Page 19 of Looking for Seth

"But this was nice, Menhit," he said.

I breathed out a sigh of relief, glad that he seemed a little less angry at me than he had before. "It was nice," I respond, wishing that the evening wasn't going to have to end.

Seth smiled at me and got to his feet. "Do you need a hand tidying up?"

I shook my head. "I can deal with it."

"If you're sure."

"I am. You shouldn't delay getting back to Tut." The last thing I wanted was for his dog to suffer.

He paused for a moment, as if there was more he wanted to add to the goodbye, but ended it with a semi-awkward wave before departing.

I let out a loud sigh. It was clear we had a long way still to go, but at least we'd managed to spend some time together and actually connect.

That was a step in the right direction. I just had to hope that our second date was even better.

Chapter 10

Seth

Tut barked and ran back and forth with an excited bounce in his step, as if he knew that this wasn't just a normal walk on the beach. I wasn't sure what it was that had made me invite Menhit today, perhaps just the realisation that I wanted to spend more time with her, but I wasn't quite ready to spend it in a more intimate setting.

Besides, this would give me a chance to see how Tut responded to her. And as they often said, that would tell someone all they needed to know about a potential partner.

Tut stopped pulling on his lead, but his tail started going faster. I looked in the direction his attention had fixated on, trying to work out the source of the distraction, only to have my breath stolen by the gorgeous woman walking towards me.

Menhit raised a hand and waved, seeming a little bit nervous despite the confidence she exuded. No doubt she was as unsure about this situation as I was and wanted to make sure our date went well.

"Hey," she said, coming to a stop beside me.

"Hi."

"This must be Tut," she said, crouching down in front of my dog. "I've heard a lot about you. Can I pat you?"

The dog just looked confused.

Menhit looked up at me, her eyes large and questioning. Something about seeing her in that position made my pulse race and made it difficult to think clearly. I cleared my throat. "Go ahead."

She reached out and ruffled Tut's head. "You're a handsome boy, did you know that?" He let out an excited whine and pushed his head into her hands, getting a hearty laugh from Menhit for his troubles. "I guess that's Tut's seal of approval sorted. Just yours to get."

I let out a small laugh. "Well, he's the boss."

"Ah, said like a true pet owner," she teased. "So, what are we doing? I brought a picnic like you suggested, but I didn't know beyond that."

"I thought we could take a walk down the beach and find somewhere to sit," I said. "If that's okay with you?"

She nodded. "It sounds good." She reached up and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, drawing my attention to her lips. It was going to be a long day if I kept finding myself distracted like this.

Then again, this was a date, we were supposed to have moments like this. And it wouldn't be unreasonable to think that it might end with a kiss at some point.

My pulse grew even faster at the idea, and I found myself distracted to the point of pain at the thought of pulling her body against mine and showing her what I thought of our chances of making this work.

But being physically attracted to her, and acting on it too quickly, wasn't going to create the foundation we needed, which was something I felt like we both needed to be better at remembering.

"Shall we?" Menhit asked, gesturing to the sand.

I nodded. "Do you mind if we walk close to the waves? Tut likes to chase them."