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"Well, anyway, I have souessed by now" I handed him the book "Merry Christmas from your secret Santa You did know, didn’t you?"

"Well," he hedged, not quite lookingto be honest with each other"

"Okay, then, yes, I knew Who else was going to go to thatyour tracks" He then lookedeye contact steady "And I was glad it was you I can have et the kinds of things you did foral to open it?" I asked

He tapped the wrapping paper with his index finger and reat, thanks! You do pay attention, don’t you?"

"Well, I may not have ESP with a twenty-four-hour Owen channel, but I do what I can"

"Thank you I know I’ to love this"

I noticed that he didn’t hug ao back to being just friends It was a disappointment, but I wouldn’t want to lose his friendship now that I kne ," I said "You got h this Without your help, this wouldn’t have worked out at all"

"That’s what friends are for, right?"

I forced a sht"

He put the book down on a nearby table "Actually, I haven’t been entirely honest with you" He turned a shade of pink I’d never seen before, then it faded to white, leaving his cheeks rosy He seemed to search for words, then finally blurted out, "It wasn’t just the shoes, you know"

"What?"

"Ari rong It didn’t take the shoes forThat twenty-four-hour Katie channel has been tuned to that frequency pretty much since the ot to breathe "Oh," I ht--all this ti? Or do so?"

"You , ask you to dinner, talk to youfriends"

I laughed "That’s because I thought that’s what you wanted I didn’t want to scare you"

He pulled hter ru in his chest "We’re so clueless, I think we deserve each other," heonto me because I felt so dizzy I was afraid my knees would buckle under me "It’s funny, but I seemed to interpret all those clues that you liked me as clues that you didn’t like me, orso hard just to be your friend, and youperfect" I looked up at him "And what does someone like you ith someone like me, anyway? You’re like a superwizard and I’m Miss Ordinary"

"Katie, shut up" He said it kindly with a fond smile on his lips "Don’t talk yourself out of this"

I groaned and leaned ainst his chest "See what I mean? You take in homeless cats and keep old ladies in their hoeous, and here I ahly It turned out that first perfect kiss was no fluke caused by a pair of enchanted shoes The second was even better, and this time it was for real