by Cara Malone
“Oh,” Melody said, not sure how to react. Jessie didn’t look too torn up about it, but it seemed callous to celebrate something like that. Melody asked, “Was it because I…”
She trailed off, not sure how to ask whether her presence at the recital and Steve’s reaction to her had contributed to the end of Jessie’s marriage, but thankfully Jessie let her off the hook.
“No,” she said abruptly, but then a second or two later she added, “and kind of yes.”
“Oh,” Melody said again. There didn’t seem to be much else to say.
“I’m ready,” Ellie said, and that’s when Melody noticed she’d come to the center of the room and was already sitting on the floor, ready to stretch.
“I should start class,” Melody said apologetically to Jessie, who headed for the last chair in the row and pulled out her trusty notebook. Melody went over to the stereo and queued the warm-up music to begin the lesson. Better late than never.
She glanced over at Jessie again and she looked almost embarrassed. There was a lot of color in her cheeks and she was looking at Melody through her eyelashes, her head tilted down toward her notebook. It stirred something in Melody, but whatever that look meant, it would have to wait until the lesson ended.
Melody spent most of the hour reviewing things she’d taught Ellie last year, and Ellie followed right along not missing a beat. It was pretty clear that her new home studio must have gotten an awful lot of use over the summer and Melody thought it would be worth reminding Ellie of the practice schedule that they’d come up with in the spring. Still, Melody couldn’t deny Ellie’s impressive aptitude for ballet. She even taught her the first part of her new routine before the hour was up.
When the lesson ended, Ellie dashed out of the room to change into her school clothes and Melody found herself alone in the studio with Jessie once again. She didn’t know how to proceed or what to say about Jessie’s divorce and her part in it – the smart thing to do, as Ellie’s teacher, would be to go out to the reception desk and sit down as if Jessie was any other dance mom.
Be professional, she told herself.
But Jessie wasn’t just another dance mom, and she never would be. Melody walked over to her, heart pounding and totally unsure of what she’d say when she got to her.
CHAPTER 27
Melody was coming toward Jessie and this was the moment she had been waiting for ever since she and Steve separated and he gave her permission to follow her heart. She wanted Melody – she’d always wanted Melody – and she stood up. The moment their eyes locked, it felt like all the oxygen had been sucked out of the room. Jessie couldn’t catch her breath and she felt blood rushing to her head.
Melody stopped in front of her, so close she could feel Melody’s breath on her neck. Jessie licked her bottom lip, catching it briefly between her teeth, and couldn’t find enough air in her lungs to speak.
“So,” Melody said. “You’re single now. How does that feel?”
Jessie couldn’t stop falling into those gorgeous chestnut eyes and suddenly she was feeling very clammy and flushed. There were so many things she wanted to say, things she’d rehearsed while she was staring up at the ceiling night after night this summer, but now that the time had come she had no words. She realized with horror that she’d never in her life tried to flirt with someone she was actually interested in and she had absolutely no game at all.
“It’s strange,” she managed to say. That wasn’t sexy. “Steve’s living in the other half of our duplex and Ellie’s adjusting better than I hoped.”
Shit, neither was that. Jessie knew she should be telling Melody how liberating it felt to finally stop living a lie, or even more to the point, how much she’d wanted Melody since the moment she saw her. Instead, this stream of mundane babble kept falling from her lips and she could only watch in horror as she sabotaged her first real chance with Melody.
“I don’t think she fully understands what it means yet, but the studio we built for her has gone a long way toward making it okay,” Jessie said. She could have smacked herself in the forehead right then and there, but at least she had enough restraint to wait until she was alone to do that.
“She’s a lucky girl,” Melody said, a shade of disappointment in her voice.
It was so much harder to be smooth and seductive when she had the real-life version of Melody in front of her – in Jessie’s fantasies, it had always been effortless. But time had run out and Ellie was standing in the door of the studio, impatiently waiting for Jessie to drop her off for her second day of first grade.
Jessie glanced at Melody, trying not to betray too much of the disappointment she felt in her expression. All she could do was try again next time, and maybe work on growing a metaphorical pair in the meantime. “See you on Saturday? Ellie’s in the morning intermediate ballet class this year.”
“Yeah,” Melody said. “I’ll be here.”
Jessie headed for the door, throwing an arm around Ellie’s shoulder. She didn’t look back at Melody, too disappointed in herself to give her another glance. Because she’d chickened out, she now had another week of unbearable tension to look forward to before she’d see Melody again.
When they got to the parking lot, Jessie was surprised to find Steve’s truck parked in front of the school. Jessie furrowed her brow as the driver door opened and Ellie dashed across the parking lot to greet her father.
“Hey, bug,” he said, scooping her up and carrying her around the front of the truck. “How was your lesson?”
“Good!” Ellie said emphatically. “Are you going to take me to school?”
“Yeah, if it’s okay with mommy,” he said, glancing at Jessie. She was too surprised at this unexpected appearance to do anything but nod in agreement. Sure, that was fine, but why? Steve carried Ellie around to the passenger side of his truck, saying to her, “I miss my little bug in the mornings, so I thought I’d surprise you. We can get McDonald’s breakfast on the way.”
After he got Ellie buckled into the truck, a task made more difficult after he riled her up with the promise of greasy breakfast sandwiches, Steve shut the door and came around the front again to meet Jessie.
She folded her arms critically and asked, “You got up early and came all the way over here to drive Ellie two miles over to the school because you missed her? You’ll see her this afternoon.”
“That’s not the only reason,” he said. “Did you do it?”
“Do what?”
“Did you ask her out?”
“You came here to pester me about that?” Jessie asked, raising her voice in incredulity.
Steve just smirked at her. “I knew you’d chicken out.”
“Jerk.”
“No,” he corrected. “Wingman. I’ll take Ellie to school, you go back in there and ask her the hell out.”
Jessie sighed heavily and kept her arms crossed protectively in front of her chest. Why did it feel like she was being coerced?
“Come on, Jess,” Steve said. “It’s okay to move on with your life. Unless, of course, you want to waste another five years.”
“What if she doesn’t want me?” Jessie asked.
That was a doubt that had been floating, not yet fully formed, in the back of her mind for a while now. Jessie had never asked anyone out before, and she’d only ever been on a single date. What if she sucked at it, or Melody thought all the fun was in the fact that they were on opposite sides of the reception desk this whole time? It was a lot to put on the line.
“You’ll never know if you don’t try,” Steve said. “Now get in there.”
Jessie watched as he climbed into the truck and Ellie waved goodbye to her, and then it was just her, standing alone in the parking lot. Adrenaline coursed through her veins and she made a mental note to do her best to return this favor when Steve started dating and needed a wingman of his own.
CHAPTER 28
Melody leaned against the studio wall the moment Jessie and Ellie walked out of the lobby and she heard the door shut
behind them. She let out a big breath, putting her head back against the wall, and she wondered if she should have handled that situation differently.
She shouldn’t have left it up to Jessie. She shouldn’t have let her turn the conversation into something that any dance mom would have with her kid’s instructor. She should have grabbed Jessie and pulled her into the kiss she’d been waiting so long for. Now that the husband was out of the picture, there was no reason not to, nothing holding them back. But when Jessie started talking about her new living arrangements and Ellie’s dance studio, doubt set in. Melody started to wonder if she’d made the whole thing up – all the tense moments that passed between them in the last year – or maybe Jessie moved on over the summer and she already had someone new.
Melody shut her eyes and tried not to think about the possibility that she’d fucked things up between them forever by not just going for it a long time ago. She should have kissed Jessie outside the high school last spring and got it over with.
But she didn’t want to ‘get over with’ anything involving Jessie. She wanted to savor their first kiss, especially after she’d spent so much time yearning for it. Who knew if she’d ever get the chance now?
She was so absorbed in this wallowing line of thought that she didn’t even hear the front door opening. By the time Melody heard shoes clipping briskly across the wood studio floor and opened her eyes, Jessie was already halfway to her.
“What are you-” Melody began to ask, but that was all she got out before Jessie put her hands on either side of Melody’s face and pulled her into a long overdue kiss.
Their bodies came together against the wall and it felt like a static shock, every bit of the tension that had been building between them releasing all at once. It was heaven. Melody put her hands on Jessie’s hips and kept her close while she parted Jessie’s lips with her tongue and tasted her sweetness. Even if she should have done it a year ago, this moment was well worth the wait.
After a long moment in which she lost track of everything beyond Jessie’s lips, Melody pulled back just a few inches – just far enough away to speak – and asked, “Why are you here? Doesn’t Ellie need to get to school?”
“Steve took her,” Jessie said, her voice breathless and her body still seeking Melody. Her hips connected with Melody’s, pressing urgently against her and making it hard to focus on her words. Jessie ran her fingers through the loose tendrils of Melody’s hair and added, “I had to come back and do what I should have had the guts to do a long time ago.”
“Kiss me?”
“Okay,” Jessie said, laying another long and passionate kiss on Melody’s lips. Then she pulled back and said, “But that’s not what I meant. I wanted to ask you out. I was so scared that you’d say no, or that you were only interested in flirting with me, or that I’ve been reading everything wrong for the past year and this whole thing has just been in my head-”
Melody smiled and put her finger over Jessie’s lips to cut off the anxious flow of words. She liked the way Jessie’s soft lips felt against her fingertip, and the sensation was awakening a new level of desire in her. But she had to wait a little bit longer and get through this moment.
“Ask me,” she whispered, taking her finger away from Jessie’s lips and trailing them softly over her jaw and neck to rest on the top of her chest.
“Melody,” Jessie said, her velvety voice filling the small space between them in the most intimate way. Melody could feel the words coming out of her chest, vibrating against Melody’s hand, and she looked deep into Jessie’s brilliant green eyes. Jessie said, “Would you like to go on a date with me?”
“I’d love to,” Melody whispered, sliding her hand farther down Jessie’s chest. She could feel her heart beating fast. “When?”
“This weekend?” Jessie asked tentatively. “Friday night?”
Melody slid her knee between Jessie’s thighs and pulled her closer to her. She brought her lips close to the plump lobe of her ear and she asked, “How about right now?”
“I was picturing a nice restaurant,” Jessie said as Melody’s hand closed around Jessie’s breast and an involuntary moan escaped her mouth.
It was close to Melody’s ear, sending a chill through her body. She brought her lips down to the curve of Jessie’s neck, tasting the sweetness of her skin and enjoying the way Jessie’s body reacted to her kisses. Jessie opened her mouth, struggling to form words as Melody nibbled and kissed her way up to her jaw.
“You know,” she said. “Flowers… candlelight… romance… oh hell.”
She put her hands over Melody’s on her breasts and gave her a look that begged her to continue touching her. Melody grinned at her, taking this cue and wrapping her arms around Jessie’s waist. Flowers and candlelight and romance were nice, but after so many months of craving her, they could wait another day or two. This couldn’t wait.
Melody pushed them both away from the wall, and then she brought her lips down to Jessie’s skin, cradling her head as she kissed her collar bone, her neck, her jaw. Jessie let out a plaintive moan as Melody’s lips worked her way back down her neck.
Jessie threaded her fingers through Melody’s hair and pulled her gently back up to face her. The tension returned, hovering between them for just a moment as Melody bit her lower lip and then leaned in again to kiss her. She stroked Jessie’s cheek with her thumb, Jessie’s breath catching in her throat, and just as their lips met, Melody’s hand brushed over Jessie’s thigh. It sent a jolt of electricity through them both and Jessie pulled back for a moment to smile at her, a little laugh escaping her lips.
“What?” Melody whispered.
“I never thought this moment would actually come,” Jessie said, and then she threw her arms over Melody’s shoulders and pulled her into the center of the studio. She kissed Melody again and pulled her down to the floor, their lips never parting and their kisses becoming more passionate and frantic the more places Melody put her hands on Jessie’s body. Soon they were stripping each other naked.
Melody yanked Jessie’s shirt over her head and found her nipples hard from the cool air of the studio. She wanted to take her then and there, but Jessie grabbed the bottom of Melody’s warm-up sweater and pulled it over her head. They both paused for a moment as the pink scar running up her forearm was revealed.
“Let’s just…” Melody started to say, reaching for her sweater to pull it back on. They could do this half-dressed. But she trailed off as Jessie gently took her wrist.
She turned over Melody’s arm to look at the scar.
“What happened to you?” She asked quietly. Her mossy green eyes were inquisitive, not judging like so many Melody had seen before.
She still wanted to pull her sleeves down and cover her arm, but she said, “I fell against a sharp piece of metal while I was at Pavlova. I had the flu and my legs gave out. It’s ugly.”
She made another grab for the sweater, but Jessie brought Melody’s forearm to her lips, kissing it tenderly and looking into Melody’s eyes as she said, “Everything about you is beautiful.”
“Thank you,” Melody said, breathless.
Then she let out a surprised yelp as Jessie pulled her on top of her. They collapsed on the cool wood floor and Melody’s lips found Jessie’s again. Their kisses became more frantic and Melody pinned Jessie to the floor, hands over her head as she kissed and licked and sucked every inch of her flesh from her jaw to her hips.
Jessie closed her eyes and Melody loved the little whimpers she emitted every time she touched her. Her tongue found the soft curve of Jessie’s breast and then the hardness of her nipple, while her hands ran down Jessie’s sides and squeezed her hips.
Melody undid the button of Jessie’s jeans and yanked them over her hips, all the while Jessie’s fingers threaded through Melody’s hair, tied up in a bun and getting messier by the second. And then Melody crawled between Jessie’s knees, pushing them apart to make room for herself.
Jessie kept both hands on Melody�
��s head and her eyes closed while Melody found the soft fabric of Jessie’s panties with her mouth. She hooked her fingers in the waistband and peeled them down Jessie’s legs, then gently kissed the top of her pubic bone, feeling Jessie’s thighs quiver and close tighter around her.
Melody opened her mouth, her tongue gliding over the soft skin of Jessie’s upper thigh and then the crease of her hip, and just before she found the wetness between her legs, she felt Jessie hooking her hands under her arms and pulling her back up.
“What’s wrong?” Melody asked, her fingers still playing around Jessie’s hips and tracing their way closer to her inner thighs. Every part of her body was on fire and it didn’t seem possible to draw in a full breath, she was aching so fiercely for Jessie.
“Nothing,” Jessie said breathlessly. She pulled Melody in for another kiss, their tongues dancing over each other and increasing her desire, and then Jessie said, “I’ve just never done this before.”
“Do you want to stop?” Melody asked, a little crestfallen. Her fingers hovered over Jessie’s hip, barely brushing the skin, and she wanted nothing more than to hear her delicious moans again.
“No,” Jesse said breathily, and then she grabbed Melody’s hand, plunging it between her thighs.
Melody gasped in surprise, her whole body igniting with arousal at the sudden contact. She felt Jessie’s breath against her ear and her own body responded to Jessie’s undulations beneath her. She slid her hand in and out of the wetness and a shiver went through her every time she felt Jessie’s breath catch, her moans echoing through the empty studio.
Melody felt Jessie’s hand on her hip. It slid slowly, tentatively down her thigh and then over her backside. Melody let out a moan to let Jesse know she liked the caress, and Jessie’s hands became bolder, grasping and squeezing at Melody’s curves. As Melody continued to stroke Jessie and they rolled their tongues together, she felt Jessie’s hand slide between her thighs, her fingers moving the fabric of Melody’s leotard aside and finding a wetness of her own.