Page 76 of You Had Me at Hockey

Sara must have done all this.

This wasn’t what I meant when I asked her to come and be here while the movers brought stuff in. But wow…this saves me a ton of time. I feel like I’m home.

I haul my suitcases into the bedroom and start pulling things out—toiletries that go in the bathroom, clothes in the closet and dresser drawers. I’m almost done when there’s a knock at the door.

I hoof it to the door to fling it open, knowing it’s Sara.

“Hi!” She beams a smile and steps inside. “You’re here!”

“I am.”

She’s carrying a bag but I scoop her into my arms and hug her.

“Eek!” She shifts the bag out of the way and grabs for the hat that’s falling off the back of her head. “Hello to you too!”

“You arranged all my furniture and unpacked stuff.”

“Oh. Yeah.”

I give her a fast, hard kiss on the lips. “Thank you. I didn’t expect you to do that.”

“I did it while pouting about your ex-girlfriend.”

“How did you find out about her, anyway?”

“Lilly thought I was her when we met in the elevator. She said she’d heard we broke up when you left Dallas.” Without looking at me, she adds, “She probably couldn’t believe you had a new girlfriend already.”

I pause. “I kind of can’t believe it either.” Yeah, I’m calling her my girlfriend. “I didn’t plan this.”

And that’s what scares me about it. I like to know what’s going to happen. And much as I have fun with Sara, she’s the last person I should be with if I want to be able to control and plan my life. Come to think of it, things didn’t work out that way with Cora, either…I thought things with her were simple and short-term; she apparently thought otherwise. Maybe I should be avoiding women altogether.

Then Sara smiles at me…affectionate, warm, gorgeous. “You can’t plan everything in your life.”

How the hell am I supposed to resist that? “But I want to.” I huff out a laugh.

“I know.” She sets on the coffee table the bag she’s carrying. She straightens and faces me. “Am I your girlfriend?”

I blink. I swallow. “I…hope so.”

She smiles. It’s sweet and hot and fucking irresistible. “Okay.” She pauses. “Um…I know you like to plan things…and I don’t.”

“Yeah.”

“We’re different.”

I nod uncertainly.

“Thatcouldmean things wouldn’t work for us. But…maybe we could try to…accept our differences and be honest if we’re not comfortable and try to compromise sometimes?”

My chest tightens. “Yeah.” I hold her gaze. “That sounds good.”

“Okay.” She beams back at me and I have to smile too.

“I’m sorry you heard about Cora like that.”

She looks away from me for a couple of heartbeats. “Cora,” she murmurs. Then she turns to me. “It’s okay. We haven’t known each other that long, really.”

It doesn’t feel like that, though.

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