Six months later
“What did he say?” Lucy asked from where she lay on Kristin’s couch, Bernadette Peters snuggled into a ball on her stomach. Lucy looked adorable, but even that couldn’t temper her frustration. Kristin had been on the phone with her landlord for the past twenty minutes and felt like she’d just run in a series of tiny circles.
“He’s not going to fix it,” she told Lucy, clicking off the call. Her arm fell to her side in defeat. The heater had been broken in her house for the past three days and her deadbeat landlord was apparently on some sort of mission to see how many times he could say no to a tenant request.
“This is like the five hundredth thing he’s refused to help you with. He’s in violation of the rental agreement. We need to call an attorney,” Lucy said, sitting up and gently placing BP on the chair next to her.
Kristin sighed. “Not worth the time. The lease is up in two months and I’ll be done with this little-house-that-couldn’t forever. I’ll just pay for it myself in the meantime.”
“You shouldn’t have to.”
Kristin smiled and slid in next to Lucy on the couch. “I like when you get all riled up. There’s this tiny crease that appears on your forehead and it makes me want to make out with you.”
Lucy smiled. “Don’t patronize me for my crease. It means business.”
“See?” She slid her arms around Lucy’s waist and leaned into her. “Now that kind of determination is sexy.”
“Do you know what I think would be sexy?”
“What’s that?” Kristin asked, stealing a kiss.
“If you got the hell out of here and moved out to the beach with us.”
Kristin laughed. “Have you seen an opening?”
Lucy sat taller. “Yeah, it’s called my room. Though I guess if you moved in, it would be ours.”
And that’s when Kristin understood that Lucy was serious. “Wait a second. You’re asking me to move in?”
At the question, she noticed the dusting of pink that colored Lucy’s cheeks, a telltale sign Lucy was nervous. Hell, she was too now. As the flutters hit her stomach at the prospect of such a big step forward in their relationship, she awaited Lucy’s response.
“Yeah,” Lucy said finally, glancing at the floor and then back at Kristin. “If you think it’s too soon, just say so. But I happen to be very much in love with you and would like nothing more than to wake up to those gorgeous green eyes every morning.”
Kristin took a minute with the words because they felt so very good that she wanted to luxuriate in them a bit.
“Say something, Kristin,” Lucy said and pulled in a breath. Kristin threaded her fingers through Lucy’s and answered her with a searing kiss. When they came up for air, Lucy was smiling. “While that was, wow, incredibly attention getting, it wasn’t an answer.”
“It was,” Kristin told her. “Because that’s the way I plan to kiss you each and every morning.”
Lucy blinked back at her. “Is that a yes?” Kristin nodded and they stared at one another, the weight of what they’d just decided settling. “Whoa.”
“This is sorta big,” Kristin said.
“And we can’t screw it up.”
Kristin’s mouth fell open. “What if I leave the cap off the toothpaste?”
“Evicted immediately,” Lucy said, poking her ribs.
Kristin laughed, and then met Lucy’s gaze. “Are you sure this is what you want? You can think it over.”
Lucy reached up and took Kristin’s face in her hands. “How well do you know me?”
Kristin looked skyward. “Quite well.”
“Then you know that I wouldn’t ask unless I knew in my heart this was right. So, yeah, I’m sure.” Lucy then sent her that sultry, sexy smile. “And in light of this new development, we should maybe celebrate or something.”
“Yeah?” Kristin asked, enjoying this idea already. “What did you have in mind?”
“Well, it is pretty cold in here”—Lucy raised one shoulder—“no heater and all. We could, maybe, find an alternative way to warm the place up.”
“God, I love you,” Kristin said.
“Then kiss me. The night is young.” Lucy’s eyes danced as Kristin closed the distance between them, savoring the anticipation and looking forward to the kiss and everything that would come after.
Readers interested in more from Emory and Sarah can read their romantic journey in Heart Block.