CHAPTER 23

C arina's doorbell rang, which was unexpected because she was supposed to pick Kieran up at her apartment, not the other way around. She walked downstairs and checked the peephole with a smile, thinking maybe she'd gotten her wires crossed, and when they'd texted, Kieran had actually said she'd pick Carina up, but the smile dropped from her face when she saw Amalia standing at her front door.

"Amalia?" she said when she opened it.

"Hi. I know I just stopped by, but you're on my way home."

"Is everything okay?"

"You just left this in my car the other night, and I thought I'd drop it off for you," Amalia replied as she held out the bottle of wine from the party.

Carina hadn't opened it that night. She hadn't shared it with Kieran because she'd stupidly taken Amalia to the party when she hadn't wanted to go at all. After the talking she got from the judge and recusing herself, she'd had to talk to her boss about her friendship with Kieran. She'd left out the part that she had feelings for the woman because he didn't need to know that. Then, she'd explained that while she hadn't done anything to risk losing her case, she also understood why the judge wanted her removed and that it would help for her not to be involved with any appeals later. Jason was a decent guy, so he'd asked her if she was okay, which he didn't have to do. She'd told him that she was but that she still wanted to remain friends with Kieran. Now that she wasn't on the case, he'd told her that it would be fine and had asked her to review the case with the new prosecutor taking it over.

While that had made her feel good, it wasn't until he'd told her that Frank Richard hadn't filed his complaint and that Jason thought he didn't have a leg to stand on even if he did because Kieran had emailed him explaining that they were nothing more than friends and that Carina had acted ethically in every sense of the word. He'd let Carina read the email, and that had made her smile.

"Carina, can I say something off-the-record here? As a friend and colleague who's known you for almost twenty years?"

"Sure," she'd replied, handing him back the printout of the email.

"If there is something else going on between the two of you, or there might be now that you've recused yourself, that would be okay."

"Sorry?"

"Just make sure your dates are good, meaning nothing happened before you were off the case."

"We're not… Nothing has happened."

"Okay. I don't need to know, but I met my wife on a case. She was the arresting officer on the only murder in town that year, and I got assigned to prosecute. We had to keep things under wraps until after the case was over, and it got complicated, but arresting officers aren't supposed to date the attorneys prosecuting their cases. Our first date was the day after she testified at the trial." Jason had laughed. "So, I get it. That's all I'm saying. We were ethical. We kept what was happening between us out of court. And I know you did the same."

"I did," she said.

"Good. Well, that's all I have to say about that."

She'd left his office, and when Dylan had suggested she go to the party, she'd stupidly invited Amalia, who had asked her out again, because, despite what Jason had told her, Carina knew she still needed that space from Kieran. Kieran hadn't ever been with a woman, and that came with other complications. She'd felt the layers upon layers of complications weigh on her and had gone the easy route, asking Amalia to the party because there were really no complications there. But then, there Kieran was, standing there, holding Carina's favorite bottle of wine while Amalia was offering her a beer, and instantly, telling Amalia that she didn't see things going any further between them had seemed like the easiest decision in the world to Carina. Amalia had driven them back to Carina's place that night, where they'd said goodnight and goodbye.

"Oh. You didn't need to bring this over here," Carina said, taking the bottle from her.

"Like I said, you were on my way," Amalia replied.

"Well, thank you."

"Sure. No problem."

They stared at each other for a long, awkward moment before Carina's eyes went wide at the sight of the car pulling into her driveway.

"And it looks like you have plans tonight," Amelia added. "I'll leave you to it. Have a good night, Carina."

"Oh, it's not–" Carina shook her head. "She's not–"

"Hey," Tinley said as she approached the front door. "I was going to go in through the garage, but I saw you here."

"What are you doing here, Tinley?" she asked.

"I'll see myself out now," Amalia said and took a few steps back before she turned and hurried to her car, which was street-parked.

"She's hot," Tinley noted.

"Sorry?"

"Your date ended kind of early, Carina. Is she a bad kisser or something?"

"She's not my date."

"I thought you were dating Kelly." Tinley crossed her arms over her chest. "And, damn, you do move fast."

"First of all, her name is Kieran. Second, what are you doing here?"

"Dropping this off and making arrangements to get my bed," Tinley replied and handed Carina her spare garage door opener. "I forgot I had this on my visor. Can I swing by with a pickup truck this weekend for my bed?"

"I thought you forgot about that," Carina said, taking the garage door opener from her.

"My bed or the garage door opener?"

"Both, I guess."

"Can I come in, Carina? I'm standing outside here."

"I'm getting dressed to go out, so no," she replied. "Thank you for dropping this off, though."

"Did she give you a bottle of wine at the end of a date?" Tinley asked, looking at the bottle in Carina's hand.

"No, I left it in her car the other night after a party," she answered honestly. "And you can pick your bed up this weekend, if you really need it, but I was going to message you to see if you wanted me to just keep it and pay you a couple hundred for it."

"You want to buy my old bed?" Tinley asked.

"I can keep it in the guest room for now," she replied.

"And you want to pay me for it?"

"Not really. I want you to say that it's fine for me to keep it because I paid for everything between us the entire time we were together and even after we broke up, but I'm trying not to be rude."

Tinley squinted her eyes at her and said, "I found an apartment. I move in this weekend, okay? And I need a bed. I can't afford to buy a new one, or else I would've taken you up on that."

"Okay. Well, you can get it this weekend. Just call first so I can be here to let you in."

"I'm borrowing my friend's truck, but can you help me carry it out of here?" Tinley asked.

"What? You need me to help you move now, too?" Carina asked, shaking her head.

"Just a mattress and a bed frame. It's not that heavy."

"And who's helping you take the bed frame apart? I helped you put it together."

"Fine. Never mind, Carina. God, why did you even date me if I'm still just a child to you? That's some deep-seated issue right there."

"You weren't like this when we met," she replied as she placed the wine next to her keys on the table she had by the door. "You seemed driven. You were in law school and sounded like you had a plan."

"A plan that wasn't mine," Tinley argued.

"I know that now, but I didn't back then."

"So, I'm not good enough for you now because I don't want to be a lawyer?"

"No, Tinley; I don't care if you want to be a personal trainer or something else. But you got used to me taking care of you and stopped trying at anything at all, and that isn't what I want for myself. Now, I really do have to go, or I'm going to be late. So, just text me or something, and I'll let you in, but I'm not helping you take the thing apart or get it down the stairs and outside. Bring that friend or hire movers."

"Fine," Tinley replied. "But I'm trying now , okay?"

"It's too late for us, Tinley."

"I know that. I didn't mean that I wanted to get back together with you. I just… I wanted you to know that I heard you, okay? I'm trying now."

"I'm glad," Carina replied.

When Tinley walked toward her car, Carina watched as she pulled out of the driveway and onto the street. She stayed watching to make sure the woman was really gone before she closed the door and locked it behind her. She'd forgotten that Tinley still had the garage door opener, but now, she had no way of just letting herself into the house anymore, which made Carina feel good.

She headed back upstairs and found her curling iron to be way too hot now, so she dialed it down from the ten she'd left it on in order to pre-heat to five so she wouldn't burn her hair. Once her hair was done, she checked her makeup in the mirror and decided that she was wearing just enough to look like she was wearing some, but not too much that she looked like she'd painted herself in the mirror before their first date.

‘Their first date,' she thought to herself.

Carina was going on an actual date with Kieran , and it was strange how right that felt. Even though Kieran hadn't dated a woman before, and Carina had all the experience between them, it still felt like a natural progression in their relationship. From Kieran not even opening the door to her the first time they met, to the courthouse, where they'd been obviously flirting enough for Frank Richard to pick up on it, and to the party, where Kieran had looked so unbelievably adorable with that bottle of wine and her admission that she might just feel the same way.

The awkward conversation with Amalia that followed about ten minutes later had been as worth it as the even-more-awkward ride home in Amalia's car when the poor woman had asked her if she'd done something wrong by taking a work call on a date and that was why Carina didn't want to see her anymore. After apologizing for leading her on and making it clear that the call had not been the case, Carina had said goodbye to Amalia and wished her well. Then, she'd gone inside her house, pulled out her phone immediately, and texted Kieran, feeling like a silly schoolgirl.

Carina Whitlock : No goodnight kiss. Just wanted to make sure you knew.

Kieran had replied right away.

Kieran Hart : I feel bad for Amalia… And I'm nervous as hell about this, Carina, but I'm also kind of smiling right now.

Now, holding up the flowers she'd bought earlier that day, Carina stood outside Kieran's apartment and swallowed before she knocked and waited for Kieran to answer the door. A few seconds later, Keiran appeared in front of her in a pair of nice dark jeans and a T-shirt that said, ‘You matter unless you multiply yourself by the speed of light square. Then, you energy.'

Carina laughed and said, "I energy?"

"Huh?"

"Your shirt," she said as she pointed.

"Oh, sorry. Yeah, I forgot about that."

"Are you ready to go?" Carina asked. "I got you these."

"I was working and lost track of time, so I haven't gotten dressed yet, but… Wow," Kieran said as she took the flowers from her. "You look amazing. And thank you."

"You look good to me," Carina replied.

"I'm wearing this shirt," Kieran argued, tugging on it with her free hand.

"I know. I don't care. You look great," Carina told her with a smile.

"I meant to stop at six so that I could get dressed, but I visited Marin today and got behind on work, and I am so completely sorry."

"Kieran, I'm a lawyer. I'm late for stuff because of work all the time. And I like how you look. It's you. It's more you than the sweater-and-slacks number you had on the other night, even though you looked great in that, too. We can just go, or, if you want, you can change, but I like how you look."

Kieran smiled at her and asked, "Can I at least put these in some water first?"

"Yes. Can I see your nerd cave setup for work before we go?"

"Sure." Kieran laughed. "Come in."