Page 37

“Well, this is it,” Ali murmured, gesturing around the room and moving to sit on the windowsill out of the way.

Charlotte shifted Willow to one arm as she approached the easel to study the layers of paint.

A scene of a little spot down the street loosely painted to look as though it was glitching. The colors and lighting and weather of the scene changed throughout each glitch. Charlotte stared at it for a long time, moving closer and further away to take in the full effect.

The urge to sketch Charlotte overwhelmed her. Fingers itching, now or never.

If you don’t do it now, you’ll never get the chance.

Charlotte could wake up any day and realize what a waste spending time with her was.

Grabbing her sketchbook and a mug stuffed with pens and pencils, she began with a few warm up sketches.

The shape of her profile was pleasure itself to draw, just as she knew it would be. The way Willow looked up at her like she hung the moon was too precious. Charlotte wandered around the room, flipping through the paintings stacked against the wall, humming when one spoke to her.

Ali was lost in a more detailed sketch when Charlotte approached.

“It’s not ready yet,” Ali whispered, tilting the sketchbook up, putting down some finishing touches.

“Show me anyway,” Charlotte commanded.

Shyly, Ali peered up through thick lashes, breath catching at the desire churning in those perfect tempests. She yielded, holding up the sketchbook in offering. Cloudbursts widened, beholding her likeness rendered in graphite, her lips parted just so.

“You’re so talented,” Charlotte murmured, fingertips tracing over the depiction of Willow’s furry face. “How much for this?”

Ali laughed, carefree and joyful, ripping the page from her book.

“You can have this unfinished sketch for free.”

“I insist on some form of payment.”

She set Willow down in the armchair before taking the page, handling it as though it were a priceless artifact.

“Hmmm, it’ll cost you one kiss,” Ali teased without thought, shifting her hips in the face of her own boldness.

Ocean eyes darkened and Charlotte set the page down on Ali’s desk, eyes hooded as she stepped in between her parted thighs.

“How many kisses for that landscape tucked away in the corner?”

Heart in her throat, Ali didn’t miss a beat.

“Oh, that would be a lot more than a kiss.”

Her skin buzzed, aching at the proximity. Charlotte’s fragrant perfume embellished the air surrounding them, clouding her senses until there was nothing else.

One hand slid along her jaw, tipping her chin upward. Ali wondered if it was possible to drown in Charlotte’s aura, her thumb traced her bottom lip, finding her deepest dimple, pressing in like a button.

Ali couldn’t have stopped the dazed smile if she tried.

“How much more exactly?” Charlotte rasped, her breath ghosting across Ali’s cheek before pressing a kiss just over her yet untouched dimple.

A shudder went through Ali and her hands found their way to Charlotte’s hips, dipping around pulling her closer by the backs of her thighs, thumbs brushing the farthest outer edge of her ass. Desire was a live wire between them. Noses and foreheads brushing together as anticipation trembled beneath skin.

“At least a full night of pleasure, maybe two.”

Their lips were a breath away. A whisper of a touch and they would have kissed too if not for the ringing emanating from Charlotte’s pocket. Ali’s hands dropped as the moment fractured.

Charlotte huffed as she stepped away with an apologetic expression. Ali kicked her legs, like it could ease the energy zapping beneath her skin. She squeezed her thighs together, eyes fixed on swaying hips as she left.