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“Oh my goodness, look at that sweet one. How old is she? What’s her name? We don’t have a single baby here,” the woman behind the table coos, her two friends chiming in hot on her heels.

“ How are you liking the community?”

“ Do you plan to stay?”

“ Isn’t she just the cutest baby I’ve ever seen?”

They pay Olivia no attention, overtly staring at Cole instead in a way that would make construction workers blush.

“Her name is Lucy,” Olivia replies, looping her arm through his. “I’m Olivia and this is my husband, Cole.”

It’s the first time she’s called him that.

She stands up a little straighter and flashes him a smile that looks as genuine as he’s ever seen.

She’s happy to call him her husband, and he didn’t know how badly he wanted to hear that until it shifted a few pieces of his own puzzle right into place.

After a lifetime of needing solitude, he wants to be someone’s husband and that’s knocking him for a loop.

“Well, isn’t that adorable,” Lila says. “You must take some cookies. Go on. Anything you like.”

They grab a few, veering off to look at other tables and suddenly he doesn’t give a shit that they’re in public with everyone watching. He only has eyes for Olivia and how proud she is to be on his arm like he’s something to show off instead of a dirty secret.

“Will you hold her a minute?” She hands him a sleepy Lucy. “There’s a bathroom over there and since they have running water, I assume it works.”

“Should clear it first, make sure it’s safe,” he replies, forgetting for a moment that they don’t need to do that here.

“I’ll be okay. You’ll stay right here?”

“Right here. Outside the door.”

He’s not moving an inch. He plants himself by the door with Lucy like a guard as those three women enter a moment later. They’re likely unaware that anyone else had entered first, too preoccupied with their own conversation.

They’re harmless, PTA-going moms. Olivia could take ‘em.

It’s not until he realizes how paper fucking thin the walls are and notices an air vent leading from the public bathroom right to the wall he’s leaning against that he understands they are very dangerous, just not in the usual way.

God, that poor thing. She is such a mess. Hanging off him like that .

Well, she’s his wife. I’d hang off him, too. He might be the last man left alive who looks that good.

You really think they’re married? There are no rings. It’s a cover just because it’s safer. I’m sure of it.

Are you serious? You think they’re lying and he’s single after all?

Absolutely. She clearly doesn’t take much care of herself. Bet he found her on the street and he’s just kind enough to take her under his wing. Isn’t that the nicest thing? He could do so much better.

A heart of gold and hot enough to set the whole town on fire. Wanna bet on who can fuck him first? I haven’t gotten laid in months so y’all are gonna have to work hard to beat me at this game.

I bet he fucks rough. Can pick up a woman and pin her to the wall.

No chance he could do that with her. She couldn’t take it.

About ready to break in half already. Not that she’d even want it so soon after the baby.

I didn’t want my husband touching me for months.

It’s the hormones, you know. They’re screwed up after. I bet he’s so frustrated.

I’d be happy to let him work off that frustration as hard and as deep as he wants.

Alright, alright. Let’s get back out there before all the muffins get taken. Maybe we can watch him a while longer.

We need to figure out how to get him alone. A game plan.

Meet at my house tonight at seven? We’ll talk about it then. I found some wine in the main office while I was cleaning it.

They grin and giggle as they leave, unaware that he heard every awful word.

Olivia heard everything, too. Must have been in one of the stalls while they were blathering on.

She emerges pale and sullen, unable to meet his eyes before plastering on a fake smile. “Ready? I think I saw some sort of cheese table over there. I wonder how they make it.”

“You okay?” he asks.

“Fine. It’s just hot today, that’s all. The weather has been so strange lately. Maybe we can go back to the room early?”

She’s just as fine as he was during all those times he hid in a school bathroom stall, listening to hurtful comments about him and whatever foster family he landed with.

It’s not the same, but it’s not far off either and those women watching intently from behind a protective wall of cookies only further his building anger.

They’re so convinced he could never want Olivia. That’s just about the most confusing, ridiculous thing he’s ever heard. Of course he wants her. She is all he wants.

He’s not about to let them get away with this bullshit a second longer. “Can we give it a minute? I’d like to look at that…those…whatever those are.”

Following his finger to a market stall, she nods in agreement.

He hands her the baby who she holds against her like a protective barrier until an older woman approaches to offer them a stroller. Olivia accepts with a grateful smile, tucking the baby into the cozy space, and then they wander over to a booth filled with suncatchers and wind chimes.

It’s still early and the morning sun creates glinting prisms across the space.

If he had any real interest in chimes, he’d be fascinated by them, but he only has eyes for her.

She ghosts the glittering metal hanging from the booth with her fingers, her profile the most delicate thing he’s ever seen.

All at once, he finds the courage to run a hand over her back, urging her to face him.

Her eyes meet his, her head tilted curiously.

There’s so much trust in her expression that it reaches into his soul and holds him captive.

All those moments he thought he lost her play like a movie in his head, alongside every second he’s wanted more than he thought he earned.

More than they could ever be. That isn’t true anymore, though.

They can be what he’s rarely allowed himself to hope for if he takes one last step over the line.

Quickly, he tucks a strand of hair behind her ear, focusing on her lips, mapping a path along her cheek and jaw, then gently lifting her chin with a curled finger.

Her breath hitches and pupils dilate, her body swaying an inch toward him and he encourages her further, dipping his head in her direction but pausing as their noses nestle together.

Abruptly, she holds a hand to his chest, her next words both a statement and a firm warning. “I’m trusting you.”

“I’ll never make you regret it.”

He waits for a moment, giving her time to back away and tell him it’s a mistake, but she remains silent, her breath brushing his lips and her eyelashes dancing near his.

That hand holding him back slips up his shoulder instead.

It’s permission to keep going, and he accepts.

First contact is a gentle press that warms the blood in his veins.

It is chaste and simple, only the barest hint of a kiss.

The moment they part, he misses her, only grateful she doesn’t go far.

He feels the tip of her upper lip touching his, and her pulse thumping beneath his hand where it slipped down to her neck, synchronizing with his own frantic heartbeats.

The chaos of the market slows like molasses in his periphery.

Every sound from outside their cocoon fades into silence.

Her hand cups his face and his eyes slip closed again.

What started slow and tentative, turns searing and desperate.

He greedily pulls her to him, sucking her lower lip, sweeping his tongue against the seam of her, and slipping inside just as he can feel her smile.

Kissing has always been too close, too much, too intimate, but he knows what he wants today and her responsiveness makes it all so simple.

They ebb and flow, trading emotions through their lips, her body supple in his arms and her desire matching his own.

As his arm tightens around her waist, he inhales one final breath from her lungs, and they find themselves locking eyes in the golden hue of the farmer’s market, kiss-swollen and exhilarated.

She offers him a sweet, gentle smile. “What was that for?”

He’s forgotten what he was trying to prove. The only thought in his head now is how lucky he is. “Because I wanted to.”

“That’s a good reason.”

“Thought so. You ready to head back now?”

She pauses, considering her options. “You know…maybe we can stay a little longer. Look at a few more tables?”

“Few more.” He agrees.

Maybe it really can be this simple. Maybe the two of them can slip from friendship into more without batting an eye, because everything that’s happened here only feels right.

In the depths of his soul, untouched by anyone until now, he is only sure of one thing - he’s in love with her.