Quinn leaned in, pausing just long enough to give Amanda an outif she wanted it. Instead of backing away, she mirrored the gesture, making thedistance between them even smaller. Barely an inch separated their mouths now.The smell of Amanda’s perfume invaded her senses and addled her brain. But eventhrough the haze, the wanting remained. So different from the haphazard brushof lips the last time.
It would be silly to say she’d forgotten what it felt like, butin a way she had. To be reminded, to remember, standing in the porch light withthis beautiful and interesting woman, felt a bit like magic.
She pressed her lips to Amanda’s. Softly at first, gently. Shewanted to give herself a moment to acclimate as much as she wanted to give thatto Amanda. But then Amanda sighed, a sound so soft and so feminine, it sentQuinn’s already racing pulse skittering. And she was done.
She brought a hand to Amanda’s neck, let her fingers slide intoAmanda’s hair. It was thick and soft and made her want to wrap herself up init. Amanda grasped Quinn’s arm, her grip stronger than Quinn would haveguessed. The idea of Amanda being stronger than she looked made her smile.
She slid her other hand to the small of Amanda’s back and pulledher closer. Not that there was much space left between them. But the shiftbrought their entire bodies together. Amanda’s breasts pressing into her madeher entire body hum. For someone on the fence about going in for a kiss, shewas awfully close to asking for a whole lot more. The realization piercedthrough the haze in her mind and made her pull back.
Amanda’s eyes fluttered open. “I think we should do that again.”
Quinn merely nodded. The kiss was more purposeful this time, lessof a question. And hotter. The slide of Amanda’s tongue against hers cranked upthe heat factor tenfold.
It went on and on, making Quinn think vaguely shecould—would—happily kiss Amanda for hours. With or without something more. Notthat she wasn’t already thinking about more. When they finally stopped, shefelt lightheaded and out of breath. She hoped it wasn’t just her. Amanda didn’tlet go of her arm—definitely a good sign. She tried to fill her lungs withoxygen, to steady herself. “Wow.”
Amanda smiled. “Yeah.”
“I really hope we can do this again.”
Amanda’s eyes, already dark with desire, danced with humor.“Dinner or making out on my front porch?”
“Both?”
“The best answer.”
“Name the day.”
“Pretty much any day but Saturday.” She shrugged. “Weddingcakes.”
“Right, right.” In her book, the sooner she got to see Amandaagain, the better. “How’s Tuesday? We could do early dinner and maybe a movie?”
“Perfect.”
It was her place to leave at this point, but difficult to tearherself away. “I’ll be looking forward to it.”
“Same.” Amanda seemed like she might be on the verge of invitingher in.
Quinn cleared her throat. If Amanda did, she wouldn’t be able torefuse. And as much as she might want it, first date sex was not even remotelyher style. “Okay. So, good night.”
She was pretty sure her delivery gave away where her thoughts hadbeen, but that was okay.
Amanda fished keys out of her purse and unlocked her door. “Goodnight.”
Quinn started toward her car. At the sidewalk, she turned. Justlike the first night she’d been there, Amanda hovered in the doorway andoffered a parting wave. Quinn returned it and continued on her way, happyTuesday wasn’t all that far away.
Chapter Fourteen
“You okay?”
Quinn jumped. Arti hovered in her doorway. “Never better. What’sup?”
Arti folded her arms. “I was standing there for like five minutesand not only did you not notice me, you didn’t even move.”
She chuckled. “Daydreaming. You caught me.”
“Something good I hope.”
“Yes, but not work related.” She didn’t want to be asked whatbrilliance she’d come up with when the entirety of her thoughts involvedkissing Amanda.
Arti shifted, lifting both hands defensively. “Hey, I’m notjudging. Just checking on you.”
When she and Lesedi broke up, Arti was beyond understanding ofQuinn’s sad and distracted state. She hadn’t dropped the ball on anything, butalso hadn’t brought her A-game for months. She’d promised herself she wouldn’tever let that happen again. “All good. Promise.”
“Things with Amanda?”
“Yeah.” She’d talked with Arti about seeing Amanda before theirfirst official date. It was a gray area, working with clients on contract. Butsince the design work was complete and the remaining work consultative, Artiagreed it wouldn’t be a conflict of interest. Well, agreed might be anunderstatement. There might have been a bit of cheering over Quinn finallywanting to go on a date.
Arti came the rest of the way into her office and plopped in thechair across from her. “Do I get to ask about it?”
The questions made Quinn oddly self-conscious. She and Arti werefriends, for sure, but they still worked together. “There’s not much to tell,at least not yet. We went out once and have plans to go out again.”
“But you’ve already had dinner at her house. And you wentantiquing.”
She flipped her hand back and forth. “Yes, but dinner was moreapology than date. She felt bad about forgetting our appointment.”
Arti shook her head. “She might have felt bad, but women don’tinvite you over for dinner if they don’t like you. And they certainly don’t goantiquing.”
She hadn’t allowed herself to believe it at the time, but itdidn’t seem so far-fetched now. “Either way, it set the stage for the real dateso I’m not about to complain.”
“Of course, of course. But you still haven’t told me about thedate itself.”
When push came to shove, Arti proved an easier audience than hersisters. Probably better to practice talking about it before swimming with thesharks.
“What’s wrong? I thought you said it was all good?”
Quinn smiled. “Sorry. I was thinking about the third degree I’mgoing to get from Kiera about this.”
Arti, who knew both of Quinn’s sisters, laughed. “See? I’m easy.”
“Easy is relative, my friend. All relative.”
Arti waited a beat, then said, “Easy but not letting you off thehook.”
If she asked for privacy, or hinted she genuinely didn’t want
