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Libby’s chest tightened to near snapping. “Do you want to be?”

Reagan laughed as her cheeks flushed bright red.

“Obviously! Do you?”

“Obviously!” she echoed with a hammering heart. All she could do was dive into Reagan’s lips and seek refuge in her kiss until the adrenaline eased from her body.

“Well, those were the most terrifying few seconds of my life,” Reagan confessed after spinning her around and setting her back down again.

“You can’t possibly think I’d say no, right?” she asked, still as jittery as if she’d pounded both boxes of co ee she brought.

“I don’t know,” she replied, her dimples cutting deep into her cheeks from the uncontrollable, broad smile. “You might not be ready for all that.”

Libby cocked her head to one side. “This means what?

That we’re exclusive and announcing an intention to commit to exploring a future together?”

“A bit clinical, but I think that about sums it up,” Reagan agreed.

Libby cupped her face before kissing her again. “I know we’ve done this all out of order. I mean you’ve already met my family and I’ve sort of come out to the world before

realizing I had feelings for you, but I want everything with you.”

“Even if it doesn’t follow any of your time-honored rules?”

Libby laughed. “Maybe especially because of that.”

After kissing so long that Reagan had to physically pull herself o of Libby and stand a foot away or she’d never leave, Libby ached for the return of her touch.

Libby willed herself into the car. “Do you want to come over to my parent’s house for dinner? I can’t blow them o again or my grandma might ambush me at home.”

“I wish I could, but the girls are coming over tonight with pizza to help me figure out the whole display situation. I’ve never had to account for so many pieces and I might have more stands and stu to build.”

Libby tried to keep her face neutral. Another one of the things they’d done wrong was fail to meet each other’s friends. It had been her fault. Between wanting to stay locked in their bubble and being intimidated to meet them, she’d pushed it o .

“When do I get to meet them?” Libby asked, trying to sound upbeat.

“At the fundraiser. They’ve all agreed to work for free.”

Libby smiled despite feeling queasy.

Reagan stepped back into her gravitational pull and held her hands. “Don’t worry. They’re going to love you.”

The way Reagan held her in her gaze made it obvious there was more to say. Maybe it was because Libby was holding back the same sentiment.

“I. . .” The words couldn’t break free. “I’ll miss you.”

Reagan smiled but Libby noticed the momentary disappointment in her eyes. “I’ll miss you too.”

After Reagan insisted she didn’t need her to come over after dinner to lend a hand, they said their final farewell. As

she watched Reagan slip back inside the building, she was sure neither of them said what they were really thinking.

SITTING ON THE FLOOR WITH SUE, KIMBER, AND IMANI EATING PIZZA was the first time Reagan had taken a break since Libby had shown up with co ee over fifteen hours earlier. With everyone’s help, including almost all of Libby’s sta , they’d transforme

d the sprawling space into an organized gallery.

At the entrance they’d placed all of the tableware and arranged it to look much like a high-end store. The studio space had been cleared of all the workstations and pottery wheels and been divided into sections using colored fabrics draped from the ceiling. After a few di erent configurations, they’d decided to organize the areas by kind of piece rather than by individual artist.