“How are you not sick of that? It’s been years.”
“Sometimes, yeah. Sometimes, no.”
“Why no?”
“If it doesn’t seem like I’m missing too much here. Things have been quiet. Figure if I go in the near future, I get to get there and get back before anything new shakes things up around here.”
“Not bad logic. But you’ll be trading nice, dry heat for humid heat at the worst part of summer. Who wants that?”
“The car has air conditioning.”
“And some people just tolerate the heat better, I guess. I mean I was drenched in sweat walking those dogs. Lula barely even glistened.”
“Lula’s taking a walk?” I asked, my day immediately looking up.
“Yeah, she was just making a loop from town heading toward Millionaire’s Row when I saw her.”
“Is that so?” I asked, reaching for one of the glass iced coffee cups some of the girls kept in the cabinets and filling it with ice.
“Oh, leave the poor woman alone,” Dylan said with an eye roll.
“What could you be taking about?” I asked as I poured the coffee, then some plant-based milk and one sugar, since we didn’t have the substitute she liked. “I’m just a health-conscious young man in search of some good, wholesome exercise. If I happen to run into another person—or a goddess on earth—then, hey, that’s just fate.”
“You’re lucky you’re cute and charming,” Dylan said as I put the lid on the coffee and stuck the straw in. “Otherwise, this would be kind of pathetic,” she warned as I made my way to the door, sticking my feet in my shoes as I went.
“I won’t take that into consideration,” I called to her.
“I didn’t expect you to.”
Even early in the morning, the heat was relentless. But, luckily, the sky was full of clouds the sun kept hiding behind as I rushed toward the apartments in town, knowing that had to be where she was heading after Millionaire’s Row.
Just as I predicted, there she was, paused at one of the park benches near the playground to tie her shoe.
“Well, well, well, fancy running into you here,” I called as I walked up beside her.
Her head angled over, taking me in.
“Right. Total happenstance. Just disregard the sweat in your hairline and brow like you ran all the way here after Dylan told you she saw me.”
She straightened as she said it.
And, fuck, she looked good.
I mean, don’t get me wrong, I loved all her fancy work shit. Made me think of some badass CEO with a plush corner office who would let me fuck her over her desk between meetings.
But dressed-down Lula was something else entirely. It softened her a bit. Looked less like a uniform or shield she used to keep people at a distance.
Her walking outfit was a gym shorts and tank top set in a rosy pink. It was tight, hugging every soft curve of her body.
The top must have had those built-in cups because there was some serious bounce going on that said she didn’t have a full bra on. And there was a slight glisten between her breasts.
I lost my train of thought for a moment.
“What were we saying?”
“Are you asking me or my breasts?”
“I mean… whoever wants to talk to me. But maybe I should get a little closer to hear…” I leaned my head down toward her chest, getting a playful slap from her. Stepping back, I held out the iced coffee that was already sweating in my hand. “I brought you coffee.”
