“Quality, not quantity.” Catherine stifled a grin. “Mei is adorably eccentric; you’ll love her. She lives in Hong Kong now.”
“Great, we’ll add it to our shortlist. If you send me some dates, I’ll book the flights. I still get a decent staff discount, so…”
“Wait, didn’t we just say it’s too soon?”
The corners of Jules’s mouth twitched.
Catherine released her breath. “You’re kidding, aren’t you?”
“Yeah.” Jules winked. “For now.”Green flag.
As they stepped outside,the last streaks of dusk faded like brushstrokes against the cobalt sky. Cheeks flushed from the wine, food, and Jules’s company, Catherine was grateful for the cool evening air against her hot skin.
A comfortable silence settled between them as they fell into step on the short walk home. They rounded the corner onto Lansdowne Crescent with its row of Regency terraces standing tall like stuccoed sentinels. Jules exhaled a breathy murmur that sounded a lot like “Wow.”
Catherine followed her gaze, looking at the familiar buildings with renewed interest. The neat iron railings, sash windows, and elegant facades took on a more muted glow in the last traces of twilight. It really was rather lovely.
“Leamington still surprises me,” Jules said.
“Me too.”
Jules swayed into her and used the movement to not-so-subtly capture Catherine’s hand in her own. The manoeuvre took Catherine by surprise, but not unpleasantly so. Holding hands with Jules felt good; it felt really good. She pressed into Jules’s arm and let the world beyond them slip out of focus.
They arrived home too soon. The soft comfortable silence galloped away with Catherine’s racing heart as she unlocked the main door and pushed into the hallway. Jules followed her into the shared space, pushing the door to a soft close behind her. The hallway felt too small and too big all at once.
“So…” Jules said, burying her hands in her coat pockets and jangling her keys.
“So…” Catherine said.
“Thank you for giving me a second chance.”
“Likewise.”
Jules grinned, and Catherine noticed a smudge of chocolate on her top lip.
“You’ve got something here…” Catherine touched her own lip, “…from the churros.”
“Oh?” Jules touched her mouth but missed the spot. “Did I get it?”
“Let me.” Catherine stepped into the space between them and reached up to rub the chocolate away. Jules parted her lips and captured Catherine’s thumb between her teeth.
The air charged with possibility; a wild look passed between them, and everything sped up in a rush of breath, lips, and frantic limbs. Jules tasted of chocolate and cinnamon sugar, and Catherine fell into the kiss like it was muscle memory.
In the frenzied moment, they stumbled back until Jules pressed Catherine against her own front door, sliding searching hands up her neck and into her hair.
“Fuck,” Jules panted when she broke the kiss.
“Yeah.” Catherine’s entire body ached for the woman in front of her.
“Do you…? Shall we…?” Jules glanced around at the staircase. “I should probably…”
“No.” Catherine wasn’t done with her yet. She gripped the lapel of Jules’s coat and pulled her back in for more.
“Fuck, Catherine. If we don’t stop…” Jules rasped between kisses. “You have no idea what you’re doing to me.”
“Oh, I do,” Catherine said in a low growl.
Jules peeled herself away. “Okay, well you need to go in there, and I need to go up there, and…”
