He nodded. "If you give me a ride, then you can say it." She smiled as she led him back toward her car.
"Whoa," he said, sliding inside. "Now this is a car."
"Same car he drove when I was in high school"
"Does it bring back memories of driver's ed.?"
"Almost." She turned the key in the ignition, causing the engine to spin to life. "Where do you live?" she asked, backing the car out of the space.
"Not very far from here. Off of State Circle. On Michigan Avenue."
"Apartment?" she asked, effortlessly steering the car through what must have been at least eight inches of powdery snow.
"Is that where you'd think I'd live?"
"Well," she said, smiling, "I would've said yes, but I can tell from the way you asked that you live in a house. Dont you?"
"Very perceptive, Holmes."
"Thank you, Dr. Watson… or Hoffman, as the case may be." He smiled at her. A friendly smile, she decided. But not an "interested" smile. She made a left-hand turn onto Michigan Avenue.
"It's this house up here on the right," he said pointing to a two-story colonial. Nice, but not ostentatious. It was a family house, not the type of house she expected him to have. She thought he'd have something a little flashier, showier.
"It's nice," she said simply.
"It's a little big for me right now. I haven't done much with it since I bought it"
She pulled up in front of his house and stopped. Before he could open the door she blurted out, "About earlier. I'm sorry if I seemed a little… forward."
He put his hand on the door handle and hesitated. "What? I was just about to apologize to you."
"For what?" she asked, surprised.
"Well, I… I damned near kissed you on the ice."
"You did?" she asked hopefully.
"I, well, do you…" He hesitated for a split second. "Would you like to come in for a cup of coffee or tea? Actually, I could use your opinion on something. A couple of holiday decorations I bought for the yard."
Kim checked her watch, playing it cool.
"And I'd also like you to meet Geena."
"Geena? "
"My dog."
Kim nodded. Of course. His dog. "Um, sure," she said, turning off the car. As soon as she stepped outside she realized that she was going to have to walk through quite a bit of unshoveled snow. Her little flats—or what was left of them—would be finished off. Oh, well, she thought. All for a good cause.
Kim followed Tony to the house, trying to step into the imprints of his shoes. When he opened the door a golden retriever stood in front of them, wagging her tail in greeting.
"Hey, sweetie," Tony said, bending down to greet his pet. "This is Kim."
Kim leaned over and patted the dog. "She's adorable."
"Thank you," Tony said, glancing at Kim's feet. "Your shoes are soaked," he said.
"It's no problem," she said, stomping her feet on the welcome mat.