Lisa was poking at her keyboard, but turned to follow Jessica’s gaze, then nodded and turned back to her computer. “Yup. I’ll take as many as I can get.”
Jessica half-sat on the corner of Lisa’s desk.
Lisa glanced up at her, saw her stance, and stopped typing. “Oh. There’s a discussion about to happen? Is that what’s going on here?” She grinned.
Jessica was still looking after Emily, who was now outside, the door having closed behind her. Pointing in that direction, Jessica said, “I remember when you were first starting to look at Ashley.” She turned back to Lisa. “I mean, really look at her. That way.”
Lisa nodded, a half-grin pulling up one corner of her mouth.
Still pointing, Jessica asked, “Have you noticed…?” She let the sentence trail off, but didn’t have to wait long.
“That Emily looks at Catherine that way? Yup.”
Jessica groaned. “Yeah, I was afraid I wasn’t the only one who saw that.”
“Well,” Lisa said, propping her chin in her hand. “She’s been pretty subtle about it. You know? She’s not obnoxious like her brother, that’s for sure.”
Jessica snorted. “Thank God. I talked to Catherine about it earlier.”
“You did? What do you mean?”
“I was just trying to get a feel for whether the attraction was mutual.”
“Ah,” Lisa said, obviously catching the drift. “That could be…dicey.”
“Exactly.”
“I bet that wasn’t an awkward conversation at all.”
“Oh, no.” Jessica chuckled, but it wasn’t a happy sound. She didn’t like being in this position. She and Catherine were friends, after all. Had been since school. And Jessica liked to think she ran the shelter with a very light hand. She didn’t have lists upon lists of rules. She was laid back. Casual. She wanted everybody to be happy and comfortable and she didn’t think getting involved in the dating lives of her employees was something she needed to be doing. As an example, Catherine and Anna had hooked up and, though they were civil, their tension was obvious to those around them. But Jessica left it alone mostly. They were grown women who could handle their own messes. Still, that didn’t really affect the reputation of the shelter like Catherine and Emily had the potential to. No, this was a completely different situation.
As if reading her mind, Lisa asked, “Are you worried about what people might say?”
Jessica scoffed, no words necessary, and nodded even as potentially damaging Tweets and Facebook posts and Tumblr messages rocketed through her brain. The Internet was a blessing and a curse for a business—that was for certain. She turned her gaze to Lisa.
Lisa’s and Ashley’s situation was different. Ashley was a volunteer. She had her own job someplace else and if things had become disruptive, Jessica could’ve easily asked Ashley to stop volunteering. Of course, that hadn’t happened, and she didn’t expect it to, as Lisa and Ashley had “forever couple” written all over them, something that alternately made her smile with delight and grimace with sour envy. The Catherine and Emily situation, on the other hand, was a scandal bomb with a short fuse. The woman in charge of finances at the shelter entangled with the shelter’s biggest donor? Was no one else braced for the explosion?
“Want me to give her advice?” Lisa asked, waggling her eyebrows as she looked in the direction of the double doors. Sheath of papers in hand, Catherine was clicking down the hall, all business suit and serious glasses. Whispering, Lisa said, “She loves me, you know.”
Jessica rolled her eyes and laughed, then turned to watch Catherine’s approach. Though they’d known each other much too long for Jessica to feel any sexual attraction to Catherine, she could never deny the woman was gorgeous. Her brown hair was partially pulled back today and her suit was royal blue, which really made her eyes stand out. Emily Breckenridge could not be faulted for her taste—that was for sure.
As Catherine stopped at the desk and opened her mouth to speak, the back door opened.
Lisa and Jessica both glanced that way to see Emily coming back in with the Lab mix. She smiled and waved. “Hey, Jess,” she said cheerfully. Jessica waved back at her and when she turned back, Catherine had a hand near her mouth, her fingertips touching her lips, her cheeks flushed pink.
Catherine quickly set the papers down on Lisa’s desk, muttered, “Here are those reports I borrowed,” and turned on her heel to click back the way she’d come. At the other end of the hall, Emily grinned in what was obviously amusement, leashed up a new dog, and headed back out the door.
Once each door had closed tightly, Jessica and Lisa looked at each other. Lisa’s eyebrows were raised in what Jessica predicted was a duplicate of the expression on her own face. Blowing her hair off her forehead, Jessica slowly shook her head back and forth.
“Oh, shit,” Lisa said.
“Exactly.” Jessica rubbed at her forehead with her fingertips, feeling the oncoming headache like a Mack truck barreling down the highway.
***
Catherine couldn’t focus.
Not only could she not focus, she was angry about it. She did not handle it well when her concentration was messed with. She didn’t enjoy being distracted. She was a professional and she had things to do, damn it. Work to take care of. Calls to make and e-mails to answer and figures to go over. You know: work.
Instead, she sat at her desk during the last part of the afternoon, absently stroked her dog’s head (he was on her lap because she was doing nothing at all, so why shouldn’t he put that space to good use?), and gazing dreamily out the window. All she could think about was that kiss.
That kiss.
One of the very first thoughts that had entered her mind once Emily was blissfully gone from her office was that Anna had never kissed her like that. And Anna had been a decent kisser as far as Catherine was concerned. They’d had their issues, but sex hadn’t been one of them. They’d been quite compatible. But Emily? God, the way Emily kissed her was…it was so many things. All at once. It was hot, it was demanding, it was promising, it was gentle, but not. It was like a preview of what was to come should they go further. And that’s the part that scared Catherine because she, absolutely and without a shade of doubt, wanted to go further. She couldn’t. She shouldn’t. She wouldn’t. She knew all of those things.
But she wanted to. Dear God, she wanted to.
And that was the problem. She was much too affected and that wasn’t good. To be affected by somebody else meant she didn’t have complete control over herself, and that was never okay with Catherine. Just as she was about to fall into a spiral of pros and cons and everything that was wrong with her life at the moment, her phone rang and she snatched it up.
Five minutes later, she felt better. Joplin’s was short a waitress tonight and asked if she’d mind. It was a Monday, which meant it might be busy. Lots of restaurants were closed on Mondays, so Joplin’s raked in the displaced diners and fed them well. Could be a chance to make some nice tips. Plus, it would take her mind off of the current subject dominating her brain. This was good. She felt better already.
She had one arm pushed into her coat and Mo on his leash when she turned to see Emily appear in her doorway. Catherine’s stomach did an instant flip-flop.
“Hi,” Emily said. Her dark hair glistened with melted snowflakes and her cheeks were rosy from having been outside with the dogs.
“Hey.”
“Heading out?”
“I am.”
Emily nodded. “Do you think…” She hesitated, wet her lips as she gazed out the window, seemingly collecting her thoughts. Catherine watched her throat move as she swallowed. “Do you think we could grab some coffee again? Or something? Drinks?”
No. We absolutely should not be grabbing anything of the sort, because all I’ll want to do is kiss you some more, and that’s not an option here. Catherine’s thoughts were loud and clear and rational and logical. Apparently, her mouth disagreed. “Sure, I don’t see why not.”
>
“Great.” Emily’s smile was wide and radiant and Catherine’s stomach poked at her again. Or maybe it wasn’t her stomach, as it was a bit…lower… “How about tonight?”
“Oh, no, I can’t. I just took a shift at Joplin’s. They’re shorthanded.” It shocked Catherine how she could be so relieved and so disappointed at the same time.
“Oh. Bummer.”
Catherine wondered if Emily could possibly be going through the same gymnastics in her own head, wanting but knowing she can’t, understanding but angry about it. “Maybe another time?”
Emily nodded. “Sure. Be careful driving tonight. The roads might be slick.”
Her concern warmed Catherine a bit. “I will.”
With that, Emily was gone. Catherine watched her walk up the hall, her eyes drawn to the very pleasingly shaped ass those snug jeans were hugging. Catching herself, Catherine jerked her eyes down to Mo and shook her head. “Okay,” she said to the dog that, as usual, was riveted by her words. “That was good. Right? Polite, but good. I can be polite and not say no, but then never be available, right? Is that mean? She’ll eventually give up. Won’t she?” Ugh. This felt awful and she knew immediately she wouldn’t be able to play that game. Not with Emily.
Geronimo cocked his head in that adorable way dogs do, completely intent on her face.
“Come on. Let’s go home.” Tugging the leash and making a clicking sound with her tongue, she and Mo headed home so she could feed him and get ready for her shift at the restaurant. She felt better, like things had been nipped in the bud and it made her wonder if the Universe sent her the unexpected shift at Joplin’s on purpose, the intention being to keep her from accepting Emily’s invitation.
No matter. She felt relief and headed to the restaurant whistling a little tune and ready to make some money. She had her eye on another pair of boots; she was going to order them this week.
Joplin’s was pretty busy, which was good. Not only did that mean more tips, but it also made the night go by faster. She’d been working steadily for two hours when something caught her eye and made her stutter to a stop, very nearly causing the two entrees she was carrying to slide right off their plates.
Emily sat at Joplin’s small bar, sipping a drink and scrolling on her phone.
Catherine had trouble processing the emotions tossing around inside her like ships on rough waters. She was annoyed. How dare Emily come to her place of work and just…sit there? She was thrilled. Emily had taken it upon herself to come to Catherine’s place of work and…what? Hang out? Worst of all, she was turned on. Completely. Emily had come to her place of work, took a seat, and…Catherine didn’t know what. But it was something. It meant something. Didn’t it? On top of the annoyance and the, yes, slight anger, there was exhilaration.
Which she immediately did her best to tamp down. This wasn’t good.
Pasting on a smile, Catherine delivered the entrees to her customers and politely asked if there was anything else they needed. Once they had smiled and shaken their heads, she walked purposefully over to the bar, taking in the sight of Emily as she approached.
The jeans were the same as earlier—Catherine could tell by the spot near Emily’s knee that was washed nearly white, but the rest of the outfit had been dressed up a bit. A black leather jacket hung off the back of the barstool and Catherine did her best not to think of Emily wearing it or how sexy it probably looked with the knee-high black boots she had on. On top, she wore a V-neck shirt, deep purple with subtle silver stripes running through it. Her dark hair was down, the ends curling in on themselves, and it was all Catherine could do not to reach out and twirl a chunk of it around her finger, give it a gentle tug.
“What are you doing here?” she asked quietly when she reached the bar.
Emily glanced up and the smile she gave Catherine was radiant. “You ask me that a lot.”
“Because I never know.”
“I thought I’d wait for you to finish your shift and make sure you got home okay. It’s been snowing for the last hour.” When Catherine eyed her drink, she added, “Club soda.”
Catherine pinched the bridge of her nose. “I can get home on my own.”
“I know that.”
“We talked about this today, Emily. About how this is a bad idea.”
“Yeah, I know that, too. But I asked if we could go for a drink, and you said yes.”
“I was being polite!”
“I don’t believe that for a second.”
Their gazes held and the current that passed between them was palpable. Catherine tried to think of the right thing to say, but instead, she stood there looking. Just looking. Which seemed to amuse Emily, who leaned in close enough for Catherine to inhale her spicy perfume.
“I think that table needs you,” Emily whispered and gestured with her eyes.
Catherine whipped her head around to find a fifty-something man making eye contact with her. When she looked back at Emily, she was still smiling.
“Go. Work. I’ll be right here when you’re done.”
“You’re infuriating.”
“You’re not the first person to tell me that.” Emily grinned, picked up her phone, and went back to scrolling.
The rest of Catherine’s shift was weird for her. She was hyperaware of Emily at the bar, and though she was far enough away not to cause a distraction, she still managed to be distracting. She wasn’t always looking in Catherine’s direction when she glanced her way, but there were occasions when she was. And Catherine’s body reacted, much to her great annoyance and irritation. She flushed hotly. Her stomach fluttered. Her hands got shaky. It was not good. Not good at all. This needed to stop.
Finally, the last customers left and the waitstaff counted up their tips so they could tip out the bussers. Catherine was exhausted. This is why I don’t normally work here on weeknights, she thought, trying not to think about her aching feet.
“Hey, who’s the hottie at the bar and why is she still here?” Bradley stood next to her at a table as they tallied up cash and receipts.
Catherine glanced up. Emily still sat on her stool, but now she was chatting up Ken, the bartender, who busted out laughing at something she’d said. Catherine found herself smiling before she realized it. When she returned her attention to Bradley, he was scrutinizing her, his expression squinty.
“Is she here for you?”
Catherine sighed and lifted one shoulder in a half-shrug. “Sort of.”
“Sort of? What’s that mean? You need to give me more.”
“I can’t right now, Bradley. I’m so tired and…I’m not even sure about any of it. Just…give me some time and I’ll tell you the whole story. Okay? Not right now. My brain is too fried.”
It was obvious Bradley didn’t like that answer, but he respected her enough to let it go. Which didn’t mean he stopped looking in Emily’s direction. “She’s really attractive. She’s got a slick sense of fashion. Not too dressy, but not too casual.”
Catherine agreed wholeheartedly with him, but said nothing, letting him put color commentary to whatever Emily was doing.
“Oh, the black leather jacket is sexy. God. You need to snap her up, Cat. Seriously. Get on that.”
Catherine grinned and shook her head. “So many complications, my friend. So very many. You have no idea.” Before he could respond, she finished what she was doing and stepped away. “Goodnight. Get home safely.”
Gathering her things together from the back room specified for the staff, Catherine thought about the day and how it had been all over the map. Her conversation with Jessica this morning had been sobering, but she’d accepted it. Also sobering and—if she was being honest—a little sad had been her conversation with Emily. People didn’t want them together before they had even had a chance to discuss it themselves, just the two of them. So it had been a bummer of a day all around.
Except when Emily had kissed her.
God, how many times had she replayed that at this point? Twenty? Fift
y? Three hundred? She was simultaneously impressed by Emily and angry with her. Impressed that, even after all their talk about why the two of them together was a bad idea, Emily had still kissed her, thrown caution to the wind and said, “Screw all those people. I’m doing this.” Angry that she’d given Catherine even the smallest taste of what she’d be missing out on, as now it was all she could think about.
Oh, my God, that kiss.
She shook her head, trying her best to literally shake the thoughts away. Donning her coat, she headed back toward the dining room. Bradley stopped her.
“The hottie said she’d meet you outside.” He waggled his eyebrows, causing Catherine to roll her eyes at him. “I expect details soon,” he said, his tone a warning.
“I know, I know,” she muttered, turning around to exit through the employee entrance in the back of the building.
Emily hadn’t been kidding about the snow. It was early in the season, but was often par for the course in upstate New York. The flakes coming down were light and fluffy, more pretty than annoying, and several cars in the parking lot were running, warming up while their owners brushed them clean. Catherine’s was not running, obviously. It was, however, clean. No snow on it at all.
Next to it, a shiny BMW in baby blue was idling quietly. Emily Breckenridge sat behind the wheel, and when she looked up to meet Catherine’s eyes, she smiled and got out.
“Hey,” she said as Catherine pushed the button on her key fob, releasing two beeps and two blinks of the lights from her car. “I would have had this running for you, but I don’t have your keys. Obviously.” She blew into her hands. “It’s cold tonight.”
Catherine opened the door, got in, and started the engine. “Did you clean off all the snow?”
“I did.”
“Thank you.”
“You’re very welcome.”
“I have all-wheel drive, you know. I’ll be fine.”
“Yup. You probably will.”
They stood for a moment and Catherine marveled at the awkwardness, given she’d had her tongue in Emily’s mouth earlier the same day. She pretended to fiddle with the heater, not sure what to say and not trusting any words that might spring forth from her lips.
Run To You (Puppy Love Romance Book 2) Page 14
