“Oh, that was thoughtful. But you didn’t have to do that.”
“Glass of the Zingari Toscana for you, Carrie?” the server asked with a smile. She had a pencil behind her ear and one arm full of tattoos. Impressive. I’d never have the courage for such a permanent decision, but the ink worked for her.
“I’d love one, Johanna.”
“For you?”
“Oh. I’ll have a glass, too.” Johanna nodded and headed off. “They know your order. You’re a Jack’s regular.”
She winced. “I’ve had a few here. It’s true.” She sat back. “Seth, huh?”
“Seth.”
“What the hell? Kristin said you made the connection before the police even tied the crimes together.”
I shrugged. “Different officers taking the reports. I was lucky enough to be the commonality.”
“Oh, don’t do that.” She shook her head. “Don’t downplay your skills or the power of your observations. Women so often gloss over their achievements when we should be hanging banners about all we accomplish. No one does those things for us. So I’m celebrating you on your behalf.”
Our drinks arrived and I lifted my glass. “You’re right. To how fucking brilliant I am.”
“And to getting Seth the help he needs.”
We touched our glasses and she regarded me. “You look really pretty tonight.”
This was not the first time she’d complimented my appearance, but for some reason, it felt like the most…intimate. It was just the two of us, sitting in a dimly lit booth late at night. It wasn’t just a pleasantry. It couldn’t have been. I let that settle.
“Thank you.”
“Skyler?”
“Yes?”
“The blushing at compliments is also a nice touch.”
I rolled my lips in, trying to squash the heat on my cheeks, but I felt her gaze on my skin, and that upped the difficulty. Finally, I decided to just roll with it. “I’m glad we’re doing this. Spending time together.” I still wasn’t sure what it all meant, what her intentions were, because it was hard for me to believe they were anything beyond those of a friendly colleague. However, the evidence was beginning to suggest otherwise. I liked the evidence very much.
“Yeah.” She bit the inside of her lip and my middle section went tight. “There’s something I want to show you. Follow me.”
“Okay, sure.” We left our glasses and I followed her down a little hallway off the main room that was lined with a series of framed photos on the wall. I perused the selection as we walked, noticing one of her and Rory with their arms around a guy I imagined to be Jack himself. I pointed at the photo and turned to her, ready to comment, only to have my shoulders gently pressed against the opposite wall and Carrie step into my space. “Oh,” was all I managed as my eyes dropped to her lips a split second before they were on mine. I was instantly warm and alive and beyond turned-on. I kissed her back, savoring the experience of the warmth of her mouth. Her lips parted, granting me entrance, and I slipped my tongue into her mouth, tasting. The hallway was dark and private enough that I let myself get lost in her and the haze of kissing the most intoxicating woman I’d ever known. How was this my life? I sank into that kiss with all I had. Her hands cupped my face, and when she pressed her body up against mine, it pulled a moan from the back of my throat. She was every bit as confident at kissing as she was on air, and it was hot as fuck. A door at the end of the hallway opened, and Caroline took a reflexive step back. Calm. Cool. One of the servers passed us, and we nodded. Meanwhile, everything in me screamed out at the loss because all I wanted to do in this world was reverse our positions, press her against that damn wall, and pick up where we left off with the kind of dedication kissing Carrie demanded.
The server disappeared around the corner and we were left alone in the hallway. We watched each other for a beat. Our breathing tracked noticeably faster, and we came back together again without a word. My fingers slid into her hair and her hands landed at my waist, hauling me in, hips to hips. Our eyes met. Hers flashed. The tension of those first few encounters, the flirtatious energy of the last few, the compliments, stolen looks all came together in an explosion of passion. My fantasies had been good, but nothing compared to the reality of this moment, this woman.
“I didn’t know that was gonna happen,” I said, apparently embracing my honest side.
She touched her lips and rolled them in. I wondered if she tasted the gloss from my lips. “I surprised myself. Should I apologize? I will if—”
“God, no.”
A pause. She softened. “Good. I just…you have an effect on me.” Her mouth was so close to mine. “That’s the best way to put it.”
I didn’t know how that was possible, but after the last five minutes, I was starting to believe in my power. Was a little drunk with it now. “I had no idea, but I will say that I can definitely identify. Well, now that you’re nicer.”
That pulled a smile. “It’s paying off.”
I asked what I had to. “When we leave this hallway, is this whole thing going to disappear? Back to business as usual tomorrow?” Quite simply, I didn’t want the spell to break.
“I think that’s up to us.”
I nodded. Absorbing. “I like options.”
“Me, too.” She inclined her head back down the hallway. “I propose we take the option to finish that wine before Johanna thinks we ditched it.”
I exhaled, trying to remember what a simple task like wine drinking might entail because my world had been wonderfully disrupted. “I think I can manage that.”
It turned out to be harder than I thought. We attempted to muddle our way through conversation.
“Tell me about your mom,” Carrie said. “You said she raised you alone.”
I nodded and swirled the wine in my glass. My heart still thudded. Focus. “She worked long hours and put herself through law school, trying to provide for me. So she wasn’t around a lot, but when she was, she was always this bright light in my life. I spent a lot of time with my aunt and uncle, lived with them for months at a time. And Sarah, my cousin, who you’ve met. She was at the dinner party.”
“The sweetest human on the planet.” The way she was looking at me, though, said her mind wasn’t on Sarah or her sweet qualities. It was where mine was, trapped back down that hallway and wanting to kiss her again.
“She’s pretty great.”
“I can tell.”
“Me, too.”
“A lot.”