With a strength she didn’t know she had, she pulled away from Cassidy, ending their heated kiss. They stared at each other, their breathing ragged through parted lips. Cassidy took a step away and so did Laura. Then Cassidy backed up off the patio, nearly stumbling off the edge before she turned and hurried away.

Laura licked her lips, then steadied herself on the chair before falling down into it.

“Sweet Jesus,” she murmured. “Can that woman kiss or what?”

She sat there several minutes, trying to get her body under control…her breathing under control. How did that happen? One minute, they’re talking…the next, kissing like there was no tomorrow. Kissing like it was going to lead to something else. Her eyes widened a bit. If kissing was like that…what would making love be like? She slammed her eyes shut. Oh, don’t go there, she warned herself. Do not go there!

She smiled. So Cassidy liked her cutoff jeans, huh? Cassidy thought they were sexy. She had four or five pair. She practically lived in them. And apparently they were sexy. Who knew?

When she felt in control again, she stood and went back inside the kitchen. Her mother, still seated, was smiling. No, she was grinning.

“What?”

Her mother’s smile got broader. “Nothing…it’s just so cute to see you like this.”

Laura felt a red-hot blush cover her face. “There is nothing going on.”

“Right.”

“Really.”

“Okay.” Her mother pushed herself up from the table. “Whatever you say.” But she was still smiling as she shuffled out of the kitchen with her walker.

Yes, Laura Sue…just what in the world is going on? She shook her head. Nothing. There was absolutely nothing going on.

Liar.

Chapter Forty-One

Cassidy was going to be brave and pop over to Laura’s for coffee like normal. Except Laura wasn’t out there…like normal. No, she wasn’t. Because of the kiss. Again.

So instead of calling her, instead of making a big deal about it, she spent the morning changing the sheets in one of the guest bedrooms for Erica and Amber. She even cleaned the downstairs bathrooms, a chore that reminded her she was going to hire a cleaning service but had yet to get around to it. She took time for a workout in the gym. She did laundry—last weekend’s clothes that she’d forgotten when she’d escaped early.

She smiled at that. Escaped? From Laura? No…she feared there was no escaping Laura. Damn…that kiss. If she’d been butter, she would have melted on the spot. Laura apparently wasn’t happy with her, though. In all fairness, Laura was the one who started this kiss, of that she was certain.

And she’d almost made a fool of herself by falling off the patio step when she’d attempted to run…run from the kiss—and Laura.