“Adley.” Adley took her hand. It was warm and soft, her shake firm, confident.
“It’s nice to meet you, Adley.” Sabrina held up her glass. “Cheers.”
Adley touched her wine to the rocks glass in Sabrina’s hand and felt snared by her gaze. “Your eyes are so blue.” Oh my God, did I say that out loud? She gave her head a quick shake and closed her own eyes for a second. This woman had her off balance in a big way. Not something she was used to.
“Well, you have incredible hair.”
There was a beat of quiet, and then they both burst into laughter, which eased the tension considerably, thank fucking God, but did nothing to quiet the buzz of sexual energy that so clearly ran between them like an electric current. “You know, it’s weird,” Adley began, completely aware that she was about to say things to Sabrina Whose Last Name She Didn’t Even Know that she probably shouldn’t. Things she’d never said to anybody. Because she’d never been in this situation. “I am not somebody who picks people up in bars. I don’t even hit on them. But you…” She tipped her head and studied Sabrina, who was watching her closely, a small smile playing at her full lips. “I don’t know what it is. I want…I want to…”
“So do I.” The small smile grew, and Sabrina stood up. “Come with me,” she said, holding out her hand.
And the absurd thing was Adley didn’t even hesitate. She slid off her chair, put her hand in Sabrina’s, and let herself be led. Past the bar and the poor schmuck who’d tried to pick up Sabrina as Adley had watched. Past the end of the bar and through the back hallway to the ladies’ room. It was a Wednesday, and maybe that’s why the bar wasn’t terribly busy, but there was nobody else in the ladies’ room—though Adley wondered if that even would’ve mattered. Sabrina spun around and stepped toward Adley until her back hit the door, and then they were close, so close. Sabrina’s eyes had a dark ring around the blue—she could see that now. Her lashes were thick and dark, her brows a bit lighter, her hair lighter still. And her lips…God, her lips. Full and pink and shiny and—
And then there was a kiss.
Oh, dear sweet Jesus on a unicycle, what a kiss.
It started slow. Soft. Not tentative, but not demanding. Not yet. Sabrina was slightly shorter than Adley. She tasted like bourbon, strong and a little sweet, and Adley’s hand was in her hair before she even knew she was lifting it. Silky hair, thicker than expected, and Adley grasped the back of Sabrina’s neck and pulled her closer and that’s when demanding entered the chat. Sabrina pushed her tongue into Adley’s mouth, and Adley welcomed it, brought up the other hand, selfishly pulling Sabrina in as far as she could, and they played that delicious game of push-pull, of give-and-take, of top and bottom.
Adley was instantly wet, everything south of her waistband tightening, and God, when was the last time she’d been this turned-on this fast? Ever? Had that ever happened? She wasn’t sure she believed in love at first sight, but she certainly believed in lust at first sight because that had happened tonight, just now, and she was living it.
Everything faded into the background. Her job, her job worries, what Scottie would think, the rest of the bar—everything softened into a blur, and the only thing that stood out in sharp relief was Sabrina. Her body against Adley’s. Her tongue doing things to Adley’s mouth that made her feel like her knees were about to give out. Her hands…God, her hands were everywhere, strong and sure, and what if Adley just melted? Just gave in and became a big puddle of nothing but sexual bliss? Could she do that? Because holy mother of dragons, she wanted to.
How long did they make out? Yeah, make out was the right choice of words. They had blown right past kissing and shot straight to making out. Like teenagers. It was ridiculous. This was ridiculous, but so, so good. Had Sabrina been kissing her all her life? Oh my God, had they been together in another life? Adley had a friend who believed in that sort of thing, and after this, Adley might believe in it too because how was it possible for a stranger to know her body so well? Thank God they were standing up and making out in a bathroom because if they’d been in bed, Adley might never let this woman leave. Like, ever.
With no idea how much time had passed, Adley slowly pulled her head back and looked into those blue eyes. They’d gone dark and hooded, Sabrina’s ragged breathing matching her own.
“Hi,” Adley whispered.
“Hey there,” Sabrina said back, her face barely two inches from Adley’s.
“So, yeah, um, I don’t do this.” Wow, could she say something sadder? Yikes. She closed her eyes. “Oh, that was pathetic.”
To her credit, Sabrina laughed softly. “Not at all, because I was going to say the same thing.” She toyed with the collar on Adley’s shirt, ran her fingertip across her collarbone, back and forth. “I’m only in town temporarily, so…”
Well, that figured. Not that Adley was surprised. She wasn’t somebody that was well acquainted with good luck. “Ah, I see.” She cleared her throat and did her best to find some bravado she didn’t feel. “I mean, I’m super busy and don’t have a ton of time anyway…” She shrugged. Actually shrugged.
Sabrina tipped her head to the side, and it was weird that Adley had just met her but could already read her face, could already tell she had an idea. “What if…” Her gaze moved from Adley’s collarbones up to the ceiling. “God, this is nuts.” She blew out a breath. “But I’m just gonna say it. Fuck it. I’m gonna say it. What if we did this every so often? My job is out of control. Intense. Stressful. And sometimes…”
“You just want to blow off some steam with no strings attached.” Adley said the words without even thinking about them.
“Yes! With somebody who’s not tied to my job and doesn’t know a thing about it.”
“I so get that.” And she did. While she’d never thought about it exactly, it was an idea she could totally get behind. “It could be a drink. It could be a walk.” She swallowed. “It could be a make-out session in the bathroom of a bar.”
“I mean, it could be a make-out session just about anywhere,” Sabrina whispered, and then her mouth was on Adley’s again, and all Adley’s thoughts flew right out of her head.
Chapter Two
“Are you kidding me?” Scottie shouted, eyes wide with clear disbelief as she sat on a stool at the stainless steel back counter of Adley’s ice cream shop, Get the Scoop. It was late on Thursday morning, and she’d stopped by to say hi on her way to work at the salon she owned with her two friends.
“I’m not. We exchanged numbers and will periodically let each other know where the other is if we need some”—Adley grinned and gave her shoulders a little shimmy as she said the next words—“recreational activity.”