“No,” Nora grumbled as if it pained her to admit it. “But still…”
Fort whined and sniffled in his sleep, and Quinn gave him a little bounce as she soothed, “Almost home, buddy.”
“You look like you’ve done this before,” Nora noted as she hurried to get the door to her building.
“Some,” Quinn admitted. She smiled her thanks as she slipped through the door Nora held for her. “I used to help Emerson watch her niece when she was little.”
Nora gave her a curious look. “Not anymore?” she asked as she pressed her thumb to the elevator call button.
“Nah. I mean, for one thing, Ava’s like seven now, so much easier to handle than when she was a toddler,” Quinn explained as she watched Nora press the elevator call button. The doors opened immediately, and she elaborated, “But, really, she doesn’t need me anymore for that stuff,” as she stepped inside. “She has Mari.”
“I’m sure she’d still like your help.”
“Oh, we still hang out a lot—especially when Mari’s here for work. It’s just different, y’know?”
“Yeah. I get it.” The elevator stopped at the second-floor corridor, and Nora placed a hand over the doors to make sure they didn’t close on Quinn and Fort. “I’ll follow you.”
Quinn nodded and adjusted her hold on Fort as she walked toward Nora’s door. He wasn’t heavy, but he also wasn’t exactly helping her hold his weight like a child would, which made the endeavor rather cumbersome. She sighed with relief when Nora hurried past to unlock the door for them.
“Where should I put him?” Quinn asked when Nora ushered her inside.
“He has a bed upstairs, and sometimes sleeps on the loveseat in my bedroom, but why don’t you just put him on the guest bed for tonight.” Nora pointed to the short corridor opposite the one that led to her bedroom.
“You sure?” Quinn asked, eyeing the stairs to the main level. “I can get him upstairs.”
“It’s fine,” Nora insisted. “You’ve done more than enough.”
Quinn nodded and turned toward where Nora had instructed. “Okay…”
“Guest room’s to the left.”
“Got it,” Quinn said. She held her breath as she braced herself to lower seventy pounds of dead weight to the bed. Once Fort was settled, she watched with a grin as he rubbed his face on the duvet and sniffed once as if to confirm he was in familiar surroundings before curling into a ball with a quiet, “Uff.”
Her grin faded into a soft smile as she made her way out of the room. Everything about the day had been perfect—from waking up beside Nora to cuddling and laughing with her on the boat as they toured the narrow channels of Balboa harbor. Their banter and ease with each other was so natural that Paul had been shocked when he learned they’d only just met, and if she hadn’t experienced the last few days firsthand, she’d have been inclined to think the same thing.
This kind of instant, magnetic connection between strangers wasn’t supposed to exist outside the manufactured plot lines of television and film, yet there was no denying that, in this instance, it did.
The soft glow of a lamp in Nora’s room beckoned her onward when she reached the foyer, and she bit her lip as she closed the door behind herself. She’d promised Nora that she’d make the last few hours worth her while, and the last thing she wanted was for Fort to wake up and crash the party.
Quinn dropped her backpack on the floor as she wandered into the bedroom. Her throat tightened at the sight of Nora silhouetted against the glass doors that made up the far wall, her features thrown into colorful relief in the glass thanks to the glowing Christmas light necklace she still wore.
I’ve never seen anything more beautiful in my life.
The artist in her longed to commit every detail to paper, to sketch the curve of Nora’s behind and the span of her shoulders, the luscious slope of her neck, and the softness of her smile. But for as much as she’d enjoy the process of observing and transcribing such beauty to the page, she was, at her heart, a sculptor, and her hands itched to touch and to feel, to measure and weigh and worship those same features so that she could immortalize them forever.
“Are you just going to stand there?” Nora teased as she turned her back to the glass doors. Her smile widened when she saw Quinn staring at her, and she murmured, “Or are you going to come closer?”
Quinn quickly toed off her shoes so she could join her. Her stomach fluttered at the way Nora just stood and waited for her, eyes dark, lips parted expectantly, and her pulse tripped over itself when she was finally able to wrap her hands around Nora’s hips to pull her close. She licked her lips as she dipped her head to meet Nora’s expectant smile, and a strangled whimper caught in her throat at the first, sweet brush of Nora’s lips against her own.
“God,” Nora murmured, her voice breathless and awed as she looped her arms around Quinn’s neck and pressed up onto her toes. “Every single time…”
Quinn kissed Nora’s nose. “Every time, what?”
“Butterflies.” Nora scratched her nails through the short hairs at the back of Quinn’s neck. “Electricity.” She rocked her hips forward as she nuzzled closer, her breath hot and tempting against Quinn’s lips as she hovered just out of reach. “I think I’m addicted to you.”
Quinn’s eyes rolled back in her head as Nora’s words settled wetly between her thighs, and she rasped, “Glad it’s not just me,” as she claimed Nora’s lips in a deep, desperate kiss. She guided Nora back against the glass as their hunger spilled into their kisses, and slipped a leg between her thighs as her hands began to wander. The easy rock of her hips grew steadily firmer, each press more deliberate than the last as her need for Nora grew with every soft sigh and quiet whimper that tumbled from her lips.
“God, I want you so bad,” Quinn rasped, digging her fingers into Nora’s ass as she dropped her mouth to her throat, enveloping the heavy throb of her pulse with her lips and sucking against it.
