She opened her eyes then, seeing Nic’s face in the shadows. They obviously weren’t dating, no, but could she say that she had no emotional attachment to her? Would she consider Nic a friend? Well, yes. But that, too, was temporary. Once they got back to Dallas, back to their respective lives, that wouldn’t be the case. They’d have no reason to see each other, to talk, to hang out.

Did they need a reason, though? Her sigh this time was no longer contented. What was she thinking? That she and Nic could still get together every once in a while and have sex? Like fuck buddies? She nearly cringed at the thought. Lord, she didn’t have fuck buddies. No. That was too far out there for her. No, she would go back to her normal routine, she imagined. In fact, Beth had texted her yesterday, saying Jenna had met a friend of a friend—a doctor. A doctor who was thirty-five and just starting to date again after a brutal breakup last year. Beth said that Jenna said that the doctor would be perfect for her. She’d even included a photo of the woman.

So yeah, that’s probably what she’d do. Back to her normal routine. But instead of vetting them—as Sharon called it—she might throw caution to the wind and be more open to casual dating and casual sex. Because if these past eight or nine days had taught her anything, it was that casual sex was quite fun.

She shifted a little, resting her face against Nic’s breast for a moment, noting the softness of it, before moving to her shoulder. Nic’s shoulder made an awesome pillow, she decided.

* * *

She awoke hours later to an empty bed. She opened her eyes, knowing she was alone in the bedroom. She heard the wind howling outside and she glanced to the window. It still appeared dark outside. She tossed the covers off, then reached for her clothes, pulling on sweatpants first, then a shirt.

Other than the Christmas tree lights that still blinked, the downstairs was dark and quiet. She found Nic in the sunporch, standing near a window looking out. It wasn’t quite daylight, no, but it wasn’t full dark either. It was that moment in time that was in between—the night hanging on for a few more seconds as the day tried to push it aside.

“Good morning,” she said quietly and Nic visibly jumped. “Sorry.” She moved beside her. “You okay? Watching the storm?”

“Yes. I haven’t been up long. Too dark to really see anything.”

“It’s cold in here. How about a cup of coffee? It’ll be daylight soon.” Then she paused. “Unless you’d rather be alone.”

“No, no. This is just all so fascinating to me. My one and only blizzard, I guess. I doubt I’ll ever see another one.”