“Are you alright?” Matty asked as she leaned in to accept the hug.
Sloan held on tighter than she expected.
“We’ll see,” she said, pulling a chair out and tapping the back of it.
Matty sat down slowly and glanced across the table. “Hello, Gloria.”
Gloria lowered the menu and looked up. “Hello, Matty.” Gloria smiled at her. No snarky retort. No disdainful glare. Just a simple hello, using her name.
“Okay…what’s happened?” Matty asked, her head moving between mother and daughter.
Sloan’s palm landed on her thigh. Warm. Grounding. “Mother and I had a little talk.” Sloan’s voice was even. “We’re looking forward to lunch with you.” Her fingers tightened just enough to draw a small, involuntary breath from Matty. “Alright?”
“Uh-huh.” That was all Matty could manage.
“I ordered a bottle of wine. If you’d prefer something else—”
“No, that’s…fine. I can do a glass of wine,” Matty said. She fidgeted in her seat and caught Sloan’s small smirk before it was gone again.
“Have you decided what you’d like, Mum?”
Gloria looked up and adjusted her glasses. “No, not yet, but I’m leaning towards the pie.”
“Good choice,” Sloan said, approving. She handed her menu to Matty. “I think you’ll enjoy the gnocchi with raclette.”
Below the table, Sloan’s hand moved slowly, edging closer to the hem of her dress. She leaned in. “You look beautiful, by the way.”
“I’ll—yes. Thank you.” Matty had stumbled over the words and caught Gloria’s narrowed gaze at the pair of them.
She braced for a comment. It didn’t come.
Matty leant in closer to Sloan and whispered, “Keep doing that and I’ll have to explain to the room why I sound like a scene fromWhen Harry Met Sally.”
Sloan chuckled and pulled her hand away.
“Touché.”
***
Sloan's hand had returned while they were speaking with the waiter, barely moving, just the light sweep of fingertips drawing lazy circles on her inner thigh. When their food was ordered, Matty excused herself and headed for the toilets.
She was lightheaded with it all, her thoughts narrowed to one miserable, thrilling set of facts: She was wet, aching, and nowhere near relief.
There was nobody else in the bathroom. She checked herself in the mirror and smiled, her face lightly flushed, then caught something in her own reflection.
She looked alive. Felt alive. Nerve endings tingled everywhere.
Just as she was about to turn and enter a cubicle, the door opened and Sloan appeared, dark eyes fixed on her, jaw set.
“Sloan…” Matty felt the urge to giggle but stifled it. “What are you…”
“I want you.”
Something hot and startling moved through Matty. Sloan wanted her—properly wanted her. One look at her face and there was no doubting it.
“Really… And what do you plan to do about it?”
Sloan remained still, breathing through her nose, appearing composed to the outside world, but Matty knew otherwise.
