In the seconds that followed, uncertainty crept into Jules’s posture. “Too soon?”
When Catherine didn’t answer, Jules shuffled her feet.
“I wondered if I was pushing my luck, but I really wanted to see you, and I finally came up with what Ithought was a good enough line… you know, with the sugar.” She held out the mug again, a soft, hopeful look replacing her cocky grin from before. Catherine had built her walls so high, others rarely expended the effort to climb over. But here was Jules, persevering.
“Come on in.” Catherine stepped aside, the move so out of character even the voice in her own head gasped.
Jules raised her eyebrows. “Really? You’re sure?”
“Yeah. I’ll get the kettle on.”
As Catherine prepped tea, Jules leaned against the kitchen counter and gently plucked threads of conversation. The words were mostly lost, like Catherine was hearing them underwater, but she noticed how Jules’s lovely face lit up as she recounted an anecdote about Will falling in a muddy puddle at a music festival.
“You’re not really listening to me, are you?” Jules exhaled a soft laugh.
“Sorry. I, er…”
“I’ve been told before that I talk too much.”
“No, I like it. I got distracted thinking about just how much.”
“Is that really what was distracting you?” Jules stepped towards her and leaned in so close her breath felt warm on Catherine’s cheek.
Catherine swallowed as her pulse picked up pace. “I was also distracted by how much I like having you here.” Her gaze dropped to Jules’s mouth, and the air between them thickened with want.
The kettle clicked off, breaking the spell, and Catherinemoved to pour the tea, grateful for the excuse to steady her hands and slow down the moment.
Jules didn’t press, only smiled and stepped away.
“Why do you have wooden fruit?”
“Huh?” Catherine glanced around to see Jules leaning over the decorative wooden fruit she kept in a bowl in lieu of the fresh stuff. “Oh, that! I guess it doesn’t go bad.”
“It doesn’t taste good, though.” Jules ran her fingers over the curve of an everlasting apple.
Catherine shrugged. “I’ve never tried it.”
“It’s the ultimate forbidden fruit.” Jules smirked.
In the lounge, they relaxed side by side on the sofa. Amidst the comfort of the cushions, the tension eased from Catherine’s muscles, and yet again Jules slotted into a space Catherine hadn’t perceived as empty before.
Jules’s fingers brushed the rim of her mug. “So, should we talk about what ‘taking it slow’ actually means for us?”
Catherine squinted into the rose-tinted light of the afternoon flooding through the windows. “Yeah, because so far all we’ve done is the opposite of taking things slow.”
“All things considered, I think we’ve both shown admirable restraint.”
Catherine’s laughter rang out. “I’m not sure all that kissing and then sexting each other until the early hours quite ticks the ‘restraint’ box.”
“Well, you’ve clearly no idea how close I was to coming down here last night.”
Catherine tried to hide her grin behind the steam curling from her mug.
“It’s going to take the self-control of a saint, but I’vegiven it some thought and I’d like us to get to know each other before we… you know.”
Catherine slowly nodded. “Yeah, I think that’s a good idea. We should date each other properly and see where things go. And not that I, er… regret last night, but perhaps we should avoid sexting for now.”
Jules placed her mug down and edged closer, so close Catherine caught the spicy scent of her perfume. “Do you want to avoid kissing too?” she asked in a low voice.
