“Hey.” That took care of the smiley.
“Tell meexactlywhat happened last night. Leave nothing out.” Before Zoe could protest, Cleo moved to close the door behind them, then sat back down on the edge of her seat. “I told Ginny you needed her to cover the phone for a solid hour. I’m taking an early lunch break for this. You’re mine until eleven. So come on and share. My love life is nonexistent until Scott gets back.”
With her boyfriend deployed overseas, Cleo was at loose ends romantically.
Zoe groaned. “It was bad.”
“Bad how?”
“Bad in that I had to keep telling myself I don’t do one-night stands.”
“Yes.” Cleo fist-pumped in the air. “Iknewyou liked him.”
“So what? He’s likeable. Good-looking.” An understatement. “And he kisses like… Well, it’s like devouring a s’more in one bite.”
“That good, huh?” Cleo’s smile was way too wide for her face.
“Yes.” Zoe remembered the kiss and felt warm all over. “He kissed me under the moonlight. He took me on a gardening date, because he knew I liked plants. It’s like he’s thinking about more than just doing me. And it’s a little scary.”
“Because…?”
“Because I want to do him too.” How painful, yet freeing to admit. “Piper thinks I’m obsessed with him.”
“Um, you are. You’ve been talking about the cute jerk from the gym for months.”
“I have?”
“Yeah.” Cleo snorted. “Even I could tell you have a crush, and according to my brothers, I’m clueless about stuff like that.”
“Obsessedis a strong word.” At Cleo’s raised brow, Zoe amended, “I mean, well, I wasn’t exactlyobsessed…until last night. The date was too good to be true, Cleo. So I’m giving him tonight to show his true colors.”
“If he’s smart, it’ll take him way many more dates than just two to expose himself.” She paused, then chuckled. “See what I did there?Expose himself?”
Zoe intentionally ignored her. “If he tries to get into my pants on date two, I won’t have to go any further.” And maybe she’d save herself some drama early on, because Gavin had trouble written all over him. She liked him. A lot. “Although I did tell Piper I’d try to be more like Aubrey.” She took a deep breath and let it out. “No,Iwant to be more like my sister. I want to have fun with life.”
Without warning, her eyes welled as grief intruded.
“Damn it.”
Cleo’s smile gentled and seemed to shift to shared understanding. She took a tissue from Zoe’s desk and handed it to her. “When my mom died, I was a basket case. Then my dad and uncle passed the next year. I’d be fine, then just break down for no reason. But that’s part of the healing process.” She pointed to her face. “Look at me. Just talked about my family. No tears.”
Zoe blew her nose. “How long did that take?”
“Ten years. But hey, no more crying about it. I’m still sad inside, but it’s a healthy, buried pain. I think. That’s what Matt and Josh tell me. Then again, they’re assholes.”
Zoe sputtered a surprised laugh. “Your brothers are not assholes. I like them.” And if she hadn’t been so busy with work before the mess with Aubrey, she might have asked one of them out. Cleo’s brothers were hot.
“Just because they wear badges does not make them good guys. Well, technically they are the good guys, but…you know what I mean. Now stop stalling and tell me about Gavin and his kisses.”
So Zoe told her everything. About Gavin’s charm at the gym, trying to get her to smile. About rolling around on the mats with him and getting tricked into “wrestling” before his brother looked in. And about the most romantic date she’d ever gone on that had ended in hot chocolate with real whipped cream, mini marshmallows, and a sweet kiss good-bye. Not one gropey instance where he pushed for sex.
Cleo kept nodding. “He’s into you. Really into you, not just for the wham-bam. I’m shocked.”
“That the man doesn’t want sex?”
“No, that you haven’t thrown him over yet. I like this new you, Zoe. Time to give a relationship a try. Look at me. Took me a while, but now Scott and I are tighter than ever. I think we might even get engaged when he gets back from his temporary duty in Germany.”
“Really? I didn’t know it was that serious.” Scott’s temporary duty had already been extended months longer than the six he’d initially been gone.
