Page 34 of July (New Orleans #7)

“S o, girlfriend?” Enid asked with a smirk.

“Yes, I have one of those now. It’s new. She’s amazing,” Jill replied. “And be nice to her.”

“I was nice to her,” Enid said. “She’s great, Jill.”

“She is, isn’t she?” Jill looked over at Willa, who was pointing out something to Juni at the back of the garden. “I’m crazy about her, Enid. How does it happen that fast?”

“I don’t know, but it does,” Enid said, nodding in the direction of Caroline, who was laughing about something with Sophie and Bryce. “I told her I loved her this morning when we woke up.”

“You did?” she asked excitedly.

“Yeah. Care said it back, too.”

“That’s great, Enid,” she replied.

“I think we’re going to make it,” Enid said.

“You know, for the long haul or whatever people call it. I just have this feeling that she’ll move in when her lease is up.

Maybe we’ll take some time to travel a little for her art when we both graduate because I know she wants to do that.

I can see the next two to three years easily, and for once, I don’t seem to mind that the next two or so after that are a little blurry or not revolving around my career, which is a big deal for me. ”

“Did you just pull up a spreadsheet on your phone every time they asked you where you saw yourself in ten years when you were the eighteen-year-old graduating high school?”

Enid laughed and replied, “No, but something like that. Anyway, how are things going so far with Willa?”

“I feel like she came into my life at just the right time,” she shared with a sigh. “It’s the wrong moment because of the mom stuff, but somehow, that makes it feel even more right to me. It’s like… if she can handle all of this, she can handle everything, and maybe so can I.”

“You seem happy,” Enid noted.

“I am. And I’m ready to go home, too, and get Juni to bed.”

“How early does she go to bed?” Enid asked.

“Early when Willa and I have plans, so let me go get them.”

Enid nodded and gave her a short laugh as Jill walked toward her two favorite girls in the back of the garden.

“Hey, are we ready?” Jill asked.

“Willa was telling me the names of these flowers,” Juni replied.

“You know the names of the flowers?”

While Juni looked down at a yellow flower, Willa waved her phone at Jill, which showed a Wikipedia page with the Latin name of a flower on it. Jill burst out laughing.

“Cheater,” she whispered.

“And we’ve learned them all,” Willa replied. “Every last flower in this garden, so we–”

“What about this one?” Juni asked, pointing at a purple one off to the right.

“Purplicus Flowerinus,” Willa stated, making that up entirely. “Cool name, huh?”

“Yeah,” Juni replied, smiling at her.

“So, time to go?” Jill asked.

“Yes, time to go,” Willa confirmed.

“Willa, are you coming home with us to have popcorn?”

“We’re not having popcorn,” Jill said.

“I thought we were going to watch a movie tonight,” Juni replied.

“That was before we came here. It’s getting late, kiddo. And you still need to take a bath and get ready for bed. Maybe tomorrow, okay?” she replied as she reached for Juni’s hand. “Let’s go say goodbye to everyone and thank you to Melinda and Kyle.”

“Okay,” Juni said, sounding a little disappointed.

“Purplicus? Really?” Jill whispered to Willa.

“It just came to me,” Willa said with a laugh.

“How many other ones did you make up?”

“The ones where she was looking at me, so I couldn’t do a Google image search.”

Jill laughed and walked them to the front of the yard, where they said goodbye to all of her friends who had been nice and welcoming to Willa.

Then, she drove them back to the house, and Juni went straight to her room to get ready for her bath.

Willa and Jill walked into the guest room, where Jill closed the door and locked it behind them.

“Okay. We can make out for at least fifteen minutes before she’s done. Then, I can read something quick to her and put her to bed, and we can have the rest of the night to ourselves.” She moved into Willa, who laughed at her.

“Jill?”

“Yes?” she asked, her lips moving to Willa’s neck.

“Not that I don’t want to make out with you right now, because I do, but…”

Jill pulled back to stare into Willa’s eyes, wondering if she was having second thoughts about the step they’d talked about taking tonight.

“But?”

“I don’t want to rush tonight,” Willa said. “I don’t want to squeeze in our first time.”

“Oh,” Jill let out, pulling back farther. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to make it sound like that’s what I wanted.”

“You didn’t. I just wanted you to know. I’d kind of like to maybe just hang out with you for now.” Willa wrapped her arms around Jill’s waist. “And help with Juni’s story, if I can. Then, we can take it slow. Maybe we can watch something on your computer, or we just talk a little first.”

“Yeah. We can do that,” Jill said. “I was kind of hoping to take a shower first anyway.”

Willa smiled at her and replied, “Take one. I’ll be here. Trust me, I am not going anywhere tonight.”

“Okay,” she said.

For the first time since they’d started talking about doing this, Jill was nervous.

The heated kissing at her friends’ place was good for her.

Talking about how sexy Willa seemed to find her worked, too.

That was what Jill was used to when it came to sex; hot, fast, need coursing through her veins, leading to just as hot-and-fast sex.

Most of her sex had been like that, and had she gotten that far with Enid, she suspected it might have been the same, too.

Willa, on the other hand, was suggesting that they take it slowly tonight, and they had talked about the plan to share their first time together hours in advance when, in her experience, sex was usually a spontaneous thing, with no time to second-guess or worry that she shouldn’t.

In this case, she’d been thinking about this for hours.

Well, she’d been thinking about sex with Willa since she first saw her.

Then, Jill remembered something. She wasn’t sure how she’d forgotten about this until now because that moment had always been at the back of her mind ever since it had happened.

It had been one of those moments that she probably should’ve forgotten entirely, but it had been over a year, and it was still there.

It had gotten blurry as time passed, but now, she could fill in that blur with the face she’d seen there that night.

“The piano bar,” she said.

“What?” Willa asked.

“You were there; you were at the piano bar.”

“Which one?”

“It was last February. Not, like, the February that’s just happened. The one before it,” she rambled. “I saw you there.”

“You saw me at a piano bar?”

Jill smiled softly and said, “Yes. And I stared at you, but I was with my friends that night. Something clicked, though, and I should’ve done something about it because look what’s happening now. God, why didn’t I walk over there and buy you a drink?”

“Babe, what are you talking about?” Willa asked.

“Willa, I saw you. Something clicked for me back then, and now, we’re here. We’re clicking.”

“Well, I’m not sure how much clicking will be involved tonight, but I suspect there will be some moans.”

Jill laughed and said, “God, I can’t believe it. I saw you twice.”

“Twice?”

“The field trip with Juni.”

“Oh, right,” Willa said.

“Crazy,” Jill muttered to herself. “And here we are. Why didn’t I buy you a drink?”

“Maybe because you weren’t ready for me back then, or I wasn’t ready for you.”

“But we would’ve met a long time ago, and maybe we’d be living together by now or something.”

“As nice as that sounds, I like where we are now.” Willa tilted her head for a second. “A piano bar… I don’t really go to–” She stopped and nodded. “It was a teacher’s birthday. We all went out. I remember now. I ordered water because I couldn’t afford the drinks.”

“You were so pretty that night,” Jill said.

“Just that night?” Willa teased.

“No, all the time. But that night was the first time I saw you, and I can’t believe I’ve forgotten about it until now.”

“Jill, I’m ready for my shower!”

Jill rolled her eyes at her sister’s yelling from the other side of the door.

“Okay. Go for it!” she yelled back.

“I need new shampoo! I don’t have any.”

“What?” she asked, pulling out of Willa’s embrace reluctantly. “I’ll be right back. Then, I’m showering,” she added and gave Willa a quick kiss.

Jill unlocked the door and headed out to solve the shampoo situation, which she did when she found another bottle in the closet.

Having Juni situated, she took her own shower in lukewarm water, but the timing here was key more than the hot water.

Jill had worked around the house a little since the park.

She’d grilled over charcoal and had then gone to a party outside where she’d done some sweating in the summer sun.

She needed a shower before they did anything more than kiss tonight.

After making sure to shave and groom as much as she could with a razor, she got out of the shower, toweled off, and realizing that she had forgotten to bring her clothes from the guest room into the bathroom, she bundled herself in a towel and hurried down the hall to get changed.

Expecting Willa to be in the living room or in Juni’s room, reading to her by now, she opened the door and was surprised to see her sitting on the bed instead.

“Oh,” Willa let out.

“Hi,” Jill replied.

“You forgot your clothes, didn’t you?”

“Yes,” Jill said with a nod.

Willa’s eyes darkened as she raked them over Jill’s body, only covered by the thin towel.

“I should…” Willa stood and pointed at the door.

“Just stay here,” Jill said. “Um… Maybe turn around, though? I mean, you’re going to see me naked soon anyway, so I guess it doesn’t matter.”

“Yes, it does,” Willa replied as she stood up and walked toward her. “Get dressed. Taking everything off you later will be part of the fun. I can wait.” She then kissed Jill softly on the lips and added, “I’ll go see what Juni is up to. Meet us in there?”

“Yeah.” Jill nodded once and swallowed.

When Willa left the room and closed the door behind her, Jill felt even more nervous.

This woman was perfect for her. She was so damn sexy, staring at Jill, eyes darkening as she clearly liked what she saw.

She was smart and funny and so good with Juni.

Willa was too good for her. Yes, that was what it was: Willa was too good for her and deserved better than Jill, who had a messy life and nothing to offer her.

Hell, Jill could barely cook. She would have no money soon once she paid this mortgage, her rent, and took care of her sister, so she wouldn’t be able to afford anything for Willa, and Willa deserved everything.

As she dressed, Jill tried to talk herself out of what she clearly knew she wanted because it would be better for Willa. That was what mattered.

“She deserves so much better than you,” she told herself as she pulled out a pair of underwear from her suitcase.

“You didn’t even fold your clothes when you packed; you just shoved things in here.

Who does that? Willa probably folds properly.

Her stuff is probably organized and folded the right way.

She might even know how to fold a fitted sheet, which is impossible, and you’ve yet to even clean this bedding that you’ve been sleeping on because you don’t know how often you’re supposed to clean it.

Hell, when was the last time you washed your sheets at home?

” Jill stopped moving for a second to think back to the last time she’d done laundry.

“Willa’s so good. She deserves someone who knows all these things.

” Jill put on her underwear and a pair of sweats over them.

“I’ve not gotten a promotion at work yet, and I’m a freaking tour guide.

What kind of career is that?” She slipped on a T-shirt without a bra and turned toward the window, which faced the backyard.

“I just… She deserves so much better than me.”

“No, I don’t.”

Jill turned around, surprised to hear Willa’s voice in the room. She hadn’t heard the door open or close, but it definitely had been because it was now closed behind Willa.

“Huh? Sorry, I didn’t hear you come in.”

“Juni was actually already asleep when I walked in there. I pulled the blanket over her and put her tablet away,” Willa said as she walked toward her. “I also opened the door quietly so that it wouldn’t wake her up. I made sure to lock it.”

“Willa, I–”

“Just hold on, okay?” Willa interrupted her, holding up a hand.

“Okay,” she agreed, unprepared for whatever Willa was about to say.

“I may have overheard part of your speech,” Willa admitted. “Was it a speech?”

“More like internal ramblings that I said out loud,” Jill replied.

“Well, I heard most of it, I think. And yes, I do know the trick to folding a fitted sheet. I’ll show it to you later. My sister, the successful lawyer, has a housekeeper. She showed me because I had no idea how to do that.”

“Okay. Sounds good. Glad we got that settled,” Jill said nervously.

“You keep thinking that these things about you are bad, for some reason, but, Jill, they’re not bad.

They’re part of the many reasons I like you so much.

” Willa stood just in front of her and pushed Jill’s wet hair back behind her ear.

“I don’t care that you can barely cook. We can cook together.

And I like that you’re a tour guide. I wouldn’t mind joining some of those tours so that I can see you in action.

I suspect, watching you teach people about something you love is going to be a big turn-on for me. ”

“It’s just talking about the city.”

“No, it’s not,” Willa replied. “You told me you put a lot of work into what you tell people. You do research and factcheck. You try to make sure every experience is unique.”

“I guess. But–”

“But nothing. And my bag is far from organized. I just threw stuff into it before I came over here. I might not even have pants for tomorrow. I was so excited to get to you that I didn’t pay attention to what I was grabbing from drawers.

Jill, I want you. I like who you are. I don’t care how complicated your life is.

I want your life to be part of mine and mine to be part of yours, okay? ”

Jill nodded because she didn’t know what else to say.

“Do you want to wait? We can.” Willa placed her hands on Jill’s hips.

“After that speech? No way,” she replied.

“Those were just my internal ramblings out loud.” Willa winked at her.

“Juni’s out like a light?”

“Yes.”

“And the door is locked?”

“Yes,” Willa confirmed.

“And I’m dressed, so you could…”

“Take everything off you,” Willa finished for her.

“Yes,” Jill said. “Please.”