by Haley Cass
Her gaze found its way back to the pictures like a moth to a flame and she bit her lip. “I don’t just mean, you know, your –” she cut herself off and gestured vaguely to Charlotte’s face and body, “But I mean – you have this way of showing who you are just by… being. Like, you look here like you have all of the answers,” she pointed at the picture she’d just gazed at, drawn to it again. “You look like you have all the answers. Like you’re capable of doing anything.”
She bit her lip, abruptly cutting herself off before she could ramble anymore about her thoughts on Charlotte and her many virtues.
Chancing a look at Charlotte, she took in the way those big brown eyes seemed incredibly soft, the grin pulling at her lips so different than the one she’d been wearing a minute ago. Then she cut her gaze to the photos on the table, a critical look coming across her features. “That’s honestly exactly what I wanted to hear about these pictures. We have to make the final cuts as to which ones to use in the ad campaign by Monday.”
Dawning came over her and she felt like a fool. “Oh! These are for the photoshoot you did.”
“I know that there are still a few months of hard work ahead,” Charlotte murmured, “But it’s within reach. I know that it’s been within reach, technically, this whole time. But, with having my team come together, putting together the ad campaign, knowing that the first debate is in less than a month – it’s really happening.”
Sutton turned away from the photos and instead turned to look at Charlotte. Who was looking at the photos with that pleased look on her face. She wasn’t quite in disbelief at the campaign or at herself, Sutton knew, because Charlotte was more than sure about herself. She was just, for once, letting herself enjoy it.
It was something she’d noticed about Charlotte since they’d met in person, that she didn’t even think Charlotte realized about herself. That she wasn’t unhappy but that her mind was always working and always planning, and there were so very few times that she ever let herself just bask in the good things about the world around her in the moment.
Touched at being able to be one of the few people who got to exist with Charlotte in one of those rare moments, she couldn’t contain a small smile. “I think it’s more than within reach.”
She wasn’t one to underestimate Naomi Young. In fact, she would consider herself one of a small handful of people who saw her for all she was. Something that could be said about Naomi was that she would never deny that she would do almost anything to get what she wanted.
Yet, as she looked at Charlotte standing in the low light of her kitchen, wearing a form fitting tank top and yoga pants, bare feet with pink painted toenails, and a hopeful determination on her face… Sutton thought it would be the world’s biggest crime to underestimate her.
“Thank you.” Charlotte took herself out of whatever thoughts that had been churning in her mind to look at Sutton from the corner of her eye. Before she turned to face her, eyebrows furrowing slightly in confusion. “Wait, a second. What were you thinking at first?”
“What?”
“You said a minute ago oh, these are for your photoshoot. But you’d already looked at all of the pictures and said that I looked beautiful and capable,” she explained, “So what did you think? That I called you over here just to look at pictures of myself to garner compliments?” her voice dipped into a teasing lilt, causing Sutton to blush.
“No,” she denied, “That’s not – I just, those were my first thoughts when I saw all of the pictures,” she cut herself off when Charlotte tilted her head and chuckled. “Stop teasing me.”
“In all seriousness, when I got these proofs before I left work, I texted you because I wanted you to let me know your opinion. So, in a way, you commenting on the photos without knowing what they were from makes your opinion on them even better. More unbiased. Thank you.” Charlotte reached out and slid her hand down Sutton’s in a caress.
She couldn’t control the shiver but managed to stop the remark that had formed on her tongue. About the fact that she wasn’t sure she was quite an unbiased source when it came to Charlotte, regardless of the circumstance.
Instead, she offered a weak shrug in return as her mind slipped back into that wondering loop. Charlotte called her here to look at her pictures; that’s what she said. Which meant that the lacy underwear was for nothing, right? Because this was a just friends hangout and nothing else?
Then Charlotte’s thumb swiped over the back of her hand before letting her go, and Sutton just – she just needed to know. Because what was this? Was this Charlotte being just normal charming flirty? Or was it – did she want more?
Taking in a deep breath through her nose, Sutton momentarily closed her eyes tightly to draw courage. And she willed the words to come out, “Have you thought about it?”
Charlotte paused, shifting slightly next to Sutton, and she opened her eyes in time to see Charlotte’s eyebrow quirk up in question. “It?”
Even though she wanted to cringe at herself, she kept going, “I – yes. It. What I said last week.” Refusing to give in to her inclined embarrassment, she continued, “Us. Sleeping together. Um, friends with benefits.”
God, now that she’d actually said the words, she regretted them. Mostly because of this sudden silence they caused. But it was too late to turn back now.
“I mean, it’s okay if you haven’t thought of it.” Even though it would kind of feel like somewhat of an insult when the topic had very much been on Sutton’s mind all week. “And it’s okay if you did think about it and you don’t want to do it.” Even though she would be disappointed. “But I need to know. Because I really don’t like not knowing what you’re thinking and if I just knew, I would know next time whether or not I would have to put special thought into every time you touch me or what kind of underwear I wear.”
Charlotte’s eyebrows rose dramatically at that and damn it Sutton was horrified at herself for letting those words come out. Why did she do this to herself? Why?
She tried very hard to control her heated blush even as she knew it was fruitless, as dark, interested eyes slid down her body for a moment.
Before Charlotte spoke, her voice quiet and controlled, “I truly did invite you over here tonight for a relaxing night as friends.”
Sutton couldn’t quite control the mortified groan that escaped her. Of course. Of course Charlotte hadn’t had any other motives, and of course she would fall into word-vomit that made her want to crawl into a hole. She hardly managed to find her voice enough to croak out, “Oh. Okay. Can we just forget that I said anything?”
Charlotte’s voice dipped impossibly lower as she swayed closer. Her curiosity was palpable as she asked, “Does that mean you’ve thought about it?”
Incredulous, Sutton rolled her eyes, “Of course I’ve thought about it! I don’t – that’s not really something I could not think about.”
“And have you come to a conclusion about what you want?” Charlotte implored, and Sutton felt a little lightheaded, because she was even closer than before.
Her heart started beating erratically as her gaze flickered down to Charlotte’s mouth. “I want you,” she whispered, and for once she didn’t mind the fact that she didn’t seem to have control over what she was saying sometimes when Charlotte was around.
Not when her words made Charlotte’s breath hitch and a pink tongue wet her lips, before she answered, “As long as you’re sure…” Charlotte’s eyes searched her own, and she wondered what she was searching for. “I’ve thought about it too,” she admitted, “Probably more than I should have considering how much else has been on my mind this week.”
She shouldn’t be as gratified by that as she was. But considering she’d run herself to distraction thinking about all of the many ways she wanted to have sex with Charlotte throughout the week, it was only fair.
And she certainly wasn’t expecting the power rush it gave her knowing that Charlotte Thompson, who was one of the most gorgeous, intelligent women she�
��d ever met who could probably sleep with most anyone she wanted, was thinking along the same lines about her all week.
Still, she shook her head lightly, pulling back an inch before she got sucked into this dizzying feeling. “Why didn’t you say anything?”
A slim shoulder shrugged as Charlotte’s gaze, serious and thoughtful, caught hers. “I figured that if you wanted to revisit the topic, you would bring it up again. I didn’t want you to feel like I was… pressuring you.”
“You wouldn’t have been,” she asserted. “I know that I’m inexperienced.” She flushed and her mind quickly flashed through all of the possible ways Charlotte could expand her experiences. “But I’m still an adult. And if I don’t want something, I won’t be pressured by you just talking about it. That’s really important, if we’re going to do this.”
And, God, she really wanted to do this. Her body was already humming in expectation. Excitement.
Charlotte lifted an eyebrow before she nodded. “You’re right. And, believe me, I know that you don’t have a problem saying something that is on your mind.” The sudden flash of a grin she had made Sutton flush, before she continued, her voice lowering into a murmur, “You show up on my doorstep, wanting to sleep together. You propose us becoming friends with benefits. And once again, you bring it up tonight. I think that underestimating your boldness is a tragic mistake.”
Her suggestive tone was enough to make Sutton’s knees weak, coupled with the way her eyes had locked on to the way Charlotte’s fingertips were skating along the edge of the table, coming to a stop just beside Sutton’s thigh. She could feel Charlotte’s thumb lightly stroke her there, and her breath left her in a quick exhale.
Before she gave in to the wickedly imploring look Charlotte was giving her, Sutton shook her head, and stepped back. She had to get to her jacket.
Ignoring Charlotte’s confused – and disappointed? – look, she held up a finger to indicate that she would be back in just a minute. The whole walk here, she’d felt sort of foolish for letting Regan talk her into this, but now, as arousal was already settling low in her stomach and potentially going to cloud her head soon enough, she was grateful.
It took her only a few seconds to grab the folded piece of paper she’d put in there earlier before she hurried back to the kitchen to find Charlotte giving her a questioning look. In answer she unfolded the paper, her hands shaking just a bit from a combination of excitement and nerves and desire.
“I, um, came up with these rules.” She grimaced. Rules… sexy. “Well, they’re more like guidelines. Do you have a pen?”
Even though Charlotte was giving her an incredulous look now, she also looked intrigued. “Mhm, in my bedroom. Follow me.” She turned, only to throw Sutton a heavily-lidded look over her shoulder that made her throat feel dry. “And what do you mean by guidelines?”
That embarrassment came back, just a bit now. Sutton’s fingers toyed with the edge of the paper, folding it methodologically before unfolding it again. She followed Charlotte down the hall and explained, “Guidelines like… a few do’s and don’ts that we might want to listen to before we start to do – this.”
Charlotte opened the door to her bedroom and walked to the lamp to flick it on, before she grabbed a pen that was resting on her bedside table. She sauntered back to Sutton. “And what kind of guidelines do you already have on there?”
The question was pointless, though, as Sutton smoothed the paper out so that it was resting on the bureau for both of them to look.
Strictly friend hangouts still happen
Kissing only happens during times of intimacy, not friend-hangouts
We listen to what each other wants and respect boundaries
Sleepovers can only happen after intimacy or only as friends, but not both (Charlotte can choose which)
Leaning over slightly, she penned:
Don’t make assumptions about each other’s wants or needs
She suddenly felt sort of silly for this list, but… still. “I – well. Considering I’ve never done something like this before, and neither have you, having a solid foundation like this to fall back on seemed like a good idea.”
When she looked at Charlotte, she noted the small smirk playing on her lips. Not her teasing one, but the one she wore when she thought Sutton was being endearing. “You… are certainly one of a kind. Of course you thought of this.”
Sutton wondered for a moment if that was a bad thing, but Charlotte’s gaze was so warm and affectionate, she couldn’t help but enjoy it. When Charlotte took the pen from her she knew that the way she slid her fingers along Sutton’s, stroking her index finger over her own, was deliberate.
Charlotte leaned down and started writing to amend the fourth point, and Sutton saw that she’d chosen for them to have sleepovers after friends-with-benefits times, not friend times. Which excited her, because she very much wanted to spend the night in Charlotte’s bed as her lover.
“This way we can make sure that we’re both on the same page about everything afterward. We don’t want any repeats about our… misunderstanding from last week,” her tone was more business-like than Sutton was used to, and it made her blink. Firm but agreeable, and she thought for a moment that this was probably how she got things done at work.
“That sounds like a good idea,” she murmured, watching as she signed Charlotte Thompson at the bottom of the paper with an elegant flourish.
And when Charlotte started to smirk again as she tapped the pen once against the bureau before laying it down over the list, Sutton narrowed in on it. Glancing from the pen to Charlotte, she asked, “Did you really not have a pen anywhere but in your bedroom?”
That smirk grew and Charlotte shook her head. “Of course not. But you wanted this to be a learning experience, right?”
It was in the nearly predatory glint that was in Charlotte’s eyes that had Sutton’s breath catching in her throat, heart starting to speed up. She managed a small nod.
“Consider that the first lesson of tonight. There are many believable, easy ways to get the girl to come back to your bedroom and make everything a little bit easier,” she finished, basically breathing out the words as she moved up onto her tiptoes, and Sutton felt her warm breath on her jaw.
She paused, just a breath away, and though Sutton’s eyes had already fluttered closed, she didn’t have to be able to see to know that Charlotte was waiting. Giving her this one last moment to be able to back out, to decide that this was not a good idea.
But she didn’t want to back out, and she leaned down, her mouth finding Charlotte’s in a second. As soft lips brushed against hers, she felt the answering tingle that she’d felt last weekend, and it was a comfort to know that she hadn’t imagined it.
She felt Charlotte’s tongue sweep across her bottom lip, and she responded, letting her in, as her hands came up to tentatively land on Charlotte’s hips. When Charlotte whimpered softly into her mouth, pressing her body closer to Sutton’s, it was as though all of the sparks that had been growing between them, in every change of tone and every small touch, turned into flame.
One of Charlotte’s hands slid into her hair, her thumb rubbing behind Sutton’s ear, while the other landed on her back, and scratched down. It tore a groan that she didn’t even realize was coming from her own throat out of her, arching her back as the feeling shot desire through her body to land between her legs.
Charlotte moved her mouth to Sutton’s neck and she gasped at the warmth on her sensitive skin. Teeth nipped at the spot just below her ear, making her eyes nearly roll back in her head as her hands squeezed tightly where they gripped slim hips. In the background of the blood roaring in her ears, she realized that she could feel Charlotte’s smirk against her skin, just before she moved down to stroke her tongue over the hollow of Sutton’s throat.
Tonight was even better than the first time, now that she knew that there was a highly likely chance that Charlotte kissing her, touching her, and feeling the way their bodies presse
d against one another was making Charlotte just as wet as it was making her.
She managed a ragged breath, tilting her head back so that Charlotte’s mouth could continue its skillful assault, and she slid one of her hands down and tugged at the hem of Charlotte’s tank top. Then she dipped under, running her hand up the smooth skin of her back.
She could feel the way Charlotte’s breath hitched against her neck. And when she scratched her fingers down, mirroring what Charlotte had just done to her, she reveled in the way Charlotte arched tightly against her and in the surprised scrape of her teeth against the base of Sutton’s throat.
The hand that was still in her hair tightened and tugged her down, moving her mouth to meet Charlotte’s again. She sucked on her bottom lip before she delved in, and Sutton whimpered.
As they kissed, she let her hands roam in a way they hadn’t in the limited past moments that they’d had like this. Her fingertips explored soft skin and then slipped back out from Charlotte’s tank top, to run up the fabric and touch her shoulders. Then back down, hesitating for only a moment before she slid down to cup a firmly muscled butt over her yoga pants.
Her explorative touch made Charlotte sigh into her mouth, and she pulled back slowly. Sutton blinked her eyes open to see darkened brown ones staring at her. The hunger in them was evident and made Sutton’s blood pulse.
It was only when Charlotte licked her now swollen lips, eyes dipping, that Sutton even realized Charlotte had somehow unbuttoned her shirt without her even noticing. When her gaze flew back to Charlotte’s, wondering, “When…?”
All she got in return was a mischievous smirk that somehow turned her on even more, because it should be illegal to be that attractive. Sutton was sure of it.
