Cassidy snorted. “Oh, please. I don’t glow.”

“Believe what you want. I just hope you don’t run and hide because what you’re feeling scares you.”

“Well…I kinda did run,” she admitted. “We…we kissed. After you left, we kissed. And I thought I was going to faint.” She laughed nervously. “From a damn kiss.” She shook her head. “I was in shock. I couldn’t speak. We didn’t say a word. Laura left and the next morning, bright and early, I ran. I came back here.”

“So you kissed and you didn’t say a word to each other?”

“No.”

It was Tanya’s turn to shake her head. “You’re going to screw this up, aren’t you?”

Cassidy stared at her. “There’s not really anything to screw up. I told you—”

“She’s not your type. You’re just friends.” Tanya stood up. “You felt faint from a kiss. I don’t think you’re going to be able to outrun this, my friend.”

After Tanya left, Cassidy got up and paced across her office floor. Yes, she’d run. Like a coward, she admitted. But she couldn’t see Laura. She didn’t know what she’d say to her. Was an apology warranted? No. While she was the one to initiate the kiss, she certainly wasn’t the only one participating in it.

God, Laura’s lips were so soft. Soft and responsive and…and she wanted to taste them again. Because the truth was, the kiss didn’t last nearly long enough. No. Laura had pulled away. Laura’s eyes had been filled with wonder, shock…and something else. It was that “something else” that scared her.

She’d been with more women than she could remember, but that look in Laura’s eyes…Cassidy was certain she’d never seen it before. She was afraid. She was afraid that when she saw Laura, she might see that look again.

Or maybe she was afraid that she wouldn’t see it again.

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Laura had a good week, she admitted. It hadn’t started out that way, but by Thursday, while she was mowing Cassidy’s yard, she’d finally gotten to the point where the damn kiss wasn’t at the forefront of her mind.

On Sunday, even after she’d realized that Cassidy had left—without saying goodbye—she hadn’t wandered outside of the house. If her mother was curious about her being underfoot, she didn’t mention it. A brief rain shower and the ensuing humidity was as good an excuse as any to stay inside. She’d roasted the chicken early and after dinner, she’d joined her mother in the den to watch TV. A mindless activity but at least it kept Cassidy—and the kiss—at bay.