by Kris Bryant
“I’m going to set up for lunch. We’ll leave your wet clothes on the rock to dry as much as they can in the sun,” Serena yelled from the path.
Gabrielle grabbed her clothes and weaved her way back to the pond. “Well, that was definitely invigorating.” She draped her clothes on the warm rock, knowing it was going to suck to put them on in half an hour because they wouldn’t be dry by then. She was nervous standing there in a T-shirt and a towel. Her black panties were right there on the rock next to her shorts for Serena to see. At least they were somewhat sexy. Not that Gabrielle expected anything to happen today, but she was always prepared for the unexpected.
“I’m so sorry you slipped. We shouldn’t have done that. It was irresponsible.” Serena looked so crestfallen that Gabrielle couldn’t do anything except laugh.
“You know what? We’re always going to remember this moment. I’m not sorry. It was funny. That’s what I get for trying to be smooth,” Gabrielle said. She liked the way Serena’s cheeks pinkened and how she had a hard time looking at her. All good signs in her book. She leaned against the rock and sighed. She hated the way her toes squished in her socks with every step she took. Getting her shoes and socks off was the next priority. She kicked off her shoes and stripped off her socks. A pedicure was in her very near future. “I have a pair of dry socks in my backpack, but I don’t think it’s going to help much if my shoes are soaked.”
“You could put them on now and add your shoes and socks to the drying rock.”
“Good idea.”
“I figured we can have our picnic now and wait to head back. I’m not in any hurry. You?” Serena asked.
“I have zero planned today other than time with you.” That wasn’t true. Gabrielle wanted to make a few changes on the plans. Serena had a meeting with her and Christopher next week, and Gabrielle wanted everything to be perfect. Her promotion was all about this single job and her ability to pull it off and make the company and the client happy.
“Great. I didn’t make sandwiches or anything, but here’s what I brought.” Serena laid all of the food on her backpack.
Gabrielle placed her cookies and sunflower seeds beside the apples and jerky. “Looks like a good meal to me.”
Serena nodded. “For me, meals are always a handful of this and a bite of that. Cooking for one is hard.”
“I agree. Do you like to cook?”
“No. Yes. Sometimes, but the kitchen in the new house is huge and I plan to spend a lot of the fall and winter learning how to cook real food. I want to find a good macaroni and cheese recipe and learn how to cook meats well and steam vegetables.”
“I’m with you. It’s hard to cook for one. Most of the time I hit Tommy’s or make breakfast for dinner.” Gabrielle took a bite of an apple and reached for a piece of beef jerky. “This is perfect food for today. Until we get back to civilization where we can sit down, in dry clothes, and have a four course meal.”
“That sounds like a good idea.” Serena was respectfully staying on the other side of the path. She was probably as embarrassed at seeing Gabrielle’s panties as Gabrielle was to have them out in the open.
“How did Faith get interested in cooking?” Gabrielle asked.
“I think she got tired of my crappy cooking and decided to learn on her own. In her teens, she was basically on her own. I worked a lot, so when she didn’t come in to the diner for a free meal, she cooked something.”
“Where was your mother most of the time?”
“That’s a very good question. We’re still trying to figure that one out.”
“I know that I was lucky. Am lucky. My parents are still together and my family is close.” Gabrielle mentally reminded herself to call her brothers and check in with them. She worked too hard and finally understood that not everybody had the same upbringing that she did.
Voices on the path made Serena panic. “Where’s L.B.?” She whistled. “Come here, boy.”
Gabrielle moved her leg as L.B. trotted past her to drop a pine cone at Serena’s feet. She quickly snapped the leash to his collar just as a group of four hikers showed up.
“Hi. How’s the water?” The tall twenty-something looked Gabrielle up and down.
“I kind of fell in. If you go behind the waterfall, be careful. The rocks are slick,” Gabrielle said.
“Good to know.” He dropped his bag, kicked off his shoes, stripped down to his boxers, and dove into the water. His friends followed his lead.
“Oh, sure. It’s fun when they do it.”
Serena snickered. “Look, it was a bummer, but it’s like you said, we won’t ever forget today, and I will always think of you in this place.”
Gabrielle flipped her clothes over on the rock. “I’d say we’ve got about thirty more years before I can put these on again.”
“Unless you want to hike in a towel.”
“Knowing the luck I’ve had today, I don’t think that would be a great idea,” Gabrielle said. The towel wasn’t staying around her waist as tightly as it had when it was dry. She was afraid to move and decided just to put the clothes back on and get the hell out of there. The new hikers ruined the moment anyway. “I’m going to put these on so we can go.” They weren’t making her uncomfortable, but she could tell her mood was fouling.
“Are you sure? I don’t mind hanging out.”
Gabrielle nodded at the foursome in the natural pool. “There’s nothing wrong with them, but they’re ruining my mojo. Besides, I’d like to put on something dry.”
Serena nodded and gathered up their food. Gabrielle grabbed her damp clothes and walked gingerly behind the bush. She was wearing her dry socks but stepped on everything sharp along the way from pine needles to rocks to things she didn’t want to think about. She cursed under her breath, low enough that Serena couldn’t hear, and slipped into the damp clothes. Even though the shorts and panties had been in the sun, they were cold and she shivered. She stepped into wet shoes, pasted a smile on her face, and joined Serena and L.B. on the trail. “Ready?”
“We’ll hurry back. That way you can get into dry clothes,” Serena said.
The walk back was a bit more rushed and the conversation sporadic. The sun felt good on Gabrielle’s body, so she slowed whenever they hit a long patch of full sun. Serena was sweating, but she never complained. When they got back to the cars, Gabrielle found an old blanket in the trunk and put it on the driver’s seat before she sat down.
“I’m sorry today turned into a bust. I know you probably want to get home and change into some warm clothes, but we’d like it if you came over for a bit and saw the new house. I have clean clothes you can wear.” Serena’s soulful eyes almost made Gabrielle cave, but she was too miserable. Besides, she needed her hair products and cosmetics, which she doubted Serena had.
“How about we separate and get cleaned up, and I come over for a visit tonight? If you’re up for it.” Gabrielle held her breath as she waited for Serena to answer. Judging by the audible exhale, Serena had been holding her breath, too.
“I think that would be great. I’ll text you my address. Go home and get dry.” Serena tapped the door and stepped away.
“I’ll see you later. Bye, L.B.” Gabrielle waved and drove off. Her car displayed a new text message from Serena before she even hit the highway.
How about seven? I’ll even cook. Serena’s follow-up text was her address.
Gabrielle smiled and mentally added a short trip to her day before heading to Vail. After all, she couldn’t show up empty-handed. She also decided to leave a bag in the trunk of her car with product and fresh clothes in case she ever fell into a pool again. She refused to call it an overnight bag, but deep down, she was kind of hoping for the opportunity tonight.
* * *
After a long, hot shower, and a two-hour power nap, Gabrielle threw her emergency bag of clean clothes but not technically an overnight bag into the trunk of her car. She put up the top because her hair was styled perfectly and she didn’t want it windblown. Be
fore leaving Denver, she made a quick stop at the grocery store for a bottle of her favorite red wine and a squeaky toy for L.B. The stop at Unique, an off-the-beaten-path specialty shop that offered different and unusual gifts, took a bit longer. She found the cutest herb garden with six different herbs in marble planters. It was perfect given their talk earlier about learning how to cook adult meals. Her phone rang as she pulled onto I-70 on her way to Vail.
“What’s up?”
“Nothing. Just checking in,” Rosie said.
“It’s like you know when I have a weird day.”
“Tell me everything. You know I live vicariously through you. Does this have anything to do with Serena?”
“It has everything to do with Serena,” Gabrielle said smugly. She knew full well Rosie was dying to know everything about their budding romantic relationship. “I’m headed to her place now.”
“Oh, late night for you, then?”
“I was with her this morning already.”
“Define with her.”
Gabrielle laughed. “Definitely not what you’re thinking. We went on a hike at a halfway point between us. I tried to kiss her behind a waterfall but failed when I fell into the water.”
“How far up were you?” Rosie’s voice was a combination of concern and excitement.
“Maybe ten or fifteen feet. Not too high. I managed to ruin the moment, though,” Gabrielle said. She looked over her shoulder and zipped into traffic. Saturday traffic was always hellish in the Denver area, especially the closer it got to evening.
“That must have been miserable.” Rosie knew Gabrielle didn’t like to swim. Whenever the kids played in the pool, Gabrielle sat under the umbrella and drank margaritas with Anne while Rosie swam with the kids.
“I couldn’t wait to get home and shower. Aside from falling in, it’s a really cool place. You should take the fam. They would love it.”
“Send me the info. In the meantime, what’s happening tonight? Dinner? Movie? An evening in?”
“I’m going to see her new house. She said she’s going to cook dinner. After all of the excitement this morning, I’m hoping for something low key,” Gabrielle said.
“What are you wearing?”
“Remember that sundress we found at Nordstrom? It finally fits. That and simple sandals.” Gabrielle looked at her reflection in the rearview mirror and was pleased with how her hair held up and how she needed very little makeup after getting sun from their hike today. Just a little bit of lip gloss and a quick swipe of mascara.
“I want all the details tomorrow. If you can sneak pictures of her house, that would be great, too. I’ve always wondered how the other half lived.”
“She told me it wasn’t over the top, but I imagine it’s nice. And paid for,” Gabrielle said.
“The best kind. Okay, I have to go. Have fun and don’t behave.”
Gabrielle said goodbye and disconnected the call. Her GPS gave the arrival time of one hour and thirty-six minutes. She cued up her latest audio book and decided to get lost in a romance for the next hour and a half, and if she was lucky, perhaps even several hours after that.
Chapter Nineteen
Under pressure from Chloe, Serena had agreed to have a cleaning crew come in once a week to straighten up the place, blow out the dust bunnies and piles of fur that settled under the furniture, and return L.B.’s toys to his basket by the fireplace. Today was their day, so the house was spotless and the only thing Serena had to do was get ready. There wasn’t enough time to go for a walk with L.B. or even a quick workout. Just enough to slip into a much-needed nap. Her alarm jarred her awake. So did L.B. who, even though he knew how to use the doggie door, preferred to have Serena go out with him. She dragged her body off the couch and opened the door to let him out. She loved her backyard. The previous owners had plugged a lot of money into the landscaping. She thought about a pool, but that would limit L.B.’s play space, and she never took to swimming like Faith did. She checked her watch. She had an hour before Gabrielle arrived.
“It’s all yours, L.B. You don’t have to mark every part of your territory. Come in when you’re ready.”
She closed the door and thought about what to wear. She could afford anything she wanted, but her closet was still sparse. Standing in the doorway, she smiled sadly as she realized the one time she had her own bedroom growing up, it was a lot smaller than her current walk-in closet. She stared at her clothes for a solid ten minutes before deciding on a skirt and a sleeveless blouse. Casual, yet cute and flirty. After spending twenty minutes messing with her hair, she went with a simple, loose braid that hung over her shoulder. Her cheeks were sunburned from the hike, but she added mascara and touch of lipstick. She jumped when the doorbell rang at exactly seven. Her heart dropped, twirled in her stomach, and ended up somewhere in her throat. She swallowed her excitement and casually walked to the door as if beautiful women visited her home often.
“Hi.” Serena barely remembered her manners when she opened the door. Gabrielle took her breath away. Not in the typical romance book way where the main character sees hearts and rainbows when their love interest appears, but in a way that scared her. Her knees locked and a pressure built in her chest like a steam engine gathering too much energy. She placed her hand against her chest, hoping it wouldn’t burst open. Just when she thought she was going to pass out, her body remembered how to breathe. She tried not to gulp the air that filled her lungs. “Don’t worry about L.B. He’s still in the backyard sniffing and doing dog things.” That was what she said to the gorgeous woman standing two feet from her?
“I really love your house. It’s very secluded. I missed it the first time I drove by,” Gabrielle said. She handed Serena a bottle of wine and a gift bag and lingered in the doorway. “Um, can I come in?”
There was something different about Gabrielle tonight. The energy radiating off her made Serena take a small step back. Not because she was frightened of her, but because she was scared of her own reaction. To say Gabrielle was sexy was an unjust description.
“You look wonderful. A lot different than you did earlier today. Please, come in.” Serena swallowed hard as she watched Gabrielle walk confidently into the living room. The sway of her hips was hard to miss. That dress, tight around her waist and breasts and loose around her hips and thighs, only pointed out to Serena how easy it would be to touch her intimately. Her legs went on forever. The hem of her sundress hit her knees, which meant when she sat down, it would show even more soft skin.
“Thank you. I feel a lot different and a lot drier than I did this morning.” Gabrielle ran her hand along the back cushions of the sofa while her eyes scanned the room. “I love the vaulted ceilings and all of the windows. And that fireplace. This place is gorgeous, Serena. Are you going to give me a full tour?”
Serena beamed with pride. Not that she had anything to do with the design of the house, but praise from Gabrielle, her architect, made her heart skip at least two beats. It surprised her how much she’d missed Gabrielle in the short time they were apart. She took a deep breath and walked over to her, focused on getting that elusive kiss, the one she’d been thinking about since Gabrielle slipped out of her arms earlier that day.
She stopped when she heard the soft thump of the rubber flap of the doggie door hit the frame and the clicking of nails on the hardwood floors. “L.B.’s coming.” She made her way to intercept him, knowing he would make a beeline to Gabrielle out of curiosity and excitement. “Stay down. I know you like her, so do I, but you have to stay down.” She held his collar and watched Gabrielle. As much as she loved her dog, his timing sucked. “I can put him in the other room if you want, but if you ignore him, he will leave you alone. Do you trust me?” Amber eyes met hers and she lost herself in the depth of what she saw. A hint of doubt, a flicker of panic, but a steady trust.
Gabrielle nodded. “I don’t want you to put him away. The rules are simple enough. I just don’t make eye contact unless I want to pet him, right? And there’s n
o chance of that.”
A small frown pulled at Serena’s mouth. She had to remind herself that Gabrielle had different experiences than she did. She hadn’t spent a lot of time with dogs, but she was trying. The least Serena could do was keep L.B. away until Gabrielle was ready. She nodded. “He thrives off attention. Just keep talking to me and he’ll settle down.” When she let L.B. go, he walked over to Gabrielle and sniffed her dress, waiting for her to pet him. When she didn’t, he circled her once, then trotted off.
“Phew.”
Serena held up her hands. “See? No big deal. I know my doggo pretty well.” She watched Gabrielle’s shoulders relax. “Ready to see the rest of the house?” In a move that surprised both of them, she reached for Gabrielle’s hand and guided her through the downstairs, fingers entwined. “The master bedroom is on this floor, but I normally sleep upstairs. The large bedroom up there has a skylight and it’s beautiful to see the stars right before I fall asleep.”
“You’re such a romantic,” Gabrielle said.
“Are you telling me you don’t like to look up at the stars and daydream about things?”
“I live in the heart of the city. Too many lights.” Gabrielle shrugged. “But I bet you can see them all from any window in your house. I really like it.”
“Thank you. Let me show you the upstairs.” Serena was very aware of Gabrielle one step behind her. She could feel her body heat, smell her vanilla and lavender soap and something else. Something sweet and spicy that she couldn’t identify. Pepper and grapefruit maybe? Whatever it was, it made Serena want to turn and lean up against her and inhale her scent. “There are three bedrooms, three bathrooms, and a loft I’m going to use as my reading nook.”
“I would never leave this place.” Gabrielle sat in the oversized, overstuffed chair that faced the windows. As predicted, her dress slipped up to three inches above her knee, and Serena fought the urge to touch the soft skin that was exposed. “I love the built-in bookshelves. Did you buy all of these books from the bookstore you worked in?”
