Page 56 of We'll Meet Again

“Okay,” she said firmly. “Let’s have it. Right now.”

He chuckled, and she cursed the throbbing between her legs at the sound.

“We gotta save something for our next date.”

She groaned. “You’re killing me.”

“Look, it ain’t easy for me either,” he said, and she had no choice but to believe him given that she could feel his semi-hard bulge right against the inside of her thigh. “But it’s like I told you. I want us to be sure.”

“I am!”

He shook his head and pushed her hair behind her ear. “We gotta talk when we’re both clear headed.”

“I can be clear headed in like, five minutes.”

“Judging by those pretty pink cheeks of yours, I’d say not.”

She deflated. “Not tonight, then?”

“Sorry, darlin’, no dice.”

She lifted her hand to his face and traced the corner of his mouth with the tip of her finger. His eyes fell closed to her touch, and she let herself drink in the sight of his cheeks equally red and flushed as hers. Affection settled into her heart.

“You will kiss me again, won’t you?” she asked.

“Now that, I can do as long as you like.”

He claimed her mouth once more, and they stood there for what could have been hours, days, or years. Billie didn’t know. All she could keep in mind was him - Ethan, Ethan, Ethan, like a refrain of a favorite song. If his kisses were any indication of what was to come, she hada lotto look forward to.

Chapter 15

Withoutsomuchasa warning, Valentine’s Day arrived, and with it Billie’s third date with Ethan. She already assured him she didn’t want him to make a fuss since they weren’t official, and she was certain he wouldn’t. But her stomach was knotting up in panic anyway because of the all-important conversation looming before them. She still wasn’t sure if she was ready to be his girlfriend. In fact, she felt less ready than before. She had never met anyone like him. So thoughtful and generous andgood. And who was she? Certainly not someone who learned everyone’s name or helped her neighbors or offered consolation to crying people she barely knew. It all convinced her that she didn’t totally deserve him. And in order for him to understand her lingering doubts, she was going to have to tell him that.

She was so deep in thought that when her phone rang, she startled. After taking a breath, she picked it up, thinking it must be Ethan. But to her surprise, it was Stevie. Three days before their scheduled catch-up phone call. Brow furrowed, she answered.

“Hello?”

“Billie, thank God!” Stevie gasped. Billie frowned at the panic she heard in her sister’s voice. “Listen, I’m so, so sorry, but d’you think you could watch the kids tonight?”

Billie blanched. “What?”

“Joel’s father’s just had a heart attack and we’re trying to get to hospital.”

“Holy shit, is he all right?”

“We don’t know yet, but we don’t want to upset the kids,” Stevie explained. “Can you take them?”

“What about Mum and Dad?”

“They’ve already left on holiday.”

Billie sighed, for the first time irritated with her parents’ sweet, enduring devotion that led them to take a trip every year for Valentine’s Day.

“I’ve…I’ve never been alone with them before,” Billie said. “And I sort of had plans-”

“You’ll be fine, all they need is some dinner before you put them to bed,” Stevie interrupted. “Please. We’re halfway to the car, we can bring them right to yours.”

Billie chewed her lower lip. “I - oh, very well.”

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