Page 51 of The One I Love
Kendra’s eyes go wide. “Yet? Girl. Look at you. No one smiles this big just because a guy held their hand.”
“We did more than hold hands,” I admit. “We just haven’t done that yet. Some things we’re taking slow.”
Kendra nods. “I can respect that. I don’t get it, because twodays in lesbian years is two months and we’d be looking at moving in together. But I can respect it.”
I laugh. “Thanks. It’s good. Granted, we haven’t been in front of others yet, so that’s going to be tricky, but we’ll cross that bridge when we get there.”
“Why would it be tricky?”
“We’re…not exactly…telling everyone yet.”
Kendra stops what she’s doing on the computer to look at me. “You’re keeping it a secret? Your solution to not having everyone freak out that you’re dating is to not tell anyone?”
“Well, putting it like that makes it sound bad,” I say. “We just want some time for us. When we tell people—and we have every intention of doing so—it’s going to mean a lot of people insert themselves into our relationship. We just want some time for us.”
“That makes sense,” she says. “Also, I’m flattered that I’m in the know. This must have been what it felt like to know Darth Vader was Luke’s father.”
I laugh as I hear the doors to the emergency room open, and in an instant, my smile goes from big to physically hurting my face.
“Hey, beautiful.”
For years I thought pet names were ridiculous. Just call the person by their name. It’s not going to make them love you any less or more.
But I get it now. I totally get it. Because every time Shane Cunningham calls me beautiful, I fall a little bit more.
And when he’s calling me beautiful while holding a cup of coffee and wearing his police uniform? I’m a goner.
“Hey.”
I stand up and lean over to kiss him, but quickly stop myself.
“Oh, do it,” Kendra says as she stands and walks toward one of the rooms. “Ain’t no one here that’s going to tell on you two.”
I smile and turn back to Shane, who meets me for a sweet kiss I feel from my head to my toes.
“I’ve always liked her,” Shane says.
“She’s pretty great,” I say. “Thank you for the coffee. What do I owe the pleasure?”
“I was in the neighborhood,” he says, a sly smirk on his face.
“Really?”
He shakes his head. “Things were slow, and forty-eight hours is just too long to not see you. So I figured I’d pop over for a quick visit.”
Well, now my smile is guaranteed to be plastered on my face for the rest of the night.
I walk around the desk so I can stand next to him, which might not have been my best idea. Now there’s nothing separating us. And I really want to kiss him again.
“How long is your shift today?”
He looks at his watch, which gives me a perfect glimpse of his muscular forearm.
“I get off at four. You?”
I blink a few times to snap me out of my stare. “Six. I get off at six.”
“How about we go get dinner?”
