“Yeah.” Lauren sighed and leaned back into Grey, her eyes fluttering closed as she relaxed in the warmth of her gentle embrace. “This is nice.”
“Yeah, it is.” Grey dropped her lips to the curve where Lauren’s neck and shoulder met and held her tighter. “Very nice,” she muttered, closing her eyes as she inhaled the sweet scent of Lauren’s shampoo.
A warm shiver rolled down Lauren’s spine at the feeling of Grey’s lips against her skin, and she turned carefully in her arms until she was able to wrap her arms around Grey’s neck. Being held felt nice, but she wanted to hold, too.
“Can we just stay like this all night?” Grey nuzzled Lauren’s cheek with her nose.
Lauren pressed a soft kiss to Grey’s ear, and her heart swelled with affection for the woman in her arms. “We can certainly try.”
“Good,” Grey muttered.
Lauren hummed and leaned back against the counter, accepting Grey’s weight as she stroked a gentle hand up and downher back, more than content to lose herself in the quiet intimacy that wrapped itself comfortingly around them.
The moment eventually came to an end when Grey’s stomach growled loudly, and she smiled sheepishly as she pulled back just far enough to look Lauren in the eye. “Sorry.”
“You have nothing to be sorry about.” Lauren smiled and dusted a soft kiss across Grey’s lips. “We had quite the workout this afternoon.”
“Mmm, we did,” Grey purred, rolling her eyes as her stomach once again made its presence known.
Lauren laughed and reluctantly released her hold on Grey. “It’s okay. I’m getting hungry too, to be honest.”
“Well, at least it’s not just my stomach ruining the mood, then.” Grey chuckled sardonically as she glanced over Lauren’s shoulder to the cutting board on the counter. “Ahi, huh?”
“Yeah, it sounded good,” Lauren replied with a shrug. “I was thinking of just doing some rice with it. Keep things simple for tonight?”
“Works for me.” Grey smiled and darted in to steal one last kiss. “Is there anything I can do to help?”
“You can get the water going for the rice, if you want,” Lauren offered as she picked up her knife and turned her attention back to the fish on the cutting board. “I mean, there’s really not a lot to do here. I’m just going to make a quick ginger-wasabi rub for the tuna, and then sear the steaks right before the rice is done.”
“I think I can manage to boil some water,” Grey said as she reached for the measuring cup Lauren had already set out beside the sink. She poured two cups of water into a saucepan and set it on the range to boil. “How about some music?”
“Sure.”
“Are you in the mood for anything in particular?”
Lauren shook her head and smiled at Grey. “Not really.” She laughed at the look of playful annoyance Grey shot her. “Really, Grey. Whatever you want is fine with me.”
“So…metal?” Grey smirked over her shoulder at Lauren as she made her way over to the stereo tucked into the shelving behind the sofa.
“If that’s what you want,” Lauren replied serenely, knowing full-well from having looked through Grey’s iPod that there was not any metal on it.
“Wait.” Grey snapped her fingers. “I know…elevator music.”
Lauren laughed and nodded. “Go for it.”
“God, you’re really not going to make this easy for me, are you?” Grey grumbled as she scrolled through her playlists. She glanced up at Lauren, who was watching her with the most beguiling smile, and sighed. “Come on. Give me a little help?”
“Okay, fine. Not elevator music.”
“Big fucking help that is,” Grey muttered, looking back down at her iPod. She was not in the mood for classical, but did not particularly feel like listening to anything super up-tempo either. “How’s piano pop sound?”
“That’ll work,” Lauren agreed as she turned to pull a knob of ginger out of the fridge. Music began playing as she bumped the door closed with her shoulder, and she smiled as she immediately recognized the song. She bobbed her head with the opening vocals as she pulled a grater out of the cupboard below the peninsula where she had been working, and caught Grey’s eye across the salon when the chorus kicked in. “I’ve got my little black dress on…”
“That was a great dress.”
“I’m glad you liked it.” Lauren winked at Grey and then she turned her attention back to their food.
Grey sat down at the barstool opposite where Lauren was standing and folded her arms on the counter as she contented herself with watching Lauren work. They chatted amiably as dinner cooked, conversation flowing from comments about whatever song was playing to whatever happened to cross their minds at that particular moment, and Grey marveled at the comfortable domesticity of it all. They had only known each other for a short time, but it felt like they had been doing this particular dance for years.
