A Heart to Trust

by A. L. Brooks

  She scooted closer to Olivia and took her hand. “Don’t be angry. This isn’t something I left you out of, okay?”

  Olivia tilted her head. “It isn’t?” She still sounded hurt.

  “No. I literally woke up this morning thinking it was probably time to start looking for something new. Then the staff vacancies email arrived at lunchtime and there was a job there that sounded great, and it’s a brilliant chance for me to break out into a new direction.”

  Olivia’s mouth dropped open. “Wait, that marketing job?”

  “Yes!”

  “Oh, wow. You’re going for it?” Olivia’s annoyance had transformed into awe and delight.

  “I am. I went to speak with Harper to see how realistic it was. She seemed unsure until I told her it was my idea to change Catwalk, and then she was all encouraging. So, I did it. I called Adrienne and she wrote me an amazing reference, then I put together a two-page document all about Catwalk and a couple other things I’ve done recently. And then I sent it off.” Her heart pounded all over again just telling Olivia about it—it had been a whirlwind of an afternoon.

  “Oh my God!” Olivia pulled Jenny into her arms and squeezed her tight. “This is fantastic.”

  Jenny’s throat closed; Olivia’s joy and support meant the world. “Thank you.”

  “You’re amazing, and I’m so, so proud of you.” Olivia pulled back to gaze into Jenny’s eyes.

  The love and pride in those hazel eyes made Jenny’s breath catch.

  “And you must be a top candidate for that job. They’d be complete fools not to take you on, purely based on what you did with Catwalk. Just think what you could do with free rein!” Olivia’s eyes shone, and her smile was intensely bright.

  “You’re gonna make me cry.” Jenny’s cheeks flamed with the praise.

  Olivia tugged her back into her arms. “You, my love, are going to have to get used to me talking you up.” She kissed Jenny. “I know you’re an amazing person, and I can’t wait for all those other people to see that too.”

  Not knowing what to say to that, Jenny simply nuzzled against Olivia’s neck and held on tight. Wrapped up in Olivia’s arms, with Olivia’s body pressed against hers and her words still fresh in her mind, Jenny knew she was exactly where she was meant to be. That what they shared was everything she’d ever dreamed of having in a relationship.

  It wasn’t perfect; nothing ever was. But she’d never had a future that looked so bright, and it was all because of Olivia. It wasn’t all Olivia’s doing—Jenny had contributed just as much to the pathway that had led them here. It was simply that all the good things that had come her way, that she’d worked at and been brave enough to pursue, centered around this woman in her arms.

  Jenny kissed Olivia, intending it to be a simple affirmation of the love she had for her, but her body had other ideas. As soon as Olivia’s tongue stroked her own, Jenny’s clit leaped to attention, and everything in her body, heart, and soul cried out to be lost once more in the love Olivia gave her.

  They undressed slowly, taking their time to explore the skin revealed with the removal of each item of clothing.

  Olivia caressed and licked and kissed Jenny’s body so sweetly, so tenderly, she could feel tears building. And when Olivia shimmied down the couch and delicately kissed the inside of her thighs, Jenny knew she was only moments away from losing herself in the most fundamental and best of ways. Olivia’s tongue lapped at her center, and Jenny’s entire being sang with joy.

  She clutched at Olivia’s hand where it rested on her belly and let the emotions sweep her away. “I love you,” she whispered, rolling her hips as Olivia’s tongue dove deeper.

  Olivia lifted her head. “God, I love you too.”

  Then Olivia dipped her head once more, and Jenny’s world became nothing but all-encompassing sensation, sweeping her up and enveloping her in a space filled only with Olivia and the love they’d found.

  Chapter 36

  Four months later

  “Ta-da!” Olivia threw an envelope onto the table with a flourish and grinned.

  “What’s this?” Jenny picked up the envelope and turned it around in her hands.

  Olivia bounced on her toes like an excited child. “Open it!”

  Jenny laughed and did as she was told. She pulled out a single sheet of paper, read only the first two or three lines printed on it, then dropped the letter as if it were on fire. “For real?”

  “Yes!”

  The next thing Jenny knew, Olivia pulled her out of her chair and wrapped her in her arms.

  “Oh wow, that’s amazing.” Jenny squeezed her tight. “I’m so happy for you.”

  “Thank you.” Olivia kissed her chin, then stepped back. “And I bought a little something to celebrate. I know you’re not much into champagne, but I thought we could make an exception this one time.” She leaned down to the bag she’d abandoned when she first arrived at the apartment and pulled out a bottle. She held it up and wiggled it from side to side.

  “I’m sure I can handle it. Just this once.” Jenny grinned.

  She looked down again at the letter, and her heart soared.

  Olivia was now officially divorced. They didn’t have to tiptoe around the city anymore wondering if being seen together would jeopardize the pretend marriage and Broderick’s position with his family or sponsors. It had been a long and hard four months, but every day had been absolutely worth it as far as Jenny was concerned.

  Of course, there was a sadness behind it all that would take some time for Olivia to push past—Katherine was livid and entirely blamed Olivia for the divorce, despite how much Broderick tried to defend her.

  Jenny knew it pained Olivia to lose the relationship she’d had with Katherine, and she only hoped Broderick was correct in thinking his mom would come around eventually.

  Olivia skipped off to the kitchen and returned with two wine glasses, champagne flutes not being something Jenny and Carl had ever possessed. She popped the cork and laughed as some of the fizzy wine spilled over the top of the bottle onto her fingers. As she enthusiastically licked it off, Jenny’s mind went to an entirely different place, and she admonished herself. Later.

  After Olivia had poured, they toasted her newly divorced status and drank. Then they kissed and drank more before returning to the kissing.

  “So, are you still on for moving out in two weeks?” Jenny asked when they eventually came up for air.

  Olivia’s eyes went a little wild. “Sort of.” She exhaled loudly. “I’m still waiting to hear on that apartment, but I have a bad feeling about it. Don’t ask me why. Intuition or something, I suppose?” She looked up at a nodding Jenny who knew exactly what she meant. “And I know I can obviously stay with Broderick as long as I need to, but it makes no sense to overstay. I do need to get out. That two-week deadline was slightly arbitrary, but somehow, having a date hanging over my head can only be a good thing. Otherwise, I’ll still be there this time next year.”

  “Yeah, I know what you mean.” Jenny sighed. “Well, all we can hope is that this other apartment works out.”

  The place Olivia had found wasn’t ideal, not by a long shot. But it was within her budget, in a not-too-scary part of the city, and it was a relatively easy commute to the C&V office. No one could ask for more, not in New York.

  “Do you know what else I realized today?” Olivia placed her glass on the coffee table.

  “What?”

  “That next week marks exactly a year since we met.”

  Jenny snorted. “And that was such a great first meeting.”

  Olivia frowned. “Was it that bad?”

  “Don’t you remember? Chrissy introduced herself as ‘Christine, but you can call me Chrissy’. And then you, all British and snooty, told us your name.”

  Jenny waited to see if Olivia’s mind offered up the memory. It took
a moment, then the blush appeared.

  “Oh God, I almost bit your head off, didn’t I?” Olivia hung her head in her hands. “In my defense,” she said, her voice muffled through her fingers, “that was a very stressful time for me.”

  Jenny laughed. “Holy crap, you were so cold that day! And for a lot of the days after.” She pulled Olivia’s hands away from her face. “Come on, it’s fine. Look where we are now. We both have brilliant new jobs and we’re together.” She tugged Olivia into her arms and held her close, breathing in her perfume, the scent of her hair.

  “True.” Olivia kissed her neck. “Did you ever hear anything more from Chrissy, by the way?”

  Jenny shook her head. “Nope. Just that one bizarre text message the week after you got the production manager job.” Jenny shivered at the recall. “You’ll always be with me,” the message had begun. “I won’t forget what you did. I’m sure we’ll meet again soon, once I’ve got some things sorted out. Then we can be friends again and everything will be okay.” The creepiness had freaked her out for days. “I blocked her number after that—no way did I need that crap on a regular basis.”

  “Indeed.” Olivia sighed. “I hope she got help or gets it sometime in the future. She has issues, I think it’s fair to say.”

  “Yeah. Jeez, what a mess that was.”

  Olivia looked up at her and kissed her chin. “It was, but we survived.”

  “And thrived.” Jenny leaned down to kiss her properly, and they were soon lost in skin, fingers, hands, mouths…

  “Hey, I’m home!” Carl called as he entered the apartment.

  Jenny looked up from where she lay on the couch, some paperwork from a presentation strewn over her belly. “Hey! Long time no see, roomie.”

  He laughed. “Yeah, sorry about that. It’s been one of those weeks. How was your night with Olivia?”

  Jenny grinned. “Pretty good.”

  Carl leaned against the back of the couch. “Only ‘pretty good’?”

  “I never kiss and tell.”

  Carl smiled, then his face fell into a frown. “Do you have a minute?”

  “Sure.” Jenny wriggled upright, scooted her papers over onto the floor, and motioned to the seat next to her.

  He sat and placed both hands on his knees. “So, here’s the thing. Solomon and I were talking last night, and he’s asked me to move in with him.”

  Jenny’s brain took one second to register what he’d just said, then she leaped across the couch and caught him up in a big hug. “Oh my God! That’s so good!”

  Carl’s arms wrapped around her. “Really?” His voice was close to her ear.

  She pulled back to look him in the eye. “Of course! Why wouldn’t it be? I mean, you do love him, don’t you?”

  “Yes! I guess I thought you might be upset at me moving out.”

  “Nope! I love this. I’m so happy for you.” She eased back from his arms. “So, are wedding bells ringing any time soon?”

  Carl’s eyes went so wide she snorted. “Whoa! Let’s not rush things, okay?”

  “I’m only teasing. Chill out.”

  He scowled at her, then laughed. “So, you’re okay with this?”

  “I am.” She sat back. “When is this all going to happen?”

  Carl ducked his head. “Um, this weekend.”

  “Wow, you don’t waste any time, do you?” She grinned at his sheepish expression. “Hey, it’s all good. I’ll help you pack.”

  “What will you do? You know, with the apartment? Get a new roomie?”

  Jenny stared at him, realizing she hadn’t put that part together yet. She could probably just about make rent on her own, now that she earned more in her new role. But it wouldn’t leave any spare cash for holidays and other nice things. So, yeah, maybe advertising for a new roommate made sense.

  Or…

  She sat bolt upright. Was it too soon? Would Olivia freak?

  “You could just ask her,” Carl said. “The worst she could do is say no.”

  “Am I that obvious?”

  “Never, ever play poker. That’s all I’m saying.”

  Olivia constructed the first of the boxes, taping both the seams and the corners, then loaded it with her books. She’d had, for once, a quiet day at work. She loved her new job, no doubt about it, but sometimes the days were long and tiring. Still, at least today had one notable success: Maxwell had confirmed he would stay on. Olivia had reworked his position so he was doing all the things he loved, and after a couple months’ trial period, he was happy once more. She valued what he did, so retaining him had been high on her list of priorities when she took over the production manager role. And while it therefore would have been easy to slouch on the balcony with a glass of wine and toast herself, she’d decided she’d better make more use of the evening.

  “Do you want any help?” Broderick asked as he came into the room.

  “You know, I think I’m fine. I don’t exactly have a huge amount to pack.”

  He smiled. “I guess not.”

  “How was your day?”

  “It was okay. I saw Mom.”

  “How is she?” Once again, it hurt Olivia to think of Katherine; she hadn’t seen her since Christmas.

  “You know, I think she’s getting there. She actually asked after you.”

  “She did?” Her heart beat a little faster.

  “Yes.” He stepped closer and gave her a quick hug. “I think it’ll be okay.”

  “Truly? I mean, I know I don’t have to be friends with her, but it feels wrong not to be able to, if that makes sense.”

  “It does. And I think she feels the same way. You might want to expect an invite to lunch one day soon.”

  “Oh wow.”

  “I know.” He rubbed a gentle hand down her arm.

  Tears pricked at her eyes. This was the one thing about the divorce that sat sourly in her stomach.

  Philip and Mallory had been great about it. She and Mallory had met a couple of times at their apartment in the last couple of months, ostensibly so that Olivia could coo over the baby, a gorgeous girl they’d named Katie. But Mallory had made a point of telling Olivia she still expected them to be friends and that she believed Broderick when he said their split was amicable. To achieve that with Katherine too would be wonderful.

  “Okay.” Broderick cleared his throat. “I’ll leave you to it. But shout if you need anything, okay?”

  She nodded and he left the room. “All right,” she said aloud. “Stop dawdling. Let’s get this done.”

  The doorbell rang when she was partway through packing the second box.

  “I’ll get it!” Broderick called.

  Olivia tuned out the muffled voices coming from the hall a few minutes later and continued packing.

  “Hey,” a quiet voice said from the doorway.

  Olivia spun around so fast she nearly toppled over. “Jenny!”

  Her girlfriend, ridiculously hot in cargo shorts and a Wonder Woman T-Shirt, leaned against the doorframe with a big smile on her face.

  “What are you doing here?” Olivia walked across the room to her.

  Jenny kissed her, long and slow, and Olivia’s temperature rocketed. “Well, I kinda have something to ask you. I know we weren’t supposed to see each other until tomorrow but…” Her gaze darted anywhere but on Olivia, and her hands twisted together in front of her.

  “You want to sit down?” Olivia pointed at the couch.

  “Sure.”

  Olivia followed Jenny across the room, her own nerves ratcheting up at Jenny’s demeanor. When they were seated, she willed herself to appear casual and waited for Jenny to speak.

  “So, the thing is.” Jenny swallowed. “Did you hear back about that apartment yet?”

  “No, not yet.”

  “Okay. Well.” Jenny ran a h
and through her hair. “Jeez, this is way harder than I thought it would be.”

  “My love, just tell me. Please. You’re making me nervous.”

  “All right.” Jenny sat up straighter and took Olivia’s hand in hers. “The thing is, the reason I’m asking this is because Carl dropped a bit of a bomb last night. He’s going to be moving in with Solomon very soon.”

  “Oh! Oh, that’s lovely. I’m so happy for them.” Okay, that was good news, right? So why did Jenny still look so nervous?

  “Yeah, it’s great.” Jenny cleared her throat. “And it got me thinking. I’d be living on my own then. And although I could keep doing that, or maybe even get another roommate, I had another idea.” She gazed into Olivia’s eyes. “I know you wanted to branch out on your own after living with Broderick, and I will totally understand if that’s still what you want, but…” She licked her lips. “How would you feel about moving in with me, instead?”

  Olivia’s heart missed a beat. Moving in together? Already? They’d only been dating about six months. Okay, they were far slower than the stereotypical lesbian U-Haul on the second date. Even so, it wasn’t that long, was it? Sure, being with Jenny made her happier than she’d been in a long, long time. She was in love with Jenny, completely and utterly. And yes, she had to admit, the one or two nights they spent apart each week didn’t feel right.

  We could be together every night. I would wake up next to her every day.

  The thought thrilled her. Who cared if they’d only been together for six months? The only time measurement that mattered right now was the time they could spend together in the future. “Yes. I’d love to.”

  “Last one!” Solomon called from the hallway and appeared a moment later in the living room with a box labeled “Cookbooks” in his arms.

  “Over there, please.” Olivia pointed to the newly installed bookshelf near the door to the kitchen.

  Solomon nodded and set the box on the floor.

  “Thanks.” Jenny gave him a big smile.

  “My pleasure. After all, you had to carry a lot more when he moved in with me last week, so it’s only fair.”