Page 112 of January

“I should’ve known she’d tell you,” Kyle replied.

She took Melinda’s bag and set it on the floor.

“I’ve never really celebrated them, by the way, but I wouldn’t mind doing that with you.”

“It’s silly, isn’t it?” Kyle asked as she locked the door behind Melinda.

“No, it’s not. I like that you’re thinking about that stuff.” She wrapped her arms around Kyle’s waist. “I think about it, too.”

“Yeah?” Kyle pressed her forehead to Melinda’s.

“Definitely. You’ve kind of taken my whole world and turned it upside down, Kyle Schafer.”

“I could say the same thing about you.”

Kyle connected their lips, and Melinda pushed the smell of fresh wood and paint and something else she didn’t recognize out of her nose because kissing Kyle had a way of focusing all her thoughts on the taste of her, the feel of her, and the smell of her.

“I have a surprise for you,” Kyle said as she pulled out of the kiss.

“I know the work’s not done yet, so what is it?”

“Well, I made dinner. That’s not really the surprise, but it’s almost ready. I went with something easy. It’s pizza, but from a box with a mix, not a frozen one, so hopefully, it’s good.”

“Pizza, huh?”

“Yeah. I didn’t know what you liked, so I split it in quarters and did one quarter with just cheese, one with pepperoni, one with red and green peppers, and one with pepperoni and mushroom. I hope you’ll like at least one of those.”

“All of them, actually. Not a huge fan of green peppers, but I can pick them off. Red peppers are fine.”

“Good. I made a salad, too, just in case, and there’s garlic bread.”

“Garlic?” Melinda lifted an eyebrow.

“I haven’t put that in the oven yet. Should I skip it?” Kyle asked.

Melinda nodded but decided she should probably checkin with Kyle on that, too, given what had happened today.

“We don’t have to, you know? It’s been a weird day for you. We can talk and sleep.”

“You think Ihave tohave sex with you?” Kyle asked as she ran her hands up under Melinda’s work shirt. “Iwantto. And, honestly, I need to.”

Melinda smiled and said, “You need to?”

“That’s how it feels: like I need to be touching you, be pressed up against you.”

“Then, yes,skipthe garlic bread,” she replied. “Now, what’s this surprise?”

“Oh,” Kyle said as if she’d just remembered she had one at all. “Outside.”

“Did you buy the chairs or something?”

Melinda was pulled along by the hand.

“What? No. I thought we’d go shopping together for those.”

“Right. Sorry,” Melinda said with a smile as she walked through the kitchen.

Kyle pulled open one of the French doors, and as she pointed with her free hand now, she said, “There.”