Sure.
Jules looked at me in surprise but then squeezed my hand and laced her fingers with mine as she reassumed our trek, apparently on board with the friends-who-hold-hands idea. “Ithink when I started writing, I was stressed about work.” She gave a slight shake to her head. “No, I know that was it. Writing was this thing to do for fun and just for me. The company I worked for in Chicago isn’t known for caring about work-life balance but how much you can do for them. And, well…”
I gave her a squeeze, trying to send her the confidence I felt certain she had buried deep.
We crossed a street, and I took in the trees that were showing off the beginning of their spring leaves. Tulips were coming up in the front yards we passed, the sky was a brilliant blue, birds were singing their songs, and we were the only people on the street.
Jules squeezed my hand again as she cleared her throat. “It’s probably obvious that I’m a bit introverted?—”
I gasped for dramatic effect.
She pulled her hand from mine to slap my biceps as she laughed. Damn, I’d do anything to make her look that carefree on the regular. Her hand slid back into mine and she continued. “Anyway, life as an adult is weird, you know? I often felt lonely in Chicago, which is crazy considering how big the city is. Kylie is a good friend, but the other folks I know… It’s like I felt that I was often just forgettable. And I’d see all these social media posts from ‘friends’ and they were always out for coffee, shopping, et cetera, but no one asked me.” She shook her head. “That makes me sound whiny, and I don’t mean it like that. Clearly they were allowed to invite whomever they wanted.”
She scuffed her foot as she kicked a rock, and we crossed another street. Moving onto a brick sidewalk and the older part of town, she continued.
“And I also should acknowledge that I’m an adult and don’t expect others to always do the heavy lifting. I’d ask them to brunch or whatever and we’d go, but it was like I just didn’t quite click with them the same way they did with each other. It didn’t feel effortless, natural, but like I was trying to manufacture agroup of friends.” She glanced over at me. “At any rate, I just felt adrift a lot, stressed from my job, wondering if I was missing the girlfriend gene, and finally I started writing a world I wished I was a part of—with women who were empowering, kind, and inclusive.” Her sigh was heavy. “So you can see it was nothing dire I was escaping, just somewhere I felt like I could just… be.”
We’d reached her front sidewalk, and I tugged her to stop midway up before she could tell me she needed to go. “Jules, there’s nothing wrong with writing a world you wished you could be in.”
Her warm brown eyes met mine and she nodded.
“Babe—” Where had that come from? Moving on. “We all want to be seen. I don’t know a person who doesn’t.”
“Even you?” she whispered.
I nodded, noting that she took a step toward me. I searched inward for willpower I didn’t possess. Instead, I met her with another step until we were toe-to-toe. Damn magnetic pull gets you every time.
“You’re making me crazy,” I whispered.
Confusion flitted across her face. “How?”
A long strand of hair had escaped the pile on her head, and I reached up to tuck it behind her ear, running my finger along her jaw after I did. “I’m trying so hard to keep my distance,” I whispered, not even sure if that was audible.
She started to step back, but I tightened my grip on her hand, which I still had, then let go to hold her hip.
“Why?” she asked, clearly having heard me.
My gaze roamed her face as I debated how honest to be. I decided to lay it all out. “Because since I came back, I’ve said Addie will be my priority. I can date when she’s grown.”
“Okay?” she whispered, confusion evident as she failed to grasp my faulty logic.
“But I really need to kiss you,” I said, adding to the mixed messages because I couldn’t hold back anymore but still wanted to give her time to say no. Hell, also allowing myself time to get with the program.
Instead of realizing I was a fool and telling me so, she looked up at me with a small smile. “I think I’m good with that,” she murmured as she took the decision away from me and rolled up on her toes.
Fuck it, decision was made. I moved at once, tipping her chin and leaning down to capture my mouth with hers.
At first we just brushed our lips together. The brief sensation was like finding something I’d lost and needed a whole lot more of. I tilted my own head a bit more, and Jules immediately parted her lips as we came together again.
She tasted of coffee and a familiarity that I shouldn’t have but wanted to never lose. Her hands swept around me to hold me against her, though she needn’t be worried I was going nowhere.
I’d never had a first kiss—hell, any kiss—that made me feel as alive as this one. Just as I slid a hand up to thread my fingers in her hair, I heard someone clearing their throat and pulled back, sliding myself in front of Jules instinctively to block her from the prying eyes of what was to be certain another nosy Highland Falls citizen. What I found was that but more.
Looking at us from a mere six feet away on the public sidewalk were Jake and Ivy with giant grins. Their baby, Lorelai, looked to be sacked out in a sling on Ivy’s chest. And, of course, jumping up and down and waving her stuffed elephant was none other than Addie.
Fuck.
Chapter 11
