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Amazing. Mind-blowing. The best thing that had ever happened to me. But I couldn’t say what I was thinking, not knowing if she was on the same page. The quiet between us stretched until she sighed.
“The paper is doing a story on us.” Her tone pleaded with me to understand, but most of my brain cells had traveled south to my dick and were not operating.
“I’m sorry?” I turned to face her. I’d expected her to tell me the kiss was a mistake, that I was an idiot, but not whatever it was she’d said.
“I said, the paper is doing a story on us.” She hopped down from the counter, straightening her clothes.
She brushed imaginary lint off her jeans, making me feel like she was erasing any evidence of what we’d just done.
Refocusing on her words, I asked, “On the coffee shops?”
“I don’t think it’s a good idea to be kissing where anyone could see us.” Past dusk, it was dark out, and with the lights on inside, it would be easy for passersby to see us.
“Fuck. You’re right. This was—” A mistake, wrong? None of that sounded right.
It had been perfect. She said we couldn’t kiss where anyone could see us, so was she okay with us kissing in private? I was surprisingly on board for that. Just the thought had my cock stirring again.
Brooke shook her head. “We can’t do this.”
I nodded before registering the meaning of her words. Then they washed over me like a cold shower. I needed to get out of there. Away from her alluring lips, the temptation of a woman I could never have.
Brooke’s expression was serious. “We need to talk about what we’re going to do about the reporter.”
How was she so calm after what we’d just shared? Unless she didn’t feel the same thing I did.
I rubbed the back of my neck. “I don’t think I can talk about anything intelligent right now.”
“The reporter asked questions about us when we were kids, high school. How we interact.” Brooke continued without acknowledging my statement.
“So?” I rolled my shoulders back, desperately trying to regain my footing. It was unsettling that Brooke had reacted to my kiss and then shut down her feelings so hard.
She threw her arms up in the air in exasperation. “So, I didn’t know what to say.”
“Tell her the truth.”
Brooke crossed her arms over her chest. “You honestly think that’s a good idea?”
“What’s she going to say? We grew up on the same street. We ran lemonade stands. We were named co-valedictorians.” None of it was damning. It was how I felt about Brooke that was devastating. I was attracted to her, but I was starting to think it was only about business for her.
“She’s looking for a story, trying to dig up something that isn’t there. She wants to pit us against each other.”
“We’re doing a good enough job of that on our own.” Not only what had just happened between us, but Brooke offering free coffee on the same day my store opened.
Brooke shot me a pointed look. “You’re not taking this seriously.”
“Isn’t any publicity good publicity?”
“It can be. But I thought you’d want to keep things relatively private because of Cammie.”
I hadn’t thought about that. “I’m still not seeing a downside. You’re going to have to help me out here.”
“The reporter asking questions about us felt icky.”
“We competed against each other. We weren’t always nice to each other. Same thing seems to be still happening. So, if she concluded that we’re rivals, she wouldn’t be wrong,” I said carefully.
“She’s going to sensationalize it. Make it something it’s not.”
I took a step closer to her.
