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Jamie blinked and looked around the room, distinctly aware of a warm presence at her side, but she couldn’t quite make sense of anything through the hazy alarm bells sounding. The deep sleep she’d just been pulled from hung on like a cloud, impeding her brain from properly processing. As she searched for orientation, the warm presence moved, and a hand was placed on the small of Jamie’s back. That did it. The night before rushed back to her like a movie on fast forward. The party, the cocktail dress, the prosecco, the kissing, the mind-altering sex. Leighton. Sigh. They’d had sex. She’d had sex with Leighton Morrow, which was not wise or okay with the sober version of herself. What now?
She turned and saw a beautiful woman gazing up at her sleepily.Do not give in to this. A small smile played on Leighton’s lips. Before Jamie could speak, Leighton held up a finger. “Don’t freak out. Everything is okay.”
“It is?” Jamie asked, but even she could hear the shaky voice behind the word. “No. I mean, it is. It’s fine.” She didn’t have to disclose that inside her brain, by the light of day, she was experiencing a full-on freak-out. It was surely apparent.
Leighton sat up, bringing the bedsheet with her. “This doesn’t have to mean anything if you don’t want it to.”
“Of course not,” Jamie said. “We had a night. People have nights. Adults do all the time.” A really, really good night, she was realizing, flashing back to how well they’d brought each other to the edge. Theheat level they’d achieved without trying. No awkward fumbling or relearning their way around each other. They were an anomaly. Special. But hadn’t she already known that?
“So, you’re okay? Because your fists are clenched and your eyebrows are pulled low.”
“Who? Me?” She immediately relaxed her hands and bounced her brows. “I think I’m just absorbing. Right? You probably are, too. This was unexpected.”
“It most certainly was.” Leighton nodded. “But I don’t have any regrets.”
“Good,” Jamie said, scurrying to make this moment feel as relaxed as possible when she was anything but. “No one wants regrets, right?” The early morning sunlight slanted in through the window and highlighted the brown in Leighton’s eyes. She was certainly extra pretty in the morning, even with rumpled hair. Jamie nervously checked the clock. “I do need to get to the coffee bar. Luckily, I didn’t have to open. Planned it that way on purpose.” A pause. She played that back. “Not because of this. I could never have guessed that we’d…The charity event. Was the reason for the scheduling. Because I knew I’d be out later than my usual.”
“Say no more. Let’s get you on your way.” Leighton scanned the room. “I will get out of your hair, but I’d rather not wear a cocktail dress home. Do you happen to—”
“I have clothes. Of course. I’ll just—” Jamie walked quickly to the white terry cloth robe on the back of her door, covering herself in a move that felt silly given all they’d done just hours ago. Somehow, by the light of day, things felt different. She did, and she didn’t want to share any more of herself with Leighton.
“Thank you. I know you’re in a hurry, but can I just say that I had a really nice time last night.”
Jamie forced herself to slow down and calm her racing thoughts, because she had, too. It wasn’t Leighton’s fault that she’d made a self-indulgent and reckless decision last night. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to gloss over what happened. I, um”—she circled a strand of hair behind her ear—“had fun.” A slow exhale. “I’m just wondering if it was wise. It’s the wisdom factor that’s tapping on my shoulder. Because there’s not a future here, because I don’t think I can get past what happened, and—”
“Ah. Okay. I understand.” Leighton nodded but seemed to deflate.“Well. We can just put things between us back as they were. Business partners.”
“And friends,” Jamie said sincerely. She came and sat on the edge of her bed. Something in her had shifted, and she’d love for that to be a goal. Leighton was a factor in her life now, and it was time to stop running from the past. “I’d like to try for that.”
“Good. Because that makes two of us.”
For a moment, the morning slowed down. They held eye contact in the small space they occupied in the world, complicated and laced with regret about what could have been. “Once upon a time, right?” She heard the wistful quality in her voice.
Leighton nodded, a conservative smile appearing. “Right. Once upon a time.”
Jamie glanced behind her toward the closet off the bathroom. “I’ll get you some clothes. And there’s coffee in the kitchen. On a timer.”
“That’s okay. I’ll grab some on the way home.”
Their good-bye was friendly, but shrouded in words unsaid. For the best. The rest of the day was uneventful by comparison. But honestly, anything would be after that caliber of night. It was a weekend, which meant the regulars were off duty, and a new band of Saturday customers sat in their chairs instead, like understudies in a play. Saturdays tended to be lower key. Customers were more laid back, interested in making small talk for longer periods of time. The day always felt a little longer but lazy at the same time.
“Have you ever done something that you wish you could undo?”
Jamie blinked at the young woman in front of her register. Nose ring, jet-black hair, insistent stare. “Who sent you?” Jamie asked suspiciously.
“My brother. He wants an iced coffee and said he’d buy mine if I did the run.”
“Right. Never mind then. You’re merely an innocent.”
“Sorry I blurted that question. I just had one hell of a twenty-four hours, and I’m dying like roadkill.”
Jamie leaned in. “Me, too. An ex?”
“No, I bought an iguana and my apartment is a matchbox. His aquarium takes up half of it. And I can’t, like, give him back now. He thinks he’s home.” Her brown eyes went wide. “But I never should have done this. Like, ever.”
“Right.” Jamie straightened. “I think it’s going to be okay. You have a nice roommate now. Next year, you’ll wonder what you ever did without…”
“Fernando.”
