OH MY GOD. Details tomorrow. Are you smiling like an idiot right now?
Billie laughed and shook her head. So what if she was? She had every right to be smiling like an idiot these days.
Possibly.
She set her phone down on her desk and relaxed into her chair, quickly pulling up tomorrow’s schedule on her computer. If she swapped a fitting around or asked if Nina could take care of it, she would be able to spend the morning with Debra and the kids. If not, she’d likely be up, out, and working before Charlotte and Caleb had even surfaced from their bedrooms. Well, Debra’s two spare rooms…which Charlotte had beendeeplyoffended by when she realised Debra still hadn’t decorated it to her taste.
She was still perusing her calendar when she felt a shift in the air. She looked up to find Debra standing in the doorway. She looked…wrong. Not physically hurt, not angry either, just…off.
“Hey. What are you doing here?”
“I-I followed you.” Debra swallowed. “I’m sorry.”
Billie pushed up out of her seat the moment Debra’s voice trembled. “What’s wrong? Did something happen while I’ve been gone?”
Debra’s gaze swept the room, eventually landing on Billie again. Had she been looking for any signs of Nina? Billie’s stomach roiled.Oh, God.
“You left.”
Billie frowned. “Yeah, I told you I had to check the shop?—”
“I know.” Debra stepped inside, her hand gripping the strap on her bag tight. “I know you did. I just… You left, and then you didn’t text like you said you would when you arrived. Then I realised that I didn’t know if you wereactuallycoming here or if you’d just…” She trailed off, shaking her head as her bottom lip quivered. “I thought maybe you needed space after tonight. After meeting them.”
“Oh, babe.” The words landed softly, but the vulnerability behind them hit Billie hard. She crossed the room and closed the distance between them until she could see the faint tension around Debra’s eyes. “I’mnotrunning from you. I promise.”
Debra exhaled a shaky breath. “I know it’s irrational for me to think that. It just?—”
“Felt familiar.” Billie nodded slowly, acknowledging what Debra was feeling.
“Y-yes.”
Billie reached for her hands and gave them a reassuring squeeze. “I came here because Nina thought she’d burned the place down. That’s it. I may have also texted Ella to brag about surviving your children…and then I got distracted checking theschedule. I want to be there with you and the kids in the morning, so I was seeing what I could do to make that happen.” She dipped her head. “You’re stuck with me, remember?”
A small, reluctant smile tugged at Debra’s mouth. “I remember.”
“Good.”
Billie guided Debra across the office slowly, until the edge of the desk pressed into the backs of Debra’s thighs. Debra looked at her, curious rather than unsettled. “What are you doing?”
“Grounding you,” Billie said. “Giving you a moment to see that I’m not here to hide.”
Billie turned and lowered herself into her chair, then tugged on Debra’s hands until Debra followed the pull. A surprised laugh escaped her as she settled sideways across Billie’s lap and rested an arm around her shoulders.
Billie wrapped her own arms around her waist, securing Debra in place, her cheek brushing against Debra’s arm. “There,” Billie murmured. “Is that better?”
Debra settled herself, the tension draining from her spine as she leaned into the contact. “Yes. Thank you.”
“Now, why don’t we just take a moment to breathe, maybe kiss a little where we can’t be interrupted, then head back to your place…obviously stopping off on the way for some snacks that will see us through the evening?”
Debra gazed back at her, her lips parted. “God, I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
Chapter Thirty-Six
Of all theways Debra had imagined her life changing, this hadn’t been one of them. She walked beside Billie along the river, the late afternoon light turning the Thames into a murky grey, and felt…incrediblyloved. That sense of ease between them still frightened her at times, but she’d stopped interrogating it and chose to let it exist instead. Because really, all it meant was that she had something to lose. If she didn’t care about Billie and if she didn’t ache for a future with her, then she would be questioning why she was here with her at all.
She was wearing her suit today.Thesuit. She’d worn it once before, for a dinner party she’d hosted at her flat with Maeve and a friend or two, but walking beside Billie while she was wearing it was a whole other experience.
