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In her SUV and wearing a festive red dress, Carmen pulled up and rolled down her window. “Hey, baby. Need a ride?”
Laughing, Lola threw her bag in the back and jumped into the passenger seat. “God, I missed you,” she said before kissing Carmen like she hadn’t breathed since she dropped her off a week earlier.
Carmen’s kiss was life itself, and she would have never stopped kissing her if the car behind them hadn’t started honking.
“Oh, fuck off!” Lola shouted through the open window. “Your mother’s basement will still be there in five minutes!”
“We don’t have basements,” Carmen pointed out while cleaning the lipstick from under her bottom lip.
“Yeah, well, the spirit of the truth remains,” Lola replied with a smirk before slipping her hand in Carmen’s lap, missing the soft warmth of her inner thigh. “Do we really have to go to this thing?”
Carmen eased back into traffic. “The thing Bamford makes a requirement, and therefore my mother and Natalia do too?” She chuckled. “Nah, I’m sure we could skip it without repercussion.”
When they finally stepped into the lobby of their high-rise, Lola’s eyes traveled up the length of one of the many pine trees Bamford had moved in for the occasion.
“How the hell did she manage this?” Lola asked, looking around at a play on a whimsical Norwegian forest.
“Did you forget that this is the same woman who turned her office into the Sahara?” Carmen countered as they moved through the crowd of other tenants, all forced to attend.
Lola reached for two flutes of something pink and bubbly on a passing tray. “An hour tops, right?” she asked as they made their way to where the people from Carmen’s firm were gathered.
“Yep. Let’s hit these first. Take some pictures. Make sure Natalia sees you and we’re out,” Carmen said, like she’d already planned a route for maximum efficiency.
Lola held her from behind and inhaled the perfume of her hair before whispering, “I love you and I can’t wait to marry that hyper-organized brain.” She kissed her cheek.
Carmen turned, smile wide and hazel eyes hypnotizing. “How about we get through that closing tomorrow first before we go through the hassle of changing your name?”
“Lola! You’re back!” Roxy’s voice came out of nowhere, but Lola smiled when she saw her.
“Darby!” Carmen clapped, attention aimed at the little human strapped to Roxy’s chest who undoubtedly inherited Adriana’s electric blue eyes. “You’ve gotten so big!” She grabbed the baby’s socked foot before kissing Roxy on the cheek.
“He eats like a monster,” Roxy said with pride, bouncing her soon-to-be one-year-old son.
Adriana followed a moment behind, a fancy baby bag not quite matching her cocktail dress. “Shit, I left the extra bottle upstairs.”
“Hi to you too,” Lola replied before kissing her on the cheek and then Roxy before greeting the tiny human in an appropriate fashion. “What’s up, D? What expensive garment have you puked on today?”
Roxy didn’t laugh. She beamed. The woman hadn't stopped grinning since Adriana announced her pregnancy. “Only a Hermès blanket, and really that’s on me. I got a little overzealous on my hunt for the last remaining burp.” She lifted Darby’s arms like he was a heavyweight champion, and the boy erupted with laughter.
“I’ll be right back—” Adriana started, but Lola didn’t let her finish.
“I got it. You’ve got a hard out when the Darb starts screaming,” Lola said before making a silly face at the baby, who screeched his delight. “I move faster than someone who hasn’t slept in months or has a person affixed to her body. Go make your rounds.”
Before Adriana could do something mushy like thank her, Lola turned. Carmen’s hand slipped into hers before she could get away and together they made their way out.
“What if we do it on New Year’s Day?” Lola asked when they were in the welcome silence of the elevator.
“What?” Carmen looked over at her while reapplying lipstick in the reflective doors.
“What if we get married in our house in, like… nineteen days?” Lola moved toward her, sure that she didn’t want to wait another second to make the ultimate commitment.
“You haven’t seen the house in months.” She shook her head. “There’s no way it’s going to be ready.”
“Is that your only objection?” Lola wrapped her arms around her waist. “Because I’ll marry you under one of those hideous mango trees. Your mom can officiate. Your dad can be the witness. Your grandpa can be the entertainment. I don’t need anything else.”
Carmen’s laugh was unsure, her eyes searching. “Are you being serious?”
“Deadass,” she promised before pressing her to the elevator wall. “Marry me. Be mine. Let me be yours already.”
