All thoughts of the house flew from her mind as the front door opened. Rory had obviously just got out of the shower, and her hair was still loose around her shoulders. She was in a faded pair of jeans and a loose white shirt. Her feet were bare, and Gemma stood for a moment taking in her appearance. She had thought that nothing was hotter than ‘Formal Rory’ in a suit. Then there was ‘Bathing Suit Rory’. Now ‘At home in jeans and loose white shirt Rory’, was taking the top spot in hotness. Gemma smiled and stepped into a hug with Rory, reminding herself that they were just friends and that spending the evening working out how to get that shirt off her was not in the plan.
“Hey, come in.” Rory grinned and waved an arm in welcome.
Gemma stepped into the hallway, and her head drifted upwards as she took in the entryway. A large hall led to a stairway with a galleried landing. Several doors led off the hallway, and she tried her best not to look like she was gazing into each room.
“It’s gorgeous, Rory!” she breathed. Belatedly, she remembered the bottle of wine and thrust it at her friend.
“Here, I didn’t know what you were planning, so I grabbed this.”
Rory raised an eyebrow at Gemma and then smirked. “Do you remember the last time we shared a bottle ofwine?” Her eyebrow quirked in that adorable way of hers. Gemma remembered the Christmas holiday when Rory had decided she was going to be a lawyer and then spent hours in the mirror practicing the eyebrow raise for when she was delivering her killer speech in the courtroom.
Gemma shrugged. “We’ve decided to be friends, and that’s the end of it. I’m sure I can trust you to be well behaved in that chivalrous way of yours.” She lightly tapped Rory on the arm and looked at the tiled hallway that led to hardwood floors in the adjoining rooms. “Is this a shoes-off house? Please tell me it’s a shoes-off house?”
Both of Rory’s eyebrows shot up in a question before a smile tugged at her lips. “Could it be, perchance, that your feet are sore because you walked here from the station in shoes you chose for looks rather than practicality?”
The smile on Rory’s face turned into a full-blown grin, and Gemma felt her own face open into a smile at the sight. It was just like Rory to see through her. Without saying another word, she unbuckled her sandals and kicked them into the corner of the hallway by Rory’s shoe rack. She let the cool tiles of the floor soothe her aching feet before turning back to Rory.
“I hate how much you know me!”
“No, you don’t,” Rory replied with a smirk. She turned and led Gemma to the kitchen. After putting the wine on the side, she started the house tour in the kitchen. It was at the back and had a great view over the garden. Gemma stood at the sink and looked out over the simple but well-kept garden. The evening sun shone through the trees, and the dappled light gave the garden a soft glow.
“I haven’t done much to the house or garden.” Rory stood behind Gemma, and she could feel her warmth through her blouse. Gemma tried to listen to Rory talkingabout the house but couldn’t think beyond how wonderful it would feel to have Rory’s arms encircle her, how she wanted Rory to pull her against her body and hold her. She bit back a sigh. Being Rory’s friend, only her friend, was going to be harder than she’d realised.
14
RORY
Rory resisted the temptation to wrap her arms around Gemma and pull her close. All week she had been thinking of the other woman and talking herself into just being friends. She had thought it would be easy to do. They had been friends for years without any issues. Okay, they had been teenagers, but still. That was where they needed to get back to. She felt out of kilter having Gemma here in her home. She put it down to the fact that, for once, Gemma was not as late as Rory had anticipated, and she had only just got out of the shower when she saw her walking up her front path.
This feeling must be because her hair was still down, and Rory hated it when her hair was in her way. She flicked it over her shoulder and concentrated on showing Gemma her house.
“I haven’t done much to the house or garden since I bought it. The previous owners decorated completely before selling, so I didn’t need to do anything. I upgraded a few of the appliances in the kitchen, but that’s about it.” Shegulped and moved away from Gemma to check on the food that was in the oven.
“I hoped that Darcy and I would make the house our own, but she hated it from the moment I bought it.”
“Uh huh.” Gemma waved her hand in a “go on” motion.
Rory opened the wine and poured Gemma a glass as she spoke. “I should have realised from the start that we weren’t a good match. We always wanted different things. I like quiet evenings in, she wanted to go out all the time. We disagreed on holidays and even what car I should have.” Rory gave Gemma her wine and pointed towards the Porsche in the driveway. “Thatshechose, by the way.”
“You look hot driving it though.” Gemma shrugged and sipped her wine.
Rory felt her cheeks colouring and tried to ignore it. “When Pops died, he left me some money. I put it in a savings account, and it was doing okay, but I wanted to do something significant with it. When we got engaged, I suggested buying a house. She wanted a flashy apartment in the city, but I wanted this. I put my foot down as it was my money. It’s a nice area, low crime, perfect for two great local schools etc. I hoped she would like it enough to decorate it with me and make it a home for us and our kids, but…” Rory trailed off. Gemma knew how the story ended.
“Well, you can do that yourself, right?” Gemma sipped her wine before placing the glass down and tugging Rory’s arm. “Come on, show me around and I’ll tell you what I’d do with your house.”
Rory smiled and started the tour. She loved seeing her house through someone else’s eyes and loved listening to Gemma’s suggestions. In ten minutes, she’d given more opinions on the space than Darcy had in their entire timetogether.Enough,Rory told herself.Enough comparing Darcy and Gemma. Darcy is the past.
She didn’t want to tell herself that Gemma was the future. She couldn’t be. They were friends, and it didn’t matter how good Gemma seemed to fit into her space. She knew she was on a journey that she had to complete alone before starting a relationship, no matter how her fingers ached to reach out for Gemma.
“Do you really need four bedrooms?” Gemma turned and looked at her. “This fourth bedroom is not up to much. Why don’t you convert it to an en suite shower room and dressing room? Or, if you are wedded to the idea of having four bedrooms, swap the master bedroom to the one at the back and add an en suite and dressing room over the conservatory?”
Rory blinked as she thought. She’d not considered extending the house. “You seem very keen on an en suite?”
“Yeah, well, if you have kids or even visitors, it would be nice to have your own space to shower, etc, and dress, especially if you need to be at work early.” Gemma flung herself onto the bed and propped herself up on an arm. “And if you have a private shower, you can have delicious shower sex without the kids bursting in and disturbing you.”
Visions of herself and Gemma in the shower flooded Rory’s brain. The thought of being naked with Gemma in her arms, was more intoxicating than the wine they had shared. Gemma rolled of the bed and carried on chatting about the house and Rory gamely showed her the rest of the bedrooms, including one she had turned into a study, but her mind wouldn’t stop thinking about how it would be to run her hands over Gemma’s wet skin, how it would feel to have Gemma’s hands on her, for Gemma to cup her breasts and…Rory startled but settled quickly.
Her breasts. She hated thethought of anyone touching her breasts, but in her vision, she had enjoyed Gemma touching them. Her body had become aroused at the thought of Gemma playing with her breasts and kissing her nipples. She tried not to let the shock at that revelation show on her face as she really didn’t want to have to explain to Gemma what had just happened. Especially when she was not sure of it herself. Ruthlessly, she reached for a hair tie from her desk, twisted her hair into its familiar bun on her head, and turned to get back to the kitchen. She needed to concentrate on their dinner before it burned, and before she did something monumentally stupid.
