The thing about living on the outskirts of town was that the power grids weren't exactly the best...
A winter storm had blown in the night before and, by noon that day, the whole ranch was without power. And without power, they couldn't exactly host guests. (Emily supposed she should have been thrilled about having a night off, but she found herself oddly missing the action...if for no other reason than it would have kept her mind busy and prevented her from dwelling on the frosty atmosphere between her and Alex.)
She'd been thrilled to wake up and find that Alex hadn't made a hasty exit while she was asleep. She was less thrilled, though, when her attempts at conversation had all been met with clipped responses. Derek, of course, missed nothing and had repeatedly tried to instigate conversations between the two women, but Alex's mortification was, apparently, stronger than Derek's stubborn intruding.
That evening, the three adults found themselves curled up in front of the roaring fire, enjoying the warmth and the flickering light. The children had long since gone to bed (armed with flashlights, in case they needed the bathroom in the middle of the night) and Derek seemed to sense this as being the perfect opportunity...
"Well, ladies," he announced, standing from the sofa and stretching, "I'm going to chop some more wood before the storm gets any worse." He shot Emily a significant glance...as if she could possibly have misconstrued his motives. "Try not to miss me too much," he added, never able to resist a little mischievous joke.
Neither Emily nor Alex spoke for several long minutes, even after the door had closed behind Derek, signalling his departure into the snow, until Emily could stand the silence no longer. "I didn't plan that, you know?" she burst out, sounding significantly more frustrated than she'd anticipated.
Alex raised a brow. "Plan what?" she inquired.
"Derek interrupting us last night," she said pointedly. "I mean, I also hadn't planned on kissing you either, but I'm not sorry about that part."
"Meaning you are sorry we were interrupted?" she couldn't resist asking and it was almost playful.
All she could do in response was shrug sheepishly because she wasn't, in fact, sorry. "It was a good kiss," she added quietly, gaze flicking down to her hands where she was nervously picking at her nails. When she met Alex's gaze again, she was surprised to find no enmity there. In fact, her gaze was soft and almost tender. "You're not...angry?" she asked.
"Of course not."
"Then..." she started, stopped, tried again, "Then why have you been so distant?"
Alex sighed then, almost weary. "Embarrassment," she admitted, "And, shall we say, trepidation." At Emily's curious expression, she explained, "It's been a while since I've kissed anyone. I haven't kissed anyone other than my husband since I was sixteen..." She felt her cheeks flush at having to admit that aloud. "I suppose afterwards it all just started to hit me that I really have no clue how to navigate any sort of romantic relationship anymore."
Emily nodded slowly, thoughtfully. "I can understand that," she said. "But it was just a kiss. It didn't have to lead anywhere and even if it did go somewhere, it doesn't necessarily have to be romantic..." She shrugged as if she didn't know exactly what she was implying.
"Meaning what?" Alex asked, head cocked almost quizzically.
She chewed her lip a moment, debating whether she wanted to say the next part or whether it would ruin any sort of professional relationship they had built up so far. She said it anyway, "Meaning we can just leave the feelings part out of the equation and do the fun parts."
"You're talking about friends with benefits," Alex said the words Emily was apparently reticent to speak.
She shrugged, but nodded.
"I don't know..." she said, shaking her head slowly. "I've never done that before. I'm not sure I know how to...not have feelings become a part of it."
"That's fair," Emily said. "We can take it at your pace, though. You call all the shots. And if it gets to be too confusing or whatever, we call it off."
It was clear she was still hesitant, but before they could discuss the matter any further, Derek returned with an armful of firewood.
Emily was brushing her teeth in the en-suite bathroom and feeling rather like a complete and utter ass. Clearly, Alex wasn't the friends with benefits type and she probably thought Emily was some sort of tramp who went around making indecent proposals to people she'd just met... She shook her head at her own reflection, wishing she had some sort of filter that prevented her from saying and doing stupid things when it came to people she genuinely liked.
A little knock sounded at her bedroom door and, curious, she went to investigate. Alex stood there, wringing her hands and looking well and truly terrified. "Everything okay?" Emily asked, suddenly concerned Ethan were ill or hurt.
She nodded, then opened her mouth to speak, but no words would come out. Instead, she reached a shaking hand toward Emily to cup her cheek, pulling her in to a timid kiss.
At first, Emily was too stunned to kiss her back, but the hesitation didn't last long...
When they pulled apart for air, Alex's cheeks flamed about eight different shades of red, but she seemed set on her decision. "I want to try it," she whispered, as if afraid of once again being interrupted by Derek. "I realized tonight that I haven't done anything just for me in longer than I can remember. I've been so focused on Ethan and making sure he never wants for anything that I never stopped to ask myself what I want..."
"And what is that?" Emily asked, a little smirk playing about her lips.
Alex didn't answer with words, but by once again leaning in for a kiss, this time far less timid, but no less certain.