Page 65 of See You Next Month

“Why?”

“Because those were gay women, Bella. It’s great to be gay friendly, but we don’t want to give the wrong impression about us.”

“The wrong impression?” Isabella said. “We’re two friends having a good time and we just happened to be dancing together.”

Kelsey stared at her. “How many of your friends do you dance with, Bella?” She didn’t want to upset Isabella, but she needed to be honest with her.

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Isabella realized she was still holding Kelsey's hand. She could hear her mother’s voice echoing in her head: You were dancing in a bar with a gay woman. It might matter to her.

Kelsey gave her a sad smile. “I know, Bella. You haven’t danced with any of your friends. To you and me, we’re just Bella and Kels, having a good time. But now we have to worry about how it looks for the resort.”

“Are you saying you don’t want to dance with me anymore?” Isabella asked. Why did the thought of that make her heart hurt? And why was there a burning sensation in her stomach?

“No.” Kelsey shook her head. “I love dancing with you, but we should probably only do it at Peaches until we’re through with this project.”

Isabella nodded and searched Kelsey’s eyes. They were golden brown and there was something else there that she couldn’t read.

“Don’t be upset, Bella,” Kelsey said with compassion in her voice. “You don’t have to worry about things like this, but I’ve had to all my life.”

“I’m sorry,” Isabella said. “I never meant to make you feel uncomfortable.”

“You didn’t!” Kelsey exclaimed. She pulled them over to sit down in one of the lounge chairs.

Isabella looked into Kelsey’s eyes once again. “Since the moment we met in the airport last month I felt a connection to you. I instantly felt comfortable with you, like we’d been friends forever.”

Kelsey nodded. “I did, too.”

“We were both here alone and no one knew us. I never thought twice about what other people thought of us.”

Kelsey chuckled. “I didn’t either.”

“But now you’re saying we need to,” Isabella said.

Kelsey sighed. “Ugh, I’m not sure what I’m saying.”

Isabella sat back in her chair. “Let’s check the comments and talk to Carmen about it tomorrow. I don’t want to stop going to Peaches.”

“I don’t either. They’re our friends. We simply need to be more aware. That’s all I’m saying,” Kelsey said.

“Does that mean no more teasing about being a couple?” Isabella asked, raising her eyebrows. “What about walking around with my arm through yours? Friends do that.” Isabella met Kelsey’s eyes and wondered what she was thinking.

“I’m sorry, Bella. Did I just screw this up?”

Isabella could see Kelsey was frustrated. “You haven’t screwed anything up. I understand what you’re trying to say. At least I think I do,“ she said. “If it looks like we’re in a relationship, then some people will tune out. We need to be two single moms going on a vacation. Right?”

Kelsey nodded.

“Okay, but we’re also friends and we do work well together. Wouldn’t you agree?”

“We do,” Kelsey said.

“Next month is the Valentine’s trip. We need to think about how we want to approach that.”

“I think we need to do some things that friends would do and then also romantic things couples would do,” Kelsey said.

“I’ve got an idea,” Isabella said with a tentative smile. “Let’s tell our followers that we’ll choose two couples when we get here. One can go with us on a romantic excursion and the other can do the friends thing with us.”

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