Ever since Friday night at the bar, Easton hadn’t been able to get her mind off Bella. Oh, she could find other things to do to occupy herself, but Bella still danced around in the back of her brain, waving her arms, reminding Easton that she was there, that she hadn’t gone anywhere, and hey, don’t forget how good-looking she was. Her flushed face, all that tousled hair, her beautiful eyes, her ass in those jeans. It was as if those recollections suddenly grew hands and grabbed on to Easton, gave her a little shake now and then just to make sure she was paying attention, wouldn’t let go of her.
As she sat through the class, she tried hard to listen to the actual words being said, but her focus was more on the sound of Bella’s voice, the way her facial expressions changed as she spoke. It was so easy to tell when she was passionate about something because her eyes brightened and her posture seemed to straighten, made her small frame just a smidge taller.
Maybe because Easton took part in the role-playing exercise last week, she simply observed this week. Rather than a supervisor / employee issue, this exercise featured two employees with decidedly different work styles who had trouble working together because of it. Mara and Paul played the employees while Kim took the role of the supervisor. She handled it differently than Easton would have, but all managers had different ways of dealing with their staff members.
“What did you guys all think?” Bella asked. “Would you have done anything differently?”
Easton raised her hand, and her heart rate kicked up a notch when those hazel eyes settled on her. “I think Kim handled it just fine, but I might have had Mara and Paul do a bit more talking to each other first.”
“In Kim’s presence,” Bella clarified.
“Absolutely. She’d need to be there, to hear it. But I think allowing your staff to—for lack of a better phrase—air their grievances to each other helps cultivate more understanding between individuals. More so than a supervisor telling them this is what I heard and this is how it’s going to be.”
Bella nodded, and when a smile broke out on her face, aimed Easton’s way, weird things happened to Easton’s body. Weird, wonderful things. A wave of warmth washed through. Her own smile grew wider. She was pretty sure she blushed—Blushed? God, was she fifteen? It was as if Bella’s approval of her answer controlled her mood as well as the physical reactions of her body. Damn, that was some power.
The class went on like that and felt infinitely longer than it actually was. Easton found herself literally squirming in her seat once. Good Lord, what is wrong with me?
Again, she dragged her feet, taking her time gathering her things once class was over. She pretended to be checking her phone until she was sure everybody was gone from the room except her and Bella. When she finally looked up, Bella was standing still and looking at her.
“Hi,” Easton croaked, then cleared her throat and tried again. “Hi.”
“Hey,” Bella said, and she looked more relaxed than Easton could remember seeing her. “Coffee?”
The slow smile that blossomed across Easton’s face was something she could feel. Turned out she didn’t have to psych herself up to ask Bella out again. Bella had been on the very same page. “Love some.”
They made arrangements to meet at Perk again, Easton heading right over and Bella to follow as soon as she locked up.
The coffee shop was a little bit busier than last week but still had plenty of room. Easton ordered herself a latte and realized with disappointment that she didn’t know what Bella had ordered last time or she’d have gotten it for her. Had it ready and waiting. She’d be sure to ask this time.
The same love seat was surprisingly free, and Easton took that as a sign, so she snagged it. Before she even realized what she was doing, she put her purse and her light jacket on her left, between her body and the arm of the love seat, forcing her to sit a bit closer to the center of the cushions and thereby closer to where Bella would sit. “Strategic,” she muttered when she saw what she’d done, and a corner of her mouth tugged up as the little bell over the door jingled.
How was it that Easton had seen Bella not fifteen minutes ago, but the sight of her walking through Perk’s front door made her heart skip a beat and her stomach flip in her body? She hadn’t been so physically affected by a woman—by anybody—in her entire life. Part of her loved it. The other part was terrified. When Bella smiled at her, Easton’s entire body broke out in goose bumps. Bella held up a finger and went to the counter to get herself some coffee.
“What did you order?” Easton asked when Bella sat down on the love seat, much closer than last time. Their knees brushed.
“Dark roast, little bit of cream.” Bella scrunched up her face cutely. “I’ve never been able to drink the sweet stuff. I’m jealous of those of you who can.”
“Don’t be jealous. We’re all slowly rotting our teeth and widening our hips.”
“Oh, I beg to differ.” The second the words were out, Bella’s eyes widened as if she’d surprised herself.
Easton smiled and let herself enjoy the compliment, the heat it caused. “So,” she said after a moment. “Class was interesting.”
It was Bella’s turn to smile. “Oh, okay. We’re doing that, are we?”
Easton furrowed her brow. “Doing what?”
“Making small talk.”
“As opposed to?”
“Discussing what’s going on here.” Bella moved a finger between the two of them.
“Oh.” Just when Easton thought she was through blushing, she felt herself blush some more. “Yeah.”
“Okay, let’s see.” Bella picked up her mug, sat back against the back of the soft love seat, and crossed her legs. Easton’s gaze was pulled in that direction as if she had no control over where she looked. “Have you lived here all your life?”
Grateful for the change of subject, Easton relaxed the smallest bit. “No. I’m from a town farther east. I’m sure you’ve never heard of it. Framerton.”
“I know exactly where that is.”
“You do?” Easton was shocked. Usually, people just stared blankly at her when she mentioned her hometown. “What are the chances of that? I mean, it’s not a tiny town, but most people have never heard of it.”
“I think I’ve driven past it. Or through it. Or I’ve heard of it. Something.” Bella blinked rapidly and turned her attention to her coffee, took a sip. “What brought you here?”
“My job. I’d been working for Hart for a couple years, but my commute was brutal. Ninety minutes each way. Try that in the dead of winter.” Bella made a worried face, eyes wide. “Exactly. Anyway, when a position opened up here, I decided to give it a shot.” She shrugged. “I got lucky.”
“I bet it had a lot less to do with luck.”
“You excel at flattery.”
Bella’s smile held a hint of mischief. “Do you like your job?”
“You also excel at questions.”
With a chuckle, Bella said, “Sorry. Occupational hazard.”
“I thought, in your occupation, you were just supposed to listen, then ask me how I feel about that.”
“And how do you feel about that?”
“About my job? Or about all your questions?”
“Yes.” Bella sipped from her big, blue mug to hide her grin, her eyes watching Easton over the rim.
Easton felt a little zing hit low in her body. “I feel fine about my job. I feel…many things about your questions.”
“Oh?”
“Mm-hmm.” Easton’s turn to sip. Several beats went by as they held each other’s gaze, the eye contact almost physical in its intensity. It’s now or never. Easton’s brain shrieked it at her. Now. Or never. Silently, she took a deep, fortifying breath and stepped over the edge. “I like you.”
Bella cocked her head slightly, half-grin on her lips. “I like you, too.”
“I’d like to take you on a date.”
“Aren’t we on a date?” There was a twinkle in Bella’s gorgeous eyes that told Eas
ton she was teasing, and it was everything. Its message was loud and clear: I’m with you here.
“A real date.”
“This isn’t a real date?”
“Pfft. This is coffee. Coffee isn’t a real date. Coffee is where you decide if you want a real date.”
“And you’ve decided.”
“I have.”
“I see.” Bella sipped, took her time. Easton loved this game, this back and forth. It was…delicious somehow, and she found it to be a surprising turn-on. Her legs tingled. Her stomach fluttered. “And where would you take me on a real date?”
“Dinner. Maybe a movie. Maybe dancing. I have a lot of ideas.”
“Intriguing.”
“Yeah?”
“Oh, yeah.” Bella waited a beat, then nodded slowly. “Okay.”
“Okay, you’ll go on a date with me?” God, she felt like a nervous teenager. Did she sound like one? Please don’t let me sound like one.
“Okay, I will go on a date with you.”
And just like that, the nerves were gone. Easton bit down on her bottom lip, trying to keep her grin from being too wide. She needed to keep some semblance of cool here. At least a little. Like, an iota. If that was even possible. Which it probably wasn’t. “Excellent.” She blew out a breath and sat back, relief flooding her. Nope. No cool here at all.
Bella’s chuckle was low and throaty. “Did you think I’d say no?”
“Honestly? I was worried there might be some rule I was asking you to break or some line I was about to cross, given your job.”
“Well, there would be if you were my client. If I was your therapist. But since you’re simply taking my class for your job—and I already know you’re going to pass, so it’s not like there’s any weirdness about you trying to bribe your way into that—I don’t see a problem.”
“Oh, good.” While this had all worked out very well and had gone super smoothly, it hadn’t been Easton’s plan. Coffee, yes. But asking Bella out? Noooo. All she’d wanted was to spend a little more time with Bella. Get to know her a bit. Maybe flirt a titch. But that “now or never” thing started up in her head and she’d lost all control of her carefully planned evening. Typical.
But now she had a date. Which was awesome. She wanted to high-five herself. She didn’t care that it would be corny and weird. She wanted to. Her smile grew wider on her face, she could feel it, and then she gave a quiet little laugh.
Bella’s brow furrowed over those beautiful eyes of hers, but she sported a little half-grin. “What’s funny?”
“I asked a girl out.” Easton said it before she could stop herself, then made a face that made Bella laugh heartily.
“First time?”
With a spark of self-deprecation, Easton rolled her eyes. “Like that’s not obvious.”
Bella just looked at her, held her gaze, and again, something almost tangible passed between them. “Is that why your marriage ended?” she asked softly.
“I just…I wasn’t happy.” Easton inhaled slowly, took in the comforting aroma of freshly roasting coffee beans, and turned her gaze toward the front door. Darkness had fallen. The crowd at Perk had thinned a bit without them noticing. “Connor’s a great guy. He really is. I love him.” She turned back to Bella, who was watching her intently. “I’ve been with him since high school.”
“Wow.”
“Yeah. He was my first love. He was always sweet to me. He’s gentle and kind and a great father.” She let her voice trail off and raised her eyebrows.
“But it wasn’t enough.”
“No.” Easton’s answer was quiet. Almost inaudible. She swallowed hard, then forced a chuckle. “As you can see,” she said, waving a hand at herself, “I have issues around that.”
Bella’s face lit back up and she put a warm, comforting hand on Easton’s thigh. “It’s okay. We’ve all got our stuff.”
“And I’m totally monopolizing the conversation here.”
“Not at all.” Bella set her now-empty mug down on the table and said, “I want to know all about you. How about we save it for our date?”
“It is getting late, isn’t it?” Easton felt a little internal panic attack. Had she just scared Bella away with her depressing talk of high school sweethearts and failed marriages? God. She’d blown it. She was sure of it.
“Stop.”
That one word from Bella, spoken softly and coupled with a squeeze of her leg, halted Easton’s crazy train of thought. She swallowed again and met Bella’s eyes.
“I can see your brain whirring,” Bella said, her voice kind. “Just stop. I’m having a great time with you, but we both have to work tomorrow, I have two dogs at home, and I’d rather we get caught up in sharing our stories when we have lots of time. Okay?”
Bella’s tender tone, the warmth of her hand, and those deep, wonderful eyes all worked together to take away any and all of Easton’s worry. At least for that moment. “Okay.” She put her hand over Bella’s and gave it a gentle squeeze. She realized it was the first time her skin had touched Bella’s in any way, and the moment imprinted on her brain.
Later that night, Easton lay in bed, lights out, alarm set, eyes wide open. She wasn’t sure she’d ever been so awake, her heart beating quickly, butterflies of excitement bouncing around in her stomach. They’d settled on Friday night for their date. She had a few ideas of places she’d like to take Bella, but she hadn’t decided on which one, so they agreed that she’d text Bella on Friday afternoon with a location and give her time to go home from work and get ready.
And this time, Easton allowed herself to bask. To savor the day.
She had a date. With Bella.
Corny or not, this time, she did high-five herself.
Chapter Nine
One of the first things Bella, Amy, and Heather had wondered as they’d all pinpointed that they each wanted to do some sort of therapy or counseling for a living was whether it was hard to focus on your client when you had your own stuff going on in your own life, in your own head. And there were definitely tricks and things they’d learned to deal with that, because it was a very real distraction.
Like today.
I have a date tonight with Easton Evans.
Never in a million years did her sixteen- or seventeen-year-old self ever think she’d get to utter those words, let alone have them be fact. Never in a million years.
Holy shit.
Bella rolled her lips in and bit down on them—hard—to keep the ridiculously goofy smile from erupting across her face while her patient was talking about a very serious problem he was having.
A glance at the clock told her she had ten more minutes with this man, then one more client, then she could run home and change. Easton had texted at lunchtime, told her they had reservations at Brie, which Bella knew to be a very classy French-American restaurant. She couldn’t believe she’d be walking in there tonight to meet Easton, to share a meal with Easton as her date for the evening.
The girls were going to meet her at her place to help her find the right outfit. It had sounded like a good idea at the time, but after being bombarded all day with salacious texts from Amy—“cleavage, baby!”—and worried lines from Heather—“it’s just a date, don’t get sucked in too fast, okay?”—Bella was beginning to wonder if she should’ve kept her damn mouth shut and told them after the fact, when they couldn’t send her already nervous heart into panicked overdrive.
Giving her head a mental shake, she forced her focus onto her patient and finished out his session. When he left, she made a few notes in his file and gave her phone a quick check.
I’m really looking forward to tonight.
A text from Easton. Simple. Sweet. Turned Bella’s insides warm and mushy.
Same, she texted back and added the smiling, blushing emoji. See you soon.
She pressed the intercom button and told the admin she was ready for her next appointment.
***
Two hours later, Bella’s front door burst ope
n.
“It’s date night!” Amy shouted from the foyer. “Let’s make you sexy!” Except she said it like “sex-eh!” Bella rolled her eyes.
“Would you stop?” Heather said, and gave Amy a playful slap. “She’s nervous enough. Don’t make it worse.”
“How do you know I’m nervous?” Bella asked.
Heather tipped her head to the side, an expression of pity on her face. “Oh, honey. You’re adorable.”
“Shut up and help me,” Bella said with a mock glare, and they all trooped upstairs to her bedroom.
“What the fuck happened in here?” Amy asked as her gaze roamed the room. “Hurricane? Tornado? Monsoon?”
Fabric was strewn everywhere. The floor. The bed. Some things were still on hangers and dangling from dresser handles and doorknobs. Some were in piles on the floor. Shoes were all over the room like cargo from a sunken ship floating in the ocean.
“Oh, my God, Bella, you have more clothes than RuPaul.” Heather’s eyes were wide with astonishment. “How did we not know this about you?”
“Now is not the time to analyze me. Now is the time to dress me. Make me presentable because I am at a loss. Help me, damn it!” Bella’s voice was a plea.
“All right, all right,” Heather said, pointing a finger around the room. “But we are revisiting this.”
“Fine.”
Heather dropped her purse and coat, parked her hands on her hips, and surveyed the clothes that were…everywhere. “Where are you going?”
“Brie.”
Heather gave a little gasp. “Ooh.” Turning to Amy, she said quickly, “You need to take me there.”
Amy furrowed her brow, as did Bella.
“I mean, all of us. We all need to go there some time. I hear good things.” She waved a hand dismissively, reached down, and picked up a pile of fabric from the floor. “Okay, that means a dress.”
“I thought so, too,” Bella agreed. “The weather’s making it a little tough.” It had been a very cool day for May.
“Psshh. No worries. We will find something.” Heather moved to the closet and let out a tiny gasp. “How is this closet still full given that half of the Macy’s women’s section is on your floor? My God, you have a problem, don’t you?”
The Do-Over Page 9
