Hold You In My Arms (Stevens book 9)

Chapter 18

Fiona was putting the food that she and Henry hadn't eaten in the fridge when Bebe and Lenora entered the apartment. They were laughing about something and stopped short when they saw her.

"Why are you here?" Bebe wailed. She had a few too many, by the sound of it.

"I live here?" Fiona questioned.

"Noooooooo!" she fell onto the couch. "You're supposed to be with the hot piece of eye candy you left the bar with!" Bebe was acting as if her whole world had crashed down around her.

"A friend of his needed help, so he had to leave," Fiona explained, trying to keep it as simple as possible.

"He helps friends!" Bebe cried again. "He's perfect. Will he be my friend?"

Fiona smiled. "I'm sure he will."

Bebe lifted her hand to her chest and hiccuped. "You would share him with me," she asked in a hushed whisper.

"As a friend, sure, but otherwise, he's all mine." Fiona eyed Bebe, who looked as if she was about to pass out.

"Would you help me get her to bed?" Lenora asked as she tried to pull Bebe to her feet. When she wouldn't budge, Fiona grabbed her other hand, and on the count of three, they both pulled her to her feet.

"You guys are the best!" Bebe said, giving Lenora a big sloppy kiss on the cheek. Bebe was a loving drunk.

They somehow managed to get her to bed and get her shoes off of her feet before she started snoring. When that happened, Fiona and Lenora slowly backed away from the sleeping girl without waking her. Experience had taught them both that if Bebe woke suddenly while drunk, she would vomit all over them. They sighed in relief when the door closed behind them.

"What did happen with your handsome friend?" Lenora asked as she moved across the hall to her room.

"Just what I said. A friend showed up, and he had to help." Fiona shrugged.

"If you say so, but the way you two were looking at each other at the bar, I was sure we wouldn't see you for a few days at least." Lenora grinned. "Some girls have all the luck."

"This time, it wasn't me," Fiona sighed as she opened her bedroom door.

"Maybe next time. Goodnight," Lenora softly called across the hallway as she closed her door behind her.

Fiona did the same and closed her door behind her as she turned on her light. Henry was a good man, and she knew he had done what he felt he needed to do, but she wished that Dixie hadn't shown up. She must have been following Henry the entire time, which was creepy, but understandable on a certain level because she wanted to follow Henry too.

Fiona's thoughts darted to his admission of love, and she smiled at her reflection as she removed her jewelry and let her hair down. Maybe that admission meant that one day she would have the right to follow him all the way across the country if needed.

They had a lot to talk about, and she hoped they could meet again very soon.

Fiona was lost in a daydream of precisely what that meeting would be like when she heard a light tapping at her window. The noise made her jump, and she spun around to see a head just above the bottom of the window sill. She had opened her mouth to scream when she recognized Henry's eyes watching her.

Fiona raced to the window and opened it, kneeling to his level. "What are you doing tapping at my window, and how did you know it was my window?"

"Shhh, keep it down!" Henry hushed her. "I know it was your window because none of you close your window blinds. You're lucky you don't have more men knocking at your windows."