Page 14 of Pierced Pages
Heat bloomed in Danielle’s cheeks, and she knew there was no hiding it from Melanie. All the emotions she’d been hiding from herself for the past four days came floating to the surface.
“What about her?” Danielle’s only option was to play it off. Exactly how it was supposed to be. “I saw her sitting alone, so I sat with her for a while. She’s nice.”
Crap. She should have left off that last part.
She also shouldn’t have been thinking for the past three days about how Morgan was working just down the road from her. Close enough to walk down and pop in to say hi one day.
“She is nice,” Melanie said with a sly smile. “And the conversation was nice?”
“Yes, it was.” Danielle shifted in her chair. “But if you’re asking if there’s anything more to it than a single conversation, the answer is no.”
Melanie narrowed her eyes at Danielle. “But you just said it was nice. Nice is the start of something.”
“Not in this case,” Danielle said. “I’ve got my hands full with work and Lila. And even if I didn’t, Morgan isn’t interested in a relationship with anyone.”
Saying that ripped a tiny tear in Danielle’s heart. As much as she knew she didn’t have the time or energy to grow a relationship right now, it hurt to know that it wasn’t even a possibility with Morgan.
It was ridiculous. Truly. She’d met this woman once. Had exactly one conversation with her. There was no reason to be upset about anything.
Except it had been a nice conversation. Easy. Comfortable. There was a pull there that Danielle couldn’t quite explain other than she wanted to be around Morgan more.
Melanie put her hands up in defense. “Just checking. It looked like something good was happening. I don’t want to meddle. Just want you to be happy. And if you need a little nudge to make that happen, I’m happy to supply that service.”
“I promise I’ll let you know when I need a nudge.”
Melanie straightened and began to walk backwards, pointing a finger at Danielle. “I’m gonna hold you to that.”
Chapter 7
Morgan
The microwave dinged, and Morgan stuck her hand inside to retrieve the hot popcorn bag. She emptied the contents into a bowl that sat beside another bowl filled with popcorn from the previous bag.
Jen was waiting on the couch, petting Reginald beside her. Morgan handed her one of the bowls, which she expertly held just out of Reginald’s reach, despite his long, greedy arms.
Morgan sat at the other end of her brown couch. It had seen better days, but it was comfy and served its purpose. Besides, there was no point in getting a new one with Reginald sneaking a scratch now and then, despite having a giant scratching post all to himself nearby.
She took a big sip of the soda Jen had brought to the end tables earlier while Morgan was making popcorn. It was cold and crisp, and Morgan hadn’t realized how thirsty she was. She really needed to drink more water.
While Morgan took another big sip, Jen asked, “Ready?”
“Remind me what happened in the last one.”
Normally Morgan remembered what they’d watched the week before, but they’d skipped last week, so it had been two weeks since their last episode.
Morgan had told Jen she was too tired to watch anything last Sunday, after a long night at Kim’s recommitment party. Which wasn’t a lie. More truthful, however, was that she couldn’t pay attention to anything while she’d been trying not to think about the woman she’d met the night before.
There was no point in thinking about her. Nothing could come of it. Morgan’s stance on relationships was still firm. Relationships were a one-way ticket to misery. Unless you won the relationship lottery like Melanie and Kim. But Morgan had never been so lucky at anything, so she wasn’t about to test that luck on something she didn’t want in the first place.
But she’d been thinking about Danielle all week, nevertheless. Thankfully, the ruminating about her had stopped a few days ago. Now, Morgan just had a fleeting thought or two here and there.
“It was a cliffhanger,” Jen said while petting Reginald as he settled in for the show with them, half on Jen’s lap and half on the couch. “Lauren H. found out that Theresa has someone back home, and she told Ryan about it. It ended with him about to confront Theresa.”
Morgan never would have thought she’d be not only watching but looking forward to a show like this. She had no patience for drama in real life, but in a scripted reality show? Sure. And it was even better watching it with her best friend.
“Oh, yeah. I remember now.” Morgan dove a hand into her popcorn bowl, sending the buttery scent wafting up to her nose. “Let’s go.”
Jen hit play, and they started the episode. It was the drama-filled goodness she’d been waiting for all week. Reginald had been looking forward to it all week, too, judging by his look of contentment. He had little use for most people, but he adored Jen almost as much as Morgan did.
