“You’re intimidating,” Lily said, voice low, rough, affected by Eva’s proximity. “But you’re not scary.”
Eva could smell the gin on Lily’s breath, see her pulse pounding at the base of her neck. Was it with fear, after all? Or was it with something else entirely?
Eva thought of Lily’s eyes, drifting her way all night. Thought of the double-take she’d done, when she’d gotten her first glimpse of Eva’s dress. The way she was looking to Eva’s painted lips, her eyes dark and unfocused.
“Hmm.”
Eva took stock of their positioning; of the heat she could feel radiating off the woman before her. She should walk away. She should wrestle back her self-control, turn on her heel and never look back, because—
“What—what are you doing?” Lily said, her breathing ragged, Eva swaying ever closer.
“Honestly?” Eva’s voice was low—she couldn’t deny she was affected by this, her skin aflame, losing all sense of rationality every time Lily’s gaze flickered to her mouth. “I have no idea.”
Eva shouldn’t be entertaining this. It was dangerous; they were only a few feet from the entrance of the bar, and anyone could walk out and see them.
Eva didn’t move away.
She wondered what was going through Lily’s head. She wondered who would crack first.
Eva expected Lily to shove her away and retreat in a storm of fury. A slap wouldn’t have been remiss, considering Eva’s complete disregard for personal space.
What she did not expect was for Lily to surge forward.
She paused, lips mere millimeters from Eva’s, breath hot on her mouth, and Eva knew she was asking for permission, giving Eva an out if she decided this was a step too far in whatever little game they’d been playing for the last four months.
It was an out Eva knew she should take.
Eva pressed closer, instead.
The kiss wasn’t soft, it wasn’t chaste—it was hot and furious, their teeth clacking together before they readjusted, Lily’s tongue curling against her own.
Surprisingly, Lily was a fantastic kisser—something else Eva could add to the ‘unexpected things about Lily Cross’ list—her lips leaving Eva breathless and aching. Eva splayed her hands against the wall on either side of Lily’s head, so she didn’t give in to the temptation to reach out and touch, refusing to indicate it wasn’t just morbid curiosity, letting this continue—refusing to show that a traitorous part of her wanted Lily.
Lily had no such self-control, wrapping one hand around Eva’s waist as the other fell to the slit of her dress. She scraped her nails over bare skin, and Eva nipped at her bottom lip in response. Eva leaned closer, pressing a thigh between Lily’s legs and trying not to groan when her hips rocked against her.
God, what was she doing?
This wasn’t like her.
So why couldn’t Eva stop?
It was the screech of wheels against tarmac that brought them back to Earth. Eva wrenched herself away from Lily like she’d been burned, her heart pounding. Lily looked at her, chest flushed and heaving with the force of her breaths, staring at Eva like she’d never seen her before.
Eva’s Uber pulled up to the curb, the window sliding down. “One of you Eva?”
Why couldn’t they have gotten there five minutes ago? Eva ran a shaky hand through her hair. Then she wouldn’t be in this mess.
“Yes.” Eva was relieved her voice was steady. Steadier than she felt, her knees weak as she stumbled toward the car. Toward safety. Toward the end of whatever the fuck that lapse in judgment had been.
Blame it on the alcohol.
“Wait!” Lily’s call stopped Eva as she was reaching for the handle of the rear door. Against her better judgment, she looked back; Lily was exactly where she’d left her. “That’s it? You’re just going to walk away? Pretend it never happened?”
“That’s exactly what I’m going to do,” Eva said, wrenching open the door. “And you should, too.”
* * *
Eva had just managed to get her heart rate back to normal as she slid her key into her front door.
