“If I can remember how to dance. It’s been a long time.”
I reached out my hand and she took it, letting me guide her into me. She smelled of subtle perfume and musk, her skin warm when my fingers grazed against it, and she fit against me as if someone had designed her to be the perfect height.
The band played a song that that was slow enough to be able to hold her to me, but had enough of a beat that we could dance. The lyrics spoke of having a lust for life, only my lust right now was for the woman pressed close to me.
Her arms linked around my neck and she looked up at me, her lips synching with the words. I knew she was close enough to feel the rapid beat of my heart as it tried to burst its way out of my chest.
One of my hands was placed higher up on her back, the other just where her ass curved, underneath the drop of my jacket and on the smooth material of her dress.
Her eyes shone in the faint light as she tipped her head to look at me, and I noticed the red plumpness of her lips. Resisting her was futile, there was no point stopping the movement as our faces closed the gap between us and we kissed, gently, tentatively, as if both of us were unsure if the other would back away like a timid creature.
Neither of us backed away. She tasted of the wine she’d been drinking, her lips soft and pliant against mine, her mouth opening for me when I demanded. I was intoxicated by her, any whisky would’ve been redundant after that second taste.
Our lips lingered close to each other’s when the kiss ceased. I hesitated to pull away fully, not wanting the moment to end in case it didn’t happen again.
“I thought we weren’t going to do that.” She whispered the words as if the whole office were trying to listen, as if the words were butterflies she was setting free.
I moved a hand to brush her hair away from her face. “We weren’t. I was meant to keep you in the colleague box.”
“I’ve never been very good at staying in boxes that people put me in.” Her eyes blazed and I wanted their fire to burn me.
I leaned in for another kiss, the band playing a different tune, laughter floating out of the room and reminding me that we weren’t alone. When the kiss ended this time she shivered with the cold.
“Time to go inside?”
Georgia shook her head. “Not yet. Let’s stay another minute.”
Another minute to keep hold of her and sway with the music. Another minute away from our colleagues. Another minute to pretend that everything was simple.
We didn’t speak. Her hands were on my shoulders, my lips pressed close to her hair and my arms wrapped around her. This was peace mixed with the biggest rush of adrenaline I remembered experiencing and I didn’t want it to stop.
“We should go inside.” The words came from me, even though it was the last thing I wanted. There were still a couple of people I needed to see and as much as I didn’t want to let her go, the night wasn’t warm or anywhere near it. “Come with me while I speak with someone about a job.”
“I need to get going soon. It’s almost pumpkin time.”
I frowned. “Pumpkin time?”
“I need to get to bed. You know, up early with the small human I made.” She gave me a sorrowful smile.
“Come with me and I’ll leave with you. I’ll get the cab to drop you off first.” I held her waist , wanting to pull her closer to where my cock had hardened, not getting the message that this night wasn’t ending in the way it would’ve done months ago.
I waited for the argument, the statement that she was independent or the brush off, some form of panic that I wasn’t more than a stolen kiss or two and she needed to flee, but it didn’t come.
“You sure? I hate getting taxis on my own.”
I wanted to tell her she’d never need to a get a taxi on her own again now I knew, but I was only a man and not the prince I’d pretended I was to her daughter.
“I’m sure. You good to go in?”
She nodded. “How’s my lipstick?”
“I did my job. You’re not wearing it anymore.”
Forty minutes later,I was holding her hand in the back of a taxi while the driver navigated around the streets of Southwark to take her home.
“What time will Rose wake up?”
Georgia thought for a moment before responding. “Liv will have kept her up later, so she sleeps in a little, so maybe seven. I planned to get home about half-nine so I could try to get a lie-in. Usually Miss Rose is awake at five-thirty, but at least now she’ll read a book before she wants me.”
