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Lily
As soon as I sit at the table where Aria is waiting for me, she asks, “You fucked him, didn’t you?”
I laugh and my cheeks burn. “How did you know?”
She smiles and rolls her eyes. The server jumps at the chance to take our orders and leaves. Aria says, “Because you haven’t looked me in the eye in over a week when you come to get the kids, and Cormac’s been a grinning idiot the past couple of times I’ve seen him.”
I sigh, still smiling. “Yeah, well.” Then I shrug.
“Wow. It must be incredible for you to keep your mouth shut about it.”
I nod, too lost for words. “I don’t even know where to begin.”
“Start from the beginning.”
“It all got going the night his investor came over for supper…” I tell her the whole thing, and end with, “…it’s been a couple of weeks now, I think, and Aria, I have never been so happy and so terrified in my entire life.”
“Ok, yay for happy, but why terrified?”
“Let’s not brush aside my happiness so easily—
She laughs. “I’m not. I figured we’d circle back to it, because this may be the first time you have ever told me you were happy with a guy.”
Blowing out a breath, I can’t help but think about every reason I’m scared to death right now. “When Abigail gets back, I’ll be fired when she finds out.Ifshe finds out.”
“You don’t know that—
But I cut her optimism off with a look.
“Well, sure, but I mean, I get it.”
I nod, and our drinks come. After I knock some back, I tell her, “Jobs come and go, that’s the nature of them, I guess. I can survive that. In theory. But I’ve really started to love my job. It’s so weird. I never thought of nanny as a career path for me, but they are such great kids, you know?”
“More than most. Yeah. I know.”
“And the thought of never seeing the kids again—
“Wait, why wouldn’t you be able to see them if you got fired? You’re dating their dad.”
I huff. “And how long do you think that will last once Abigail finds out? She probably won’t want me around the kids—
“You’re being silly, sweetie. I see it all the time. People get bitchy for a little while and then they get past it for the sake of the kids. It’ll be okay.”
“That’s not the only thing I’m scared about, Aria. This thing with Cormac…it’s not like anything I have ever felt. And we’re actually dating, which is weird for me.”
“Welcome to relationships, Lily. They are scary and bring up all kinds of feelings and it’s uncomfortable—
“Why does anyone do this to themselves? It’s so much!”
She giggles. “Because it’s also wonderful. Breathtaking. Life affirming. It’s the reason to get out of bed in the morning and the reason to sleep well at night, knowing that someone loves you.”
“Well, now you’ve gone too far. Love? Pfft.” I shake my head and finish my drink. “That’s a little much.”
“The drink or love?”
“Both. Although I don’t mind it for the drink.”
She rolls her eyes. “Come on. Isn’t that what you’ve been talking about?”
