Both of them snorted.
“Okay. Fine. I might havesomepull. But I’m not planning to use it,” I said decidedly, leaning back against the green velvet sofa. “When there’s news, someone will call. We just have to be patient.”
“I’m not so good at patient,” Gwen admitted.
“No kidding,” Flo muttered. “All hail the queen of instant gratification.”
Gwen shot her an annoyed look, then glanced back to me. “Back to brighter subjects! By which I mean your walk-of-shame clothes. I’m guessing they are indicative of a successful first date?”
A blush immediately hit my cheeks. “Um…”
“We’re waiting,” Gwen prompted.
“We were promised details.” Flo reminded me. “It’s time you deliver.Pronto.”
I blinked at them, somewhat startled by their interest. I didn’t have any girlfriends. This was uncharted territory. Swallowing nervously, I asked, “What do you want to know?
“Everything,” they chorused in unison.
Shit.
“Well… I passed out candy and played with Socks. Cade made dinner. It was fine.”
“Fine?” Flo exclaimed. “Justfine?”
I contemplated lying for a moment, then decided I was too mentally exhausted to formulate a fib convincing enough to deceive them.
“Actually, it wasn’t fine. It was pretty fucking fantastic, if you want to know the truth,” I spilled before I lost my nerve. “He’s a good cook. He’s funny. He’s kind. He doesn’t just pretend to listen while I’m talking — heactuallylistens, then asks follow up questions. He shares his own stuff freely, too, about his family and his interests. Did you know he rides a motorcycle?”
“Really?” Gwen’s voice went a little breathy.
“Yep. In his garage. It’s shiny and black.” My own voice went a little breathy. “He promised to take me for a ride.”
“I’ll bet he did,” Flo murmured with a wink.
Ignoring her, I carried on. “He knows his neighbors by name, even though he only moved in a few months ago. He thinks spending time with his puppy is worth prioritizing over home improvement projects. He wants to fix up his house himself, with his own hands.” I shrugged my shoulders. “He’s like some kind of fictional man I’d read about in a romance novel. Except he’sreal. And he is officiallyfreaking me out.”
They both beamed at me.
I finally took a breath. I hadn’t meant to say even half of that aloud, but it poured out in a torrent. Part of me wanted to snatch back the words and run from the room screaming; the other part was being overtaken by that ever-increasing warm, fuzzy feeling that spread through my chest cavity, then out to all my extremities.
Gwen giggled lightly. “You are sonotleaving town, girlfriend.”
I blinked at her. “Excuse me?”
“You’re not leaving.”
“Actually, I am,” I countered.
“Uh huh.” Her grin was huge. “Sure you are.”
“I wasn’t even supposed to be here in the first place!”
“So? Screwsupposed to. You’re here,” Florence cut in. “You might as well stay. Especially now that you have a hot, protective as hell, motorcycle-riding, gun-toting, silver fox detective who looks at you like you’re a tropical oasis and he’s been wandering the desert for six straight days without water.”
I narrowed my eyes at her. “You can’t survive six days without water.”
“Not really the point I was hoping you’d take away from that speech.”