I pause in the yard to stretch, glancing up to his bedroom window.
His light is on, but I don’t see him.
Good. I’m glad he can’t sleep either.
I take off at a slow and steady pace, deciding to take the long route to work today.
Look, I get it, okay. Simon and I are clearly attracted to each other and have been dancing around it for weeks now. Last night was bound to happen. The pull we have to each other was too strong to not bring us together. I also get that we want different things. I’m very open about what I want in life. Simon isn’t. So I wouldn’t be surprised if he never plans to settle down again. So yeah, his stopping us was probably for the best. But hell, it would have been so good.
I round the first corner and have two options: big hill or no hill.
I pick the big hill.
Because I like to punish myself, clearly.
At least it’ll give my brain something else to think about.
* * *
I’ve worked out three times today, and it’s only eleven.
Yep. It’s safe to say that I’m unsuccessfully avoiding thoughts of Simon.
It didn’t help that my first client, Mr. Chapman, brought his wife, and I swear they’re in honeymoon phase number two. The one where their youngest just moved out, and it’s just the two of them all over again.
So they were flirty and cute as hell.
It made me think of Simon and how the only woman I’ve ever seen him flirt with is me.
Then Kate Stamper came in, and the first thing she did was crack a joke about how her left arm was hurting from lugging around her brand-new engagement ring. To which she recited all the adorable proposal details to me. It made me think about how many proposal scenes Simon has ever written.
After Kate came, Suanne showed up, and guess what? After twelve years of dating apps, she finally met a man who she’s successfully gone on six dates with. She thinks I should reactivate my accounts and keep going, but all I could think about was how useless that would be. I’m crushing on the single dad next door, and there’s nothing I can do about it.
Needless to say, when Natalie Miller comes in for her session, a friend I trust, I blurt out the first thing my mind thinks of while we’re stretching.
“Simon kissed me,” I say quickly and then fall back into child pose. “And my neck and lower, and I don’t know how many details you want, but it happened.”
“What?” she asks, fighting a smile. “When?”
“Last night.” I come up to a sitting position and scrunch my nose. “He had a signing in Melody, so I stayed late with Grey. I was asleep in the spare room by the time he got home. I’d planned to just sleep there all night. I didn’t think he would wake me up.”
“And he did so he could kiss you.” She claps and squeals.
“Not exactly.” I reach for my toes. “I think he was trying to cover me, but I woke up. It was like my body knew he was near, and we couldn’t waste that time by sleeping.”
“Cute!”
“Not cute,” I deadpan. “This is Simon. Calla’s brother. Grumpy Simon who, until I was working for him, barely put two sentences together anytime I spoke to him.”
Natalie shimmies her shoulders. “And now he’s replaced those words with kisses.”
I shove her shoulder and move into another pose. “Stop. No. It was?—”
“Don’t tell me he’s a bad kisser.”
“Not even close.” I smile. “But he did cut it off and say he shouldn’t have done that.”
Natalie groans.
