She reminded herself, yet again, to return her friend’s text messages, the count of which, the last time she’d checked her phone, was now up to about two dozen.
“Good, yes?” Marcella said, cutting through the din of Sydney’s thoughts and the light chatter that was happening around her.
Everyone nodded in unison.
“Margie, do you want to meet me out front?” Marcella asked, presumably to settle up the bill.
“I’ll come, too,” Brynn said, picking up her small clutch from the coffee table set between the loveseat and chairs.
Margie put her arm on Sharon’s shoulder to get her attention. “Sharon, they have some lovely dresses on display out front. Do you want to peruse them before we head out?”
“Sure,” Sharon agreed before turning to her daughter. “You really do look incredible, Reese.”
“Thanks, Mom.” Finally, Reese looked back up at Sydney as the last footsteps disappeared out of earshot and the dressing area’s door closed behind them. “Mind helping me out of this?” she asked, already moving back toward the fitting room.
Sydney needed to shake herself out of her stupor. Like, immediately.
All she could hear was the rustle of the curtain that separatedthe fitting room from the small area in front of it, which Reese left open as she stepped inside to where her clothing was carefully folded on a small chair.
Oh, and the sound of her own heart, beating a wildly unhealthy staccato.
Reese pulled the few locks of hair that had escaped off the nape of her neck, exposing the dress’s gold zipper. “Unzip me?” she asked, her voice a little more breathy than Sydney had expected.
It sent a shiver down her spine as she glided her hands up and gently encircled the small, gold piece of metal. The zipper moved like butter, and though she tried to go slowly, so as to not plunge Reese unexpectedly into nudity, the zipper teeth were unfastened within a second.
“Done,” she said. She stepped back to give Reese space. Reese’s hand was wrapped around the front of the dress to hold it up. “Do you want me to wait outside?”
Reese let her dress drop, and it pillowed into a gentle pile at her feet as she stepped away from it. “I’ve seen you almost naked, so it seems only fair at this point.”
Sydney nodded, unable to look away from Reese’s soft back, which was dotted with light freckles that Sydney wanted to map into constellations.
“Fair,” she repeated slowly, unable to come up with a coherent thought.
Reese continued to move around the small room, putting the clothing back on that she’d been wearing earlier this morning. When she’d successfully fastened her bra and slid on her pants, she turned to face Sydney, her face flushed.
Sydney’s stare dropped lower than she was proud of, transfixed by the sight of Reese’s nipples pebbled into little points, visible through the lace of the garment.
“Seems like everyone’s officially bought it,” Reese said, pulling her shirt over her head.
“Yeah,” Sydney said dumbly. They weren’t the only ones.
If Reese had pushed her against the wall, she’d have surrendered happily. And if Reese had wanted the same in return, Sydney could already anticipate how her fingers would trace the softness of Reese’s thighs. How she’d work her arm around to Reese’s back and push her fingers insistently into her skin to close the inches of space between them. Her long leg, sliding between Reese’s, would provide just the right angle to push upward, and she was already imagining how Reese’s head would keel back before thumping softly against the wall.
She wondered what it would feel like to have Reese’s warm breath mingled with her own, how their bodies would fit together, developing a rhythm, the way they’d found one on the court earlier today.
Sydney wanted it. So much so that she hadn’t realized she’d stepped forward, looking up to find Reese flush with the wall at the same time she registered her fingertips trailing gently along the small patch of bare skin between her pants and shirt.
“Sydney?” The soft, husky tone in Reese’s voice caught her off guard, and she looked up to meet wide, brown eyes. Reese’s chest was rising and falling deeply.
Sydney blinked once. Then twice, as her mind started to come back into her body.
“I’m sorry. I got caught up in the moment,” she said honestly, shaking the wisps of desire from her thoughts, even if her body hadn’t yet gotten the memo.
She took a step back, dropping her hand to her side.
Sure, they were both consenting adults who could do whatever they wanted. But if it happened, Sydney didn’t want it to be like this, rushed and hurried in the fitting room of a dress shop. It made her feel like it was an illicit affair, and that wasn’t what she wanted.
Especially not with Reese.
