by Tessa Vidal
“Excuse me, Vickie.” I smiled, and walked across the room to where Amber was standing. The waiters abruptly left without a word. I put my arms around her shoulders and whispered in her ear.
“I want to tear your clothes off right here and take you in front of everyone.” Amber’s shoulders tensed. I glanced down at her face. Her lips were parted and looking past that I noticed her nipples pebbling through the sheer fabric of her dress. A possessive urge to mark her and let everyone know she was mine dominated my thoughts.
“I’ve had enough champagne. Want me to clear a space on the table?” She replied softly in my ear. Shivers ran up and down the length of my body, unused to Amber being so forthright, so damned sexy.
Mine.
She placed a hand on my ass and I felt myself getting wet. I needed that hand somewhere else, along with her magical tongue. Lowering my mouth to her ear I growled, a primal sound of need, before saying the actual words we both wanted to hear.
“Let’s get out of here, before I forget where we are and really do what I want to do. And baby, I need you in the worst way” I stroked her lower back, suppressing the urge to wrap her in my arms and devour her whole. Amber pursed her lips and her eyes snapped shut, oblivious to our surroundings. I couldn’t wait any longer, so I grabbed her hand and made for the back door.
I nodded to people as we passed, looking no one in the eye. I didn’t want someone to stop us for a conversation I knew I’d cut off after a single sentence. Everyone was drinking and laughing and dancing, and the time felt right for us to disappear. We sliced through the crowd and exited through the kitchen, the smell of food adding to my hunger for Amber. Her fingers clutched mine tightly in hers. When I threw open the backdoor, Vickie and a few others were smoking cigarettes in the alleyway.
Damn it.
Unable to speak, I nodded my head and practically dragged Amber along behind me. The startled look on Vickie’s face, the disappointment I could swear was in her eyes urged me forward. Our dress shoes echoed loudly as we raced for the car. Once there, I threw open the door and plopped down in the seat, grateful to be away from the party, and alone with the only woman in the world I desired. Suddenly, I realized my actions were selfish, that maybe Amber had been enjoying herself.
“Amber, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to drag you away, I just had to be away, I don’t know what came over me.” The chaos of feelings was overwhelming. I’d never felt so out of control in my life before, and it was all because of the beauty perched on the seat next to me.
Her hand reached up to the back of my head, and her fingers dipped into my hair. I leaned my head back as her fingers massaged away the tension, then she turned my face to hers and brushed her lips against mine.
“Simona, I…” She shook her head, and I noticed a tear in her eye.
“What is it? Are you okay?” I wiped the moisture away with my thumb and felt my eyes watering up too.
“Please, take me back to our room. I need you, like really need you bad. If you don’t, I won’t be able to control myself.” Her voice cracked, and then she ran her tongue over her full lips. I desperately wanted to kiss them, but I knew if I did we’d never make it back to the room. I put the key in the ignition and we drove off in silence, her fingers curled in mine.
* * *
As I parked the car in the lot, Amber placed her hand on my lap and whispered.
“Can we take a walk first?”
I nodded my head, then wondered, why did I feel so tense? What was I afraid of?
Instead of heading indoors we wandered the grounds in silence hand in hand, walking by the tennis courts and then the pool. There were few people about, and the dim lights scattered around the grounds softened the atmosphere. The mountains were dark shadows in the background, illuminated by the biggest moon I’d seen in years. It was hypnotic and calming, though it wasn’t having much of an effect on my nerves.
A wooden fence lined the path, and seeing no one around, I stopped. Amber stood next to me and took my hand.
“I’m not good at this.” She murmured.
“Neither am I. But, what is this anyway? Are we talking the same thing, or is it just my imagination?” Neither of us looked at the other, but somehow we were communicating without words. My heart thumped in my chest, and my legs felt weak. We stared straight ahead, the scenery a distraction from why we were really here.
“I’ve never said this to anyone before.” Amber whispered. My hands felt clammy, and my first instinct was to let go, to run, but her grip tightened on my hand.
“Me neither.” I mumbled, knowing what I wanted to communicate to this woman, and wondering if she was feeling the same, because if she didn’t I would die. I knew what I wanted to say, and I knew how I felt. I was a successful woman who always got what I wanted. So why was this so damn hard? I needed to just spit it out before I ran away from the best thing that had ever happened in my life. Shaking my head clear, I turned to her and spoke.
“I love you.” We said together. Our mouths fell open simultaneously, and we stared at each other in wonder. The way the moon shone on her face burnt into my eyes, a vision I would never forget. All I could do was stare at her perfection. Amber’s hand reached up to my face, pressed against my cheek, then wiped away tears I’d not been aware of. Was this crying stuff part of being in love? I’d never cried so often in somebody else’s presence before in my life.
I took her hand from my cheek and kissed her palm, then drew her into my chest.
“I really do love you Amber.” I hoped she wasn’t offended, because I could hear the sound of surprise in my voice.
She shook her head with a smile and kissed me, wiping all the confused, wondrous thoughts from my mind.
“And I really love you. Let’s go back to the room. I want to show you just how much I do.” Amber took my hand in hers and led me down the path toward the rest of our lives.
Epilogue- Christy
“I think it’s awesome you’ve re-opened the old place. I just wish it was exactly like Bartholomew’s Bookstore.” I kicked off my shoes and locked the front door. The new hardwood floor is super-polished, and every time I stopped by I slid on them in my socks. I twirled around and then skated across the floor to the brand new contemporary desk in the rear of the showroom. Amber looked pissed. Jesus, she was so damn sensitive.
“What, you don’t like it? Why didn’t you say something when we originally opened a few months ago?”
Amber and Simona had spent a lot of money fixing up the space, and the investment had paid off. It was modern, sleek and beautiful, more like an art gallery than a typical bookstore. The thing was, it didn’t feel like the dusty old store we used to work in, and I missed it. Endurance Books might have been housed in the same building as Bartholomew’s, but it was completely different.
“Amber, I think it’s gorgeous. I see your numbers and can only admire your expertise. Open six months and you’re already in the black? Most businesses would kill for that kind of success. But I’m sentimentally attached to the old store. I grew up going to Bartholomew’s, which was your typical, dusty and quirky bookstore. You sell these billion dollar books you can’t touch without gloves kept under glass that explodes if you breathe on it the wrong way.” I spun around on my socks once more. “Can I have some wine before I go home? Please?”
Since I took over as Simona’s assistant I had gotten used to a fancier lifestyle. Plus, it was so much easier now than when Amber had the job. Instead of being at their house at the crack of dawn to make muffins and shit, I didn’t have to be there until nine. Thank goodness I didn’t have to cook either, or I’d have been unemployed. I thought Simona would have roped Amber into cooking breakfast for her, but as it turned out Amber had her wrapped around her little finger. Simona cooked for Amber, and she made extra for me.
Our old stockroom was unrecognizable, transformed into a Swedish-looking, minimalist food dispensary, otherwise known as an ultra-fancy kitchen. I opened the sustainably harvested,
organically grown wooden cabinet doors and plucked out two wine glasses. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed something I’d overlooked before. Our old coffee mugs were gathering dust in a dark corner of the top shelf. I placed the wine glasses back and rinsed the mugs out, then placed them on a tray with a bottle of Shiraz. As I picked it up I saw through the window Simona’s car pulling into the alley. I grabbed an extra glass and strolled back to the showroom.
“Your wife just arrived, so I brought both of you a glass. Well, she got a glass, but you and I are drinking out of our old mugs.” I poured the wine while Amber shut down her laptop.
“Where did you find them?” Amber held the mug out, looking it over before taking a sip.
“Gathering dust in the back of the kitchen cabinet. Pepe!” In Simona’s arms was their black chihuahua puppy, also known as the most spoiled rotten animal ever to walk the earth. Literally entire days went by where the only time his feet touched the ground was to go outside to do his business. Today he’d gone to Asheville on a business trip with his mom. He loved being in the car.
I took Pepe from Simona, who leaned down to peck Amber on the lips.
“How’d it go?” I asked her.
“Excellent, best thing I’ve ever did was making Vickie the manager.” She sipped the wine, then sat in the uncomfortable modern chair next to the desk. It looked awesome, but I missed the dusty overstuffed chairs from the old days.
“It’s a new location, but she’s already exceeded income estimates by fifteen percent. If she keeps it up, I might be tempted to open another bistro there, or maybe in Charlotte. Actually, Vickie would make an excellent regional manager.”
“Uh-huh.” I murmured, sipping my wine.
“You know, once she left Richmond her performance really improved. I think she just needed a change of scenery after the fire.” Simona said, then reached in her pocket for her buzzing phone.
I winked at Amber who stifled a laugh. It escaped neither of us that Vickie was transferred to Asheville soon after Simona started dating Amber. You could tell she felt guilty about it, but Simona gave Vickie a fat raise and she didn’t seem to mind. Amber initially said I had blown it out of proportion, that she needed to fill the position quickly and Vickie was available. But I knew better, and so did Amber.
Everybody was happy, and that’s all that mattered.
“Right Pepe?” I held him up to my face, and instead of giving me a kiss he looked pissed, like I was disturbing his nap. Which I was, but I needed to hit the road. I handed Pepe over to Amber, downed my mug of wine, and grabbed my purse. Simona was on the phone, so instead of saying goodbye, I waved at her and let myself out.
Halfway down the steps I stopped and turned around, then peered back at them through the window. I did this sometimes, cause, you know, if it weren’t for me, they would never have gotten together.
Amber leaned over Simona’s shoulder, laughing at something she was showing her on her phone. Simona looked up at her and they kissed, like a serious, long kiss, with major tongue action. I knew I shouldn’t be spying on them, but I couldn’t help it.
Those fuckers were so damn cute.
Thank You For Reading!
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About the Author
Tessa is a feel-young woman in her fifties who lives for romance. A church secretary by day, Tessa writes romantic tales of love at night about women defying boundaries and forging relationships that stand the test of time.