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30
Chelsea
Three Years Later
I pressed the handicap button to open the door of Vino and Veritas. Tara stepped aside with a grin as I entered. She’d long since given up on helping me move the beer barrels.
“Hey there, sexy.” Her eyes swooped up and down my body. “Haven’t seen you in here before.”
“Not this again,” a customer muttered, moving out of my way.
Ignoring him, I sauntered up to Tara. “I’m new on the job. Might need a little help.”
“I can provide any kind of assistance you might need,” Tara said. “Especially if it involves a kiss.”
I leaned in and pressed my lips to hers, feeling her heart beat against mine. I held onto her for a long moment afterwards, smiling into her eyes.
She was a large part of the reason I continued to work this job. I’d dropped down to part-time hours, only coming in two days a week. The rest of the time, I spent developing and promoting games. The first one had become a runaway success on Firefounder, and the follow-up had been picked up by a major board game company. The success was more than I could’ve ever dreamed.
“You two should really get a room,” the customer said.
“And you should get a life,” I snapped. “Now, where were we?”
“I was about to ask what you’re doing after work,” Tara said seductively.
“I don’t have any plans.”
“Well, I heard through the grapevine that your wife would like to take you out.”
I stepped back with a mock gasp. “You know about my wife?”
“It’s okay,” Tara murmured. “She doesn’t have to know.”
We both dissolved into giggles. Unconsciously, I touched my left ring finger. The feeling of the gold band there always made me feel warm inside. We’d gotten married just over a year ago in a small, intimate outdoor ceremony. My family and friends had come, along with her chosen family and her aunt, uncle, and cousins. I’d worn a dress, and she wore the loveliest white tuxedo.
“Seriously, what’s happening tonight?” I asked, pressing my body closer to hers. “Or was that part of the act?”
“No, Ava is coming to town. She wanted to know if we were free for dinner.”
One of the hardest parts of the past few years was finding out Tara wasn’t a kidney match for Ava. After all of the stress of deciding to donate, she’d been shattered to find out she couldn’t even though she wanted to. She’d just found her aunt, and then it seemed like Ava was going to be taken away from her.
The donor list had progressed faster than expected, though, and in the end, an unrelated match was found—a young woman on life support. Ava had received her transplant almost two years ago. The procedure was successful, and Ava said she felt like a new woman. She didn’t even need dialysis anymore.
“Of course I’m free,” I said. “You’re not too busy with studying? I know it’s midterm week.”
Tara was now midway through a psychology degree at Moo U, and she hoped to work with children who had experienced assault and trauma. She was loving the coursework, finding it endlessly fascinating, even if she sometimes got stressed out by the amount of readings. Playing guitar helped her to unwind, and she’d become good friends with the teacher.
“I’ve been studying all day.” She nodded toward the counter, where one of her textbooks lay open. “One of the perks of working at a bookstore.”
“Right, right.” I licked my lips. “Let’s take advantage of that other perk.”
I smiled at her slyly, then backed her into the bathroom. I wrapped my arms around her, claiming her mouth again and again. Her lips were soft under mine, and yet her tongue was firm and insistent. Shivers ran through my core. I couldn’t wait to get her home tonight.
At last, she reluctantly pulled away. “I wanted to show you something, actually.”
“Oh, really?” I started to pull up her shirt.
She swatted my hands away. “On my phone, rather.” She dug it out of her pocket. “There are some new kids up on the foster care website—including a two-year-old girl.”
