Of Course, It's You

Chapter 32

HANNAH

"So, Hannah, are you still nervous?" Carmen asked, unwrapping the burger Hannah brought.

Hannah slid into the bar stool beside her, trying not to focus on the fact that she was dressed like a movie star and sitting at the same kitchen island Carmen had laid out on not that long ago.

"A bit," she said, though that wasn't the full truth. Her nerves were a tangled mess. Part awe, part deep-rooted desire, and part panic that she was now attending an event with a woman who felt entirely out of her league.

"Only a bit?" Carmen asked before taking a bite.

"You want the honest answer?" Hannah asked.

"Always."

Hannah set her food down, unable to meet Carmen's eyes. "I'm sitting here, in this," she gestured vaguely at her outfit, "eating burgers with someone who looks like she was born for a red carpet. Terrified is more accurate. You're... intimidating."

Carmen smiled through her mouthful, covering it with a hand. "That's your honest answer?"

Hannah tapped the counter lightly with her fingers. "This spot's giving me flashbacks too." Carmen coughed, almost choking on her bite. "And now I'll be walking into this huge event with someone who, let's be honest, people stop and stare at. You're out of my league. This doesn't feel real."

Carmen reached over and pinched Hannah's arm.

"Ow. What the hell?"

"See? Real."

Hannah looked at her, brow furrowed.

"I'm nervous too."

"You? Aren't you used to this kind of thing?" Hannah asked.

"I go," Carmen confessed. "But I'm always Robert Mills' daughter. And the women I show up with? Models. Camera-ready women with known faces."

That didn't help. Not at all.

Hannah scoffed. "Like I said, out of my league. I'll be walking in the back entrance."

"No." Carmen's hand rested gently on her knee. "Don't take that the wrong way. I don't say that to make you feel small. I'm trying to say... those women didn't mean anything to me. I was just filling space."

Hannah glanced at her, still skeptical.

"They used me to gain some type of social status. Some type of exposure. If I'm being honest, I hate the thought of going to these things alone. It was transactional, in a sense. I had someone with me, they got their shot at fame. It wasn't real. And not fair... to them or me."

She hesitated, then added, "This time feels different."

Hannah chewed her lip. "Really?"

"Really," Carmen nodded. "According to Dani, I'm 'infatuated' and need to reevaluate workplace protocols for dating within the office. She would probably kick me if I didn't tell you everything I'm feeling, and since we agreed, we should get to know each other."

Hannah laughed. "So... this is a date?"

Carmen flushed. "Only if you want it to be."

"I already told you I'd like that." Hannah touched her chin, lifting her gaze. "I brought fast food to try and knock this whole night down a few pegs. Back to earth. Just in case you forgot I'm a burger-and-fries kind of girl."

"And that," Carmen said, her voice softer, "is precisely why I like you."

The confession struck them both. It hung in the air between them. Carmen had laid it out there in the open.