Page 129 of February

“We don’t have to worry about that now,” Monica told her as she cupped Bridgette’s cheek. “Babe, I’m here for at least three to four more weeks. Let me keep working on him, okay? Maybe I can get him to finish out the year, and I can work from here three weeks a month or something. That wouldn’t be so bad, would it? You’ll probably be sick of me and need a break for that one week, anyway.”

“Don’t say that. I won’t get sick of you. I couldn’t even sleep in my own bed last night because you’d slept there before, and I can smell you there. I can smellus.”

“Babe, I’m sorry,” Monica replied as she slid a finger over Bridgette’s bottom lip. “Please don’t give up on us.”

“I’m not,” she said. “But it’s three or four weeks. What if he doesn’t stay on and retires?”

“Well, thatcouldhappen.” Monica’s eyes softened. “And I’m working on a plan for that, too.”

“How many plans do you have, exactly?”

“A few.” Monica chuckled. “And you should know that I’ve always only hadonebefore you.” Her arms went around Bridgette’s waist, and she pulled her against her body. “I was going to become CEO, take the company to the next level, work harder than my dad, retire, and relax with my wife. We’d travel, if we wanted to, or just stay at home and sip lemonade on the porch swing together or something. That was it; that was what I wanted.”

“Andnow?”

“Now, I don’t know if I even want to be the CEO,” Monica revealed.

“What?” Bridgette wrapped her arms around Monica’s neck.

“I like solving problems. I like working on the ground, so to speak. Being here helped me remember that. Back at my office in New York, I sit behind my desk in meeting after meeting, responding to email after email, and it’s okay, but I’d forgotten what I’d loved about business in the beginning. Working with your parents and then working with you when you actually started talking to me and not just laughing at me, was fun.”

“Sorry,” Bridgette said as she pressed her forehead to Monica’s.

“Don’t be. It was kind of hot.”

“Yeah?”

“Definitely,” Monica said. “And I’m hoping I can get my dad to agree to retire at the end of the year because I can work on the two main candidates for the job and maybe get him and my mom more on board with the idea of one of them taking over instead of me.”

“And you’d work down here?”

“Some of the time, yes,” Monica said. “Virtual meetings aren’t always ideal, and there will be board meetings I need to attend in person and other reasons to go back, but, Bridge,thisis important to me.Youare important to me. I’m not ready to leave, either.”

“Okay,” Bridgette said.

“Okay?”

“Yeah, okay. I guess that’s the best we can hope for right now, right? It’s not all set in stone, like I want it to be, but it’ll have to work.”

“If I’m not the CEO, Bridge, I don’t have to live in Manhattan. You got that part, right?”

Bridgette closed her eyes and said, “Yes. I’m just trying not to get my hopes up that you’ll really be able to make this happen. And if you still want to be the CEO, I want to support you in that. Besides, I know how family pressure works, Mon. It’s hard to say no to them or tell them what you really want when they want something else for you. We just met. You’ve only been here for a few weeks. What if you find that the longer you’re here, the less you like it?”

“I can’t imagine that will be the case,” Monica replied. “Babe?”

“Yeah?”

“I know we still have talking to do, but can I please just kiss you now?”

Bridgette opened her eyes to see Monica’s almost pleading ones, and she nodded. Monica cupped both of her cheeks and kissed her a little hard at first, likely because they’d been apart the previous night, but her lips softened, and Bridgette moaned against them. She’d missed her, too. It had been less than twenty-four hours since they’d last done this, but Bridgette had missed it more than the days she’d spent away from any previous girlfriend. A few moments later, Monica’s arms moved back down to Bridgette’s sides, so Bridgette settled in against the door, knowing they would be staying here for a while. When she felt Monica’s hand move to lower her sweats, Bridgette smirked into the kiss. Monica’s lips moved slowly against her jaw, almost as if she were attempting to distract Bridgette from the fact that her hand was now moving into her underwear.

“I’ve missed you,” Monica said. “I dreamed about you last night.”

“And what did you dream?” she asked as Monica’s lips sucked on her earlobe.

“That we were making love in your bed. I was moving inside you,” Monica said as her fingers moved into Bridgette’s folds. “And you were wet.”

“I wasn’t exactly expecting this,” Bridgette said when she realized she wasn’t wet now.

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