But enough of this already. No, Laura wasn’t the kind of woman who Cassidy normally dated. Perhaps Tanya was right. She’d been dating the wrong women. She not only liked Laura as a friend, she was extremely attracted to her. Not only that, Laura was everything she’d been looking for. Someone who could make her laugh, someone she wanted to be around—constantly. Someone who could take her breath away. Someone whose kisses made her weak. Someone who could be both best friend and lover. That person she’d been looking for her whole adult life…that person was Laura. Laura…that person she tried to run from because she scared her. Scared her because her knees got weak when they kissed. Scared her because she took her breath away. Scared her because she wasn’t in control. Scared her because…because she could lose her heart.

And she’d never lost her heart before.

She looked out at the pool, at the water glistening in the bright sunshine. She could imagine Laura out there, fighting with her float. Or jumping off her float to tip Cassidy off hers. She could picture her out there—naked—the sunlight dancing across her skin. She could picture Laura coming to her, touching her. And she could see Laura out there at night, the moonlight a halo around her as she beckoned Cassidy closer. And Cassidy would go. She wouldn’t run. Not anymore.

Now if she could just convince Laura not to run.

* * *

Laura stood at the window in the bedroom, looking at Cassidy’s backyard and the tiny corner of the pool that she could see from there. It was empty now, but she expected Cassidy’s friends at any moment. If she had any sense whatsoever, she wouldn’t go over there. She apparently couldn’t be trusted in Cassidy’s presence. Because yes, she was the one who started the kiss last night. And she was the one who had ended it. She remembered the shocked look in Cassidy’s eyes as she’d backed away…and run.

Laura hadn’t dared go down for coffee. She wasn’t ready to see Cassidy. The kiss was still too fresh. But as the morning drifted past lunchtime, she wondered if she should call Cassidy, if they should talk. She didn’t want to just pop over there with her friends around and act like nothing was going on between them. Of course, maybe she didn’t need to go over at all. Maybe she should cancel. Maybe she should—

The phone halted her thoughts and the ringtone made her heart leap in her throat. She took a deep breath, then answered with a quick “hello.”

“Quit hiding, Laura Sue.”

“What makes you think I’m hiding?”

“Because you kissed me and now you don’t know what to do about it.”

“I kissed you? I think it was mutual.”