“Okay.” Josie brought her lips to Eve’s, needing to end on something good, to feel the heat and the connection between them one last time before they said good night. Eve kissed her back, lips warm and seeking, as if she needed this moment as much as Josie did. “Night.”
“Good night.” Eve slipped through the door.
Josie let her go, deciding to stay up here another minute to collect herself before she went back down to the bar. She pressed her fingertips against her lips as she gazed out at the Manhattan skyline gleaming in the distance.Holy shit.That was one of the hottest kisses of her life, the kind of kiss she wanted to drown in forever and had every cell in her body screaming for more. Who knew the frosty Eve could light her on fire like that?
Josie knew. She’d known almost from the moment they met. She’d sensed a current running between them and the fire burning behind Eve’s cool veneer. That woman had so many layers, Josie could spend a lifetime unwrapping her and maybe never reach her core. And yet, she’d give anything for the chance to try, if only Eve would let her.
* * *
On Saturday,Josie opened Swanson’s for business as usual, except…nothing felt like business as usual. And not just because she was still reliving her rooftop kiss with Eve. It was more like she was seeing her bar through a new lens. She watched a rowdy group of twenty-something guys in the back, telling crude jokes over spilled beer.
Those aren’t your customers, Eve had told her before the fight broke out last night. Was she right? Josie panned her gaze around Swanson’s, trying to imagine it as Eve had painted it for her, an upscale bar with soft lighting and fancy cocktails.
A gay bar.
Was that what Josie wanted? She didn’tnotwant it. In fact, the longer she stood here, the more she thought it might be exactly what she wanted. Dragonfly. It was personal and meaningful. How did Eve know her so well in such a short time? Was she really that good at her job or did some of it have to do with the connection between them?
Maybe a little of both.
By the time Josie locked up the bar that night, she knew she would say yes. She was ready to put her future squarely in Eve’s hands. Eve’s wonderfully soft, capable hands. And yes, Josie really needed to get a grip, at least until filming wrapped next Friday…
Even though it was four in the morning and Eve was no doubt asleep, Josie sent her a quick text before she lost her nerve.I’ll do it. All of it. (and I’m sad there’s not a dragonfly emoji, but pretend I attached one.)
And then she went to bed. When she woke just before noon on Sunday, Eve’s name gleamed on her screen.
Good. I’ll see you tomorrow morning at 10 for the taping.
Right, then. Josie gulped at the finality of it all. Today was Swanson’s last day in business. She went through the day in a daze, telling as many of her regulars as she could about the upcoming changes to the bar. By the looks on their faces, she didn’t think she’d see Sal or Dougie again, which she’d already known but was still unspeakably sad about. They both hugged her and wished her well on their way out the door.
When she closed that night, she put out a sign explaining that the bar would be closed until its relaunch on Friday. A wave of intense nostalgia washed over her as she walked through the darkened bar on the way to her apartment. Swanson’s as she’d known it, as her dad had known it and his parents before him, would cease to exist after tonight.
“I hope you would approve of what I’ve done, Dad,” she whispered into the empty bar, sliding her hands over the weathered counter. “I think you would, because I think mostly you wanted me to be happy, but it’s a big change.”
So big, she was apparently talking to herself. She smiled, tapping her knuckles against the wood. Swanson’s was evolving, much like Josie herself, symbolized by the dragonfly on her shoulder and soon to be on the sign over the door.
She went upstairs and climbed into bed, expecting to fall straight to sleep. She’d made peace with this. She was ready to embrace the changes she’d put into motion. But as she lay in her darkened bedroom with Nigel curled over her feet, her mind spun endlessly with a combination of nerves and excitement.
She finally dozed off as the sun rose outside her window, sleeping for a pitiful few hours before her alarm went off to rouse her for the day.
“This is it,” she whispered to Nigel as he rubbed his face against hers, purring loudly. Eve and her crew would be here in a few hours to tape their segment, and then Josie had the rest of the week off. She needed to make herself scarce and let theDo Overteam do their thing until the grand reopening at the end of the week.
Eve.
Josie’s heart beat faster at the thought of seeing her again. She let that energy fuel her as she climbed out of bed, showered, and dressed. She blew her hair out straight and put a few loose waves in it with the curling iron, because hey, she was going to be on TV. And if she happened to look good for Eve at the same time, that was just an added bonus.
The hair and makeup team arrived at nine, further sculpting her hair and applying the extra makeup she’d need to go before the cameras. How did people do this every day? The false lashes made her want to claw at her eyes, but when she looked at herself in the mirror, she had to admit the end result was worth the discomfort…at least for today.
Tomorrow, she’d go back to her minimalist makeup and messy hair, but right now, she was ready for her moment in the spotlight. In fact, she was feeling one hundred percent more confident about her interview with Eve than she had been on Friday. And speaking of Eve, she pushed through the front door promptly at ten, box of kittens in her arms.
Josie met her halfway to take them from her. She caught Eve’s eye, smiling. “Hi.”
“Hello.” Eve wore a black knit dress, accented by a long silver necklace and matching earrings, a warning flashing in her eyes.
As if Josie had forgotten. They couldn’t mention Friday night, at least not while the crew was around. Still, she took a long moment to soak in the sight of Eve, looking good enough to eat in that dress and her camera-ready makeup, smelling like some kind of expensive perfume that made Josie want to press her face to Eve’s neck and just breathe her in. Eve cleared her throat, and Josie realized she’d been staring…probably too long. Definitely too long. She dropped her gaze to the box of kittens in her arms. “Oh my God, wow. They’ve grown.”
Four pairs of baby-blue eyes stared back, alert and curious. Phantom, Pippin, Hamilton, and Blanche, their little theater kittens.
“They have,” Eve agreed. “Not surprising, considering how much they’ve been eating.”
