Page 43 of Divine Sense

“You’ve watchedGilmore Girls?” I asked in pure shock.

“Oh lord, no. But when you have the number of sisters I do, you hear things. Even without a TV at home they would watch episodes with their friends growing up and gab about it over supper with the family.”

The deepness of his laugh caused me to bounce slightly against his chest. The way it vibrated through me caused a different type of tingling to stir in me but I pushed the feelings away.He didn’t have a TV growing up? Who doesn’t have a TV in their house when they’re a kid?I peered at him, giving hima chance to share more about his childhood, but he didn’t. Part of me wondered if there would be a time when he would share more about his childhood like I had. He studied me as I studied him and I thought about asking him to tell me more before I decided otherwise. If he wanted to share, he would.

“If we’re talking during the original episodes, I’m definitely team Jess. I think growing up I always wanted some bad boy to come in and sweep me off my feet and make my parents mad like he did. But as an adult, Logan for sure. He has his shit together, and honestly, there’s a stability in that that I find wildly attractive.”

“Is that why you’re with me? Because I have my shit together and that kind of stability is wildly attractive?” He leans in and brings his lips to mine, kissing me once.

“Not at all. I’m with you because my parents would hate it and you look too damn sexy in a suit for your own good,” I tease, laughing devilishly against his lips.

“You little brat,” he growled before reaching over and pulling me on top of him. I kissed him deeply and welcomed his tongue in. We held one another like this for a moment, his hand exploring my back as I laid on top of him, before I pulled away against his will.

“Hey, I wasn’t done with you,” he chided, trying to pull me back to his chest as I started to roll away.

“Down, boy, we have a show to watch.” I smacked his chest as it bounced from his laugh and found my place under his arm once more.

We were halfway through a second episode when I looked up to find him sleeping soundly. For a moment, I thought about waking him up so he didn’t miss anything. Instead, I brought my index finger to his face and started to trace his features. How his jaw cuts at a sharp angle. The way his deep-colored skin dimples around his cheeks and how his short hair waves across his scalp.The soft line of his wide nose and plump lips that felt like magic when he brought them to mine. Never in my life did I think I would date a man like him, no less feel the way I do about him. I thought my heart would be Daniel’s forever, knowing how much our relationship meant to our parents. But now that I was with a man like him, a man who saw me forme, I knew I never wanted my heart to belong to anyone else.

So instead of waking him, I tucked myself into the crook of his arm, pulling it around me even tighter, and allowed the lingering scent of his cologne to intoxicate my senses as he slept peacefully besides me.

28

KOLBI

Without meaning to, I dozed off and woke up when I felt my phone buzzing under my leg. An older couple were having an argument with a woman with dark hair on the TV as I looked at my phone screen. As my eyes adjusted, they caught the time and the fact that my group chat had completely exploded.

“Oh shit, I have to go,” I exclaimed, jumping up from her bed and looking for my clothes. It was 7:27 p.m. and my friends were blowing up my phone trying to figure out where I was.

“Is something wrong?” She pushed the comforter away from her and stepped out of bed. She was wearing a sinful lavender silk slip that was laced around the edges. Her hair was pulled behind the nape of her neck into a low bun and my fingers twitched at my sides as they longed to push the wisp of hair behind her ear.

“No, well, not really. My friends and I have plans tonight and I’m late. They’re all at my place right now asking where I am. I’m really sorry but I have to go.” I was stepping back into the suit I wore to work and buttoning the white dress shirt as quickly asI could. She passed me my belt and my shoes and walked me to the front door once I was dressed.

“Text me later?” Her round eyes looked up at me longingly and I wanted nothing more than to carry her back upstairs and get back into bed.

“I promise I will.” I leaned down to meet her for one more kiss and hurried to get in my car. I shot off a quick text to my friends, telling them the most recent code to the front door—since I change it every two weeks—and to let themselves in. I pulled up to the driveway not even fifteen minutes later.

“Look who decided to finally show up,” Malcolm barked from the dining room table with a beer already in his hand.

“Where the hell were you man? Kendall said you had to leave early?” Hank questioned from his seat at the table.

“Yeah, sorry, I had some business to take care of. Ran longer than I expected it to.” I tried to keep my explanations short as I kicked off my shoes and threw my suit jacket over the banister. I glanced toward the table and caught Conrad glaring at me from his seat. “I’msorry,okay? Work took up more of my time than I thought. Give me a few minutes to go change and I’ll be back down. Someone order food, I’m starving.”

I ran upstairs quickly to change into some sweats and a hoodie before returning to the kitchen. Bailey was standing in front of the sink filling up a glass of water. I grabbed a beer from the fridge and walked towards the counter where the bottle opener was sitting. She gave me a once over and smirked.

“Work smells nice,” she mused, wrinkling her nose at me with a smug smirk. My eyes shot up from the top I was trying to remove from my beer to meet hers which were dancing with a playful knowing.

“What are you talking about?” I leaned close to her and kept my voice just above a whisper. My eyes darted to the three guyssitting across the kitchen at the table, completely missing the secret conversation she and I were having.

“Imean, you reek of expensive perfume and sex,” she giggled, her cheeks turning the faintest shade of pink. I looked over her shoulder back towards my friends, checking to see if they were listening to us. “Don’t worry, I don’t think they’ll notice. But you might want to wipe the lipstick off your neck unless you want the third degree from everyone.” She wiggled her finger towards her own neck. Bringing my hand to the matching spot on my neck, I could feel the smeared lipstick that had been left there by Magnolia. I worked to rub it off as discreetly as I could.

“Your secret is safe with me. I hope you had fun.” She winked and clinked her glass against my beer bottle before walking away.

I turned away from my friends and scrubbed the side of my neck with my hand until my skin burned and the remnants of lipstick couldn’t be felt anymore. I could feel my heart rate pulsating through the veins in my neck. Not once but twice today have people in my life started to question if something was going on with me. And not justsomething, butsomeone.

If I wasn’t careful, the relationship I had been trying to keep a secret would quickly become a public spectacle.

29

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