“Look, lusting after Hannah as the hot outside and cold on the inside wife of your coworker is one thing. I mean, it’s kind of a messed up thing. But it’s harmless. Getting entangled in some sort of thing with her, the year after her marriage falls apart – and doesn’t she have a kid? – is a whole other thing that screams disaster. You never make that disaster move, Caro, because you’re too smart for that.”

“But – what does she want?” That’s the niggling thought she keeps having.

What does Hannah want? There’s a mystery there, wrapped in the most gorgeous package, and she’s never been able to turn away from a mystery.

“To scoop a whole mess onto your plate.” Kris succinctly tells her.

And Kris is so often right. So she is definitely probably right about this.

***

Caroline texts Hannah on New Year’s Day.

She can’t help it; she’s too curious not to. She can’t get rid of that ridiculous coffee cup until she does and then saves the number with a nervous-yet-excited swoop in her stomach.

Hannah, clearly, still means terrible things for her self-control.

***

They meet only three days later, for a Sunday lunch.

She’s not as cautious as she should be, as she typically is on a first date. Which, Kris tells her, is a big reason why these dates probably don’t work out. But, oh well.

Not that she is even sure this is a date. Because Hannah had been married to a man for ten years and had never really shown interest in Caroline.

Not that she’s even actually sure if she would want it to be a date. Okay, yes, she has eyes and a sex drive and is attracted to Hannah. But she also doesn’t know much about her beyond that she’d chosen to be married to one of the worst people she’s ever met.

She arrives three minutes early – a feat for her, honestly – and Hannah is already there, standing just outside of the bistro Caroline suggested in the Back Bay. She has on dark jeans with a pair of black winter boots, and a heavy winter jacket on top, while most of her hair is hidden under a knit cap, which looks adorable. Both of her hands hold onto the strap of her purse as she looks around cautiously.

Hannah doesn’t really settle, even when she sees Caroline. She steadies, though, no more fidgeting as she meets Caroline’s gaze head-on and takes a visible deep breath.

Caroline arches an eyebrow, approaching slowly. She feels a questioning smile pull at her lips, even as her mind wanders to the thousands of possibilities she’d come up with about what this is about. “You didn’t have to wait out here. I told you the reservation was under my name?”