All The Little Moments (27 page)

Wide-eyed, Anna looked at her as she put the bottle into a jug of hot water to warm it up. “What! No, I just said
 
I
 
only got three hours sleep. Kym’s dirty little brain took
it elsewhere.”

With narrow eyes, Lane watched Kym drink her wine happily. “You
are evil.”

“You’re just so easy to
rile up.”

Chuckling, Anna started to walk out of the kitchen. “I’ll be right back, guys, just going to put Tobes down. Say
g’night, Toby.”

Toby lifted his head up from Anna’s shoulder and waved his hand. “Bye-bye.”

The two at the table all
but swooned.

“You certainly help with the ladies,
little man.”

Toby rested his head back on her shoulder
and yawned.

Anna got him down with no fuss, and left him tucked up with his blue blanket under one arm and bottle in his mouth, eyes already closed. In the kitchen, the bottle of wine was looking dangerously close
to empty.

“Are you two getting drunk to make it
through Disney?”

“We’re already both self-confessed kids’
movie lovers.”

“True. I didn’t know how much I liked them
until recently.”

“Maybe that’s another fault with your ability to look after the kids.” Lane winked at her as she reached for
a cracker.

“Yeah, maybe.” At Kym’s confused expression, Anna filled her in, “We may have had a visit from Sally’s mum at an
inconvenient time.”

“The bigot we don’t like? Please tell me you
were clothed?”

Wincing, Anna shrugged. “Mostly. It was more the timing—she stopped in to see the kids just before nine. Instead she got me, Lane in shorts that may as well be underwear, the kids ‘dumped’ at my mother’s and me a full-time worker. She was
 
not 
impressed.”

“Yikes. What did
she do?”

Lane was only too happy to jump in. “Gave stony ‘death to you all’ eyes,” she said. “Implied Anna wasn’t good for
the kids.”

“Are you
 
fucking
 
kidding me?” Kym did not seem to find it as amusing as Anna was able to find
it now.

Obviously happy that Kym was as outraged as she was, Lane looked triumphant. “Sadly, no. Anna was awesome though. She was all ‘you should really think about what’s best for the kids, Anna’ and Anna was all smooth and ‘that’s all I
ever do.’”

Anna flushed as Lane threw her
a look.

“It was sexy as hell, actually.” Lane wiggled
her eyebrows.

“Break up the
eye sex.”

They tore their gazes away, and Anna shot Kym a sheepish
look. “Sorry.”

“At least you stood up
for yourself.”

“I know how to. Besides, she’s just an angry lady filled with angry words. It
doesn’t matter.”

“You’re not mad?” Kym
looked surprised.

“That’s what
I asked!”

“I was—I am, even. But it was also kind of funny and ironic and it doesn’t matter. I need to let it go. She’ll still be a part of the kids’ lives, at least a little. I’m not going to keep them away from each other completely. So, I’ll just think she’s an idiot but
play nice.”

Kym nodded.
“Very mature.”

“I can
be, sometimes.”

They slowly finished their wine, Anna soaking up the company. The three had an easy banter, a way of talking things over without getting serious. And Anna was relieved that Kym ate two pieces of pizza and would be staying somewhere that wasn’t
the hospital.

They eventually moved after the third cry of, “Come
 
on, 
guys!” from the living room. Kym flopped onto the modular couch next to Ella, who immediately crawled onto her lap, head resting back on her shoulder. Kym wrapped her arms around the girl, and Anna couldn’t help but smile at the two—she was quickly learning that a cuddle from Ella or Toby made anything feel a
little better.

Lane sat next to Kym, and Ella threw her arm out to rest on Lane’s leg without taking her eyes off the screen. Anna dragged a giant blanket over all of them and sat next to Lane. Who would have thought sitting at home with kids and DVDs on a Saturday night would be something she’d enjoy
so much?

They were all pressed in close, and when
Aladdin
finished, Anna lost three to one in
Monsters Inc.
versus
The
Fox and the Hound
.
Monsters Inc.
won because it made everyone less sad. They settled in again, debating favourite characters and gasping theatrically at the
mean monster.

Halfway through, silence settled over them as Ella began to slowly succumb to heavy lids. Kym pulled Ella down so that the small girl was lying in front of her, sharing Kym’s pillow and blinking tiredly. The scene was cuter than Anna would expect from Kym, and she nudged Lane, then looked to Ella
and Kym.

Following Anna’s eyes, Lane chuckled quietly and looked back to Anna. “That’s
actually ridiculous.”

Anna nodded, leaning more heavily into Lane now that Ella was starting to drift off. Lane’s hand rested on her thigh, thumb rubbing small circles, a touch that started off sweet and comforting but soon started to make Anna’s mind wander to what else they could be doing. She glanced over and saw that Ella was out and Kym was probably soon to follow. Would it really be so bad if they snuck upstairs quickly? She looked to Lane, who was looking at her like she’d read
her mind.

They stared blankly at the TV for another ten minutes, Lane’s hand slowly working its way up her inner thigh, the teasing making Anna have to focus incredibly hard on not breathing
too erratically.

Anna finally tore her eyes from the TV, looked to see that Kym was fast asleep and snoring softly, Ella curled against her chest. She grabbed the hand that had been torturing her, standing and pulling Lane
after her.

They both ran up the stairs, careful to keep their footsteps quiet. Without hesitating, Anna tugged Lane into her room and shut the door quietly. She grinned as Lane backed her against it gently, both careful not to make any
thumping noises.

The whole being-quiet-but-burning-with-need thing was just making
Anna hotter.

She bit her lip as Lane pressed her against the door and actually gave a soft moan. “Seriously, you have no idea how fucking hot you look when you
do that.”

“And you have no idea how much you just touching my leg works
me up.”

Lips inches from Anna’s, Lane said, “I can
 
show
 
you how much simply touching you like that
affects me.”

Anna tilted her head, lips whispering against Lane’s, their eyes intent on each other. “We have to
be quick.”

“I don’t think that’ll be
an issue.”

Lane kissed her, teeth dragging against her bottom lip, tongue demanding in Anna’s mouth. Just as eager, Anna responded, thighs between legs as they rocked against each other, both careful to not make
a sound.

In no time, Lane’s hand was up her shirt, pushed under her bra, and her thumb swiped against Anna’s nipple; she arched her back at the sensation and dragged her nails across the small of Lane’s back, swallowing Lane’s groan. Easily, Anna undid the button on Lane’s jeans, slowly pulling down
the zip.

“Shh.”

Lane dropped her head onto Anna’s shoulder as Anna pushed her hand down past
Lane’s underwear.

“Fuck, Lane.”

Looking back at Anna, Lane’s lips parted. “It’s what you do
to me.”

Lips distracting Anna, Lane’s hand left her shirt and pushing past Anna’s waistband. A hiss escaped her lips as Lane’s fingers moved
against her.

Lane groaned into the kiss again. “You’re
so wet.”

Fingers clawing, Anna wrapped a hand behind Lane’s neck to press their foreheads together. Lane’s spare hand wrapped around her waist, holding
them steady.

Their movements were rushed, almost rough. As Lane pushed two fingers into her, Anna dropped her head back. Lane’s lips were pressed to her neck, more nipping than biting. Anna pressed her fingers more firmly against Lane, feeling her teeth bite down harder. The movement of Anna’s hips was uncontrollable as Lane moved
her fingers.

She brought her head down, face pressing into Lane’s shoulder, breath hot and fast against her skin.
“Faster, Lane.”

Lane complied, and Anna didn’t know if she could be quiet anymore. She sped her own fingers up, their rhythm lost as they both started to
come undone.

Anna came first, leg lifted up, wrapped around Lane, hips rolling forward. It was only minutes later that Lane’s orgasm washed over her, Anna’s name a
whispered groan.

Breathing erratically, a giggle escaping her, Anna dropped her leg to the ground and let her head fall back against the door,
cheeks red.

Lane grinned slowly, eyes slightly
glazed. “What?”

Anna brought her head up to look into Lane’s eyes, which now appeared almost black. “I’ve never come
that fast.”

Lane kissed her. “That
was intense.”

“I can’t feel
my legs.”

“I think I have fingernail marks in the back of
my neck.”

Anna
grimaced. “Sorry.”

“Sorry? It
was hot.”

They stood for a few more minutes before Anna finally sighed. “I think now is where I sneak
you out.”

“I don’t think you have to sneak me out when they know
I’m here.”

“True.”

“I know I’m not going to stay the
night, Anna.”

Anna looked at her almost guiltily. “That
obvious, huh?”

Lane brushed slightly dampened hair off Anna’s cheek, then left her hand hovering against it. “I
get it.”

Anna’s hand came up to rest on Lane’s wrist, fingers wrapping around it gently. “You are far
too understanding.”

“I don’t
think so.”

“Well,
you are.”

Anna kissed her again, trying to convey the emotion that always welled in her chest when Lane seemed to just
 
get
 
what was going on. Lane smiled into the kiss, and they parted, both
grinning stupidly.

“Okay, let’s go downstairs or I’m going to push you onto the bed and I’ll
never leave.”

“That really doesn’t make me want to
go downstairs.”

Lane shrugged. “Good.” With a wink, she excused herself to
the bathroom.

Anna slipped quietly into her brother’s old room to use the en suite, not letting herself pause before walking in. She tried to not smirk at her flushed cheeks while quickly rearranging her hair to its
pre-romp neatness.

She met Lane at the landing. Entwining their hands, they quietly went down the stairs. They both peeked into the living room and chuckled to see Kym and Ella still sound asleep,
Monsters Inc
. playing quietly on the screen. At the front door, Anna brought a hand up to cup Lane’s cheek, pressing her lips to Lane’s in a
chaste goodbye.

“Talk tomorrow?”

“Definitely,” Anna agreed, reluctantly pulling open
the door.

“I’m looking forward to seeing the munchkin
on Monday.”

“So is she, trust me,
Nurse Lane.”

Finally, Lane stepped through the doorway. “Bye.
Sleep well.”

“I
will now.”

A chuckle was all Lane left behind as she disappeared down
the walk.

Trying to contain a contented sigh, Anna closed the door and walked into the living room to shut off the TV. She made sure Kym and Ella were completely covered with the blanket before making her way out of
the room.

“You’re not
kidding anyone.”

Anna froze and turned back to the couch. Kym had her head propped up on her hand, elbow digging into the couch, voice low so as not to wake up Ella. She was
grinning widely.

“Oh, shut
up, Kym.”

Kym’s snickering followed her up
the stairs.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

“One day a child is
going to come careening through
that door.”

Anna chuckled at Lane’s words and burrowed further into her
side. “Probably.”

“I think I’ll be more traumatised than
the kids.”

Sleepily lifting her head, Anna looked down at Lane. “I’m teasing. The door is locked. We would hear Ella yelling at me through it, and Toby’s baby monitor
is on.”

Lane’s face visibly relaxed and Anna lay back down. An easy silence settled in
around them.

“Have you heard from
Crazy Cathy?”

“No, she’s left us
well alone.”

Already half-asleep, Lane hummed
her approval.

Despite the bad taste Cathy had left in Anna’s mouth, everything had slowly begun to settle over the last week. Kym came over for dinner, and the kids revelled in her attention. Lane and Anna acted like any friends would in front of the kids and used the night-time and days in the hospital to lavish affection on each other. Ella, now cast-free, seemed to enjoy having Lane and
Kym around.

Anna and Lane slowly learnt how to map each other’s bodies, until sometimes, during sex, Anna wasn’t sure where Lane ended and she began. They’d move, coming together urgently, a dance that began when Anna first walked through the doors in the morning to see Lane holding out a coffee and smiling. More than once they met in inappropriate places around
the hospital.

Never had she been with someone where conversation came just as easily as the physical side. And what an incredible physical side
that was.

“You know,” Anna pressed her lips to Lane’s clavicle, “someone told me something
last week.”

“Mm?” Lane turned her head, face against
Anna’s hair.

“They said they’d never seen you happier than the last couple
of months.”

“Bloody Kym.”

“I’m just—I’m glad. That I make
you happy.”

“Good.” Lane murmured. “Because you really,
really do.”

Lane rolled suddenly so Anna was under her, head perched on her hand, elbow digging into the pillow. Their legs slipped together easily, smile fading at the intense look that had taken over
Lane’s face.

“You keep saying thanks to me, for being understanding, and for everything.”

Anna was mesmerised by the way Lane’s lips moved, the way her eyes darkened, the way the light played across her skin—skin Anna could easily touch
all day.

“But you have no idea how grateful I am that you ran me over with a
shopping cart.”

“So glad I
bruised you.”

“So was I. I went to that party and told Kym I’d been run over by the hottest brunette I’d
ever seen.”

At Anna’s disagreeing look, Lane stamped a kiss to her cheek.
“You are.”

“You’re just saying that because I
put out.”

“True.”

“I mean it though, and Kym was just being polite in her wording—you really have made me stupidly happy. It isn’t just that I wasn’t really happy before, I was actually just coming out of a patch of being
pretty miserable.”

Anna’s face darkened with
concern. “Miserable?”

“I had been feeling a little stagnant. I loved my job, but things here were rough. When Kym’s husband died, well, I knew him fairly well, and she was a mess, and it seemed like all the women I met were crazy. My ex and I had been over for a while, but the sting of her
cheating lingered.”

As she listened to Lane talk, Anna pushed Lane’s hair behind her ear and let the tendrils play between her fingers. She knew much of this, but it had mostly come out
in banter.

“I wasn’t sure if I would trust someone again.” Lane licked her lips nervously, and when Anna went to speak, Lane rushed on, “I wasn’t blameless in that break up
though, Anna.”

“What do you mean?” Anna watched her intently. “Did you cheat on
her too?”

The thought made Anna’s heart speed up. Everybody made mistakes, but the idea of Lane cheating seemed so foreign to who Anna thought
she was.

“No. Not that. But just
as bad.”

Lane dropped back so she lay on her side, leaning on her elbow. Anna mirrored her, leg hooked over Lane’s hip to keep them connected. Despite how close their faces were, Lane avoided
eye contact.

“What
happened, Lane?”

A flush had risen on Lane’s cheeks. “When I met Alex, she was in a relationship. The first time something happened between us, I didn’t know that. But I did after. And it kept happening. I—there’s no excuse. I guess I thought I believed her when she said they were having problems and were going to end. But it took a long time. I was the other woman for a long time, waiting for that relationship
to end.”

Anna blinked. She would never have thought Lane would put herself in that position. They were silent for a minute as Anna digested
the information.

Obviously nervous, fingers picking at the sheet over Anna’s hip, Lane gave a half shrug. “It was a bad move, and I didn’t feel good about it. I really did think they were ending, but at the same time, I knew they weren’t over and I let it continue. I found out a year into our relationship through someone that knew them that Alex’s girlfriend had been blindsided when she ended it.” Lane paused. “Clearly Alex was lying to both
of us.”

“You didn’t know it was that serious, Lane,” Anna said. The grim smile on Lane’s lips tugged at
her heart.

“I knew something. I wasn’t innocent in it. I was infatuated with her, I don’t know why. I thought that she and I had something, and whenever I had doubts she was so good at talking me around
to waiting.”

“Everyone
makes mistakes.”

Lane finally met her eye. “Before that happened, I didn’t think I was the kind of person who would do something like that. I was really critical of other people who did. When she finally ended it, I thought that was it. That was the reason I had kept going—because Alex and I were serious. We lived together, did the civil partnership thing. But then…” Lane sighed. “Then Alex slowly became really distant. Wasn’t home as often. Didn’t answer
her phone…”

“The woman who was painting
your porch?”

“It had been going on for
six months.”

Anna’s mouth dropped open.
“Six months!”

Lane flopped onto her back. “I felt so stupid, Anna. Of course she cheated on me. She’d done it before, why would I
be different?”

At the tightness in Lane’s voice, Anna shifted forward so she was pressed along her side. “What do
you mean?”

“I thought we had something serious, which was why I let it start so terribly. Then, though…then it ended the same way it started. There was no justification to what
I did.”

“Hey.”

Lane kept her eyes trained on
the ceiling.

“Lane, look at me.” Finally, those dark eyes caught her own, and Anna gave a soft smile. “Okay, what you did wasn’t the greatest. But Alex was in the wrong. She was the responsible one in both of those relationships. She obviously has no respect for relationships
or women.”

With a slight huff, Lane looked back to
the ceiling.

“Hey! It’s true. And she’s an idiot to give you up.” This time, Lane completely rolled her eyes. Anna’s fingers gripped her cheek and tugged gently so Lane had to look at her. “She is
an idiot.”

“Anyway, I just wanted you to understand. After that, I was pretty burned. I’d rushed into a relationship in the worst way possible. And it ended terribly. It was a really bad year after that, and then Kym’s husband and—I
was down.”

The look on Lane’s face was so sincere, and Anna surged forward, kissing her firmly. “Are you
still down?”

Pushing Anna onto her back, Lane half sprawled on top of her. “No. I’m not. And that’s thanks
to you.”

Black eyes stared down at her, and Anna ran her fingers against Lane’s cheek. Strangely, Lane’s past didn’t make Anna question her morals; rather, it made her even more sure of them. The look on Lane’s face as she’d confessed and told the story, the way she accepted her part of the blame. How she had obviously taken something away from
that lesson.

Lane leant into the touch slightly as she continued, “So, stop saying thank you to me. Because I will do the same and say it to you over and over again but, trust me,
it’s annoying.”

Lane’s nose nuzzled against Anna’s cheek, lips pressing against
her mouth.

Lane pulled back, eyes soft. “What we have—this is
pretty amazing.”

“It is.”

They held eye contact, skin
to skin.

Breathless with the feeling that bubbled up in her chest, Anna didn’t know what to say. The emotion Lane induced was almost overpowering at times like this. Everything just said made Anna want to wrap Lane in her arms and protect her. It all felt so fast, but in other ways so slow. Anna wrapped her arms around Lane, flipping them over smoothly, and settled between Lane’s legs. With an intensity that left them both gasping, Anna
kissed her.

“What was that for?” Lane asked, hands entwining in her hair as Anna moved her lips against
Lane’s neck.

She couldn’t answer, emotion swelling in her throat. Instead, she kissed her again as hard as she could, fingers biting into the skin of Lane’s hip. Lane returned the kiss in kind, both hands holding Anna’s face
to her.

Everything Anna felt, she poured into
that kiss.

Lane arched
against her.

It was two hours later that Lane finally rolled her way out of
the bed.

On her stomach, Anna lay with her chin resting on her forearm, lying with her head down the wrong end of the bed. Her legs were bent at the knees, ankles crossed, feet in
the air.

As she pulled on her clothes, Lane looked down
at her.

“I think you should pull that
sheet off.”

“It’s barely
covering me.”

Lane bent over pressing a kiss to Anna’s bare shoulder as she did up her jeans. “Any cover is too much. You have the perfect ass. Why
cover it?”

“I’d argue yours
is better.”

“You’ll lose.”

Reaching forward, Anna wrapped her fingers around Lane’s wrist. When Anna tugged at Lane for a kiss, she shook her head as Anna tried to pull her back down onto
the bed.

Anna pouted as Lane pulled back, sliding her bra on and smiling down at Anna’s puppy eyes. “If you insist on these hideous rules that include me sneaking out at stupid hours, you have to deal with me leaving
your bed.”

“Fine.”

“Easy for you to be grumpy, you don’t have to work in…” Now fully dressed, Lane checked her watch, stifling a groan, “ugh,
six hours.”

“I do get jumped on in approximately four. Five if
I’m lucky.”

“Yeah, and then you have a hard day of hanging out with two cuties and going to
the park.”

Anna rolled onto her back, arm under her head and eyes on Lane. A smirk played on her lips as Lane’s eyes automatically slid to her chest. Anna closed
her eyes.

“You make it sound like they aren’t hard work. Plus, I have grocery shopping.” She opened her eyes again. “You can do that instead if
you want?”

Blinking, Lane tore her eyes away and grabbed her bag off the floor, slinging it over her shoulder. “I think you make up the stories of them being
a handful.”

“Don’t make me leave them with you
all day.”

Eyes wide, Lane raised her
hands. “Touché.”

“Go before I drag you back
into bed.”

Leaning over Anna so her face hovered above Anna’s, Lane’s hair fell around them. “You can drag me back to bed. But I won’t get out of
it twice.”

“Damn.”

With a laugh, Lane kissed her again. As she pulled back, Anna was
grinning. “What?”

“Spiderman kiss.”

“You are
a dork.”

Rolling onto her stomach, Anna watched her walk
away. “Lane.”

Lane paused in the door and turned to look at
her. “Yeah?”

“Thanks for
telling me.”

“Thanks
for listening.”

With one last look, Lane
walked out.

Coffee with Kym started as it usually did—whoever was there first ordered. So this time, when Anna walked up, Kym was seated at one of their tables with two takeaway cups in front
of her.