Page 10 of Always Be My Baby

Girard snickered with his lips pressed to mine, which happened to be one of the best sensations one could imagine coming from a kiss.

“I’ve got to get to work anyway,” he said, tweaking my cheek before leaving. “Later, Lena.” He tipped his chin up as he passed her.

She came around the desk to sit next to me, plopping down hard in the chair, and she sighed. “I wish I had me one of those,” she lamented wistfully.

“One what?”

“A Girard. I’ve said it before and every time I see him with you, he manages to make me feel that sentiment in the most visceral ways,” she said and we both snickered as I shoved at her shoulder.

“Seriously,” I replied. “Do you think he’s really that devoted?”

In true Lena fashion, she pursed her lips, narrowing her assessing eyes on me in that exasperated, “Lee’s gone off her rocker” way she had about her. “Are you serious?” she asked.

“No… Not now…” I replied. And I could no longer look her in the eyes. “Not when you’re looking at me like that.”

“Why would you even ask such a ridiculous question?”

“I don’t know. Serena’s young, pretty, and effortlessly stylish. They’re always talking and laughing. Half the time, she’s got her hand on his arm or she’s leaning in to bump his shoulder. He’s allowed to have female friends—I’mnotthat woman. But Serena is so…Serena, and I’m clearly not.”

“Didn’t we just get you a makeover yesterday?”

“Yes.” I rolled my eyes.

“You know that’s just her personality, girl. They work together, so they’re friendly but she’s not a man-stealer and he’s not out to be stolen. It’s not that you’re not Serena enough, it’s that she’s not Marilee enough.”

“I’m not fishing for compliments, Len.”

“I know you’re not. It’s not lip service I’m spouting here. If he’d wanted to date her, he already would have. Your problem is that you’ve been so conditioned to think that the closest people in your life don’t give a damn, that you’re having a difficult time accepting that we do.”

She was probably right. But how did I undo a lifetime of programming in order not to mess up the best thing that’d ever happened to me?

Girard took that moment to pop back in the office for a quick second. And yes, my heart did that stupid flippy thing it did when he walked into a room. “Forgot something,” he said.

“What’d you forget?” I asked, looking around my desk for what he might have needed. He’d taken his plate out with him back to the kitchen. He’d taken my empty one as well. Nope. I didn’t see…

He walked back over to where Lena and I sat, bent down to eye level, and smiled. “This,” he said. Then he kissed me one more time. “Right. Now that’s done, I need to get back to work.” As Lena laughed, he called over his shoulder, “Quit keeping me from my work, woman.” And then he was gone.

Seriously? Did that actually happen?

My best friend looked a breath away from speaking. I held up my hand. “Shush.” When I thought I was in the clear I began to lower it, only to quickly bring it back up. The surprise attack she intended glinted in her eyes as an early warning. “Shush.”

“I—”

“Shush.”

“But—”

“Shush.”

“I think you’re crazy if you don’t think he’s madly in love with you.” She rushed out before I got the fifth “shush” out.

I sighed. She was right. This was my problem. Not his. And I knew I’d figure it out. She just had to bear with me since she’d taken the best friend pledge when we were kids, and put up with my neurosis until that moment arrived.

There had to be something I could do for Girard to prove my love back. But what?

Probably fifteen minutes later, Polk popped inside the office. “Ice machine is broken, boss lady.”

Alas, a boss lady’s work was never done. “On it.” Though today, Lena pushed up from the desk to join me. As we walked out to the server station, I gave her what I thought to be some pretty sound advice. “To do this job, you have to be somewhat of a handywoman. Most things are relatively easy fixes if you apply a little ingenuity. If not, it costs money. Always a lot of it. So we see what we can do first.”

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