What had she been about to say? Something big, or a guilty secret?
A chill breeze swept over me. I sat up, glancing around. My heart thundered in my chest. I was so confused.
I pressed my index finger to her lips. “Whatever you’re going to say, don’t.”
She took a deep breath, and kissed my fingertip.
Desire dripped through me.
“I was going to say, it’s Saturday,” Eliza clarified. “Which is the weekend.”
“Uh-huh.”
“Could we be a two-time, weekend thing?”
Before I knew what I was doing, I was kissing her again.
She was like a drug, and I couldn’t get enough.
CHAPTER 27
Iwoke up in my bed, tangled in Eliza’s limbs, her hair tickling my shoulder and the smell of her skin making me want to bury my face in her neck and never come up for air. Last night, we’d submerged ourselves in each other; so much so that this morning, I was still underwater, drowning in a warm Eliza sea. My whole body ached, but it was the sweetest ache imaginable.
“Morning.” Eliza turned her head to me. We’d ended up in bed together on June’s first and last weekends. Could that almost be construed as a relationship? I shook myself and gave her a sad smile.
“Morning.”
She rubbed her eye with her knuckle. “I’m not gonna lie, I’ve had more enthusiastic greetings.”
To make up for it, I leaned in and kissed her. When I pulled back, the smile on her face was wide.
“Much better. You should have led with that.” She kissed me again, then rolled onto her back. She exhaled before she spoke, keeping her eyes to the ceiling.
“I want you to know, whatever this is between us, I’m not sorry. I know it’s complicated, but I don’t care. It’s too good to ignore.”
The fierce certainty in her voice made something flutter in my stomach. “Good,” I replied, pressing a kiss to her collarbone. “Because I’m not sorry either.”
I glanced around the room, half-expecting to feel that crushing presence on my chest again. Was my mother watching this? The thought should have been mortifying, but I couldn’t bring myself to care.
“Just so you know, I’ve got things planned today.” Eliza stretched in a way that made her breasts sit up and beg for attention. “We’re nearly at the end of our initial three months, and I’ve got meetings about what might come next.”
Three months. Our working relationship had an expiration date, and it was approaching faster than I wanted to think about. After that, I wasn’t sure what might happen.
Could we try to make a go of it if we weren’t working together full-time? I wanted to ask, but I was afraid of the answers. So I did what all good Voss women had for decades before me. I swallowed my feelings and painted on a smile.
Oblivious to my inner turmoil, Eliza slid out of bed, all graceful limbs and golden skin. I temporarily lost the ability to form coherent thoughts.
Watching her get dressed was its own form of torture. The way she moved, the little smile she threw over her shoulder when she caught me staring. I was pretty sure she knew what she did to me.
“Stay for brunch,” I told her, having a flash of inspiration. I wanted to make the most of this moment, whatever it was. “I’ll make scones. With my gran’s proper recipe.” Now I had the quantities written down, it was easy.
Eliza paused, reaching for her jeans. “Like when we were kids?”
“The very same.” I sat up, desperate to stretch this bubble of intimacy as long as I could.
Her smile was tight, and I could see the war between duty and desire playing out across her face. “I really should—”
“An hour. Two, tops. It is Sunday, after all.”
