“Mmm, felt like it.” She pressed her lips against Nina’s cheek before seeking her mouth and Nina let the experience seep into her bones. It solidified her. And them, together.
Maya was the first to pull back. She smiled. “Maybe we need to eventually discuss this thing we have for kitchens.”
She laughed and took Maya’s hand. Despite what just occurred, the moment felt unfinished. In fact, everything between them always had, and Nina didn’t want to be done anytime soon. She tugged and Maya eased off the counter. Her belt jangled and her clothes rustled as they scraped against the floor. She used her foot and her other hand to get free as Nina led them out of the kitchen to the bedroom. As she passed the stove, she glanced at the more-than-likely cold pan-seared chicken breasts and the rest of their meal.
Dinner could wait.
Chapter 19
Maya opened her eyes and stared up at an unfamiliar ceiling. The weight on her chest, however, was very familiar, and welcome. She glanced down at the mop of blonde hair, which was pretty much all she could see. Underneath the covers, she felt everything. The slide of skin on skin capitalized by the tangle of limbs. She never wanted to move.
Nina mumbled something, fidgeted, and then went quiet. Maya traced Nina’s back with her fingers, thinking that she was going to make sure she got used to this. Yes, she lived a few hours away in another state. Yes, at times her job took her out of town occasionally, even farther away. Yes, the thought of only seeing Nina on weekends made her chest ache and caused a huge lump to form in her fucking throat. Yes, it bothered her to be away from her family, especially after their renewed closeness. That was a whole lot of fucking yeses and not all of them were good. But she could hopefully make them better. Eventually. She sighed.
“Stop it.”
Maya chuckled. “Stop what?”
“You wanted me to go back to sleep a while ago and now you’re waking me up.”
“All I did was breathe.”
“Well, could you do it quietly?”
“No promises.” She wrapped her arms around Nina. “And I changed my mind. If I’m up, you have to be up, too.”
“That’s decidedly selfish of you.”
“Thank you.”
Nina grumbled incoherently. Then, she raised her head and pushed her hair out of her face. “Fine. I’m up.”
Maya stared at her, at this vision of loveliness naked in bed with her. She gave her a sexy little smile. “Morning.”
“Mm-hmm.”
“What?”
“I was just thinking.”
“Uh-oh.” She smiled but it was interrupted by a yawn.
“Look at you being a smart-ass.” Maya moved her hand past the small of Nina’s back to cup her ass cheek and she made a contented noise.
“What’s going on in that brain of yours?”
Maya decided to just spit it out. “What did you think was going to happen between us when I came back to town for the wedding?”
Nina propped herself up on her elbow and studied her for a moment. “Except for Rachel, I didn’t feel like there was anything in my life that was just for me. I wanted to like myself again. I wanted you to like me again. After graduation, you were so angry with me. So standoffish, but almost every time I asked you to lunch, drinks, or coffee, you came. I figured some part of you wanted to like me again, too. I had no idea we’d be endgame.”
“Endgame.” Maya tried the word on for size. She liked the way it fit, the way it felt in her mouth, and the way it settled over her. The term implied drama, baggage, and inevitability. Yeah, it was so them. “That’s exactly what we are.” She traced Nina’s cheek with the back of her hand.
“I know we just started this, even though it’s been a long time in the making, but I’m more than willing to do my part. So, we’ll have to make the most out of the weekends.”
Feeling giddy, Maya sat up in bed. “Yeah, whenever possible. Plus, you’ll be out for the summer soon.” She paused to reflect on her words. But they felt right, so she let them out. “Maybe I could take more jobs in the area.”
“And I could come see you to fill the gap.”
“I like the sound of that.” She kissed her and Nina slipped her arms around her neck like she was holding onto the moment, the caress, and to them.
Maya released a shaky breath. In for a fucking penny, in for a fucking pound.
“What?” Nina asked as she continued to brush her mouth against Maya’s.
“What I felt for you in college doesn’t even compare to what I’m feeling now.” She hoped to God that the words didn’t get stuck in the back of her throat.
“Really?” Nina’s tone softened even more.
“Yeah.”
And then silence fell between them. Seconds ticked by and Nina’s gaze narrowed, but she smiled as well and then she pushed Maya’s shoulder and growled. Maya laughed and pulled her close. She protested but just barely. Encouraged by Nina’s expression and her reaction, Maya relaxed. That hole she’d been walking around with for years had closed in the best way possible. After all this time, it had to be safe enough to take a leap. Right? Samuel L. Jackson’s voice rattled around in her head. C’mon, spit it out. If you don’t, I’ll do it my damn self. She had this. She did.
“Well?” Nina asked. “What—”
“I’m falling in love with you.”
She smiled, her expression stunned. “Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
“Good thing I’m falling for you, too.”
Maya grinned like an idiot.
This was real. They were real.
She leaned in to kiss her again. Within seconds, their interaction went from sweet promise to scalding intensity and, at that point, nothing else mattered.
**
“You forgot something.” Nina placed a hefty slice of garlic bread on the edge of Maya’s plate.
“Mmm, thanks.”
Maya reached over with her free hand to rub Nina’s knee. She refused to stop touching Nina. Hell, she couldn’t. She picked up her fork and glanced around. Everyone else had already dug in. T was scarfing his food down like he hadn’t eaten in days. Chloe and Winston grinned and whispered to each other as they ate. Satisfied that nothing was amiss, Maya shoved her fork into Winston’s famous lasagna. The utensil sank into it with little resistance and she took a bite.
“So good.” She smacked her lips in praise, but there was something different about the dish. “But you added something.” She looked at Winston.
He grinned at Chloe, then addressed her. “It’s the sauce. Chloe suggested it.”
“It works. What did you put in it?”
“Mama’s Gravy.”
“Wait. What?” T poked at the portion he had left. “I don’t cook, mind you, but I never heard of mixing gravy with tomato sauce before.”
Chloe chuckled. “It’s tomato sauce. That’s just the brand name.”
“Oh, shit. She can cook, too? Don’t mess this up, Winnie. I’ll be pissed.” T went back to wolfing down his food.
“Me, too.” Maya took another bite.
“So, are you saying Nina isn’t a good cook?” Winston asked.
“I didn’t say that at all. She does a hell of a job in the kitchen.”
Nina pinched her leg. Hard.
“Ow.” Maya rubbed the spot. “What did I say?”
T gave them both a look.
“Oh. Oh, yeah, the kitchen. Interesting things happen—never mind.” She grinned and T snorted while Chloe laughed.
Winston picked up his wine glass and tapped it lightly against Maya’s. “To women and the kitchen. A whole new meaning.”
Chloe reached for her glass. “To the Davises and the kitchen. Thank you for changing the meaning.”
“Hear, hear.” Nina raised her glass, too.
Maya leaned back in her chair and took it all in. Her family and her life. Her mother and father had to be looking down on them with big smiles. How could they not? “I’m gonna try like hell to make every Sunday dinner,” sh
e said.
T raised his forkful of lasagna like he was toasting her.
Nina took her hand.
“I’m gonna be taking more work in the area, so…” Maya glanced at Winston.
He nodded, pleased. “Figured you were gonna say that.”
Well, at least he didn’t go into speeches about roots this time.
“Fine,” T said. “Maybe it’s time for me to get serious about somebody, too. I hope she’s a redhead. We already have a blonde and a brunette in the family.”
“Doesn’t matter who she is, as long as she’s not an asshole,” Maya said.
Nina laughed.
“And yes, T, this has all been an elaborate plan to get you to settle down.” Maya gestured at him with her fork.
“I’m glad you can admit it, Daddy.”
Winston laughed and almost had to spit out his food.
“Stop it.” Maya pointed at him again.
“I can’t. Gonna have to use it for as long as I can.”
“There’s a story there and I’m dying to hear it,” Nina said as she took another bite of her lasagna.
T grinned at Maya and switched his attention to Nina. “You really wanna know?”
Nina nodded.
Maya groaned, thinking that this was a really bad idea and, shit, she could feel the heat from the flush on her neck.
T’s gaze was full of amusement, but it suddenly softened. “It was all about you.”
“What do you mean?” Nina looked at Maya, then back at T.
“She missed you, and now that you’re together, it doesn’t even matter.”
Nina squeezed Maya’s hand. “Yeah, you’re probably right. Let bygones be bygones.”
“Exactly.”
“This house is never gonna be boring. I can tell.” Chloe brought the wine glass to her lips and drained it.
“I can attest to that, and I can’t wait.” Nina downed the rest of her wine as well. She reached for the bottle and refilled her glass along with Chloe’s.
Maya brought their still linked hands to her lips and pressed a kiss to Nina’s knuckles. Tomorrow she was going home to Chattanooga, but she wasn’t saying goodbye. Maya was saying hello to a whole new beginning.
Chapter 20
Eager to get the school day started, Nina eased the last parent out of her classroom with a reassuring smile and wave. The little boy left behind latched onto her leg and held on for dear life. Slowly, she extricated herself and kneeled in front of him and glanced at the name tag on his shirt. “It’s important to use our words. How else are we going to get to know each other, Jacob?”
He nodded, making the locks covering his forehead move, too. His hazel eyes were wide and his brown skin slightly flushed. He looked terrified. “Scared,” he mumbled and stuck part of his hand into his mouth.
“Yes, I figured, but guess what?” she whispered.
He blinked up at her and took his hand out of his mouth.
“It’s my first day here, too. Welcome to kindergarten.” She took his other hand. “Let’s be scared together. I’ll bet we get through the day a lot faster.”
Jacob smiled, showing two missing front teeth.
She walked him to a table where another shy little boy sat. She introduced them and pointed to the similarities in their shirts. One had the Superman logo, the other Batman. “Superheroes should stick together,” she said to them. “Don’t you think?”
Both boys nodded and smiled and started talking. She went to check on other kids. Things were much easier for her here at Lance Elementary, where her colleagues had been eager to greet her a week earlier during their first teachers’ meeting. To make things even better, the principal had stopped by Nina’s classroom this morning to wish her luck. There was something about this school that put Nina at ease.
For now, it was just one more thing to be happy about. The list was huge and steadily growing. Maya was at the top of it, of course, and Nina thought about her practically every minute of every day but right now, she needed to focus, but it was hard. Very hard. Not that she minded.
**
Maya stood in the living room and directed the movers toward one of the two bedrooms in her newly rented cabin. She looked closely at the boxes in his arms. “No, sorry. Those go in the kitchen.”
He glanced down. “You sure? It says bedroom on top.
“But kitchen is written on the side. Bedroom has a line through it.”
“Feels too light to be kitchen stuff.”
Maya glared. She definitely liked the movers she’d hired to load the U-Haul she drove from Chattanooga better. The guys she paid to unload? Nope.
He shrugged. “Fine. Kitchen.”
She wondered if it would be bad form to tip him with the lint in her pants pocket. Probably. It was a big day and she wasn’t going to let some stranger’s smart-assery get to her.
This day was momentous.
After two months and some change, Maya understood that long-distance relationships were for the fucking birds. She wanted—needed—to be near Nina constantly. She had gone from falling in love into the ranks of the fallen, though she wasn’t complaining. Yeah, she had it bad. She smiled, and she didn’t care a good goddamn if the movers looked at her cockeyed.
Then, there was her brothers. Correction. Brother. While she finally figured out that she’d thrive near home, T had found his place in Chicago while she ended up in bumfuck Candler. At least the rent was cheap and the cabin was only a ten-minute drive from her childhood home. She wouldn’t have it any other way. Nina could stay the night, the day, the weekend—as much as she wanted. It was perfect.
“Okay, you were right. It was kitchen stuff. I shook it a little. Sounded like glasses.” The mover said as he came back through the living room.
Maya’s smile shifted to a scowl. He grinned and shrugged again.
Yeah, she was definitely going to make sure his partner got the bigger tip. The other guy eased past her pulling a dolly stacked with boxes. The movers had set up the major furniture and put it all where she instructed, including the couch, love seat, and bed. Still, there was a ton of boxes left. She checked her phone. It was a few minutes after four. “You’re gonna be done by five, right? That’s what we agreed to on the contract.” She didn’t want them working when Nina came over.
The nice mover stopped and nodded. “Yeah. That’s why I’m using the dolly. I can move four to five boxes at a time.”
“So, you’re telling me that in fifty minutes, you’ll have every box placed in the appropriate rooms?”
His eyes widened. “Oh, um, possibly?” He cleared his throat. “Sorry. We can stay—”
“No.” Maya released a long sigh of frustration. He just lost his big tip, too. “Just do what you can.” She refused to be bothered. She didn’t mind hauling things from room to room as long as these guys were gone before Nina got here.
More than an hour later, Maya was elbow deep in the boxes that had been left in the kitchen.
“Well, it looks like you really are making yourself at home,” Nina said from the doorway.
Maya looked up, surprised. “Damn. Scared me. And hi. Where’d you come from?”
“A delicate sperm and an unfortunate egg. I’m evidence that two wrongs can make a right.”
Maya snorted. “That’s colorful.”
“But true. I didn’t mean to scare you, but we did just get off the phone fifteen minutes ago.” She held up a plastic bag then adjusted the large tote dangling from her shoulder. “I even stopped to get those taquitos you wanted.” She set both bags on a clean spot on the counter.
Maya abandoned the unpacking and hugged her, then brushed a kiss across her lips. “I was trying to get as much done as possible before you got here.”
“I appreciate it. But I’d rather do this.” She kissed her again, leading to a shitload of heat and tingles. “Mmm, that’s better. I don’t care about dishes. The bed, on the other hand…”
“All it needs is sheets, pillow cases, and
a comforter.”
“That should have been your first stop.” She gave her a cute little smile.
“See? That’s one of the reasons I love you. Priorities. You help me keep mine straight.”
“I do what I can.”
“And you do it so fucking right.”
“Aww. And I love you, too, even when you get all corny.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she shot back, though she kind of melted inside every time Nina said she loved her. She kissed her neck.
“Sure you don’t,” Nina said with a shiver.
“So, how was your first day?” She pulled back a little bit.
It just confirmed what I knew. I was right in choosing Lance over Castleberry.”
“I’m glad.”
“Me, too. Now, let’s eat. Then we need to christen—” She stopped as realization dawned in her eyes. “I just figured out why you were in here. The Davises really do have a thing for kitchens.”
Maya laughed. “It must have been a psychosomatic thing.”
“Oh, is that what it is?”
“I’m serious, but now that you brought it up—”
A phone rang.
“That’s me.” Nina’s expression went from amused to cautious. “That’s my mom’s ring. I haven’t heard from her in months. What if—” Instead of saying more, she reached inside the tote for her phone. “I’m putting it on speaker.”
“Good,” Maya said. There was no way in hell she was going to leave Nina alone unless she specifically requested it.
“Mom?” Nina said in a tentative greeting.
“I’m not dying, if that’s what you were about to ask.” Sarah’s tone was so dry, there should have been a cloud of dust to accompany it.
“Good, because that’s the only reason I answered.”
Maya raised her eyebrows. Well, shit. Nina was loaded and ready.
“Nice to know you care.”
Nina leaned against Maya. “If you’re not having medical problems, why are you calling?”
“Are you done pretending? You’ve had enough time to rebel. It’s time to grow up now.”
Tension rolled off Nina. “I was actually done pretending a few months back. Are you done being ignorant and controlling?”
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