I loved when she giggled.I dragged my fingers out and licked them clean right before I kissed her.My arousal ached, but for now, I savored just being able to feel her against me.
“I need to wash my hair,” she said when I lifted my head.
“Well, let’s take care of that,” I teased, spinning us back under the water.
When she got dressed not much later, it felt like a crime to watch her body disappear behind her practical clothes.“Should we go get coffee?”she asked.
As I looked at her, my heart kicked again and again, reminding me just how much she already meant to me.“How are we handling this?”I asked.
“Handling what?”
“Are we open about what’s happening?”
She chewed the inside of one cheek as she held my gaze.“I don’t know.What if we screw it all up?”
ChapterEighteen
Kendall
My question from that morning bounced around in my thoughts over and over throughout the day.All this time, while I crushed so hard on Jude and had been so afraid, now those fears were massive in my heart.What if we did screw it all up?
I took a shaky breath as I waited for the vets to arrive at the rescue program.We had a vet check this morning on the pigs, the goats, and one of the horses.There was always something to do, but I was so anxious that I was pacing aimlessly as I waited.
Jude and I had managed to have a sort of conversation about it and agreed we didn’t need to make it public yet.Nobody would be surprised that we were hanging out together, and we didn’t want too many questions, but I was fretting.
“Hey!”a voice called, and I glanced over to see Alice, the vet, approaching with Farrah, the vet tech.
Spinning around, I grinned.“Hey, hey!”
Farrah reached me first.“Well, hey there!It’s been a minute since I saw you.”
“I know, you all haven’t been out here in a couple months.”
Alice stopped beside Farrah, her ponytail swinging as she glanced around.“That’s always a good sign.”
“What do you mean?”I returned.
She leaned down to pet the goats, who came trotting over to greet her.“Well, that means no emergencies, just routine calls,” Alice offered dryly.
Farrah pulled out a computer tablet and tapped on the screen.“All right, so what are we doing today?”
In short order, they took care of everything needed.Farrah pulled out her bucket of treats at the end, doling them out to every animal in the rescue.“I have to use some bribery, so they’re happy to see us next time we come,” she teased.
Alice paused as she was tucking away her equipment.“Have you been out to card night yet?”
I sighed.“No.I keep meaning to.”
“You’re always invited,” Farrah pointed out.
“I know.Every time I try to go, something comes up,” I explained.What went unsaid was thatsomethingwas usually related to my troublesome brother.
Although things had been quiet ever since his most recent DUI, I hoped that meant he was staying out of trouble.
“We’re meeting at Maisie’s tonight.You should come,” Farrah said.
I had gotten to know Farrah when she moved to town and rented an apartment across the hallway in the very place that I moved into after Janet added another small studio apartment.
“Tonight?”
