Josie swiped at her cheeks. “Someone should.”
Eve didn’t respond, but she hugged Josie back, holding on to her, and that meant more than any words she could have said. Maybe that was the moment Josie fell in love with her, or maybe it had already happened. Somewhere along the line, she’d fallen for this beautifully broken woman, and now she could only hope that at some point in the future, Eve would find the strength to love her back.
25
The first thing Eve registered was the scent of Josie’s shampoo. She rolled toward her, recognizing the silky slip of her own sheets against her skin, not the soft cotton of Josie’s. And something was buzzing. What was that? Her eyes sprang open as she remembered last night. Having Josie in her bed felt wrong, but at the same time…right.
She’d never shared this room with Lisa, but her memory seemed alive here anyway. This was where Eve kept her photos, where she lay awake at night missing her. On the rare occasion she’d brought a woman here, she put the photos away first and made the room as impersonal as the rest of her apartment.
Josie had seen every dark corner of Eve’s mind now. She knew all her secrets, all her pain, and that was vaguely terrifying, because Eve had never meant to let herself get this close to anyone again. She couldn’t give her heart to Josie, or anyone else. She’d already given away all her spare pieces. If she lost any more, she’d never survive it.
And yet, she couldn’t bring herself to walk away. Not yet, anyway. Last night, Josie had called their relationship “an exclusive kind of casual,” and Eve could live with that. Surely in a few weeks, she and Josie would have tired of each other. Actually, she couldn’t imagine ever tiring of Josie, but that was a problem for another day.
It was still dark outside, earlier than she usually woke. And now that she was fully awake, she realized the faint buzzing sound in her bedroom was the alarm on Josie’s phone, the one she’d set to wake herself to go home and care for the kittens. The clock on the bedside table read four a.m.
Eve smiled into the darkness, marveling at Josie’s never-ending dedication to those little cats. She nudged her, and Josie mumbled grumpily in her sleep. “Your alarm is going off,” she whispered.
Josie groaned, squinting at her. She blinked groggily for a few seconds before sitting up and shutting off her alarm. “Sorry for waking you.”
“It’s okay. Sure they can’t wait another hour?” Eve asked as she brushed Josie’s hair back to place a kiss against the tender skin on her neck.
Josie pulled her in for a kiss that made Eve think she’d indeed changed her mind about leaving, but then she disentangled herself and climbed out of bed. “I wish they could, but I really have to go.”
Eve nodded, tucking the sheet around herself.
“We’ll figure out a way to see each other this week, though, okay?” Josie said as she pulled on her clothes. “I’m not sure what or how, but we’ll think of something.”
“Okay,” Eve told her. “How are you getting home?”
“In an Uber?” Josie said, giving her a funny look. “I’m not very fond of the subway at this hour.”
“And I’m not very fond of the idea of you riding off alone with a stranger in the middle of the night.”
“I’ll be fine,” Josie told her. “I put people in cabs all the time at four a.m. when they leave my bar.”
That was Josie, as trusting as Eve was cautious. “Send me a screenshot with the vehicle information, just in case.” She rolled her eyes at Josie’s amused look. “Humor me. And text me when you get home.”
“All right,” Josie said with a smile. “If it makes you feel better.”
She leaned in for one more kiss, and then she was gone. Eve lay there, blinking up at the ceiling, determined not to fall asleep until she knew Josie was home safely. Although by then, it would be almost time for her to get up anyway, so she might as well just get up now.
Decision made, she slid out of bed, put on her robe, and went into the kitchen to start some coffee. Her phone buzzed with a text from Josie, a screenshot from the Uber app with the information about her driver.
Thank you, she texted back.
She poured herself a cup of coffee and sat on the couch, sipping it. When she’d finished, she did her morning yoga, and then, once Josie had texted to say she’d made it home, Eve hopped in the shower to get ready for her day.
She didn’t see Josie again until Wednesday, when they had lunch together.
“Do you think I’m doing well enough to add an extra shift for one of my bartenders?” Josie asked as they ate sandwiches across from each other in a deli down the street from Eve’s office.
“How do you mean?” she asked.
“Like, letting Lauren work an extra shift with Adam on Friday night so I could take it off.” She gave Eve a meaningful look.
“Oh. Well, I’d have to take another look at your numbers, but I think so, yes.”
“Okay, I’m going to talk to her about it tonight,” Josie said. “It might stretch me a little thin, but it’s just one shift, and I need a break. I feel like I’m always working, and we hardly ever see each other, except in the middle of the night or on Mondays.”
