I wasn’t ready to move in with him, and I wasn’t sure his fridge was ready for it, either. I’d only sully his lettuce leaves and lean chicken by making them live next to microwave lasagne and bottles of wine.

Did I say we weren’t a good match? What I meant to say was that we were the best match. We had to be, didn’t we? Because who else would want a couple of emotionally-stunted weirdos like us?

I was no Amazonian, sure, but he couldn’t intimidate me with all of his handsome tallness. Wait – strike that from your memory. I’ll rephrase my previous utterings to something more like … he couldn’t intimidate me with his irritating everything.

Meow,” he said. “You should take a peek outside.”“I will if you promise not to say meow again.”“Hey, I’m a cat. Cats say meow.”“No. Cats meow. Cats don’t say meow.”“Meow.” He held up a paw. “All right, all right.  It was just something I was trying out.

I glared at my familiar.  ‘You couldn’t have led with that?’He shrugged his little shoulders.  ‘I could have.  But then I wouldn’t have gotten to see your angry face.  I’ve grown rather fond of it.  I like the way your eyes get all small and slit-like.  How your nostrils flare.  How that steam comes out of your ears …’I picked him up and kissed his nose.  ‘I’m glad you like it, darling.  Because you’re going to be seeing my angry face for quite some time to come.

He took hold of my hand, his voice husky.  ‘You have been the most irritating intrusion into my life.  And honestly, I wouldn’t have it any other way.  You’ve forced me to stop feeling sorry for myself.  You’ve forced me to see things from other people’s point of view.  You’ve forced me to overlook the fact that you say criminy more than any person ever should.  Basically, you’ve forced me to be a less grumpy version of myself.

He gave me a sceptical look.  ‘You’re sure you’ve nothing to say on the matter?’I let out an ever so innocent cough.  Nothing like coughing and ahem-ing to draw attention away from oneself.  Wait … it’s the opposite, isn’t it?  Crap.

For some reason, the thought of Dylan shopping seemed incredibly strange to me. He seemed too grumpy to shop. He seemed too grumpy to do almost anything, except for stand around glowering.

The rain began to fall once more, but that was okay with me, because somewhere beyond the clouds, the sun was still shining.

We’ll come up with something. We just need to put our thinking caps on.” She mimed pulling a hat down over her head. “Come on now. Eleventh-hour suggestions, please. We’ve flown by the seat of our pants before, and I happen to think we can do it again.