Stephanie propped herself up on one elbow. The movement made the sheet slip down to her hips, revealing the black tank top stretched across her subtle curves. Casey’s gaze caught there for a second before she dragged it back up. Stephanie noticed. A faint blush colored her cheeks but she didn’t look away.
“You’ve been the one looking after me,” Stephanie said. “Cooking, taking me out.” Her voice softened. “Let me do something for you. I’ll make breakfast next door. I want to freshen up and change anyway.”
Casey smiled despite the small twist in her gut. “Okay. I’ll come over in half an hour.”
Stephanie leaned in and kissed her quickly. Then she pulled back, eyes bright.
“See you in a few minutes,” she said and climbed out of bed, finding her flip-flops near the door. At the threshold she paused, looking back with an expression Casey couldn’t quite read, and then she was gone.
Casey lay alone, staring at the ceiling fan’s slow rotation. She pressed her face into the pillow where Stephanie had slept and breathed in the scent of her hair. Surreal. That was the only way to describe this. She couldn’t even imagine what Stephanie must be feeling.
She swung her legs over the side of the bed and stood, stretching her arms over her head. She went into the bathroom and turned the shower on, letting steam fill the small space while she peeled off yesterday’s clothes.
Her body remembered every touch from last night, the way Stephanie had straddled her on this very bed, the soft sounds she made when Casey’s hands had explored her through thin cotton. Casey stepped under the spray and let the water beat against her shoulders.
The doubt returned stronger now that she stood alone. Stephanie wanted this right now, in the bright morning after, with the taste of their kisses still fresh. But a month from now? When the novelty of Key West wore off and her life back home was waiting for her?
Casey closed her eyes and let water run down her face. She had promised herself no more unavailable women. She had ended things with Melissa for exactly this reason. Yet here she was again, heart already leaning forward, already imagining mornings like this in the future.
She washed quickly. The simple routine grounded her a little. By the time she toweled off and pulled on clean shorts and a faded blue tank top, the doubt had settled into something quieter. Not gone. Just waiting. She couldn’t afford to ignore it completely. Stephanie’s life waited in Charleston.
Still. The memory of Stephanie’s arm around her waist, the sleepy confession that she had been afraid it was all a dream, refused to fade.
Casey smiled at her reflection in the steamed mirror, hair wet, blue eyes brighter than they had any right to be. She was happy. That part was undeniable.
She grabbed her keys and stepped out into the morning heat. The short walk next door felt different now, charged with the knowledge of what had happened between them. Her bare feet moved over warm concrete, the low picket fence between their properties suddenly meaningless. She could still feel the ghost of Stephanie’s fingers on her skin, the way her breath had gone shallow when they kissed in bed.
Casey paused at Stephanie’s door, hand hovering. The doubt lingered at the edges but so did the happiness. She knocked. Whatever came in a month, she would face it when it arrived. For now she just wanted to sit across from the woman who had kissed her like she was starving and see what happened next.
21
Stephanie wiped the last plate dry, the dish towel rough between her fingers. The smell of eggs and coffee mixed with salt air from the open window. The rental felt different now—less like a vacation home, more like hers. Casey had eaten at the small table, chatting with her between bites, and Stephanie had felt so relaxed, so comfortable that it was hard for her to believe that she’d barely known Casey two weeks.
Her pulse hadn’t settled since they finished cleaning up. Breakfast had been easy. But now the quiet pressed in and her mind kept circling back to last night. The way Casey’s mouth had felt against hers in that bed. The heat that had built between them until her whole body felt lit from the inside. She had fallen asleep with Casey’s leg still tucked between hers, the ache lingering even after they agreed to wait. Waking up wrapped around her this morning had only made it worse. Or better. She couldn’t decide.
Casey leaned against the opposite counter, arms crossed loosely over her faded blue tank top. The fabric dipped to reveal a hint of cleavage. Stephanie’s gaze kept drifting there, to the faint tan line at her collar, to the way the strap of the top cut across smooth skin. Heat pooled low in her belly again, sharpand insistent. She wanted to feel that skin under her hands. Wanted Casey’s weight pressing her into the mattress.
She set the plate down. The ceramic clicked against the counter louder than she expected. Before she could talk herself out of it, she crossed the small space and caught Casey’s hand. Stephanie pulled her in, letting the movement unfold slowly enough to feel the way Casey’s breath caught, and when their bodies finally brushed, it wasn’t the casual bump of friends in a kitchen. It was a careful press, stomach to stomach, hip to hip, that lit a line of fire across every inch of skin between them.
Their eyes met. Casey’s blue ones had gone darker, pupils widening. Stephanie’s chest tightened with nerves and something hotter underneath. They hadn’t really kissed since last night. This morning had been soft and quick, a brush of lips before she left to make breakfast. Not like the deep, hungry ones that had left her gasping against Casey’s mouth in her bedroom last night.
She tilted her head and closed the distance. Their lips met slow at first, just pressure, just the simple fact of Casey’s mouth on hers again. Then Casey made a small sound and parted her lips. Stephanie slid her tongue inside, tasting Casey, and the kiss deepened fast.
Heat flared through her, spreading from her mouth down her neck. She pressed closer, one hand sliding up to cup the back of Casey’s neck, fingers threading into sun-streaked hair.
The glide of Casey’s tongue against hers was a deliberate, intimate stroke that made Stephanie’s next inhale hitch halfway up her throat. Every slide, every twist, sent a fresh, sharp pulse of heat directly between her legs, a kindling that felt all the more startling because she was standing up in a kitchen. Already she could feel the dampening of her underwear, the deep, familiar ache from the night before roaring back with a fierceness that made her sway slightly into Casey’s hold.
Her free hand clenched against the solid curve of Casey’s waist, her fingers twisting into the soft, sun-faded cotton of her tank top. She wanted more than this kiss, more than the teasing pressure of their bodies. She wanted to climb Casey, to wrap her legs around that slim waist and press herself closer until the friction was unbearable, to feel those strong, tanned shoulders pinning her to a bed while Casey’s hands finally learned every inch of her.
The sudden, visceral clarity of that image pulled a soft, desperate moan from the back of her throat, a sound Casey caught and swallowed immediately, deepening the kiss as if in answer.
Stephanie’s hips rocked forward without any conscious thought from her at all, seeking the pressure she craved, a silent, desperate plea her body made before her mind could catch up. Casey’s hands had found her waist now, settling against her skin with a surety that stole her breath, thumbs digging into the soft hollows just above her hip bones with a possessive pressure that made Stephanie feel utterly claimed, held in place for the taking. The sheer rightness of it, the perfect fit of those hands against her, felt so good it made her head spin, the kitchen tilting on its axis.
Casey was the one who pulled back first, breaking the kiss with a soft, wet sound that echoed in the sudden quiet. She was breathing hard, her chest rising and falling against Stephanie’s, and her lips looked thoroughly kissed, pink and a little swollen in a way Stephanie wanted to trace with her own. The loss of contact was a physical shock, cold air rushing into the space between them, and Stephanie’s body surged forward for half a second, chasing the warmth before her mind caught up with the motion and she made herself pull back.
“I assume you’re not working today,” Stephanie said, voice rougher than she meant. Her heart hammered against her ribs. “You don’t seem to be in a hurry.”
Casey shook her head, a small smile tugging at the corner of her mouth. “No. I’m off today.” She paused, fingers still resting at Stephanie’s waist. “I was thinking of taking you snorkeling.”
