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Hobie continued as if she hadn’t heard Baylor. “—like some sort of deranged stalker! This is crazy. You know, I turn around and there you are—”

“Well, in all defense—”


“I don’t know how much longer I can put up with this. You come into town and first you hate me, then you like me. I just—”

“Okay, I admit I’ve been a little inconsistent, but—” “Inconsistent?” Hobie acted as though she had finally heard

something that Baylor said. “You’ve turned me into a crazy woman. I don’t know what to think when I’m around you. I don’t know how to act or what to say. What do I wear? Do I put on perfume, or is that sending her some kind of a hidden message?”

“I like the way you smell. I mean, I like the perfume you wear.” Baylor offered a small grin.

“See what I mean? Baylor, you say things like that and it makes me think…God, I don’t know if I can do this. I feel so—”

Hobie’s eyes began to tear and that, as always, affected Baylor more than anything else could. She opened her ears and began to listen to what Hobie had been saying. When she heard the words, she finally understood. All the time she had been worrying about Hobie rejecting her, and here Hobie was afraid of the same thing. “You know, my life has a certain order to it. I’m usually very

in control,” Hobie went on. “I never thought I’d like you so much, but then you do something or you say something and I just don’t know how to describe how I feel anymore. I mean, one minute I—”

Hobie continued to babble, even after Baylor stood before her calling her name. Baylor placed her hands on Hobie’s shoulders. Baylor knew then that there would be only one way to do it, only one way to convince Hobie, as well as herself. For once in her life, she had to live and not just survive.

Baylor took one deep breath and kissed the girl.


It took a number of seconds for Hobie to realize that she was being kissed. Just as swiftly as it had begun, it was over. Baylor pulled back slightly to look into stunned green eyes. Hobie’s shock was short-lived, however. She felt the pull of Baylor’s loving gaze and the corners of her lips drew upward in a smile.



___


LJ

Maas



In a synchronized move, Baylor’s hands went to Hobie’s waist as Hobie slipped her arms around Baylor’s neck. On tiptoe, Hobie returned Baylor’s kiss with more fervor. It wasn’t rushed, but slow and lingering, powerful in its intensity. It seemed as though each of them had waited a lifetime for that kiss. Oddly enough, Baylor felt as though this had all happened before. One kiss turned into many until the need for air pulled the two women apart.

“Wow,” Hobie said with a grin.


“Yeah,” Baylor said with a matching smile. She bent her head to eliminate the distance between them, and their lips met once more.

A soft warmth enveloped Baylor’s senses. Her brain swam as though she were high on drink. Hobie’s kisses brought her to a place she hadn’t visited in ages. It was a safe spot, a place where it was okay to feel vulnerable, to feel good, to simply feel. Had she ever really been there in any woman’s arms before Hobie? There was one time. There must have been. Kissing Hobie was so familiar. Baylor was certain she had felt this kiss before.

Her brow creased as she continued to share caresses with Hobie. When had Baylor experienced these feelings? Images flashed through her mind. A glass of wine tossed into her face...a smiling stranger...a hotel room...the hotel room where she awoke the next morning...a beautiful but unseen face...slowly coming into focus.

Baylor opened her eyes and abruptly pushed Hobie away, holding her at arm’s length. “You! It was you!”

She didn’t have to say more than that. Hobie knew what Baylor meant. She had hoped she would never have to explain the situation, but then again, she had never expected to be making out a second time with Baylor Warren.

“If you’re talking about Chicago, yes. It was me.” “I-I don’t understand. I looked for you!”

“Oh, right.” Hobie laughed.


“Really. I had Jules trying to find you.” “Wow, she’s good.”

“Why didn’t you say anything when I got here?”


“Excuse me, but if you think back, you’ll remember that you



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were less than pleased with me when you got to Ana Lia.” “Okay, I can see that, but wasn’t there some moment since

then that you could have mentioned you spent the night with me?”

“When was I supposed to say that? ‘Um, yes, I think we’ll be putting on a walking cast today, and oh, by the way, did I mention that I was the woman you passed out on in Chicago?’”

“I can see where timing was probably an issue.”


“You do remember that nothing happened between us. Nothing, you know.”

“I figured as much when I woke up fully dressed.”


“I suppose I should admit that having you not recognize me when you got to the island wasn’t very flattering or good for my self-esteem, I might add. Part of me was disappointed, but the other part was happy.”

“Happy?” Baylor asked in confusion.


“I think you know that I don’t do things like take women back to my hotel room.” Hobie smiled. “Well, at least not in a strange town. I guess I was embarrassed. I felt like some major slut.”

“That’s about the furthest thing from my mind when I think of you.”

“What do you think about...when you think of me?”


“I think about how wonderful you are, what a caring, loving woman you are. How special you make people feel, without doing anything out of the ordinary. I think about what a great mom you are, and I think that everyone in this world should be so lucky as to spend time with you. If they did, they’d discover what I already know. That no one comes as close to absolute beauty as you.”

“Boy, have I got you fooled,” Hobie said self-consciously. She shook her head. “You have no idea what you’re getting yourself into when you get me.”

“Do I?” Baylor reached out and let her fingertips slide against Hobie’s tan cheek. “Get you, I mean.”

Hobie smiled at yet another perfectly phrased response from Baylor. “I’m thinking you’re pretty much stuck with me. I love you, Baylor.” Silence hung in the air after Hobie’s last statement. “It’s okay if you don’t feel the same way. I—”



___


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Maas



“No, but I do. Feel the same way,” Baylor hurriedly added. “Oh.” Hobie let out a sigh of relief. “Wow.” She indicated

with her eyes and a subtle tilt of her head that Baylor should carry that acknowledgment a step further.

“Baylor,” she said at last. “Are you sure you feel the same way? Because it’s okay if you don’t. I’ve just been so afraid to be the first one to say it that I guess it all came out at once. If you need time to—”

“No, really. I-I...” Baylor wore a pained expression. “Do you really have to hear the words?” she asked, already knowing the answer.

“Yes, I really have to hear the words. I need the words.” “Okay...here goes. Hobie, I-I—”

Suddenly, Baylor’s face became ashen. She felt as if there was a tremendous weight on her chest. She looked down in terror as she felt her left arm go numb. “Oh, my God.”

“What?” Hobie asked in fear.


“I think I’m having a heart attack.”


Hobie had seen many an MI during her residency. It was always possible that Baylor was indeed having one, but Hobie’s expression said it was doubtful.

“I can’t feel my arm.” Baylor looked down at the limb in question. “Holy shit, I’m gonna die.”

Hobie rolled her eyes, then sharply pinched Baylor’s arm. “Ow!”

“Did you feel that?” “Yes, damn it. That hurt.”

“Then your arm isn’t numb, you’re not having a heart attack, neither are you about to die. See how that all works? You have to actually feel nothing to say that your arm is numb.”

“I can see why you got out of medicine with a bedside manner like that.” Baylor rubbed the spot where Hobie had pinched her. “That was hard.” Her face formed into a childlike pout.

“I bet you don’t feel like you’re having a heart attack anymore, though. Do you?” Hobie asked with a smile.

“You are not a nice woman.” Atiny smile formed on Baylor’s face. “I love you, Hobie.” Just like that, she said the words, before



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she had the chance to think about them any longer. She didn’t want to wait to see what her father’s memory would whisper in her ear. She shrugged off the ghost for the first time in her adult life and it felt good. Damn good.

It only took that simple admission to open the floodgates of emotion for Baylor. She pulled Hobie into her embrace and kissed her with a passion that made their previous kisses seem ordinary in comparison.

“I want you to stay here tonight,” Hobie breathed against her neck.

“Yes, oh, yes.” Baylor murmured her assent as she and Hobie lowered themselves as one onto the overstuffed couch.

“Oh, yes.” Hobie moaned as Baylor’s weight pressed on top of her. “Ow, ow.”

“What?”


“Your cast. Watch where you’re swinging that thing.”


“How about you on top?” Baylor could think of no delicate way to put it.