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Katie laughed. “Shh. Don’t let them hear you say that upstairs.”
Maggie grinned that wide, happy smile Katie loved. The one where her eyes lit up and crinkled. “It’s a little different when they’re giving birth than when they’re harassing their adult children over having to work the holidays. Especially because their job is being a doctor.”
“Yeah. My mom didn’t get the memo that births still happen at Christmas.”
Maggie laughed. “What does she think Mary was keeping in that manger?”
“God knows.” Katie paused. “Whomp, whomp.”
“Very funny,” Maggie said flatly, as if she wasn’t laughing. Nobody laughed at Katie’s bad jokes the way Maggie did.
The doors of the elevator opened and Maggie reached out to take Katie’s hand like it was the most natural thing in the world. It was when it was the two of them.
“Come on,” she said, pulling Katie out into the lobby. “I’ll buy you that pizza.”
“I invited you over, so I think it’s on me to pay,” Katie said, going with her willingly, and enjoying the feeling of her soft skin, grounding after a long day.
“Actually, I think you invited me to move in. The least I can do is buy you a pizza.”
“That argument might fly if you actually were moving in… As it happens, I don’t think you’re giving up your place just yet.”
Maggie hummed thoughtfully, slowing as they walked towards the doorway out onto the street. “Maybe not just yet. But I am stealing that dark green hoodie tonight, so maybe call it payment for that.”
Katie laughed. “Okay, but I warn you now that I slept in it last night, so it’s going to stink like me.”
As they reached the door, Maggie slipped her hand from Katie’s under the guise of pulling her own hat on.
In the wave of frigid cold that hit them, the loss of her touch felt particularly painful. She always had the warmest, softest hands—perhaps because Katie tended to have the stereotypically cool physician’s hands. Or maybe it was just that Katie was feeling particularly sentimental. Some days were like that, and Maggie always made them better.
Katie was glad Maggie had still been there when she finished her shift.
“Pizza,” Maggie said, nodding in the direction of their favorite pizzeria. “And no worries about the hoodie. I like it better when they smell like you.”
She said it so quietly that Katie wasn’t even sure she’d really heard it, but, logically, she couldn’t deny that she had. And she couldn’t deny the way she suddenly felt like her insides were on fire, even in spite of the freezing night around them.
Chapter Four
“Ooh, yikes,” Mariana muttered as Maggie dropped into the seat opposite her. She’d obviously been there for a while, given the spread of her belongings around the tiny café table, and the half-empty coffee.
“What’s up?” Maggie asked, pulling her scarf off and looking around at the busy café.
“You’ve got that look.”
Maggie frowned. “Which look?”
“Thatone.” Mariana sipped her coffee, wincing upon realizing it had gone cold, and shooting Maggie a loaded look.
“The… one where it’s cold out?” her nose and cheeks felt chapped from the biting cold, so she wouldn’t have been surprised if she looked something like a circus performer.
“It’s like a whole new level of denial,” Mariana said, obviously despairing.
Maggie watched her for a minute, but, when nothing else was forthcoming, she nodded to herself. “Okay, well, while you… think about that, I’m going to grab a drink.” She gestured to the half-empty cup. “Do you want another one?”
“Mm. Yes, please. Get me one of those disgustingly sweet Christmas drinks.”
“Which one?”
Mariana laughed. “Whichever one you think would make even Santa sick with its sweetness.”
