Posey looks at me, and I shrug.
“Okay,” she says.
Ethel leads us over to grab our breakfast. We both make a plate and, on my way back to the table, a few people wink at me, giving me the eye like they know I had sex last night.
I’m completely weirded out by this place. I can’t get out of here fast enough.
Ethel, Dori, and Midge join us. As do Earl and Isaac, the cane guy from last night.
Midge leans over, looking around to make sure no one is listening. “Did you like the nightgown?”
Posey’s face lights up. “I did. It’s so beautiful.”
“I know. I hope you have the same luck in it that I did.” She looks dreamy now, as though she’s left our table and traveled back in time to when she wore it.
“Oh, um… no. We didn’t.” Posey looks at me and I’m sure her blush is more telling than her adamant tone.
“No, we did not,” I confirm.
Ethel’s eyebrows raise.
“I heard you, I’m right on the other side of that room,” Isaac says. Posey nearly chokes on her eggs, and he waves her off. “It’s fine. What happens here stays here. We don’t gossip about who sleeps with who.”
“Like Vegas,” Earl says.
I sigh and stare down at my plate.
“Well then, I guess you know our secret.” Posey sounds less than thrilled.
“I think it’s great.” Ethel beams at me. “Posey’s always been so stubborn, but you’ve persevered. That says a lot. I knew when your meet-cute was you running her off the road that it was a match.” She acts as if I just proposed to Posey.
“Nothing says romance like dangerous driving and potential vehicular manslaughter,” Posey deadpans.
“Could you imagine if it still has the same effect all these years later?” Midge interrupts, still in some other universe.
“Eat so we can leave,” Posey murmurs.
“You seem like you were a generous lover,” Isaac says to me.
A small whimper leaves Posey, and I pile a forkful of eggs into my mouth.
“So, you’ll tell me, won’t you?” Midge pats Posey’s hand.
She swallows her bacon and looks at Midge’s hopeful expression. “Tell you what?”
“If you’re with child. I conceived all my children in that nightgown. We had some wonderful nights.”
I choke and cough all my eggs onto my plate.
Another whimper comes from Posey, a little louder this time.
“I really think we need to go. I have to get back to the campaign place and… let’s just go, Posey.” I’m done being polite, as I pick up her tray and walk them back to the kitchen.
While I’m away from everyone, I inhale and exhale. What if that nightgown has some weird type of magic juju? Hell, I want to date Posey, but I’m not ready to have a kid yet.
“You look like you saw a ghost,” Posey says, coming up behind me and laughing.
“Did you hear her?”
“Yep.” She puts her hands on her stomach, rubbing it as if there could be a baby in there. “You said you were all in. Does this change things?” She tilts her head.
Since this whole room knows anyway, I break the distance between us, covering her hand with mine. “Changes nothing. I’d love nothing more than to raise a dozen with you, darling.”
“Bullshit,” she says and shivers. “Can you believe that? What if it, like, wore off on me or something? I have to shower.”
I link her fingers with mine. “Come on. I’m taking you home.”
We walk back out and say our goodbyes.
“Thank you for having us,” I say, shaking hands with everyone. When I get to Midge, I freeze and stare at her.
Posey bumps into my back and veers around me. I shoot her a look and she laughs again because Midge is playing with a Rubik’s Cube.
How do I tell Erwin he needs to come to Northern Lights Retirement Center to get it back?
For the past week, I haven’t heard one peep about Gavin and me and our hookup at Northern Lights Retirement Center. On the flip side, I’ve been so paranoid that every time I’m around Gavin, I ignore him, which is going to cause more interest than our usual bickering.
Now, it’s Friday and the bell of my door rings at Fringe. I’m cleaning up from my last haircut. Malia left early to do some errands, but the town is bustling, and I thought that since I’ve been gone so much for my mom, I might get some walk-ins if I stuck around. I just wasn’t expecting my walk-ins to start with Gavin.
“You can’t be here,” I say, resting the broom on the wall by my mirror and walking toward him.
He runs his fingers through his hair. It’s been three weeks since the last time I cut it. “I’m here for my haircut. You lost that bet, remember?” He says it loudly, as if he assumes someone’s in the back.
“It’s only us.”
With that knowledge, his gaze slowly peruses my body. I’m wearing a dress with sandals. He hums a hungry sound that unravels the desire inside me.
“That’s not an invitation.”
“I’ve gone six days. That has to be a record when we only had one night together.” He walks closer, and all I can do is look out the window to make sure no one sees him stalking toward me.
“And we agreed to keep this quiet, remember?” I turn on my heel and walk to the shampoo station, needing to keep this business even if my stomach flutters with excitement.
“As of right now, we’re not keeping anything quiet because nothing is happening.”
He sits in the chair and slides his hand up my leg as I situate a towel under his neck. I’ve always been hyperaware of how erotic it can be to wash a man’s hair in one of these chairs. My breasts can brush their face, the closeness means I can smell their cologne. I’ve always been conscious about my movements with any other man, but I want Gavin as bad as he wants me.
“This is your favorite part, remember?” I spray the warm water over his scalp.
“It was my favorite part until I had you under my tongue.”
“Damn you and your mouth.”
His eyes pop open—they’re filled with a hunger that makes my center throb. “Do you not like it when I talk to you like that?”
I scrub his scalp and his eyes slowly drift closed. “The opposite actually.”
His finger trails up my leg, but he’s not at the best vantage point. Still, an audible moan escapes me, wishing he could bring it up farther between my legs.
“I really want to feel your panties. Will you let me?”
I rinse his hair and ignore his question.
But once I’m finished and drying his hair with a towel before having him sit up straight, he swings his arm around my waist to pull me down onto him. “Well, what do you think?”
I push off his chest. “I think you want us to be on Scandals of Sunrise Bay. That’s what I think.”
“Don’t you have blinds? What about your office?”
“I’m still open and you’re here for a haircut, remember?” I lead him over to my chair.
The only privacy we have is the half wall that separates me from the waiting area.
“Come on, one touch. Let me feel how wet you are.” He leans forward, his hand coming up behind my dress.