Page 65 of Dream a Little Dream

“But if we eat at three, then I won’t be able to help. You can’t feed all those people on your own.” This would be my second Thanksgiving without my Aunt Lindy, and I’d since taken over her tradition of hosting. So far, I had Devyn and Elizabeth, Jonathan and Christian, and Kyle and me on the attendee list. Some of the others had two Thanksgivings to hit up that day, so I was juggling schedules.

I shrugged. “No need. Jonathan will help, Elizabeth and Devyn are bringing a green bean casserole, and I’ll put a glass of wine in your hand as soon as you get here.”

“What? No.”

“Or you can jump in wherever you want. Your choice.”

Kyle slid out of bed and stalked over to me, clearly on a mission.

“What?” I asked, watching her in curiosity.

She held me at my waist. “I need to be front and center when I say this.”

“Okay.” I ran my hands up and down her bare arms.

“I want us to be a partnership. Equals. You can bet that I will never kick back with a glass of wine and socialize with guests while you work to prepare an elaborate meal. That will never happen.”

I melted a little at how much she seemed to care. “I hear you. And I love that.” She’d used the wordpartner, and I couldn’t help but wonder if she was taking that step in her head. Did it mean anything, her use of that word? “You said partnership. As in partner?”

“I did say that.” She didn’t hesitate, and she still had that spark of intensity behind her eyes. “And yes. Partner. Girlfriend. Significant other. Whatever you want to call it, I want to be it.”

“No.” I said it in disbelief rather than rejection.

“No?” She searched my eyes.

“No. I don’t meanno. It was more like NO,” I said, emphasizing the disbelief. “So, it’s a yes. A hell yes.”

“I’m trying to follow all of that.”

I skipped the words, threw my arms around her neck, pressed my body to hers, and kissed her madly, passionately, and deeply until shecame up for air with a smile. “Okay. That’s a total yes. I happen to be brilliant when it comes to decoding your kisses. We’ll work on the words.”

“Mm-hmm,” I said, stealing another kiss. “A double yes with a cherry affixed to the top.”

“You’re my girlfriend?” she asked, with a graze of her lips to the underside of my jaw. My midsection went all fluttery and my cheeks warmed. What a way to head into work. Didn’t matter. I was on a high.

“Duh. That’s my other name. Kyle’s Girlfriend. Yours is Soap Opera Doctor.”

She laughed. “I’ll change my nameplate at work.”

I felt lighter, but also like someone had just removed the net from below my trapeze walk. Exhilarating and risky. But this time it was okay. All of this was. I could face my fears if it meant I could settle into happiness with Kyle Remington, who occupied most of my thoughts and all of my dreams for the future. She had for a long time now, whether I’d wanted to admit it or not. But there was a steady momentum building in all aspects of my life, and I wasn’t about to shy away now.

“Does that mean you’re staying? In town, I mean.” We hadn’t discussed logistics because we’d been so careful about not defining our relationship just yet. Now that we were, it presented a few key questions. Namely, did she live here now? If so, would she be buying Dan’s place? Moving in with me?

“Well, I like the town. I feel like the slower pace has taken a little bit of the stress off my job. That’s been helpful in getting back into the swing of practicing again.”

“But you’re not sure.”

“I wasn’t letting myself go there just yet, but maybe I need to.” She’d hesitated, and that was telling.

“I’m not saying long distance is off the table, but it would certainly be hard not seeing you every day.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” Kyle said. “We have a lot of Thanksgiving dinners to cook in our future, and I will wholeheartedly take on mashed potatoes, because I have a butter technique that will rock your world.”

“Don’t turn me on with butter in the morning.”

She blinked. “A sentence I never thought I’d hear.”

“Just another example of how unique we are. Thereby, awesome.Okay, gotta run.” I tapped her chest. “Save the people of Dreamer’s Bay from the illnesses and injuries that plague them, all right?”

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