Ellie grinned at the description of Connie’s mouth like a gaping black hole.
“Point is,” I said, “your man took that leap and waited on you for an answer. That was terrifying. And I guarantee that a lot of what you told me, he’s probably feeling, too. It’s tempting to wait, because if he makes the first move, you’ll know for sure, but it sounds to me that you’ve both been waiting for a while. And if you want to take some of the fear out of it, start with something safe, like, “I love you.”
Ellie broke eye contact again, staring at the laptop keyboard.
“Or you could try my tactic, which is to go for something funny and crazy. ‘On the plane, a kid decapitated a doll, the guy next to me ordered chocolate milk neat, no ice, and read a little girl The Cat in The Hat like it was a Bogart film, and gave me advice about how to talk to you.’ He won’t know what hit him.”
“Yes,” Nikki nodded vigorously, “no sane person would quite know how to react to such a depiction of events.”
“It’s Boxing Day, which I don’t celebrate, and I’m having hot chocolate and gingerbread detectives with a vampire. What about my life strikes you as being sane?"