Page 70 of Love and Cherish

When had she given up Febe for Haylee?

twenty-three

“We need to talk,” Haylee said.

Haylee had spent the rest of the day avoiding Cherish. Then she’d spent all night debating whether or not to text her and what to even say. The next morning she’d doubted the conversations she’d conjured in her head. And now that they had thirty seconds left to the day, Cherish was already packed up and ready to leave, and Haylee couldn’t stop herself.

She needed to know how badly she had fucked up.

Cherish froze, her purse on her shoulder, halfway standing. She swallowed audibly enough that Haylee could hear it. Or maybe it was just her imagination.

They hadn’t had much of a chance to talk after their one night together. Mostly because Haylee had screwed that up. She’d tried to tell Febe her ideas, and she’d left in a sputter of anger that she had barely been able to contain. It hadn’t done her any good either. But Febe hadn’t fired her—yet.

“Here?”

Haylee pressed her lips together tightly in a line. She looked around the office, noting that Febe was still in and shook her head. This was a personal conversation, and she didn’t want prying ears.

“Then let’s go.” Cherish straightened up and rolled her shoulders.

She waited while Haylee grabbed her bag and followed Cherish toward the door. They said nothing to each other as they walked to the elevator, taking it down to the breezeway that would lead them to Cherish’s car. Haylee’s stomach swam with nerves.

Whatever rift she’d caused between herself and Cherish was one she needed to resolve.

Because she couldn’t live with this tension in her heart anymore. She needed to know if she’d ruined everything, all the chances she’d been given, yet again. Cringing as soon as they were buckled in Cherish’s car, Haylee gnawed on the inside of her cheek, not sure what to say.

“Where are we going to talk?” Cherish asked, her voice much softer than it had been all day.

Did she sense Haylee’s struggle?

“Oh. I don’t know.” Haylee really didn’t have the money to eat out, or even get a coffee that she might desperately crave. The debt collectors wouldn’t stop blowing up her phone to the point that she’d kept it on silent almost nonstop for the last week. Haylee stared out the front windshield and twisted her hands together. She should have thought this through better, but she’d only worked on figuring out what to say and what not to say.

“My place? We can order in.”

Haylee bit down particularly hard. She didn’t have the funds for that either.

“My treat, Haylee.” Cherish reached over and touched her fingers to Haylee’s thigh and suddenly the world was right again.

Perhaps she hadn’t fucked this up as much as she had thought.

“Okay.”

Cherish squeezed Haylee’s thigh before sliding her fingers up as she trailed them off. She put two fingers on Haylee’s cheek, turning her face until their eyes connected. The quick kiss was the confirmation that Haylee needed. Something was going right.

But what was it?

The drive to Cherish’s was quick and quiet, but the silence in the car was comfortable. Haylee would normally talk about work, but she really didn’t want to bring that up. Not yet. Because that was what they needed to talk about.

The awkward tension returned to Haylee’s chest as they stepped through Cherish’s front door. She couldn’t avoid it any longer, and as much as she might want to, they really needed not to. Haylee snagged Cherish’s hand and spun her around, pulling her in for a kiss. With a hand to the small of Cherish’s back, Haylee tilted her as she deepened the kiss.

Cherish responded, her lips parting and her tongue dashing out against Haylee’s. Moaning, Haylee let her eyes flutter shut. She used touch to center herself, the feeling of fabric under her fingertips, the warmth of Cherish’s skin seeping through to her hands. The scent of Cherish’s subtle perfume filled her senses, intoxicating her. She could stay here all evening if given the chance.

“Haylee,” Cherish murmured, trailing her fingers down Haylee’s sides, under her jacket.

When had that happened again?

“Did you want to talk still?”

“Yes.” Haylee swallowed hard, breaking the embrace completely. “Yeah, we need to talk.”

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