When Quinn eased away, she almost whimpered. She settled for ablissful sigh.
Quinn grinned. “I’m going to have to do that again. Is thatokay?”
“Yes, please.”
The second kiss had more heat than the first and left her temptedto pull Quinn inside. Too bad there wasn’t a square foot of privacy to be hadin the bakery at the moment. The thought made her giddy. She’d never had sex inthe bakery. Would Quinn indulge her? Not today, obviously, but maybe before shereopened.
“What? What are you thinking right now?”
She shook her head, suddenly embarrassed. “Only that I should letyou get back to work and I don’t really want to.”
Not untrue, and it made Quinn smile. “I’ll see you soon.”
“Can’t wait.” Especially now that they’d established Quinn wouldspend the night.
* * *
Quinn returned to the bakery, whistling. Work had stopped. Someof the guys huddled around the boxes Amanda had brought; others stood aroundwith cups of coffee and what appeared to be muffins. Joss stood off to the sideon her phone, so she helped herself to a cup of coffee and a muffin. Sure,she’d eaten breakfast only a couple of hours prior, but these were Amanda’smuffins.
She took a bite and suppressed a moan, if only because she wassurrounded by construction workers. It had all the elements of coffee cake—acinnamon swirl through the middle and crumb topping. She sipped her coffee andlet out a contented sigh. She’d never had a baker for a girlfriend before. Notthat they were officially in girlfriend territory, but she liked the idea ofmoving in that direction.
When her phone buzzed, she set down the coffee and pulled it fromher pocket. Seeing Amanda’s name made her smile. She swiped her thumb acrossthe screen to read the message. Therewas something I wanted to ask you earlier, but I chickened out.
Considering Amanda had asked her to spend the night, hercuriosity piqued. What’sthat?
Um.
What could she possibly be shy about now? Go on. TBH, I can’t imagine sayingno.
She hit send, then realized maybe the question wasn’t a request.Maybe Amanda wanted to know her sexual history. Or maybe it was something aboutthe bakery. Maybe she was unhappy with something and felt uncomfortablebringing it up. Maybe—
I wanted tomake a request for your overnight bag.
Pajama preferences? Maybe Amanda didn’t like her cologne. Ormaybe she—
I washoping you’d pack.
It took her a second, but only a second. And then her throat wentdry and other parts of her did the opposite. The thought of strapping on withAmanda was ridiculously sexy. Having Amanda bring it up, ask for it? Well, thatwas next level.
If that’snot your thing, it’s okay.
Crap. She’d been so busy getting turned on, she’d not answeredfast enough. Before she could make her fingers work, another message camethrough.
But I’mtrying to be bold. And then, SoI thought I’d ask.
In another time and place, maybe she’d be eloquent. This wasneither that time, nor that place. Sorry,you melted my brain a little and I couldn’t type.
Amanda replied with a smiley face.
Yes. Somany times yes.
It took a second for Amanda to reply this time, although when itcame through, it was a single word. Phew.
Her brain had yet to resume normal functioning, but Amanda neededto understand exactly how welcome her invitation was. Can’t tell you how sexy it is thatyou asked.
Amanda’s answer to that was the smirking emoji.
A member of the crew brushed past, reminding her where she was.Something about being in Amanda’s space, even under construction, made thewhole exchange even hotter. She moved to a quieter corner and considered whatto say back.
Requests?Preferences? Things I should know? It was at least sort of a sexyreply. It also saved some of the negotiation that could be hot in the momentbut just as easily could be awkward as hell.
I’m not overlypicky. But I’m also not delicate.
Quinn’s already active imagination kicked into overdrive. Notthat she kept an arsenal of toys, but the description gave her everything sheneeded to know. Perfect. Shehesitated for a moment, then sent a follow up. Just like you, I think.
Amanda’s reply was a blush and Can’twait to see you later.
Ditto.
“What are you grinning at?”
She looked up to find Joss studying her with amusement.“Nothing.”
Joss lifted a brow. “I thought we were better friends than that.”
They were. They’d known each other for close to ten years.“Sorry. It’s my own sheepishness, not anything to do with you.”
“What’s got you so sheepish? Or maybe I should be asking who?”
Joss so had her number. More than Arti, and so differently thanher sisters. Like kindred spirits or something. Even if they didn’t spend loadsof time together off the clock, Joss got her. And she liked to think thefeeling was mutual. “Or maybe you already know and don’t even need to ask.”
That earned her a smile. “Fair enough. Do I get to ask about thespecifics?”
“I’m seeing Amanda tonight.”
“Definitely worth smiling over. Why sheepish, then?”
Quinn blew out a breath. “She asked me to pack a bag.”
“Ah.” Joss nodded. “Nice.”
She could leave it at that, but they were sort of having amoment. And this wasn’t the kind of thing she could say to anyone else. “And topack.”
“Oh.” Joss let the word drag out. “Very nice.”
“I’m going to try not to think about how long it’s been.” Shecould have said the same thing about sex in general last week and that hadturned out all right. Okay, way better than all right.
Joss clamped a hand on her shoulder. “Like riding a bicycle.”
That’s what she was afraid of. “Have you ridden a bike lately?”
Joss laughed. “As a matter of fact, I have.”
“Wait, are we talking about metaphorical bikes or literal ones?”
“Who says it can’t be both?”
It was Quinn’s turn to laugh, then. “I needed that. Thank you.”
“Any time, my friend. Any time.”
She was tempted to linger, but Joss had work and so did she.“Text me if you need anything. Otherwise I’ll stop back in a couple of days.”
“Will do.”
Quinn turned to leave but Joss called her name.
