Brice forgot how to speak. How to breathe. How to even think.
Keena looked up at the second story windows, then back at Brice. Snow melted slowly against the front of her coat. The market sounds had faded behind them, leaving only the hush of falling snow and the faint hum of music that drifted from the square.
“Okay,” Keena said.
“Okay?” Brice’s heart leaped into her throat.
“One coffee.”
“One coffee,” Brice echoed. Keena’s smile faded, but not completely. Something softer remained in her eyes as she watched her. Brice moved overto the door and tried to insert the key, but her fingers were clumsy from the cold and her nerves. The key slipped again before Keena stepped closer.
“Here,” Keena said quietly. She took the keys from Brice’s hand. Their fingers brushed for a millisecond, but the contact sent a warm spark through Brice’s arm.
Keena must have felt it too. The enforcer froze with the key halfway to the lock. For a moment, neither of them moved.
Keena turned her head and the world narrowed slightly. Brice stood beneath the twinkling lights of her bookstore with Keena close enough to touch. The woman looked as if she were about to run.
“Brice,” Keena said. Her voice was much rougher now.
“Yes?” Brice automatically licked her lips.
Keena didn’t answer. She closed the short distance instead. Her hand lifted slowly, giving Brice every opportunity to step back, but she couldn’t have moved if she wanted to.
Keena’s fingers brushed her cheeks as she leaned in and pressed her lips to Brice’s.
The kiss was so soft that it stole the breath right out of Brice’s lungs.
For a heartbeat, Brice stood frozen in surprise,then warmth rushed through her and she kissed Keena back.
Keena made a sound low in her throat as Brice’s lips opened granting her tongue entrance. Not quite a groan, more like a growl.
Brice’s core pulsated at the sound and the kiss deepened for one perfect second. Keena’s hand slid from Brice’s cheek to the back of her neck. She held onto Brice as she kissed her.
The woman kissed her like she was starving; as though Brice was her first meal after going weeks without.
Brice melted against her.
A moan slipped from Brice’s throat as her tongue slid against Keena’s. She gripped the front of Keena’s coat. All she could think of was how good Keena tasted.
She needed more.
But Keena pulled back. Her expression changed so quickly that it hurt Brice to see it. Desire vanished and in its place was guilt.
“I’m sorry,” Keena said. She stepped back and released Brice. “I shouldn’t have done that.”
Brice was still holding on to the front of Keena’s coat and she released her grip slowly. Her lips tingled and her heart pounded in her chest.
Keena turned as if she meant to leave and panic raced through Brice. Not from fear, but from the certainty that if Keena walked away right now, she would never see her again.
“Wait!” Brice blurted out. Keena stopped. Brice swallowed and tried to catch her breath. That kiss had scrambled her brain. “I thought you said you’d stay for coffee.”
Keena looked over her shoulder. She glanced down at the wagon, the store then Brice and her shoulders lowered a fraction.
“Yeah. Coffee.” she said.
The kiss lingered long after Keena stepped through the apartment door. Not just the tingling on her lips, but all the way down to her bones.
She stood just inside the entryway while Brice disappeared farther into the apartment. She shrugged out of her coat and hung it up on one of the hooks beside the door.
