Page 35 of Connected By Souls

“I’ll be right back, just a sec.” I go to the bathroom to clean myself before returning to bed. “I’m back.” I’m met with silence. “Emma?” I hear her steady breathing over the phone. She must have fallen asleep. Smiling, I lay the phone down next to me and fall asleep, listening to her breathing.

ChapterSixteen

Emma

I wakeup and see my phone lying next to me. Glancing at the screen, I notice I’m still on the call with Noah. Did I fall asleep? “Hello?” I ask, not sure if he’s still there.

“Good morning, beautiful. How did you sleep?” Noah’s smooth deep voice fills the room.

“I slept like a baby.” I can’t help but smile about last night.

“Me too. Good phone sex will do that to you,” he says. I can hear the teasing in his voice and can picture him grinning like an idiot right now.

“I’ll have to keep that in mind for future references.” I laugh, getting out of bed to grab some coffee.

“Just put me on speed dial, and I’ll be at your service.”

“Good to know.” I shake my head and grin.

“I’ve got to get back to work. I just wanted to be the first person you heard this morning.”

“I’m glad you were.” I breathe. “I need to leave for work soon too. Have a good day at work today.”

“It’s starting out really good so far.” We both say our goodbyes and hang up. I stir the creamer into my coffee as I remember last night. Proud of myself for sticking to my decision to move forward fearlessly, I let myself be in the moment last night. If phone sex can be that good with just his words, I can’t imagine how it will feel when he actually touches me. My body responds to the thought as desire starts to gather. Realizing that I’m still stirring my coffee with a silly grin on my face, I shake my head to snap out of it.

I take a sip as I walk to the bathroom needing a shower before work. I’ve got a long day ahead of me, and I get to meet some new girlfriends tonight. I’m long overdue for a girls’ night out. It’s been over a year since I’ve let myself have fun. I step under the warm spray, wondering if the girls will know Noah. It’s a small town, so chances are, they will. Please, God, don’t let them be exes. I could really use some girlfriends here.

* * *

By four o’clock,I‘ve ordered all the supplies for the children’s art room and have a good head start organizing our first Halloween event in October. We’re turning the children’s section into a scary haunted house, and a volunteer will read ghost stories. The younger kids will go earlier to do Halloween art projects, and the older kids will go later for flashlight ghost stories. Everyone in the library is dressing up as book characters for the kids to make it more fun. Earlier this morning, I added the signup sheet on our website and sent out a newsletter with the details. I was excited to see that parents are already signing their children up.

I say goodbye to Miss Sylvia as I head out the door for the day. The excitement starts to build as I drive home. I’m looking forward to the yoga class and meeting the girls for drinks afterward. It’ll be nice to know girls my age in town that I can do things with.

Pulling up to my house, I see my front porch has been sanded. Smiling, I get out of the Bronco and run up to take a closer look. Running my hand over the smooth wood, I grin. He must have been working on this since we got off the phone this morning. I do have to admit that the sanding was something I was putting off. I love to paint, but prepping not so much. I see a note on the front door and reach up to grab it.

I hope you don’t mind me helping you with the sanding. I know you wanted to get your hands dirty and work on your home too, so I left the painting to you. Have fun tonight with the girls. I hope my mom and sister behave and don’t embarrass me too much. Call me if you need to be rescued. I’m looking forward to Saturday when I can have you all to myself.

Noah

Mom and Sister? I just realized we never really got into his family on Friday night because I basically spilled my guts to him like he was some shrink. I had no clue that I would be meeting his Mom and Sister tonight. Grabbing the note, I walk inside and shoot him a text.

Emma

I’m meeting your mom and sister tonight! Why didn’t you tell me sooner?

I nervously strum my fingers on the counter while I wait for a reply.

Noah

Sorry. My sister told me Sunday at dinner that she was going to yoga and drinks with a girl named Emma, who was new in town. I put two and two together and figured it was you. I was going to bring it up Friday, but I was more interested in knowing you. I had completely forgotten about it until today. Don’t worry. They’ll love you.

Suddenly feeling nervous about meeting his family, I debate on canceling.

Noah

Get out of your head. I know what you’re doing. Don’t cancel. You’ll have a great time. It’ll be good for you to make some friends. Bella and Sophia may get loud at times and can be a handful, but they’ll love meeting you and having someone else to do girls’ night with. And you already know Maya, Sophia’s mom from the smoothie shop. From what she talked about with my mom, she already loves you.

No wonder Maya was grinning like crazy at the library. She’s best friends with Noah’s Mom. Putting my hand to my forehead, I try to rub away the tension that’s forming.

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