I was ready.
* * *
I woke up in a bed that was not mine with a woman’s arm tossed over my midsection and her blond hair splayed across the pillow next to mine. My body was warm. Happy. Tired in the best sense. The night before came rushing back to me in a jumble of unabashed heat. We’d slept together, Carrie and I, and it had been the most intimate and amazing night of my life. What I wanted more than anything was to revisit all of it with Carrie this morning. There was just one problem. If I wasn’t in the shower in the next five minutes, I wouldn’t just be late for work, but woefully late. As the newest reporter on the team, it wouldn’t be the best look.
I placed a soft kiss on her lips as she slept before beginning to slip out of her bed. She stirred, and I paused and watched as awareness slowly descended on her features. Her eyes opened and found mine. “Hi,” she said as a slow smile blossomed. “Oh my. It’s all coming back to me now.”
“Right? I know the feeling. It was a…night. But I’m late,” I said with a smile-wince combo. It wasn’t the best opening sentence. I’d have to work on those. I needed to be sexier in the morning, maybe stretch like a cat and pout a little. So not me, but this was all new.
“Oh no.” She pushed herself up onto her elbow. She had the sexiest bedhead. Her lips were swollen, which I took immense pride in. “We can’t have you late.” But she was kissing my breast, so her commitment to helping me get to work was severely in question.
“Oh. Um, okay,” was all my mouth was willing to say, because stop would end the amazing wash of pleasure that had just collapsed over me, and I was now wondering if unemployment mattered in the least. This was too important a moment. She sucked on that particular nipple with abandon, which had me wet and my hips rocking slowly. I was fully back in bed, on my back, and at her mercy.
“Oh, look at that,” she said, now aware of my arousal, her hand between my legs. “We can’t let that go to waste.”
My eyes slammed shut at her intimate touch. I moved my hips automatically because it felt too damn good to not participate.
“Yep. Just like that,” she said, pushing her fingers inside me, circling me with her thumb. My hips moved faster, riding her hand, head back, eyes closed, until she gently stroked my cheek. “Look at me.”
I did, and the connection was like a wildfire, catching and spreading, until I came like a shot, much faster than I should have, in an intense surge that left me shaken and trembling.
“I couldn’t let you go to work without one last good-bye,” she said, stroking my hair. “God, you’re gorgeous, Skyler.”
I shook my head. “Totally worth the time I’m going to have to make up. May I borrow your shower to get ready for work?”
A proud grin. “After last night, you can borrow anything you want. My car keys are over there. Need a plant? There’s a few in the kitchen.”
“Do you know what I really want?” I said, drinking in the sight of her topless and lounging. “To stay here and return that favor. News be damned. The people will figure it out for themselves, right?”
“I don’t know,” she said, lying back on the bed, the sheet falling just a little bit more to show off her stomach. This was a painting, I swear. “I kind of like the idea of having you owe me.”
“Well, when you say it that way, me, too.” It also answered my next question. The concept of next time. Now, I knew there would be one. Everything in me knew that this was not just a hookup, but hearing her indicate more to come certainly helped my confidence.
“Go get yourself camera-ready, though I kind of feel like the people are missing out on this version.”
I was standing next to the bed naked and had just been owned in the best way possible. “No, no. This is just for you.”
Something behind her eyes softened. “Good. I like that.”
I made myself at home in her bathroom, hurrying on one hand, and taking the time to experience Carrie’s space on the other. The incredibly soft dusty-blue towels. The little chair with the rounded back and white cushion that sat in front of her vanity station. The perfume that immediately reminded me of every interaction I’d had with her. I’d found the culprit. I was surrounded by everything Carrie, and it made me happy. Lighter.
When I emerged all blow-dried and dressed in the work clothes I’d brought over, Carrie was waiting for me in the kitchen, wearing a satin floral robe that came to mid thigh. She held a travel mug of coffee and a warm pastry on a plate. “I made these yesterday. Blueberry scones.”
I stared at the amazing-looking scone, warm from a reheat in her oven. “Yesterday? No. You worked all day.”
“The gap before work. I exist outside of the station, too.”
I took a bite and melted into a joyful puddle. “This is what you produce in your short time off.” I shook my head. “I just watch Bravo and stuff my face with processed food, literally as much as I can get in my mouth.”
“Well, your mouth is one of your best qualities. I now know.”
The scone died on its way to its destination. I’d need to notify its next of kin, because Carrie just said that, and from the look on her face, she meant it. “Well, now I don’t have words.”
“None required. Kiss me and get outta here.” She placed a hand on her hip and smiled.
That I could do. With my hands full, I leaned in and kissed her softly. “See you soon?”
“I should be there for the story meeting.”
“And I’m supposed to just pretend it’s any other morning?” I mused on my way to the door. “How am I supposed to do that? We were just naked.”
“I have confidence in you.”
I opened her front door and made my way through. “I have none!”
“Bye, Skyler.”
“Bye, Caroline McNamara.” I grinned, popped on my shades, and made sure to drive along the ocean as the sun climbed in the morning sky. San Diegans made their way to their various places of work alongside me on the highway. My morning music played, upbeat and cheerful. My coffee had never tasted better, and my blueberry scone was outta this world. I had very few complaints.
Chapter Twelve
I liked having a sexy little secret.
It kept the day tension-filled and a hell of a lot more exciting. The best kind of drug. I surveyed the busy newsroom and turned to my right where Carrie was lost in her notes, with that look of intense concentration as she bit the inside of her lip. I grinned. I’d be leaving for a live shot from the scene of an overnight hotel fire shortly, and she’d be heading to the studio for the five p.m., and no one would know when we spoke to each other across the airwaves that we’d been naked and devouring each other just sixteen hours earlier. There was something special about that, and I enjoyed having it tucked away for just us. Not nearly as much as I enjoyed every second we spent together. I liked my apartment, but I’d only spent two nights there this week, and she and I had talked on the phone both nights until we’d fallen asleep.