by Fiona Riley
Olivia shrugged. “He was sort of like a father to me. My father died when I was younger. It was just my mom and my sister and me for the longest time. Just knowing that Albie was watching me and that he cared about my success, well, it made me confident enough to take chances. There is a little of him in every design I do, because he helped me to become who I am today.”
Savannah soothed her thumb along Olivia’s hand. “Well, you’re fantastic at what you do. He must have been a great teacher to spot such a wonderful talent in you.”
Olivia ducked her head. Compliments were usually well received by her, but coming from Savannah right now, they just felt like they were too much, too big. She didn’t quite feel worthy of the praise. Maybe it was just the sincerity of the delivery that caught her off guard. “Thanks,” she mumbled as she felt the reminiscence turn to sadness. This wasn’t an emotion she wanted to feel right now. Not here. Not in front of Savannah. She tucked her chin and tried to still the tremble of her bottom lip as she turned away from Savannah.
“You don’t have to hide from me.” Savannah squeezed Olivia’s hand and reached out to cup her jaw. “It’s okay to be sad. I understand. You can talk to me about anything.”
Olivia nodded. Her lip quivered and a few tears escaped. It had been a long time since she’d talked about Albie. Her team had stopped mentioning him to her because they said she would get this vacant, sad look and lose focus.
“It’s okay.” Savannah stepped closer to Olivia and caressed her cheek before pulling her into a gentle embrace. Olivia squeezed their entwined fingers and let herself sink into Savannah’s hug. She stifled a sob into Savannah’s neck as Savannah held her tighter. Her hands massaged up and down Olivia’s back and Olivia melted into her. She sobbed quietly and let the feeling of Savannah’s arms soothe her, calming the heavy tide that felt like it was crashing in Olivia’s chest. She let herself get lost in that embrace.
“Thank you. I’m sorry,” Olivia mumbled into the skin of Savannah’s neck. She felt safe and warm here.
“Anytime. And don’t be.” Savannah’s voice vibrated against Olivia’s cheek, like a soothing rumble coated with honey.
Olivia wiped her eyes and laid her head back on Savannah’s shoulder while she exhaled. She spent a moment to appreciate the feeling of being this close to her. She had envisioned it differently, a lot less tear filled. She let out an embarrassed chuckle as she rolled her eyes and pulled back. Savannah’s hands slid down to her waist. “I must be a soggy mess right now.”
Savannah smiled and leaned back. “You look beautiful.”
Touched by the sincerity, Olivia found herself leaning forward, placing a soft, lingering kiss at the edge of Savannah’s lips. She felt Savannah’s breath on her face. Savannah’s hands tightened slightly at her waist.
“Thank you,” she breathed out as she kissed the same spot again, this time leaving her lips on Savannah’s cheek.
Savannah turned her head and connected their lips as she pulled their hips closer.
Their lips moved against each other’s slowly before Olivia sucked Savannah’s bottom lip between hers and ran her tongue over it. Savannah’s mouth opened, and what started as a soft, gentle kiss progressed into something much more as Olivia leaned back against the drafting table and pulled Savannah with her.
A soft chuckle escaped Savannah’s lips as her grip on Olivia’s hips got even tighter. She nudged Olivia to sit on the drafting table while she stepped between her legs. Savannah broke the kiss as she moved to Olivia’s neck. She licked and sucked the soft skin below her jaw as her hands moved from Olivia’s hips to her waist. Her thumbs slipped under the sweat-damp silk of Olivia’s blouse and teased along the soft skin of her abdomen.
Olivia let out a pleased moan as she reclined on the table and spread her legs farther. She loved the hungry look in Savannah’s eyes when she stepped closer, filling the space with her body. When Savannah’s belt buckle pressed firmly against her crotch, she moaned again, but this time not from anticipation. This time it was from stimulation.
Savannah’s mouth covered hers and soon Olivia found herself wrapping her legs around Savannah’s hips and her arm around Savannah’s neck, pulling her closer still. She rolled her hips ever so slightly and felt a wave of pleasure echo through her. The friction felt incredible.
“You are so hot,” Savannah husked against Olivia’s lips. She cradled the side of Olivia’s neck and Olivia felt a drop of sweat bead its way from her hairline to her chest. She hadn’t realized how hot it had gotten. She had gotten so caught up in the moment and the kissing that the excessive heat in the room had been momentarily forgotten.
“Sweltering,” Olivia nearly moaned.
Savannah nodded. “I actually meant that your mouth and your body and your noises are hot, as in sexy, but I realize that it’s like a million degrees in here and if we keep this up I will have you stripped naked and pinned to this fucking drafting table in like five seconds unless we leave.”
Olivia contemplated this statement for a moment too long. Savannah’s hand pressed against Olivia’s chest and pushed her flat onto the table. A surprised gasp squeaked out of Olivia as Savannah pushed her silk shirt up to her chest, exposing her abdomen.
Savannah leaned down and pressed wet kisses below the bunched-up shirt as she made her way down toward the waist of Olivia’s pants. She paused at Olivia’s navel and circled it with her tongue. Olivia wrapped her hand around the back of Savannah’s neck to keep her there. She felt Savannah grin against the soft flesh and move a few inches lower before she playfully bit the skin just above the button of Olivia’s pants.
“Fuck.” Olivia groaned and resisted the urge to lift her hips off the table as Savannah looked up at her with a mischievous glint.
“I’m hungry.” Savannah opened her mouth and lowered her lips to the skin below her once again. And Olivia felt like she was going to explode, or burn up, or both when Savannah’s tongue licked downward.
Before she knew what was happening, Savannah had her pulled back up to a sitting position and had pressed a blistering kiss to her lips. After a moment she gave her a cheeky grin and said, “Let’s go eat.”
Olivia was breathless and frustrated as Savannah helped her off the table. She was all kinds of tingly and wet in all the best and worst ways. The room was so hot she could see steam shadows coming off the windows behind them, but she doubted the temperature in the room was making her feel on fire right now. No, that was all the doing of the mischievous, smug-looking woman who held open the door to the design space for her. Lunch was the last thing on Olivia’s mind as Savannah’s hand settled on her ass when she walked by.
Chapter Seventeen
It was significantly cooler outside the suffocating design space, but the Arizona heat was still making its presence known. Most of the local area businesses were without electricity, but Savannah found a deli not far from the design site that was running on an emergency generator. They ordered salads and large iced teas, and being the sole patrons, they got the prime seating in the shade behind the restaurant under some solar-powered fans with blades in the shape of large banana leaves. The building was painted in bright turquoise and orange, and looked almost Caribbean in the hot Phoenix sun.
Savannah moved the mandarin slice around her salad and dipped it in dressing before she slipped it between her lips. She caught Olivia watching her intently as she chewed and smiled through the motion. “So, tell me about your family. You have a sister?”
Olivia nodded and leaned back. “I have an older sister, Christine. She lives out in Pennsylvania, a few miles from my mother.”
Savannah took another small bite of her lunch. “Is that where you’re from? Pennsylvania?”
“Yeah, I grew up a little outside of Philadelphia, in a small town.”
“Have you been in New York long?” Savannah watched as Olivia shooed away a fly from her salad. She moved a tomato around the plate like it was a toy before she finally forked the food and ate it.<
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“I went to school there and stayed there afterward. I’ve been a New Yorker for about ten years, I guess.” She shrugged. “I like it. I feel like it suits me.”
Savannah could envision Olivia cruising the busy sidewalks, seamlessly melting into the crowds, and hailing cabs like a pro.
“What about you?” Olivia tilted her head as she waited for Savannah’s answer.
“I grew up in Southern California and I went to school out there before I finally ended up in Chicago.” She didn’t elaborate. The rest of the story wasn’t very good.
Olivia frowned. “Any siblings? Do your parents live in California still?”
Savannah watched Olivia’s frown deepen as she paused. Rarely did anyone inquire about her past life, so she rarely addressed it. “My mother left just after I was born and my father remarried a lot. I’m an only child, but I have four half siblings from three different women. We’re not close. I haven’t exchanged more than an email with any of them in months.” Savannah shrugged. It was all she had known. If not for Cooper, she’d consider herself an orphan. “I am close to my youngest little brother, Cooper. He lives in Chicago. We see each other often.”
“And your father? Do you talk to him?”
Olivia’s questions were innocent. Savannah didn’t love talking about her father, but she didn’t want to keep anything from Olivia either. She felt her smile falter as she considered this question. “We don’t talk. I’ve always been sort of…baggage in his quest to find a pretty, wealthy woman to live off of. Our relationship was always a little tense. When I was old enough to strike out on my own, I did. I probably talk to him on the phone three times a year, around holidays—that’s about it. I haven’t seen him in about a year, since he dropped Cooper off at school.”
Savannah watched Olivia frown again as she mulled over this new information. She felt the need to clarify. “It’s okay. I’m a firm believer that you can make your own family. Cooper and I get together for meals and hang out a lot. I’m grateful for him.”
Olivia seemed to accept that. “I’ve always had a pretty good relationship with my mom and sister. We have a relatively small extended family, so it was always the Three Musketeers doing things together.”
Savannah teased. “And which Musketeer were you?”
“Well, I was the youngest and a little troublesome, so of the true Musketeers, I was usually Aramis. But there’s a lot of D’Artagnan in there as well.” She laughed. “You know, I’ve never told anyone that story before.”
“Not even Reagan?” Savannah hadn’t meant to say that out loud.
Olivia raised an eyebrow at her. “Not even Reagan.”
Savannah didn’t want to talk about Reagan. She changed the topic. “And your family, they were okay with you dating women?” She was careful to walk this line gingerly. Even in the calmest of people, this line of questioning sometimes provoked chaos.
Olivia brushed a loose curl out of her face and tucked it behind her ear. She seemed completely unfazed. “Yeah, actually, I brought my first girlfriend home in high school. My mother didn’t even blink. My sister had a harder time adjusting, but mainly because she thought I was going through some phase. She came around quickly, though.” Olivia shrugged. “What about you? Did your father mind?”
Savannah tilted her head. “Well, I never really asked anyone’s permission. I just sort of saw what I liked and went for it.”
“Oh, yeah? Is that a trait of yours? Seeing what you like and pursuing it?” Olivia was flirting with her.
“I’ve been known to capitalize on an opportunity if it suits my fancy, yes.”
Olivia vibrated with laughter and leaned back in her chair. Her expression was blissful. Savannah wanted to know what was going on in that beautiful mind.
“What are you thinking about?”
“I was just thinking that I’m very comfortable with you. Like this is a usual occurrence, sitting outside under a fan in a heat wave talking about my life.”
“Yeah, I know what you mean.” Savannah had felt from the moment she’d met Olivia back in New York that they had been old friends in a past life or something. She’d immediately felt a connection with Olivia. And she knew it was more than physical. But she wasn’t ready to think about that just yet.
They spent a moment watching each other. Savannah felt like an easy calm was settling between them. The quiet felt nice.
Olivia crossed her legs and her expression changed. “I made a promise to myself on my run this morning that I was going to clear things up between us. But then there was kissing and groping and I got a little sidetracked.”
Savannah wasn’t sure where this was going.
Olivia continued, “I want to talk about earlier.”
Savannah raised her eyebrow. “Which part about earlier? The part when I caught you watching me? Or the part when you were moaning on the drafting table?”
Olivia gaped at Savannah’s reply. “Well, you don’t mince words, do you?”
“We talked about how I pursue things I desire. So, no, I don’t.” There was a blatant shift in their interaction—Savannah could feel it in the air.
She spoke first. “I liked that, earlier I mean. When you were watching me and when you were under me. Both times were enjoyable for me. So thanks.”
Olivia fidgeted in her seat and Savannah loved it.
“Stop distracting me with your sex voice.”
Savannah laughed. “My what?”
“You heard me.” Olivia shook her head and crossed her arms.
“How would you know what my sex voice is? We haven’t even crossed that delicious bridge yet.” She licked her lips deliberately before she sipped her drink through the straw again.
“Jesus. See? That’s exactly what I’m talking about.” Olivia breathed out and looked away. A thought seemed to occur to her and when she turned back to face Savannah, her expression was taunting. “Well, that’s not entirely true, is it? I mean, I seem to remember hearing all sorts of interesting things in that voice just a few weeks ago.”
Savannah released the straw from her lips. “I remember that, too.” She leaned forward and motioned Olivia to do the same. When Olivia shifted and leaned in, Savannah closed the distance and licked the shell of Olivia’s ear. “That was on the phone. Imagine what it’s like in person.”
Olivia cursed as Savannah’s lips made contact with her ear. She slumped back into her seat in defeat.
Savannah smiled. “You were saying?”
“I hate you.” Olivia growled and pouted. “You’re some kind of sex monster. I know it.”
“Okay, okay. I’ll behave. You were saying something about earlier…” She nodded in encouragement for Olivia to pick up where she’d left off.
Olivia narrowed her eyes as she asked, “What are we doing?”
“Well, at this exact moment we’re having lunch.”
“Savannah,” Olivia whined as she rested her elbows on the table and let her head fall into her hands.
When Savannah didn’t say anything, Olivia picked up her head and looked across the table. Savannah considered dodging the question but she decided against it. This felt like one of those turning point conversations where everything could and would change depending on what was discussed. She had been happily avoiding the truth for some time now, but after this morning, she knew there wasn’t much time left for that.
She nodded and spoke softly, as if using a normal volume would drain the meaning out of the words. “I like you. And I want to experience all sorts of things with you. But I’m not sure how to make that happen considering our circumstances, and that makes me sad and frustrated and confused.”
Without saying a word, Olivia stood from her chair and walked to Savannah’s side of the table. She put her hands on the armrests of Savannah’s chair and pushed her away from the table before she lowered herself onto Savannah’s lap.
Savannah smiled and leaned back as Olivia looped her arms around her neck. “I like you, too. And I care l
ess about the details, so let’s worry about that later, okay? Because all I can think about right now is how much I want to kiss you.”
Savannah beamed and connected her lips to Olivia’s. She ran a hand up and down Olivia’s back as the other lay across her thighs. A soft moan escaped when Olivia licked at her bottom lip and requested entrance. Savannah opened her mouth and tilted her head to deepen the kiss. Kissing Olivia was quickly becoming Savannah’s favorite pastime. Savannah felt her heartbeat ramp up at the feeling of Olivia in her lap. She loved Olivia’s weight on her legs, and her arms around her neck. Then there was the sensation of Olivia’s lips kissing along her jaw—it was titillating. But more than anything, though, the soft little pants coming from Olivia’s mouth drove her crazy. Her hands wandered, one under Olivia’s shirt and the other tracing lazy patterns on her thighs. Both moved higher with each kiss.
“Savannah,” Olivia murmured into Savannah’s lips once she made her way from sucking at Savannah’s jaw. “You’re the best kisser ever.”
She whimpered when Savannah took her bottom lip between her teeth and gently bit down before licking the area to soothe it.
“It’s easy wanting to kiss you. Those lips, Liv. You have the best lips.” Savannah breathed against Olivia’s mouth. She sucked each of Olivia’s lips between hers and savored the fullness of them. Just as Savannah’s hand crept a little higher up Olivia’s shirt, a soft buzzing in Olivia’s pocket drew Savannah’s attention and broke the impromptu make-out session.
“Ignore it.” Olivia leaned back in and pressed a searing kiss to Savannah’s lips.
Olivia’s hand closed over hers and pulled her palm up to her bra. Savannah groaned at the feeling of Olivia’s full breast in her palm and Olivia’s tongue in her mouth. She massaged the tissue and felt Olivia’s nipple pebble under her palm. She circled it with her thumb and Olivia shifted in her lap, pressing her lips harder against Savannah’s. Her kisses were getting more and more aggressive.
