idea. I feel like I’m watering your floors everywhere I walk.”

“I’ve got a mop,” Piper shouted, and they all turned to look at her.

Imogen and Niamh exchanged a surreptitious look of amusement. When was Piper ever this awkward? “That you do,” Imogen said, and Piper looked like she either wanted to kill her or crawl into a hole and die. Probably a bit of both.

Amy, who was oblivious to Piper’s out of character lameness, gave her a smile of gratitude. “It was so nice to meet you both. Hopefully, I’ll get to talk to you a lot more when I’m not like a drowned rat.”

“Oh, you will. We have a million questions,” Niamh said. “About your work and your intentions with our Imogen.”

Imogen turned and shot her a look. What the hell? Because Piper had crumbled did Niamh think she had to step up and take on the role of embarrassing her? The look Niamh gave her back was defiant. Traitor.

Thankfully, Amy laughed it off. “And I’d be happy to answer any of them.”

Imogen shot Niamh another pointed look before leading Amy behind the bar and through the door to the stairway up to her apartment—safe from any interrogations.

When she closed the door behind them, Imogen took a quick walk around to check there was no rain pouring through the ceiling anywhere. Upon inspection, the roof fortunately seemed to be holding up, which was a relief. She scrambled through her bedroom drawers and picked out a pair of navy joggers and a long-sleeved T-shirt for Amy to wear, along with some socks because maybe Amy’s feet were wet too. She grabbed one of her favourite hoodies too in case Amy was cold. Imogen had been sensible enough to leave her heat on all day, so at least the apartment was nice and snug.

Amy was still standing in the one spot, looking around the living room when Imogen went back out to her. “Here, these should be okay for you.” She handed the folded pile over. “You can take a shower too if you want. There are fresh towels on the shelf. And there’s a hairdryer on the dresser in my room. Use whatever you want.”

Amy held up the clothes. “I’m sure a change of clothes will do fine. These are great, thank you.”

Were things more awkward between them now that they were alone? Perhaps it would pass soon and they would get back into their groove. Well, their new groove. “Have you eaten?” Imogen had originally planned to cook for them tonight, but obviously their plans had been cancelled, so she had nothing prepared. But she could still throw something together.

“I haven’t, but don’t go to any trouble.” Amy shifted her weight. Definitely awkward. “I probably didn’t think my surprise through properly. I feel like I’m putting you out.”

“You’re never putting me out by coming here,” Imogen replied softly, unable to stop herself and wanting to put Amy at ease. She hated the thought of Amy feeling uncomfortable around her. “It’s the best surprise. I was so bummed out when I had to cancel.”

Amy’s smile was worth the divulgence. “Well, you still don’t need to go to any effort to cook or anything. We can just hang out. Chat. Be friends.”

Like she was going to let Amy go hungry after her going to all the effort to get there. “I’m definitely going to feed you. I just need to work out what.”

“Got any bread?” Amy asked with a raise of her eyebrows.

Imogen glanced over to the kitchen. “Yes.”