She'll Steal Your Heart: A Lesbian Romance (Midnight in Manhattan Book 4) Read online

  Lauren flinched. “Long story.”

  “We’ve got time.” Mia gestured to the empty apartment.

  Lauren shook her head, her expression pinched. She almost looked…frightened. Or was it wary? “A story for another day.”

  “Sure.” Mia sat back, startled by Lauren’s response.

  An uncomfortable silence spread between them. Before Mia could decide what to say, the door to the apartment swung open. Ashleigh stepped inside, followed by Fatima, both of them weighed down with brown paper shopping bags.

  “Lauren!” Ashleigh put down her bags and wrapped Lauren in a hug that lifted her feet right off the floor. Once she’d released her, she turned toward Mia, hesitating just long enough to make Mia self-conscious again that she was too old, too serious for this crowd, before pulling her into a hug as well. “Mia, it’s great to see you.”

  “You too, Ashleigh.”

  Fatima joined in for more hugs, and then Mia and Lauren helped them put away the groceries, which included a variety of alcoholic and nonalcoholic drink options for celebrating the new In Her Defense season. They’d barely gotten the bags unpacked before there was a knock at the door and Sarah and Quinn entered the room.

  Sarah was a tall Black woman, her natural hair pulled back from her face with a red band that matched the color of the font on her Clairantha T-shirt. Quinn had fair skin, and her light brown hair was buzzed on one side, falling to her chin on the other. Together, they made a striking couple.

  Sometimes, it was hard for Mia to wrap her mind around the fact that she was single again, after having been with Kristin for eighteen years. Mia had thought she was partnered for life. She and Kristin had worked for the same law firm, both so dedicated to their jobs that they rarely made time to watch television or go out after work…even for a date.

  Mia had suffered constant migraines from the stress. She and Kristin fought incessantly. Mia had been miserable. Then she’d landed in the ER with a bleeding ulcer, where a harried doctor had told her she was working herself into an early grave.

  And here she was a year later, a single woman who owned a cat café. She was in a room full of people she’d met online, strangers brought together by their love for a TV show. It was as confusing as it was thrilling. Despite her lingering feeling that she didn’t quite belong, Mia was excited to watch the new season of In Her Defense with these women who shared her excitement for the show instead of sitting home alone with her cat.

  Now that everyone was here, there were more hugs and greetings, women moving around the room to put down bags and pour drinks as they got to know each other. Eventually, they gathered around the kitchen table, where Ashleigh led a rather exuberant toast.

  “To Sam Whitaker,” she concluded, lifting her glass.

  “And to Piper Sheridan for bringing her to life,” Fatima added.

  They tapped their glasses together, and Mia sipped her wine.

  “I made something new to celebrate our weekend,” Quinn told them as she set down her glass and walked to her bag. She pulled out her laptop and set it in the middle of the kitchen table.

  “Oh my God, did you make a new fan video?” Lauren asked.

  “I did,” Quinn said with a proud smile. She worked in digital media at her day job and used her talent to make these really amazing videos where she paired clips from the show with music. Her videos always made Sam and Claire’s relationship look more romantic than it actually was, which Mia supposed was the point.

  She was surprised to find herself cheering along with the others as Quinn shared her newest video, set to a hauntingly beautiful song Mia had never heard before with lots of angsty shots of Sam and Claire gazing longingly at each other. Actually, it seemed like Sam was doing most of the gazing, and since she was played by a bisexual actress, Mia sometimes wondered if the way Sam looked at women was more Piper than Sam, but maybe that was just the cynic in her.

  This led to a marathon viewing of various Clairantha fan videos. Eventually, they moved to the couch with the laptop on the table in front of them, all six women crammed together, laughing and sharing their favorite moments from the show. The new season didn’t release until midnight, so this evening was a chance for them to get to know each other.

  “Group selfie!” Sarah announced, holding up her phone.

  “Wait. Mia, where’s your Clairantha shirt?” Fatima gestured to Mia’s gray button-down. “You’re the only one not wearing it.”

  “Oh.” Mia looked around and realized it was true. Earlier today, she’d felt self-conscious about working at her café wearing the shirt, and now, she felt embarrassed for being the only one not wearing it. “I was going to change once I got here.”

  “Then go change.” Quinn made a shooing motion with her hands, gesturing toward the bathroom on the far side of the room.

  So Mia took the T-shirt out of her bag and went into the bathroom to change, eyeing herself for a moment in the mirror. She frowned at her reflection, feeling ridiculous in a shirt that had #Clairantha printed in big red letters across the front and a sketch of Sam and Claire kissing below it. She’d never been a fan of branded tees.

  But when in Rome…

  After carefully folding her blouse, she went back to the living room, where she posed for a series of selfies with the other women. They ordered pizza, sharing plenty of laughs as Sarah dramatically read Clairantha fanfic to them while they ate.

  “Who wants to go out for a drink before the new season drops?” Ashleigh asked after the pizza boxes had been cleared away.

  “Me!” Sarah said, and the rest of the women quickly agreed.

  “Mia, you’re our local,” Quinn said. “Know a good place?”

  “There’s a great little gay bar near here that has amazing drinks,” Mia suggested. “The owner also runs a kitten rescue and helped me get set up with a rescue for my new cat café.”

  “Rescue kittens!” Fatima exclaimed. “Do we get to play with them?”

  “No,” Mia told her, smiling. “Josie’s rescue is separate from the bar, but you can play with the rescue cats at my café if you want to visit.”

  “Oh please,” Fatima said, nodding. “We definitely need to visit your café while we’re in town.”

  “I agree, and the gay bar sounds perfect for a drink tonight,” Sarah said, and a murmur of assent went around the room.

  “Perfect,” Mia said. “Let’s go to Dragonfly.”

  “No!” Lauren said, a bit too loudly, and when Mia looked at her in surprise, Lauren was sitting rigidly on the couch, hands clenched on her knees. “I, um, I can’t go there. Sorry.”

  2

  “You can’t go to Dragonfly?” Mia asked. “Why on earth not?”

  Lauren opened her mouth and shut it, fighting the urge to fidget beneath Mia’s intense stare. Of all the bars in Brooklyn, Mia had to suggest the one that had been the scene of Lauren’s fall from grace. Worse, apparently Mia and Josie were friends. What a small-world moment, and not in a good way.

  Lauren would be visiting Josie and Dragonfly on her own next week to make things right, but she couldn’t get into any of it with Mia, not without losing her friendship and potentially putting her in a legally awkward situation. “I have, um, history with the owner.”

  Mia hesitated, looking like she wanted to push the issue, but then she nodded. “Sure, no problem. There’s a quiet bar a few blocks over with great whiskey and cheap beer. Does that work?”

  Lauren exhaled in relief. “That sounds great, if it’s okay with everyone else.”

  “Works for me,” Quinn said, and the rest of the women agreed.

  As everyone got ready to head out, Lauren used the moment to compose herself, pushing back the emotions that had risen over the last few minutes. Not that she’d intended to confess her secrets to Mia, but now that she knew Mia knew Josie, she also knew that if Mia ever learned the truth, she’d take Josie’s side. She’d hate Lauren for what she’d done. Of course she would. Lauren couldn’t even blame her. She hated what she’d done too.

  She felt self-conscious about bringing her backpack to the bar, but there were things in it that were too valuable to be out of her sight. So she slung it over her shoulders, hoping no one would ask her about it, and luckily, no one did.

  The bar Mia had suggested was indeed quiet, or it was until their group arrived. They clustered around several stools near the back, laughing and talking. Lauren settled on a stool and ordered a beer, her mood buoyed by the women around her. It had been so long since she’d been out with friends like this, and it fed her soul, as if a withered spot inside her had just bloomed for the first time in over a year.

  She’d needed this night so much.

  “Laur, I just reread Skin Deep for like the eighth time,” Ashleigh said. “You should be writing books. I’m serious. You’re that good.”

  Lauren smiled into her beer. “Thank you. That’s actually my dream…to publish a book.”

  “Oh, you should,” Mia said from where she stood behind Sarah and Quinn, tumbler of whiskey in hand. “You are that good, Lauren.”

  Her cheeks heated. “It felt unachievable when I was a teen writing stories in my notebooks at school, but fanfic has given me some courage, and self-publishing is an option now, so it’s definitely something I’ve thought about.”

  “Have you written an original story?” Fatima asked.

  Lauren nodded. “I’ve started too many to count, but I finished writing my first novel earlier this year.”

  “If there’s anything you want me to look at for you, I’d be happy to,” Mia offered.

  “Thanks. I really appreciate that.”

  “Speaking of books, I just read an amazing sapphic romance,” Quinn said. “It’s called On the Flip Side, and both heroines are so smart
and sexy. I’ll send you all the link.”

  “Oh, I’ve read a few of that author’s books,” Lauren said, nodding. “I love her style, and I’ve been meaning to read that one.”

  From there, the conversation turned to the topic that had brought them all here this weekend: In Her Defense. They spent the next hour or so discussing theories and hopes for the new season. They all thought an on-screen romantic relationship between Sam and Claire was a long shot at best, but they were at least hoping for more of the semi-flirty scenes they’d gotten in season four.

  Lauren rested her elbows on the bar, relaxed and happy. She’d just met these women, but already she felt comfortable with them. And then there was Mia, looking just a little bit more sophisticated than the rest of them, but every bit as enthusiastic about the show.

  There was a magnetism about her, something Lauren couldn’t seem to look away from. She knew what it meant. Lauren had been attracted to a friend before, and it hadn’t ended well. But generally, if she ignored it, the inconvenient attraction would pass with time.

  As if she’d summoned Mia with her thoughts, she slid onto the vacant stool beside Lauren, giving her another one of those intense looks. Her rich brown eyes were a striking contrast to her pale skin and blonde hair. It was darker at the roots as if she dyed it, or perhaps it lightened naturally in the sun.

  “So are you going to tell me what went down between you and Josie?” Mia asked, her voice low and smoky.

  Lauren had been nursing her beer since they got here, hoping to make it through the evening without ordering another one since she was pinching her pennies, but suddenly, she wished there was a lot more alcohol in her veins. “It’s…complicated.”

  Mia gave her an assessing look, lips pursed as she twirled her whiskey glass idly in her left hand. “Were you and Josie an item before she married Eve?”

  “Eve,” Lauren repeated, her mind whirling. “Josie married Eve Marlow?”

  “Yeah,” Mia said slowly. “You didn’t know?”

  Lauren shook her head, brushing back a strand of hair. No, she hadn’t known, but when she thought back on her time at Dragonfly, she remembered Josie being starry-eyed over a new woman in her life, which had been during the time that Eve was filming her TV show at Josie’s bar. The idea of them being married now made Lauren smile. “I had no idea, but that’s great.”

  “You aren’t jealous?” Mia asked, still watching Lauren closely, reminding her that Mia thought she and Josie had been a thing.

  “No. Josie and I weren’t together. I actually used to work there,” Lauren spluttered. “It ended badly…because of me, not Josie. Josie’s great.”

  “Oh.” Mia lifted her drink for a sip. After a moment, she gasped, setting the glass down so hard the bartender gave her a startled glance. “Oh my God, you’re that Lauren? You’re the Lauren who robbed the bar?”

  Mia tossed back what remained of her whiskey as Lauren seemed to shrink on the stool beside her. Her new friend was a criminal. A thief. Mia hadn’t known Josie at the time of the robbery, but she’d heard her tell the story. Just weeks after her bar’s grand reopening, Josie had let her new bartender close for her for the first time. Lauren had made off with the contents of the cash register and some of Josie’s most expensive liquor and then skipped town.

  Mia had known Lauren then, although only from their online chats. She vaguely remembered that Lauren had disappeared from their group chat for a few weeks, later mentioning that she’d moved to Rhode Island, but Mia had never suspected Lauren was on the run from the law. Now that she knew, it felt like a betrayal.

  “I can’t believe this.” Even Mia could hear how angry she sounded.

  “I should go,” Lauren said quietly. She slid off her stool and reached for the backpack she’d been carrying all evening. Her shoulders were hunched, her expression stricken. She looked like a kicked puppy, and Mia didn’t like that either.

  “Aren’t you even going to try to explain yourself?” she asked, harshly enough for Lauren to flinch.

  “Would it make a difference?” Lauren straightened to meet Mia’s gaze. “You and Josie know each other. You’re friends.”

  “We’re friends,” Mia confirmed. “But you’re my friend too, Lauren. In fact, if you count our online friendship, I’ve known you longer than I’ve known Josie. So yes, it matters. Explain yourself, but don’t give me any bullshit excuses.”

  Lauren sat and reached for her beer. She took a fortifying sip. “I robbed Josie’s bar,” she said, softly enough that only Mia could hear her. Luckily, the rest of their group was currently engaged in a lively discussion about Sam’s most memorable power suit. “I take full responsibility for what I did. In fact, part of the reason I’m back in Brooklyn is to make things right, to repay her and turn myself in.”

  “I want to believe you.” Mia had been a defense attorney for fifteen years. It had been her job to defend people like Lauren, whether they were guilty or not. But she wasn’t Lauren’s lawyer. She was her friend, and that felt different.

  Lauren reached for her backpack again, and Mia thought she’d decided to leave after all. But she slid it into her lap and unzipped it, then removed an envelope from the top pocket. She passed it to Mia, but as she accepted the envelope, her gaze caught on a large canister taking up most of the space inside the bag. It looked like an urn.

  Jesus fucking Christ.

  Lauren exhaled softly, reaching out to touch it. “I’m going to scatter his ashes while I’m here too, but I didn’t have a safe place to leave him in the meantime.”

  Mia opened the envelope Lauren had given her. Inside was a certified check for three thousand dollars, made out to Josie Swanson, which corroborated Lauren’s story that she’d returned to Brooklyn to pay Josie back. In the face of that check—and the urn in Lauren’s backpack—Mia felt her anger deflate like a ruptured balloon. “Why did you do it? Did you just need the money?”

  Lauren shook her head as she carefully placed the check into her backpack and zipped it shut, returning it to its spot between her feet. “No, I was doing okay for once, and I loved my new job at Dragonfly. I truly did. Josie’s the best, as I’m sure you know.”

  “Then why did you rob her blind? That really set her back—financially and emotionally—just when she was starting to turn things around for the bar.”

  Tears shone in Lauren’s eyes, and her bottom lip shook. “I never meant to hurt her. When she left me on my own to close the bar that night, I was glad she was starting to give me more responsibility. I didn’t want to let her down.”

  “You have a funny way of showing that,” Mia muttered, gesturing to the bartender for another drink.

  Lauren took a shaky sip of her beer. “My mom died of an overdose when I was fifteen. She struggled with drug addiction for most of her adult life, and so did Craig. I tried to help him, to get him clean, but he was in way over his head, both with his addiction and with the people he owed money to. Terrible people, Mia.” Her voice wavered, and Mia’s stomach plummeted. “He came into Dragonfly that night to ask if he could crash at my place for a few nights, and he…they’d beaten the shit out of him. He was terrified, and so was I.”

  Instinctively, Mia reached over and rested a hand on Lauren’s against the bar top.

  “He was completely strung out, and he owed so much money.” Lauren took a slow breath. “I was afraid of what those people would do to him—or me—if he didn’t pay back what he owed, and I was standing in front of a full cash register. I panicked. I told him to take the money to pay off his drug debts, but I didn’t think it through, because then I was a thief. There was—and still is—a warrant for my arrest, and Craig…he did pay off his debts, but he didn’t get clean.”

  “Jesus,” Mia said. “Your heart was in the right place, but that was a really stupid thing to do.”

  “I know.” Lauren nodded. “It was so stupid, and I regretted it almost immediately, but I couldn’t turn myself in, not without leaving Craig all alone while he was in terrible shape. I feared for his life every day, Mia. I thought if I was there, I could keep him alive.” Lauren swiped at her eyes. “So we skipped town together and started a new life in Rhode Island, such as it was, with me on the run and him still numbing his pain with opioids. Last month, he OD’d, just like our mom. After all that…I still failed him.”