“Hey, doll, how are you? Hey, Kaia.”
I waved and exchanged a hug before she turned to hug Drea. “I’m good, love. How are you? What brings you down to my neck of the woods?”
She laughed. “It’s been a day, so I thought I’d see if you wanted to grab lunch? My treat.”
Drea shook her head. “Not a chance. I still owe you.”
“Dre, it’s been, what? Almost five years now? We’ve moved past it. Please let it go. All is forgiven. Do you want to go out or not?”
Drea smiled and blew out a breath. “Don’t say I didn’t try. Yes, we can go. Let me grab a few things.”
When Drea left, Cara turned to me. “So, Blair tells me you and Daisy arefinallytogether. How exciting!”
I smiled and looked toward Daisy, who was smiling at me. I winked and caught the kiss she blew me before blowing one back. I turned back to Cara who was grinning at me. “Shut it. We are just?—”
“Just friends? Just existing? Don’t pull a Drea on me. Try again.”
“You two hang out too much, you know that? I don’t know what we’re doing. I mean, we haven’t talked about it. I’m not dating anyone else, and neither is she, but we haven’t made things official. Right now, we are just seeing each other. I guess we are casually dating? Maybe friends with benefits, but that seems so wrong to me and I’m not sure what she thinks.”
“Wow. That was a lot. Well, whatever you two are doing, I’m glad it finally happened. It was making me sad to see you pining over her for so long.”
I laughed. “You and me both.”
Drea came back out, cutting off the conversation, which I wasn’t totally mad at. “Okay, I’m ready to go. Kaia, are you good here?”
I laughed. “Of course, Dre. Go.”
She hugged me and smiled softly. “I’ll pick you up a hot chocolate on the way back. Let me know if the construction team comes back while I’m gone.”
I nodded and shooed her away. She turned back toward Cara. “Oh, Cara! You just missed the construction team. The leader is a superhot butch. She could be perfect for you! Want me to get her number or something?”
I chuckled, trying to picture the two of them together. I’d never seen Cara with someone like Vera. I didn’t think she was her type. She usually went for the soft femme types like Fallon.
“Oh, uh, no thanks. That’s not really my type.” She shrugged, but her eyes told me there was more to that statement.
Drea wasn’t a quitter, though, and she pressed on. “Maybe that’s what you need. Someone who isn’t your type. Your type hasn’t really worked out in the past. Maybe that’s the problem? I can invite her to the New Year’s Eve party, and we can see what happens.” She shrugged.
Cara rolled her eyes. “I don’t know what the problem is, maybe, but I’ve got to decline. I actually have work I need to catch up on, so I won’t be there.”
“Cara,” Drea deadpanned.
Cara sighed. “What? I do actually have work to do, okay? But… I’m taking time off from dating for a while. I’m so tired of the failed dates, Dre. Can we go now? Please?”
Drea’s smile softened, and she nodded. “Okay, love. I’ll drop it. We’ll miss you, though, and if you change your mind, you know where we’ll be. Let’s go.”
I waved them off and turned as soon as the door shut behind them. The store was pretty much cleared out, and Daisy was sitting in a chair in the very back, practically hidden unless you were behind the counter.
I ran over and stopped in front of her, waiting for her to notice me. She popped her head up from her laptop and smiled when she saw me. I grabbed her face and kissed her. She wrapped her arms around my neck and pulled me closer.
I ended the kiss, and she licked her lips. “What was that for?”
I shrugged. “I just missed you, that’s all.”
She smiled and brought me in for a more tender kiss. “Well, miss me more often, please. But is everything okay? What did Cara want?”
I nodded. “Everything’s fine. I just really wanted to kiss you. They’re going to lunch. Drea was trying to pass her off to Vera, but Cara’s kind of giving up on dating, which is so sad but understandable. She’s tired.”
“I get that. I’m glad I don’t have to do that anymore.” She smiled and laced our fingers together.
