Chapter 15 #3
“You?...” This was not at all how Rowan expected this interaction to go, but here they were.
“Clearly.”
Rowan let out a knowing sigh. “Yeah, same.”
“Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, we should grab a beer sometime. Trade notes.”
“Trade notes?” Rowan laughed. This interaction was full of fucking surprises.
“Yeah, you know. On how to survive.”
“I don’t have too many notes to share on that front. That’s why I moved away the first time.”
“I hear you. I did too. I went the military route, but I found my way back here after all. And I’ve been back about seven or so years now.”
“Then I should probably read your notes, huh. A beer it is.”
“Could be helpful,” she said, tipping her glass of ice water in her direction before standing up to leave.
Rowan glanced back at Juniper, who was down to what looked like her last conversation of the night.
Rowan was content to rest her chin on her hand and watch.
Watching how animated Juniper was, with her hand motions, body movements, her infectious laugh, even tone inflections that could be heard from across the room, was the clearest indicator she was deep into discussing her passion.
Rowan was oblivious to everyone else. She hadn’t even noticed the last person had left until Juniper made eye contact and waved her over.
“I left some of my stuff upstairs, so I have to go grab that. Gloria and the staff want to lock up the building soon.”
“Do you want me to go with you?”
“If you want. It’s okay if you want to head out.”
“No, I’ll walk you.”
Juniper flashed a brilliant smile and pushed through the double doors into the hallway. Once inside the dark stairwell, she stopped.
“My feet are killing me. I’m taking these off,” she huffed.
She grabbed Rowan’s forearm and bent down to slide her heels off. She stretched her feet before letting go.
“Feel better?” Rowan asked softly.
“So much better.”
Juniper looked up and smiled with a softness that made Rowan feel like that was the real win of the evening, that she could relax Juniper to the point she could let herself indulge in little comforts like that.
Without asking, Rowan took her shoes from her hands, and they silently ascended the stairs and walked the rest of the way to her office side by side.
Once in the room, Rowan watched Juniper flit around the room barefoot to gather her things.
She, however, pressed her back against the door frame.
Earlier during all of that talk about fucking her against a desk, Rowan had experienced a very real battle with her self-control as she gripped Juniper’s ass in this same door frame.
It was like all the memories held in her fingertips activated at once.
She had shoved her hands into her pockets so they could burn in private.
Now, after everything they’d gone through, after their major win that night, she felt even more raw as she stood in that spot.
The way everything seemed to be falling together perfectly was ever-present in her mind.
But that was nothing compared to how Rowan could envision the rest of their lives fitting together.
Silvery moonlight spilled in through the large windows at the back of the office, and she felt it created a little too intimate of a setting to trust herself not to slide her arms around Juniper’s waist, draw her body fully against hers, and press another kiss into those soft lips.
I’m in love with you.
The words materialized and vanished on her tongue over and over.
“Almost ready,” Juniper called out from behind the desk.
“There’s no rush.”
Juniper approached Rowan, dropping her large bag from her shoulder to the chair beside the door. “We did it.”
“Mhm,” Rowan mumbled her agreement.
“Thank you for everything over the last few weeks. I know I didn’t make it easy, at first. I don’t think I could have done this without you.”
“Yes, you could have,” Rowan responded tenderly.
“I don’t know. We couldn’t have ended up where we did without some of your ideas. And I’m sorry I doubted you.”
“Hey, don’t be sorry. I deserved your skepticism. We earned each other’s trust. And we’re here now, okay?”
She looked down just in time to catch Juniper trail her fingers down the lapels of her jacket before dropping her arms back to her sides.
“Okay.”
“Can I take you somewhere this weekend?”
Juniper gave a feeble smile that made Rowan’s own waver.
“I can’t.”
Unwarranted jealousy uncurled itself in Rowan’s stomach. “You have other plans?”
“I have to work the food truck this weekend.” Juniper cringed.
Rowan shook her head in immediate acceptance. “That’s okay. What about the following weekend?”
“So, that’s kind of the thing. I still have to do that. A lot, especially, now that we’re heading into powwow season.”
“What? Like all the time? Who’s helping you?”
Juniper shrugged, and Rowan found that unacceptable. How was Juniper ever going to truly focus on what made her happy and fulfilled if she was always bearing the full weight of taking care of her family?
“Where are your brothers?”
“Somewhere being useless. Except Sam. He’s mostly useless but still redeemable.”
“You always did have a soft spot for that baby brother.” Rowan slid her phone out of her pocket and handed it to Juniper. “Put Sam’s number in my phone.”
“Huh?”
“We need to catch up.”
Juniper furrowed her brows in confusion and hesitated before she took the phone and typed the number in to save it. She handed it back to Rowan who pocketed it without looking.
“I’ll work the food truck with you.”
Juniper scoffed. “Everyone makes it seem like food trucks are so cool until they’re stuck in the stifling heat sweating through a backlog of fried food orders for hours.”
“I don’t know. I’d get to be with you.”
Juniper gave an incredulous half smile. “It’s a lot of work. I’d have to train you.”
Rowan smirked and attempted to disarm Juniper a bit more. “I’m highly trainable.”
“Rowan,” Juniper groaned and laughed.
“Play hooky from work with me tomorrow then. It’s supposed to clear 85 degrees. Then stay with me tomorrow night.”
“Be serious,” Juniper laughed, “have you ever skipped class a day in your life? I remember every year you got that stupid perfect attendance ribbon at the school assembly.”
Rowan shifted in front of her. “Well, no. But I could always start now.”
“Are you finally letting me corrupt you, Birdsong?”
“I’m also highly corruptible. I might already be corrupted, in fact.”
Juniper glared at her. “I want to be the one to corrupt you. Not anyone else.”
The territorial vibe made Rowan’s chest want to puff out. “There’s a lot of things you don’t know about me.”
“Besides making me want to scream, what else?”
Rowan pulled her bottom lip between her teeth in thought before she released it, letting a slow smile form. “I guess you’ll see.”
Juniper pretended to grumble. “Fine. But we need to stop at the dollar store to get me a toothbrush to keep at your place.”
Rowan cleared her throat. “Yep, we can do that. And bring extra clothes with you.”
“You were planning on me wearing clothes?”
Juniper pulled back and grabbed her bag from the chair and walked into the hallway, Rowan following suit.
“At least for part of it. I really do want to take you somewhere.”
They descended the stairs, and Juniper balanced against Rowan again to put her heels back on at the last moment before exiting the lobby and into the balmy night air.
They waved good night to Gloria and the staff locking up.
Needing to be near her, Rowan took Juniper’s hand and pulled her closer when they hit the parking lot.
“Hey,” Gloria called out. She beamed from the top of the steps. “Good job, Junie. And former heartbreaker.” She winked.
Juniper laughed and called out her thanks back. She moved closer into Rowan’s body, and they wrapped their arms around each other.
“We did do pretty fucking good in there tonight, Birdsong.”
“Killed it,” Rowan added emphatically, “but she’s gotta stop calling me that.”
Juniper giggled. “I’ll work on it. She’s a tough one to crack, though.”
“Yeah, I gathered that. I can see why you two are like kindred spirits. I do think I’m pretty good at ingratiating myself to strong women.”
Juniper slapped her arm and laughed. Then she tucked herself even further into Rowan’s side, and Rowan relished the extra inches of Juniper’s body she was able to wrap herself around.
Rowan quickly looked around to see if they were near anyone else now that they’d moved deeper into the parking lot to their cars.
“And you will never guess the conversation I had with Councilwoman Lightfoot after the meeting, who by the way,” she glanced over at Juniper with wide eyes, “insisted I call her Beckett.”
“Really? Fill me in.”