Love Unleashed

by Natalie Brunwick

  “Everything will be fine,” I spoke under my breath, gripping the steering wheel when a hot flash washed over me.

  My heart wasn’t convinced, and after getting the ice cream from Ruthford’s, neither was I.

  All of my fretting, however, came to a complete stop as soon as I pulled into Kris’ driveway. Unlike the last cookout she had, this time she’d opted to do so without all of the balloons on the mailbox. Granted, it was just the two of us tonight, but it still helped.

  Duke’s barks greeted me first, his happy face appearing in the front door once I was close enough to see him. I couldn’t help but smile, forgetting my nerves for just a moment as I clutched the ice cream in one hand and reached for the door with the other.

  Kris opened it before I had a chance to knock, passing me a warm smile before moving aside so I could join her in the foyer.

  “You’re early,” she said, taking the ice cream from me so she could put it in the freezer.

  “It’s a bad habit,” I said with a nervous laugh, dropping to one knee so I could fuss over Duke. “Don’t worry, boy. I got some for you too. It’ll have to wait until after dinner, though.”

  He wiggled and whined in front of me, licking my face before chasing after Kris once she opened the back door.

  “You didn’t have to do that,” Kris said, throwing her arms around me once I joined her in the kitchen. She glanced outside at Duke before meeting my gaze again. “The treat I mean.”

  “I didn’t plan on it, but I think the guy at Ruthford’s remembered me from the other day and threw it in. I didn’t realize it until I was in the car. It’s free so…” I hugged her back and left it at that.

  “That’s nice of them. Anyway, I have everything ready for dinner so we can eat whenever you want.”

  I grimaced, then waved her look of concern away. “Nerves. Sorry.”

  She passed me a knowing smile, then pulled out one of the stools around the island between the kitchen and living room before sitting down. “I take it I’m not the only one who’s so married to her work she can’t make time for anything else.”

  “Pretty much,” I said, following her example so I was sitting across from her. “Everything was so much easier when we were kids.”

  “Tell me about it. No bills. No responsibility—”

  “And all the drama when things went south.”

  She winced at that. “Bad breakup?”

  “Explosive, actually.” I shook my head, dismissing the topic altogether. “Okay, so maybe I don’t want to go back that far, but actually having the time…” I released a long sigh.

  “So we make time,” Kris said without missing a beat, taking my hand in hers a moment later.

  Meeting her gaze, I couldn’t help noticing the golden flecks of her iris or the warmth of her smile. A smile I offered her in return before dropping my gaze.

  “I think I might have something that should help,” Kris said, pulling me from my thoughts as she got to her feet. A moment later, she put a kettle on the stove. “It might not count as liquid courage but I promise it’ll help.”

  “Chamomile,” I said, breathing a little easier once she sat back down.

  “Oh, so you do know it,” she said with mock surprise. “And here I thought you’d only drink coffee.”

  I batted at her. “I’ll have you know I drink plenty of coffee… I mean tea. I said tea.” Of course, it was usually when I couldn’t get to sleep or when I got sick, but still…

  “Uh huh,” she said, lifting her eyebrows at me. “And I’m guessing this is the first time you’ve been sick with nerves.”

  “In recent memory?” I asked, continuing when she nodded at me. “It’s the second time.”

  The kettle whistled then, drawing her attention away from me as she rushed over to turn off the stove. “Hold that thought,” she said, looking over her shoulder at me. Her smiled reached all the way to her eyes.

  Standing in the middle of her kitchen with the lights casting a halo over her golden hair, I couldn’t help admiring her. Here was this beautiful, strong woman who had a crazy mutt running around her backyard and living inside her heart. And then there was me. As a self-proclaimed workaholic, the best thing I had waiting for me at home were a handful of books I hadn’t had the chance to read and a few houseplants I occasionally remembered to water.

  “What?” Kris asked once she caught me looking at her. “Is there something on my shirt?” She set our mugs on the counter between us, then checked her blouse.

  “Zoning out, sorry,” I lied, averting my gaze. My cheeks burned hot and I hoped she wouldn’t notice.

  “No,” she said, emphasizing the word. “You were checking me out.”

  Busted.

  “It’s only fair,” she said, going on when I didn’t say anything. “I’ve gotten my share of ogling in as well.”

  That got my attention. Looking up at her, I smiled at what I saw. Kris, sitting across from me with her chin in one hand and her elbow on the counter.

  “So what were you nervous about before?” she asked when I didn’t say anything.

  “My first sale. The first showing would be more accurate, I suppose. Man, that was almost… eight years ago?” Time really does fly once you’re out of school. “I was fresh out of college and all the positions in my chosen field were taken. I saw a listing on Craigslist and figured it would be a temporary thing, you know? I was only planning to do it until something else came up.”

  “And you ended up liking the job instead,” she finished for me, smiling as she did. “It’s a very popular story. You go to school for one thing, then end doing something else.”

  “Is that what happened with you?” I asked, thumbing the handle on my mug as the ceramic warmed my hands.

  “Kind of. My first semester, I went in for journalism. It didn’t take long for me to realize it wasn’t as fun as I hoped, so I switched. Artistic design has always suited me, but I honestly didn’t things to go as well as they have. That’s not to say it’s been easy but it’s way better than trying to push myself into doing something I won’t enjoy. Not long term, anyway.”

  I nodded my understanding as I thought back to my first days on the job. “Learning the ropes took some time, but my boss was very patient. I’d never considered being a realtor because I thought you had to go to school for it. Fortunately, he was willing to train me himself. Thanks to all of his hard work, I’m one of the top realtors in our office.”

  “One of them?” she teased, batting her eyes at me.

  “There’s this guy I’m sort of in competition with. We go back and forth, push each other’s buttons and such like that, but it’s pretty harmless.”

  “And this is why I prefer working from home. The only co-worker I have is busy digging a hole in the backyard. Sure, he tracks dirt all over the place and I need to vacuum once or twice a day, but I’ll take that over all of the office drama anytime.”

  “Trust me, if I could work from the comfort of my own home and just go out to show houses, I would.” Tim had let me do it a few times, but he had a strict rule about keeping confidential information in the office. Given how cutthroat the business was, I honestly couldn’t blame him.

  “So how did the first sale go?” Kris asked, going back to the original topic.

  “I was a wreck. Tim, my boss, was with me. I’d shadowed him a few times, but this time it was all on me. Having him look over my shoulder and walk after me as I gave our clients a tour of the house was nerve-wracking, to say the least.”

  “So the nerves were because of him, then?”

  I considered her question a moment, then shook my head. “It probably didn’t help, but the nerves were still there during my first solo sale as well. It’s gotten easier over the years, of course, and now I can pretty much do it in my sleep.”

  She nodded, then went back over to the sink to dump the rest of her tea out. “I don’t know about you, but I’m getting hungry.”

  “Now that you mention it…” I go
t up from my seat, placed my mug in the sink, then helped her carry everything outside.

  Halfway inside a hole with his head out of sight, Duke didn’t even hear us come out until Kris started the grill. A part of me hated seeing what he’d done to her nice yard, but Kris didn’t seem to mind, and so long as he didn’t dig up the spot around the patio, then neither would I.

  Anything was better than him running up the street just so he could dig up the Parks’ yard.

  “What about you?” I asked Kris once she set the platter of burgers beside the grill. “Were you nervous when you took on your first client?”

  “Are you kidding?” she asked, whipping around to look at me. “I’m nervous all the time. Even with my repeat customers who give me raving reviews, I’m always afraid I’m going to mess something up. It’s not as severe as it used to be, but the nerves are always there. It’s why I have the chamomile on hand. I have to drink at least one cup before bed, otherwise I can’t sleep. There’s way too much going on in here,” she said, pointing to her head.

  “But those repeat customers must be fun to work with.” In fact, she sounded thrilled when she talked about one of her more recent ones.

  “Oh, they are, but that fear of disappointing them is always at the back of my mind. Even when they say it’s perfect, I still worry and end up tweaking a few things anyway.”

  “Perfectionist,” I said with a nod. Coming from Kris, I wouldn’t expect any less.

  “Pretty much. You know, when I looked around for this fence, I couldn’t make up my mind. I read over various reviews, called each company, then bombarded them with questions. I had to make sure Duke wouldn’t get out. I think I scared a few of the customer reps away.”

  I laughed, gesturing at Duke who’d finally emerged from his hole long enough to shake off. “And it looks like he appreciates it.”

  “We both do. I get more work done which means he gets more time with me in the evenings. It’s been a godsend, and using the funds from the sale of the house was a great idea. I honestly never considered it as it doesn’t feel like my money, you know?”

  I did. I’d heard the same thing from other clients in the past. Especially those who inherited a house that didn’t feel like their own. Kris was no exception.

  “Well, at least you have Duke to splurge it on,” I said, laughing when he came over to wipe his paws off on my pants.

  “Duke, down!” Kris scolded, pulling on his collar until he backed away. “I am so sorry.”

  “It’s okay,” I said, stopping her before she got up to get a washcloth. “I expected to get a little dirty. These are an old pair of jeans I usually wear around the house. It’s fine, really.” Okay, so that wasn’t exactly true, but I knew how Duke was. Him getting my pants a little dirty was to be expected and totally on me. There was no reason for me to get upset or for Kris to fret over it.

  Clearly not convinced, Kris grabbed a handful of paper towels from the roll on the table by the grill, then doused them with water from the hose before handing them to me. “He’s just excited.”

  “I know,” I said, dabbing off my clothes. “And it really is okay. He’s a dog. It’s what dogs do. I’m just happy he likes the yard.”

  Kris blew out a breath, then sat back down. “Same. It was something that had me up a few nights as well. I was afraid I’d get the fence up and he’d somehow find a way to jump over it.”

  “Or dig under it,” I added, nodding at the sizable hole he’d dug in the middle of the yard.

  “Oh gosh, I didn’t even think of that.”

  “He would’ve had to dig for a while,” I assured her. “Fences are usually placed pretty far below the grass line. It’s so they don’t get washed away. The only thing he would’ve succeeded in doing in tiring himself out.” I was sure of it.

  “I guess that’s the most nervous I’ve been,” Kris said, giving our previous discussion some thought. “When he dug up the old yard, I just about had a heart attack.”

  “I won’t say I was pleased about it,” I admitted, “but he did charm me after a bit.”

  “He does that,” Kris said with a smile in her voice, roughing the fur between his ears before getting up to put the burgers on.

  “He wasn’t the only one,” I said, keeping my voice low.

  She heard me anyway, releasing a small laugh before gently placing a hand on my shoulder. “No,” she agreed. “He wasn’t.”

  After eating more than one person probably should, Kris and I lounged in the backyard under a sky full of stars and the sliver of a moon. Much to my surprise, Duke went off to do his own thing, leaving us alone for the time being. Granted, it probably had a lot to do with the new toy Kris got him more than anything else.

  “He’ll go through that in under half an hour,” she said, dragging a second reclining chair from the shed before placing it beside mine. “He isn’t a chewer, but he gets bored easily.”

  “Digging holes is way more fun,” I said once she sat back down. Under the stars and with a touch of light spilling out of the kitchen window, I could just make out Kris’ face. It really was beautiful back here, not just in her newly fenced-in yard, but the surrounding neighborhood as well.

  I’d learned early on how quiet the nights could get. It was something I envied once I was home. The street outside my place was always busy, but back here, the sound of traffic was quickly replaced by chirping crickets and Kris’ even breaths.

  Dinner was delicious. It may have only been burgers on the grill but the way they were prepared was worlds better than what you could get from the store. Kris downplayed it, of course, but she was a wonderful cook. I’d told her the last time I was here and I knew I’d say it yet again.

  “So I was thinking,” Kris said, pulling me from my thoughts as she gazed up at the night sky. “This week is going to be pretty hectic, but if you wouldn’t mind getting together for lunch one of these days, we could always do that.” She looked at me then, the gentle glow on her face drawing me even closer to her.

  “Duke will be okay on his own?” I asked, risking a glance in the direction he’d gone before meeting her gaze again. “I know he isn’t a kid, but I’ve seen how he acts around you.” Kris was his security blanket.

  “He should be,” she said after giving it some thought. “I have a crate for him but never had the heart to use it. So far, all of my trips to the store have been uneventful. He doesn’t tear down the curtains or anything.” She laughed at that, her eyes shining in the evening light.

  “I’d have to check the schedule, but a lunch out sounds great. We can go over the details later, but for now, let’s just enjoy this beautiful evening.”

  “Not to mention the company.” She gave me a knowing look, then leaned in close enough for me to feel her breath on my lips.

  It was then I lost myself in her eyes and the world they saw. She must have noticed as well, for in the next instant, she placed a hand on my cheek, then closed the very small gap between us. My heart beat hard and fast, crashing against my ribs until I thought it might burst. Kris wasn’t doing much better. Leaning into her caress with my hand on hers, there was no mistaking the quick beat of her heart along the inside of her wrist.

  It’d been so long since I felt like this, so long since someone looked at me the way she did just then, and far too long since I’d been kissed.

  And just like that, all of my doubt and fear from earlier this morning came rushing back. As soon as they did, Kris pressed our foreheads together and released a shaky breath, then gently, very gently, kissed me on the lips. It was a whisper of a kiss and barely there but sent my heart racing all the same.

  A second passed, then a minute. As they did, the world fell away. The trees, the lights, Duke’s new toy, and the singing crickets all gave way to silence. All I felt, saw, and heard was her. And it felt amazing, to touch and be touched by her. To taste her lips and feel her breath on my skin.

  With my head still swimming and my heart beating so fast I could barely breath
e, I leaned into her, wrapping my arms around Kris before finally kissing her back. Her body molded to mine as we leaned against one another, closing the small gap between our recliners as we kissed again, this time with more fervor than before.

  Her lips were sweet from the ice cream we had, her skin soft under my tentative touch. Whenever I tried to pull away to catch my breath, she stole it from me all over again. Her hand on the nape of my neck, her lips against mine, and the small puffs of air that happened to grace my skin insisted I stay in the moment.

  It’s hard to say how much time had passed when we finally came up for air. By the time we separated, we were both breathless and I was floating somewhere above the ground.

  My entire body tingled, my skin warming wherever she touched. There was a chill in the air, one I immediately tried to escape by seeking her out again.

  “Maybe we should take this inside,” she said, smiling before kissing me again.

  I didn’t move. I didn’t want to interrupt what was happening between us. If I did, the moment would be lost and we’d never be able to experience it again.

  “Just a while longer,” I pleaded, placing my hand on the nape of her neck before pulling her close.

  Kris didn’t hesitate, meeting me in a kiss that was far more intoxicating than before. It made my head tingle and my breath catch as she deepened our kiss. It wasn’t until Duke’s whine reached my ears when I realized how late it was.

  We’d been sitting out in the cold for hours, the chill in the air reaching under my skin until I shivered for warmth.

  Kris offered me a shy smile, then got to her feet before giving me her hand. “Now we can go inside,” she said, not waiting for a response before pulling me into her arms again.

  Her arms tightened around me, her body holding me up as I sank into her embrace. I could’ve stayed there forever if not for the cold night air and Duke nudging her leg.

  “Okay, okay,” Kris said with a laugh, pulling away just enough so Duke could walk between us. “Let’s go inside. I’ll make something warm, then we can spend the rest of the night on the couch.”