by Lila Bruce
When Jessica had tried to call her the next day, one of Grace’s partners said she was busy with another client and she would have her callback. She made a few more calls, but each time was told that Grace was busy and received an offer of help from Monica or Ashley. Jessica had actually been surprised when Grace suddenly called her out of the blue on Thursday and asked if she would like come over to Grace’s place on Saturday afternoon to look at plans. The offer of dinner seemed to be almost an afterthought, but Grace had made a point of asking what she liked to eat and that it would just be the two of them.
She sighed and made her way to refrigerator, pulling out a juice box.
So, I guess I’m going on a date then, Jessica thought to herself as she walked out of the kitchen and headed back towards her bedroom, sipping strawberry-kiwi juice as she went.
Chapter Nine
“Kendra, it’s not a date.”
Grace spoke into the cell phone propped between her neck and shoulder as she chopped tomatoes on a wooden cutting board with a small kitchen knife.
“Then what would you call it?” her best friend said from the other line, speaking as if she were talking to a child.
“I would call it getting together with a client to go over plans.”
“With dinner.”
“Yes, with dinner.” Grace carried the cutting board over to a large pan smoking on the stovetop and dropped the tomatoes in.
“With a client who happens to be a hot chick…a hot chick who happens to swing your way…and without Ashley or Monica there.”
Grace picked up a large plastic spoon and began to stir the contents of the pot. She sighed and shifted the phone from one ear to the other.
“Monica has a family thing this weekend and Ashley is still getting over that stomach virus. The workers are done with the gut and we need to finalize the interior plans before we can go any further. It’s strictly business.”
“And dinner?”
“I believe we have established that, yes.”
“What are you wearing?”
“What does it matter what I’m wearing?”
“That’s exactly what I thought! Enjoy your date, Grace.”
“Kendra,” Grace said, but the woman had already ended the call. She shook her head, exhaled noisily and placed the phone down on the granite countertop. She gave the sauce a final stir and then tapped the spoon on the side of the pot. Placing the spoon down on the stove top, she turned and walked from the kitchen into the dining room. The large round table that sat in the center of the room was covered with stacks swatches and chips. Sitting next to the collection of colors and patterns was her laptop, the house schematics pulled up on the large screen.
Grace was determined to make this as professional of a meeting as she could. There was no denying the attraction that she felt for Jessica and, given what happened at the farmhouse, Jessica obviously seemed to feel the same way as well. Grace would be lying if she said that…incident hadn’t played out over and over again in her dreams. But as much as she relished to feel the touch of Jessica’s lips on her skin again, the thought of it scared her shitless. It’d been almost a year now since Emma walked out and she was still gun-shy about starting up something new. Even if it was with a drop dead gorgeous woman.
A knock at the front door brought Grace out of her thoughts and she felt her stomach lurch slightly. Wiping sweaty palms on her dark blue jeans, she stepped out of the dining room and to the front door.
This is not a date. You can do this.
She swung the door open with a smile. Jessica stood on the front step smiling back. The younger woman wore a silky white shirt and a pair of lightly colored khaki pants. She held a bottle of wine in one hand.
Jesus-fucking-Christ this is a date.
“Hi Grace.”
“Hi Jessica, please come in,” Grace said, willing her body not to spontaneously combust as the other woman stepped in the house, the faint suggestion of jasmine accompanying her.
“Thanks. I brought a bottle of Chianti. You said pasta, but I wasn’t sure what type, so I figured that would be the safest bet.”
“Oh, that sounds perfect. Thank you,” Grace said, accepting the wine from Jessica’s slender hands. “Let me go find the opener so we can let it breathe before dinner.”
“Great,” Jessica replied, following Grace into the kitchen. “Oh my gosh, that smells wonderful. That can’t be something from a jar.” Jessica peered into the pot of bubbling red sauce that simmered on the stovetop.
Grace blushed slightly. “Thanks. That’s Nana Donnelly’s recipe. Straight from the old country.”
“Lord if it tastes as good as it smells, you could make a fortune bottling that. Let me know if you ever decide you want to do that and I’ll put in touch with the right people.” Jessica turned from the stove and leaned against the countertop, watching as Grace uncorked the wine bottle.
Chucking, Grace shook her head.
“I appreciate that, but I think Nana would turn over in her grave if even thought about it.” She thought a moment before continuing. “That’s right, though. Kim said you work with peppers or something like that?”
Jessica’s green eyes flashed as she gave a small laugh.
“Peppers? Yeah, I guess you could say that. Kim has a way of, well…anyway, being Kim.”
“So you don’t work with peppers? She really wasn’t clear about it, but I got the impression that you grew them. I’ve got a little garden out back myself. I’ve done bell peppers and tried plobanos one year, but those really didn’t turn out well.”
“Sauce.”
“I’m sorry, what?” Grace raised an eyebrow.
“Not peppers, hot sauce,” Jessica explained.
“Oh, okay. That’s interesting.” And different, Grace thought to herself. The slender, dark haired woman with the amazing green eyes standing before her did not strike Grace as the hot sauce type. If there was such a thing. “Where’s my manners? Would you like a drink while dinner finishes?”
“Diet Coke would be great if you have that.”
“Sure,” Grace said, walking to the stainless steel refrigerator. “So I take it the hot sauce business pays pretty well? That’s a nice car you have. But I’m sure you have to get sick of that smell after a while.”
Jessica grinned at Grace. “Well, I don’t do the day to day. One of the perks of being the owner is that you get to pay people to do things like that. The people who work in the plants wear masks, though. I stop in at all the facilities from time to time, and it’s really not that bad.”
Plants? Grace opened the refrigerator door that she had been hanging onto and reached inside.
“Oh, okay.”
“Dixie Heat.”
“What?”
“That’s the name of the hot sauce. Dixie Heat. Technically it’s JTT Industries and we sell a few things other than hot sauce, but that’s what Kim is talking about when she says peppers.”
Grace’s hand froze over the can of Diet Coke she was about to pick-up and her eyes instantly went to the small red bottle that sat on the top shelf of the refrigerator next to the ketchup whose label read “Dixie Heat” in black lettering. Well I’ll be damned, Grace thought to herself. Dixie Heat was one of the top selling hot sauces in country, if not the world.
She picked up the silver can of soda and closed the refrigerator door.
“Would you a like a glass?” Grace asked, holding it up in the air.
Jessica shook her head. “No, the can is fine.” She reached out and took the drink, her fingers grazing Grace’s as grasped the cold aluminum can.
“So…JTT Industries…” Grace inquired, trying to wrap her mind around the fact that the stunningly beautiful woman standing in her kitchen now, the woman who thrown her to the ground and kissed her the other day, was, in fact, a multi-millionaire.
“Jessica Tiffany Taylor.”
“Well, then.” Grace glanced up at the clock on the kitchen wall. “We have about an hour or so befor
e dinner. Do you want to go ahead and get started looking at the design options.”
Jessica smiled and nodded. “Sounds like a plan. Lead the way.”
Chapter Ten
“I’ll be honest, Grace. You’re the expert here. I’m willing to go in whatever direction you want us to. Like I said the other day, my only “have to” is keeping the front door.”
Jessica surveyed the plans Grace had laid out on the computer. She was impressed by how thorough the other woman was, having brought up several things that Jessica had never taken into consideration.
“I think with this being your family’s home, you probably want to keep it original as possible. Even so, there are things that you really want to do to the house. Central heat and air, for example. Another is the windows. All the existing windows are single pane. Those will need to be changed out to some more energy efficient.”
“That’s a good point.”
Jessica listened as Grace went room by room, talking about options for everything from countertops to paint colors. She couldn’t help but notice, though, that the other woman made a point to keep a distance between them. Jessica thought at first she was imagining it, but then the suspicion was confirmed whenever she would move in Grace’s direction and in turn Grace would move equal distance back.
“Grace, there is one thing I would like to go over that we haven’t touched on yet,” Jessica finally stated.
Grace looked up from the computer screen and flashed a smile at Jessica.
“Sure, what is it?”
“It’s the two hundred pound gorilla in the room.”
“I’m sorry, it’s what?” Grace asked, her smile faltering.
“That’s the saying, isn’t it? I think we need to talk about what happened at the house the other week. You know, after the spider but before my brothers arrived?”
Grace glanced at Jessica, but didn’t say anything. Nervously she began to bite her lower lip.
God, I want to taste those lips.
From the look Jessica gave her, Grace wondered if she had said that aloud. “I don’t want you to get the wrong impression of me. I’m not usually that kind of person who does things like that.”
“I see,” Grace said quietly.
“I mean, being so…aggressive. I just got caught up in the moment.”
“I understand.”
“Do you? I hope so. I know you’re a very beautiful woman and I’m sure people are coming on to you all the time. I don’t want you to think…you know.”
“I don’t. Please, don’t worry about it.”
“Okay. Good. I’m sorry.” Oh God, I’m babbling.
“You have nothing to be sorry for, Jess.”
“Well, maybe we can start over. I was just afraid that you were thinking the worst of me.”
“Really, I don’t. It’s okay.”
“I’m just not in the habit of throwing people to ground and kissing them, no matter how good-looking they are. And then when I called and you were busy…”
“Jessica?”
“Yes?”
“Shut up.”
Jessica had a moment to register what Grace was saying and then she felt herself being pulled towards the other woman. Grace wrapped her arms behind Jessica’s head and seemed to melt into her. She dipped down and pressed her lips to Jessica’s. Grace’s mouth was hot and demanding and took her breath away. Her lips tasted like honey and Jessica couldn’t get enough, kissing back with equal measure. She felt scorched, her body burned, every nerve ending energized. After what seemed like an eternity Grace lifted her head and stepped back, leaving Jessica blinking up at her, almost gasping for air.
Wordlessly Grace took hold of Jessica’s hand and towed her from the dining room, down a short hallway, stopping at a doorway. Jessica felt flushed with desire, a smoldering heat building up in her core.
Placing a hand on the doorknob but keeping her eyes trained on Jessica’s Grace said softly, “Tell me if I’ve gotten the wrong impression.”
Unable to form words, Jessica simply shook her head. She didn’t think she’d ever wanted anything more than she wanted the woman standing in front of her right now. Grace opened the door then and drew Jessica into the bedroom.
They stopped at the foot of the bed and Grace embraced her once again. She kissed her. When the tip of Grace’s tongue met Jessica’s, she groaned with need. Pushing her hands under the thin cotton blouse that Grace wore, Jessica stripped it over her head and let it drop to the floor. Grace’s lacy pink bra looked like pure sin as it thrust her breasts up and out, and Jessica shivered with lust at the sight. Later, some other time when she could think straight, she would take her time worshipping those breasts. But for now she would settle for simply tasting the rosy nipples and firm mounds in an attempt to stave off the hunger that threatened to consume her.
Jessica pushed Grace back onto the bed and began to suckle one breast while she used her fingers to knead the other. She could feel Grace gasp and then arch her back in reaction to what she was doing with her lips and tongue and teeth, and it made her burn hotter. She felt Grace run her hands along her own back and realized that at some point, she too, had lost her shirt.
And pants. The thought was fleeting as Grace’s fingers swept over the small of Jessica’s back and down along the sides of her hips. She groaned as she felt those same fingers continue to travel, seeking and then finding her hot, wet core. She sucked in a sharp breath as Grace’s hand slid over her mound and then curved straight up between her legs. Her fingers slid over Jessica’s clit, rubbing and teasing her lips. Grace began to stroke in a circular pattern, bringing Jessica closer and closer to the edge. She began to move her hips in rhythm with Grace’s hand, seeking, need more. Grace parted the sensitive lips of her pussy and delved two fingers inside the tender folds, making long, slow strokes, in and out. Jessica whimpered and panted as her senses were pushed to overload. Grace continued her onslaught, relentlessly stroking, stretching, filling Jessica with her fingers. She sucked in a sharp breath and gave a small cry as the orgasm took her, wrapping herself around Grace’s hand. Bolts of electricity shot through her body as she rode the wave, leaving her spent after it had washed over. She moaned and rolled to her back, breathing heavily as she tried to collect her senses.
“Oh my God,” she breathed.
Grace rolled against her and began to gingerly run her fingers up and down along Jessica’s taut stomach, moving up and lingering over her breasts.
“I hope I wasn’t too aggressive,” Grace said in a husky tone as she ran a finger around one diamond hard nipple. “I just got caught up in the moment.”
****
Grace smiled at Jessica, amazed at how sinfully decadent it felt to be lying next to her in bed. Her body was flawless and Grace wanted nothing more than to explore every part of it.
“Jess,” she said softly.
“Mmmhmm?” the younger woman answered lightly, eyes closed, still basking in the afterglow of her orgasm.
“I…” Grace’s voice faltered. She knew what she wanted to say, but was afraid that it would ruin the moment. Maybe it was best left to another time.
Jessica opened her eyes then and turned her head to look at Grace. Her green eyes were dark with passion as she stared at Grace. She frowned slightly. “What is it?” she asked.
“I don’t know,” Grace answered as she absently caressed a line along Jessica’s neck.
“Tell me.”
Oh what the hell.
“I don’t want to take things too fast.”
Jessica grinned slyly. “Maybe you should have thought about that before you kissed me.”
“To be fair,” Grace said huskily, “you kissed me first.”
“So I did.” Jessica’s green eyes sparkled and then she reached for Grace’s arm. She quietly brought Grace’s wrist to her lips and began to softly kiss her skin, mimicking her actions at the farmhouse. Grace groaned as a tiny current of electricity ran down her arm. “So, you were saying?” Jes
sica asked, continuing to nuzzle Grace’s wrist as she waited for the other woman to speak.
It took a moment for Grace to remember that anything had existed before that moment.
“I can’t think when you do that.”
“I can stop,” Jessica breathed against Grace’s skin, she had moved down her arm to the curve of her elbow.
“Don’t you dare.”
“So speak.”
“I…I was engaged.”
Jessica stopped kissing, but didn’t move from her position. “Okay,” she said quietly.
“We were together for a few years. At the time I thought I was in love with her. She…she left me last year. It really hurt when she dumped me and it’s taken a long time for me to get the nerve to…to put myself out there again.” Grace glanced tentatively at Jessica, who for her part simply smiled back. “And then you came along…”
“And then I come along,” Jessica repeated. She slowly began to run her long fingers up and down Grace’s arm, following the path where she had kissed.
“I can’t think straight when I look into your eyes.” Jessica’s smile deepened and she began to nuzzle the inside of Grace’s elbow again. “I just…oh God that feels good…I just don’t want to take things too fast.”
“I understand,” Jessica murmured.
“You do?”
“Mmmhmm.”
“I…oh...” Grace trailed off as Jessica moved in closer, her lips continuing to travel along Grace’s arm, and then up her shoulder to her chest. She moaned as Jessica began to lick underneath one breast.
“I told myself earlier that I would do this,” she smiled, flashing green eyes up at Grace. Grace felt her nipples harden under Jessica’s gaze. She moaned as Jessica’s hands and mouth began to roam over her upper body, cupping her breasts, teasing her nipples. Grace writhed in pleasure as Jessica began to suck and suckle, first one breast and then the other. When she felt Jessica’s mouth begin to move down, leaving wet kisses across her belly and on her ribs, she whimpered.