Distraction. New friends. All of these were good things.

But why the avoidance? Maybe Frazer didn’t want a new friend. She probably had a great, happening social life and didn’t need the thirty-four-year-old married lady weighing her down. Or maybe the sight of her half-naked in the staff room had terrified Frazer and made her run away. It wasn’t as if Cora didn’t avoid her own image in the mirror too. Considering Frazer’s job, though, surely she had seen worse.

But there had been that odd moment when Frazer had paused, biting her lip as she turned away, pink tinging her cheeks. It had struck Cora as a little strange.

Twisting her blue social worker’s polo shirt to make it more comfortable, Cora stopped in her tracks. Frazer was by the canteen coffee cart, waiting for her order, leaning against a wall as she idly flicked through her phone.

“Hi.” The word left Cora’s lips even as she was still sucking up her courage. She tried to ignore feeling like the shy kid approaching a cooler one in the playground. She was an adult. An adult who would make decisions and take some control in her life. Being a grown up; that was what she was doing.

Frazer’s warm smile lit up her features. It wasn’t an angry smile, or an oh-God-leave-me-alone-already smile. That was good. Some of the tension fell from Cora’s shoulders.

“Cora! Hey! So strange. I was going to find you today to see if you wanted to get that drink.”

“You were? I mean…great. Cool.” Seriously, there were days Cora hated her lack of social abilities. Cool? What was she, fourteen?

“Yeah, sorry it’s been so long since I agreed to it. Work’s been so hectic, you have no idea.” Frazer’s lips quirked up in a crooked grin, that prominent dimple on her left side showing. “Well, you work here, so, actually, you probably do.”

The barista called Frazer’s order.

As she leaned forward to take the coffee, Frazer’s hair brushed along Cora’s neck and shoulder. Goosebumps ran along Cora’s skin, and the soft scent of citrus invaded her senses. Recognition itched at the back of her brain, and she remembered, vaguely, that hug on her porch.

Clearly, Cora was desperate for affection.

Frazer took a long sip of her coffee, her eyes closing in bliss.

“Needed a caffeine hit?” Cora asked.

That dimple appeared again. “I really did. I’ve had to cover so many on calls lately—I swear every woman in this city is having her baby at three a.m. just to get at me.”

“Sure, blame the babies.”

“Good idea. They can’t defend themselves.” Another sip of coffee, and Frazer’s eyes took her in, making Cora feel slightly self-conscious. “You okay?”

Why did she ask that? “Yeah, I’m fine. Great. So—when are you free for that drink?”

“Tomorrow night?”

Tomorrow morning, Alec went on his week-long conference. It fit well with her plans for that evening. “Tomorrow sounds great. Any good bar ideas?”

“The Scraped Goat?”