What Matters Most

by Beers, Georgia

  “Nope,” she said, her voice husky as she slipped a hand under the front of Theresa’s shirt. “My show.”

  “Your show? Well, aren’t you the bossy...” Theresa’s voice trailed off, followed by a soft intake of breath as Kelsey found a nipple and toyed with it through her bra.

  “You were saying?” Kelsey asked playfully, her hand still moving.

  Theresa’s eyes drifted closed and she whispered, “Nothing. I was saying nothing.”

  “That’s what I thought.”

  There were no more words after that. Kisses pressed ever deeper, Theresa’s legs wrapped around Kelsey’s waist, hands were everywhere—in hair, under shirts, along bare skin—and when Theresa’s orgasm ripped through her simply from Kelsey’s hand moving against her center through her jeans, surprising them both, Kelsey grinned like the Cheshire cat, absurdly pleased with herself and at the same time utterly, undeniably happy. Her brain chose that moment to poke at her, to suggest some analysis, but Kelsey managed to shut it down, to just revel in the beautiful woman beneath her who was breathing raggedly, one arm tossed over her eyes.

  “Oh, my God,” Theresa whispered, still catching her breath.

  “That was pretty awesome.” Kelsey kissed Theresa’s elbow, since she couldn’t get to her nose.

  “Awesome? Oh, no. Better than awesome. Way better than awesome.” Theresa swallowed and cleared her throat. “For God’s sake, all my clothes are still on.”

  Kelsey’s satisfied grin widened. “I know.”

  Theresa moved her arm, and her eyes caught Kelsey’s. Held them softly. She reached up to stroke her fingertips across Kelsey’s cheek. The touch was gentle. Sweet. Kelsey got the feeling Theresa wanted to say something—honestly, so did Kelsey—but neither of them spoke. They simply looked at each other as something...tender passed between them. Long moments went by as they lay there.

  “I say we go upstairs,” Theresa said, her voice barely above a whisper. “And we take them all off. Mine and yours. You in?”

  Kelsey nodded. “I think that’s a very good plan. I’m in.” She kissed Theresa once more, then carefully extricated herself from the tangle of limbs they’d created. Once standing, she held out her hand. Theresa took it, and Kelsey pulled her to her feet. When the television was off and the front door was locked, they headed upstairs.

  Sleep came much, much, much later.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  “I’M SO HAPPY YOU’RE here,” Kelsey said as she raised her beer glass and touched it to Chris’s. “I don’t like going months without seeing you. Feels weird, you know?”

  “I totally get it.” Chris gave a nod and took a sip of her beer. She looked like her usual self: short, sandy hair; bright brown eyes; an aura of cheer, kindness, and fun. But there was something else Kelsey noticed. Chris looked tired. Not just a little tired, but really tired. Like, beaten down tired. Like, not getting enough sleep and not eating well and working too many long hours. That kind of tired. Her skin had a slight gray pallor to it. She was way too thin. The dark circles under her eyes were visible to Kelsey, even through the makeup Chris had obviously used to cover them (and Chris rarely wore makeup). And she seemed...the tiniest bit sad.

  “Hey,” Kelsey said and waited until Chris looked at her before continuing. “Are you okay?”

  Chris nodded, made a face that said, “why would you think otherwise?” and said, “Sure. Fine.”

  Kelsey propped her chin in her hand and studied her cousin. “Yeah, I don’t believe you.”

  Chris dropped her head in defeat, her chin at her chest, obviously aware that she couldn’t pull one over on her favorite cousin so she shouldn’t even try. She blew out a breath and when she looked up at Kelsey, her eyes seemed clearer. “I have an ulterior motive for coming to see you.”

  “Okay,” Kelsey said, drawing out the word. “Tell me.”

  “I have a job interview.”

  Kelsey’s eyebrows shot up. “What? Here? Why? When? With who? Doing what? Are you moving here?” The questions came out quick and staccato, like gunfire.

  Chris laughed and held up a hand traffic cop style. “Easy there. It’s like I’m having lunch with the Riddler.”

  “Sorry.” Kelsey joined in the laughter. “You just took me by surprise.”

  “I know. I apologize.”

  “Well? Fill me in!”

  Before Chris could begin her story, they were interrupted by a voice from behind Kelsey. “I see they’ll let anybody in here. So much for avoiding the riff-raff.”

  Kelsey turned to look and smiled at the sight of Hannah. “Hey, you.”

  “Sorry I’m late. Got stuck helping my mom with her computer.” Hannah’s eyes stopped on Chris and lingered for a beat before she stuck out a hand. “You must be Chris.”

  “I am.” Chris did a half-stand, the best she could do given the booth they were in and Kelsey noticed her do the same linger in return. “And you’re Hannah, right? It’s nice to meet you. My cousin has told me all kinds of stories about you.” Chris winked at her and Hannah chuckled.

  “Please keep in mind that your cousin lies. Like, a lot. It’s a huge problem.”

  “Has been since we were kids,” Chris deadpanned.

  “Hey,” Kelsey said in protest. When the other two started laughing, Kelsey couldn’t help but join them. “Yeah, you two are hilarious.”

  Hannah slid into the booth next to Kelsey. “Are you guys having lunch?”

  “We are,” Chris told her, eyes sparkling. “We just wanted to start with a beer to celebrate since we haven’t seen each other in a while.”

  “Can I join?”

  “Of course.” Chris flagged down the waitress and Hannah ordered a beer, which arrived a few moments later. They clinked glasses.

  “Okay, so back to this interview,” Kelsey said.

  “Job interview?” Hannah asked for clarification. “So...you’re looking to move here? ’Cause that’d be cool.”

  “You two.” Chris shook her head good-naturedly; Kelsey could tell by her gentle expression. “I’m just feeling some things out, weighing my options.”

  “She works like crazy right now,” Kelsey said to Hannah. “Too many hours. Way too many. In a great city that she never has time to explore.”

  “Boston, right?” At Chris’s slight look of surprise, Hannah added, “Kelsey’s mentioned it before.”

  “For a minute there, I thought you might be stalking me.” Chris punctuated that with a flirty little grin and Kelsey was struck with the sudden realization of what was happening here. She decided to add a little fuel to the newly kindled fire.

  “Well, you follow her on Instagram, so maybe you’re the stalker.” Kelsey covered her smile with her beer glass, ignored the subtle, startled look Chris shot her.

  “You do?” Hannah tilted her head.

  “I, um, follow Kelsey and she follows you, so...” Instead of looking chagrined, Chris held eye contact with Hannah and smiled.

  “Well, that’s pretty cool.” Hannah took a gulp of her beer. “Where’s the interview?”

  And just like that, Kelsey watched the beginning of...something. They didn’t exclude her. Of course they didn’t. But Hannah talked directly to Chris. Chris responded, then would glance at Kelsey, who would give her a smile. They ordered lunch, it arrived, and things continued. Hannah asked all the same questions Kelsey would have, so she didn’t feel she was missing out on any information. Instead, she took it all in—both the information on Chris’s interview and the crazy-obvious chemistry between her cousin and her friend. It was amusing and fun to watch. Kelsey was a little bit envious, but then she thought about Theresa and decided she had nothing at all to be envious about. Nothing. At. All.

  When they’d finished eating and argued over the check (Chris won and paid for the whole thing), Hannah said, “So how long are you staying?”

  Chris moved her head from one side to the other. “I haven’t decided yet. I can’t be away for too long. My interview is tomorrow. I
was thinking of flying back on Tuesday.”

  “You should stay until Wednesday.”

  “I should? And why is that?” They moved down the aisle toward the door, Chris and Hannah side by side, Kelsey behind them.

  “Because my softball team has a playoff game Tuesday night. You could come watch, go out with us, then fly home on Wednesday morning.”

  Chris turned to look at Hannah as they pushed through the doors and out into the sunlit Sunday afternoon. Kelsey watched her cousin’s profile and knew she was actually considering it. She tried to smother her grin, not wanting to be too obvious about what she was witnessing...or that she was witnessing it.

  “You know what?” Chris asked as they stopped next to Kelsey’s car in the lot. “I think I’m going to take you up on that.” With a glance at Kelsey, she asked, “Are you going to the game?”

  “Well, I’m kind of important in the cheerleading department.”

  “She totally is,” Hannah agreed. “Been to every game.”

  “All right then. I’ll see you Tuesday.” Chris held out a hand to Hannah, who looked at it, chuckled as she shook her head, and instead, wrapped her arms around Chris’s neck.

  “I’m a hugger.”

  “She is,” Kelsey agreed, then watched as Chris hugged back. With both arms.

  Well, isn’t this interesting?

  They said their goodbyes to Hannah, who was parked two rows away, and got into Kelsey’s car. She keyed the ignition and put the A/C on full blast...which only served to blow hot air on them.

  “That was fun to watch,” Kelsey said as they waited for the air to cool.

  “What was?”

  Kelsey arched an eyebrow in a silent, Really?

  Chris had the good sense to look sheepish. “She’s cuter in person than in her Instagram photos. And just so you know, I follow her on Instagram so I can see what you’re up to.”

  “Mm-hmm.” Kelsey simply grinned as she backed out of the parking spot and headed toward her apartment.

  “Seems like we’ve got a lot in common, too.” Chris was watching out the window as they drove. She could’ve been talking to herself, given the soft, almost dreamy quality of her voice.

  “Seems like it.”

  Chris turned to her. “Hey, you don’t mind if I tag along to the game, do you? I didn’t even ask.” She grimaced, which only made Kelsey love her more.

  “I don’t mind at all. Besides, you’re probably going to need somebody to wipe all that drool off your face while you watch Hannah play.”

  ***

  Monday was pretty dead at the shop, which did not make Kelsey happy. An order from Earthly arrived thanks to Stephanie Bradley, so Kelsey busied herself stocking the shelves and posting the banners Stephanie had included that announced the new products were cruelty-free. Kelsey took one of each scent of lotion and marked it as a tester, then rubbed some of the Pumpkin Nutmeg Latte one into her hands. It smelled so delicious, she wanted to lick it, which made her giggle softly when Jeanine threw her a look.

  “It smells like pumpkin bread,” she explained. “And I’m hungry.”

  “Me, too,” Jeanine said.

  “Split a sub?”

  “Yes!”

  “I’m on it.” Kelsey headed to her office where she grabbed her money and then scooted off to Marco’s.

  The deli was also a bit slow on this Monday. Well, slow meaning it wasn’t packed wall-to-wall with customers, which was its usual situation. Two orders were in front of hers, so Kelsey wandered the very small shop and then gazed out the window while she waited. The day was gray, overcast, perfect for a Monday. At least the temperature was nice. Her phone buzzed in her back pocket, interrupting her musings on the weather, and she pulled it out immediately, expecting a text from Chris telling her how the interview went.

  Even better, she thought as she saw the text was from Theresa.

  Hey, sexy. How’s your day?

  Theresa had been swamped with a big project at work, so Kelsey hadn’t heard much from her at all since leaving her house very reluctantly—on both their parts, judging by the intensity of their goodbye kiss—on Saturday morning. Theresa had gone into the office and had worked there all weekend.

  Slow, she typed. But better now. She added a smiling emoji to punctuate the statement. Yours? Still buried?

  Ugh. Yes. I might be late to dinner. I have a couple of property visits to do and then a meeting to report my findings to my boss. Could be quick. Could take forever.

  Kelsey pressed her lips together. She really wanted Chris to meet Theresa, to sit and have dinner with the person who’d been taking up so very much of Kelsey’s head lately. She wanted to see them interact. She wanted them to laugh and joke together and become friends.

  She wanted Chris’s approval.

  That was the crux of it. What her cousin thought was very important to Kelsey. It always had been. And Kelsey was 99.9 percent sure that Chris and Theresa would get along great. But she wanted to see it happen. She wanted to be able to tell the story later, years down the line, about how Chris and Theresa first met.

  And then she literally shook herself. What the hell was she thinking? Years down the line? Seriously?

  Her phone buzzed in her hand, pulling her back to the present.

  Are you mad? Theresa had texted. With a frown.

  Kelsey had let too much time pass between texts. No! Not at all. Sorry. Waiting on lunch. It’s not a problem. Just get to the restaurant when you can. We’ll be there at 7.

  The guy behind the counter called Kelsey’s name and she moved forward to grab her sub

  If I’m not there by 7:15, start without me.

  Kelsey blew out a disappointed breath, even though she knew it wasn’t Theresa’s fault. She had a job to do. Kelsey, being the boss in a retail operation, certainly understood that. “It’ll be fine,” she said aloud as she left Marco’s and got in her car. She sent an okay off to Theresa and went back to work.

  The rest of the afternoon stayed fairly quiet, so Kelsey was able to remain holed up in her office. She’d sent an e-mail earlier to Stephanie Bradley to let her know the order had arrived and how much Kelsey loved all the new scents. A response had been waiting in her inbox upon her return from Marco’s, so they went back and forth a couple of times, then opened an instant message conversation so they could chat more in real time. They talked about their experiences—both bad and good—with other cruelty-free companies. Stephanie seemed impressed by Kelsey’s knowledge of the industry, and Kelsey told her that it was important to her, that she only wished “cruelty-free” didn’t also tend to be synonymous with “more expensive.”

  If Jeanine hadn’t dropped a large bottle onto the floor—not shattering it, but making a hell of a noise—Kelsey wouldn’t have snapped her head up to look at the security monitors. If she hadn’t done that, she’d have missed a familiar figure wandering slowly through her store. A big smile spread itself across Kelsey’s face as she watched Theresa pick up a lotion, sniff it, set it back on the shelf. Then she stood still and looked around the shop, turning in a slow circle. Next, she walked slowly toward the back, her eyes on the wall to her right.

  Kelsey was thrilled she’d found her shop, almost giddy about it. She sent a quick note to Stephanie that she had to run, then headed out front.

  “Hey,” she said with genuine enthusiasm and a big grin. “You found it.”

  Theresa turned her way and for a split second, looked surprised to see her. No, not surprised. Shocked. “Hey,” she said and reached out to hug Kelsey. “This is your shop, huh?”

  “It is. Welcome to Common Scents. My baby.” Kelsey looked around proudly. “You find some free time this afternoon after all?”

  Theresa nodded. “Just a tiny bit, though. I was in the neighborhood and thought I’d give myself five minutes to get a little air, pop in and say hi.”

  “I’m so glad you did.” Kelsey held her arm out toward the back. “You wanna come back to my office for a couple minutes?�
��

  “Oh, no. I can’t.” Theresa shook her head quickly. “I wish I could, but...” She glanced at her watch. “Gah. Yeah. I have to get back.”

  “You sure?” Kelsey tried to hide her disappointment. It’s her job. It’s her job. It’s her job.

  “I am. I’m sorry.” Those gorgeous blue eyes met Kelsey’s. “I’m really sorry.”

  Kelsey waved it off. “Eh. No biggie. You’ve got to work. I get it.” She leaned forward and kissed Theresa on the cheek. “Okay. Go.” She playfully waved her away. “I will hopefully see you tonight.”

  Theresa nodded, took one last look around, then scooted out the front door. With a quick wave back at Kelsey, she was gone.

  “Was that...?” Jeanine was next to Kelsey now, her gaze lingering on the door.

  “It was.” Kelsey felt herself blush the tiniest bit.

  “Wow. She’s beautiful.”

  “I know, right?”

  Jeanine gave her upper arm a squeeze, then went back to the counter where the one other customer in the store had set down a few items. Kelsey sighed happily and headed back to her office.

  Before she could even sit down, her phone buzzed with a call. Kelsey saw Chris’s name on the screen and her heart rate picked up.

  “And? How’d it go?” she asked when she hit the Answer button.

  “I think really well.” Chris’s voice was just a bit hesitant, as if she didn’t want to jinx herself. But there was also an air of confidence. “I’m definitely qualified. I think I have more experience than they were expecting.”