Callie could have sworn she saw disappointment flash in Taylor’s beautiful brown eyes, but then she too stood, and walked Callie to the door. Once there, Callie slipped her coat on and turned to face Taylor. She was surprised to find her only a few inches away. She swallowed hard.
“I really did have a good time,” Taylor said. Before Callie knew what was happening, Taylor had a palm pressed to her chest, right above her breasts, and she walked her backward until she hit the door. “I don’t know what it is about you.”
And then Taylor’s lips were on hers, gently at first, but Callie let out a moan when she felt Taylor’s tongue demanding entry. She parted her lips, allowing Taylor in. She felt goose bumps over her entire body at the feel of their tongues engaged in an erotic dance. Taylor’s hands were on her hips, and they slowly moved up, under the hem of her sweater. Callie broke the kiss when she felt Taylor’s hands on her skin, the touch igniting in her a fire she was worried she wouldn’t be able to put out.
“Taylor,” she whispered, their lips so close she could feel Taylor’s ragged breath which matched her own. Without another word, she turned them around so it was Taylor against the door, and she let her coat fall to the floor before cupping Taylor’s face and kissing her again. She groaned at the rush of excitement between her legs and knew she was instantly wet with arousal.
“Callie, wait,” Taylor said, pushing her away half-heartedly. Callie forced herself to take a step back, her heart beating so hard she thought it might beat right out of her chest. “I’m sorry. I don’t think I can do this.”
“Okay,” Callie said, doing her best to make Taylor understand it really was. “It’s okay. I’m sorry too. I shouldn’t have let it get so out of hand.”
“It isn’t your fault.” Taylor moved away from the door and put some distance between them, which Callie immediately felt. “I thought I was ready for this, but clearly I’m not.”
“It really is all right, Taylor,” Callie said gently. She picked her coat up and put it back on. “I’m not going to lie and tell you I didn’t enjoy it, but I understand. I won’t ever push you into doing something you don’t want to do, okay?”
Taylor nodded, and Callie pulled her into a hug. She kissed her temple and moved her mouth so it was close to Taylor’s ear.
“Whatever you’re feeling? It’s okay. I would never judge you.” Callie took a moment to breathe in the coconut scent of Taylor’s shampoo and closed her eyes. She pulled back and waited for Taylor to make eye contact. “And I’m here if you ever need to talk.”
“Thank you,” Taylor said before hugging her again and pressing her lips to Callie’s cheek. “For understanding. For being a friend when I didn’t know I needed one.”
“Is it okay if I come into the bar after work next week?” Callie braced herself, half expecting Taylor to ask her to stay away.
“You’re welcome there anytime,” Taylor assured her with a smile. Callie felt an odd fluttering in her stomach when Taylor’s gaze moved to her lips for a split second.
“Good night, Taylor,” she said, reaching for the doorknob. She knew she needed to leave before something happened they might both regret. She could tell Taylor was barely hanging on to her assertion about not being ready. And Callie really didn’t want anything to happen between them if she wasn’t completely ready for it. It would only end badly for them both.
“Good night.” Taylor stood in the open doorway watching her until she pulled out of the driveway.
She stopped for the intersection at the end of the road and pulled her cell phone out. After looking at the text message she’d missed from about an hour earlier, she smiled and typed in a quick response to Grace.
On my way.
Chapter Nineteen
Grace was sitting at the end of the bar, probably nursing the beer sitting in front of her. Grace was a bit of a lightweight when it came to drinking, and it had become a running joke between the two of them and Quinn.
“Hey,” Grace said when Callie made herself comfortable on the stool next to her. She bumped Callie playfully with her elbow. “How was the game?”
“Good.” Callie nodded when Quinn held up an empty pint glass. She looked at Grace and smiled, remembering Taylor holding her hand at the game. “It was really good.”
“Are we still talking about the game, or the company you were with?”
“Both.”
“Cool. I assume she didn’t ask you to stay the night, or you wouldn’t be here, right?”
“Very astute.” Callie chuckled and took a drink of her beer. She leaned closer to Grace. “There was kissing though.”
“Really? Tell me more.”
“I would say I’m not the type to kiss and tell, but I think I already did.”
“There’s that, and I’ve met you.”
“Yeah.” Callie nodded as she stared into her beer. She wanted to tell Grace, but even though Taylor said they didn’t need to keep it a secret, she didn’t want Quinn to know. She just didn’t want to hear the warnings again about being careful with Taylor. After a few beats of silence, she turned her head toward Grace and smiled. “It was good.”
“Good?” Grace wrinkled her nose and shook her head. “That’s it?”
“Mind-blowing? Best kiss ever?” Callie laughed as Grace motioned for her to go on. “Knock my socks off good.”
“Wow.” Grace looked at her like she’d never seen her before.
“What?”
“I’ve just never heard you use any of those phrases before. It must have been some kiss.”
“Oh, trust me, it was,” Callie said with a nod. She shifted on the stool, her body reacting to the memory filling her mind of having Taylor pressed between her body and the front door. “I don’t think I’ve ever fully appreciated how arousing being kissed could be until now.”
“Why are you two talking about kissing?” Quinn asked as she stopped in front of them. She looked back and forth between them, an eyebrow quirked in question. “Are you trying to steal my girlfriend?”
“Please.” Callie laughed before taking another drink, but never breaking eye contact with Quinn. “Think about what you just said. Do you really think I’d have to try?”
Callie pulled away quickly, but still not fast enough, when Quinn snapped a bar towel against the hand she had resting on the bar, and Grace laughed. Callie looked at her, trying to appear indignant.
“Nice,” she said, nodding her head as she rubbed the back of her hand. “I’m glad you can take pleasure from my pain, you sadist.”
“You’ve got to admit you deserved it, little sis,” Quinn said, holding back laughter of her own.
“I’ll admit to no such thing.” Callie kept a straight face for about two seconds, which is when she started laughing too. “Damn it, that’s going to leave a mark. You’ll have to answer to Mom tomorrow, you know.”
“I can handle Mom, Cal. And she’ll probably agree you deserved it.”
She wanted to deny it, but she knew Quinn was no doubt right. Quinn always had been her favorite. She just hoped right now Quinn would let the subject drop, but of course, she was never that lucky.
“So, why all the talk about kissing?” she asked as she leaned forward, her forearms resting on the bar.
“Don’t you have customers to attend to?” Callie asked.
“Nope, everybody’s good.”
“Quinn,” Grace said, and Callie saw her shake her head out of the corner of her eye. And she knew it would only fuel Quinn’s quest for an answer.
Callie watched the two of them, wondering how the silent conversation thing worked because she’d never experienced it before. The moment it dawned on Quinn what they were talking about was almost comical, except she knew what was coming next.
“You kissed Taylor?”
“She kissed me, truth be told,” Callie said with a shrug.
“I told you to be careful with her, Callie.”
“Yeah, you did, and you know what? She’s an adult. And I’m
an adult too, in case it’s escaped your notice.” Callie drank again, and then looked at Quinn, daring her to start something. “What was I going to do, tell her oh, no, Taylor, we can’t kiss because Quinn wouldn’t like it?”
“You’re an ass,” Quinn said.
“Yeah? Look in the mirror because right now you’re being a pretty big ass too.”
“I swear to God, Callie, if you hurt her—”
“Really? I’m your sister, Quinn, just in case you forgot.” Callie couldn’t believe Quinn was acting this way. She did her best to keep her temper in check though because causing a scene in a public place had never been a high priority on her list of to-do items. “Shouldn’t you be warning her about not hurting me?”
Quinn tossed the towel she was holding under the bar and walked away without another word. Callie stared at her for a moment until Grace tentatively touched her arm.
“Are you okay?”
“That went well, don’t you think?” Callie asked with a forced smile. Grace looked truly worried, and Callie couldn’t believe she was the one who was going to do the reassuring. “You know she and I argue like this all the time. We’ll be fine as soon as she realizes she doesn’t need to protect Taylor from big bad Callie Burke.”
“I don’t even know what to say, Callie.”
“Don’t say anything. Trust me, it’ll be fine.” Callie downed what remained of her beer before standing up and tossing a five-dollar bill on the bar. “I’ll see you at brunch tomorrow.”
Everything would have been perfectly okay if she hadn’t turned around and ran right into Sharon, almost knocking her to the floor.
“Watch where you’re going, dumbass,” Sharon said as she jerked her arm out of Callie’s grasp. Her demeanor did a complete one-eighty when she saw Callie’s face. “Oh, it’s you. Where’s your girlfriend tonight?”
“That’s really none of your business, is it?” Callie knew provoking her probably wasn’t a good idea, but she just couldn’t help herself.
“Bitch,” Sharon said under her breath.
Callie so wanted to punch her. And she probably would have if she hadn’t felt a twinge of pain in her shoulder when she made a fist and started to raise it. She felt Grace’s hand grip her left bicep and she took a deep breath.
“Let it go,” she heard Grace say with her mouth close to Callie’s ear.
Callie willed herself to relax her taut muscles, and she tilted her head one way, then the other, thankful when she felt her neck crack, and some of the tension she felt dissipated. She took a deep breath and turned to Grace, leaning close so she didn’t have to worry about Sharon hearing her.
“Can’t I please just slug her once?”
Grace shook her head. “Not a good idea.”
“You’re no fun.”
“That’s not what you said when we were dating so many years ago.” Grace smiled.
Callie couldn’t help but laugh. She turned back around and saw Sharon still standing there, looking like she wanted a fight. Callie simply shook her head at her and walked out of the bar, half expecting her to follow. She actually felt a little let down when she didn’t. She got in her car and pulled out her cell phone. Before she could think about it too much, she found Taylor’s name and hit the call button.
“Hello.” Taylor’s voice sounded husky, like she’d been asleep.
“Hey. You weren’t sleeping yet, were you?”
“Just dozing on the couch. Is something wrong?”
“No,” Callie said, her eyes on the door to the bar. “I just wanted to give you a heads-up. Quinn knows we kissed.”
There was silence from the other end of the line, and Callie pulled the phone away to see if they’d been disconnected. The call timer was still counting.
“Taylor?”
“It’s okay,” she finally said. Callie heard her urging Blaze to let her up. Taylor laughed softly. “I think he’s not happy you left.”
Callie didn’t know what to say, so she said nothing. She simply waited for Taylor to say something else. She wanted Taylor to tell her she wasn’t happy she’d left either, but didn’t hold out much hope for a confession along those lines.
“I’ll talk to Quinn about it tomorrow night at work.”
“What are you doing tomorrow morning?” The words were out of her mouth before she even knew what she was saying.
“Why?” Taylor sounded skeptical, yet intrigued at the same time.
“We have brunch at my mother’s every Sunday. Maybe you should come.”
Silence again, but Callie took it as a good sign this time. The door to the bar opened, and Callie slumped down in her seat in case it was Sharon, but it was a couple of men. She closed her eyes.
“Never mind,” she said when she assumed Taylor wasn’t going to answer. “It was just a thought. You don’t have to if you don’t want to.”
“What time?” Taylor asked.
“I can pick you up at ten?”
“I’ll be ready.”
When they hung up, Callie sat there for a moment trying to figure out what happened. She smiled. For a moment she considered going back inside and letting Quinn know Taylor would be there, but then decided it might be fun to surprise her.
Chapter Twenty
Taylor pulled the door open at exactly ten o’clock the next morning, impressed that for the second day in a row, Callie was on time. Not early, not late, but right on time. Callie flashed her a grin that threatened to buckle her knees, but she somehow managed to stay upright. She took the Dunkin’ Donuts coffee cup Callie held out for her and stepped aside to let her in.
She watched in silence as Callie got down on the floor and played with Blaze, which made him instantly happy. Taylor regretted she didn’t play with him that way nearly as often as she should anymore. He wagged his tail and barked once as he got down to face her, his butt in the air and his tail moving faster than Taylor thought was possible. Taylor couldn’t help but laugh at their antics.
“He likes you, you know,” she said.
“That’s good because I like him too.” Callie rubbed his belly when Blaze flopped onto his back, panting, and tail still wagging. She stood and faced Taylor and her damned grin was back again. Was it possible Callie knew how she affected her?
“Should we get going?”
“We have time,” Callie said, taking a seat on the couch. She patted the cushion next to her, and Taylor shook her head.
“You’re in a good mood this morning,” she said as she sat at the opposite end of the couch and turned her torso to face her.
“I’m trying because I think as soon as we show up, Quinn is going to ruin it.”
“Why?”
“She wasn’t too happy when she found out we kissed.”
“It’s none of her business,” Taylor said. She set her cup down and tucked a lock of hair behind her ear that was suddenly bothering her. She knew Quinn looked out for her, and she appreciated it. But what was—or wasn’t—happening between her and Callie wasn’t her concern.
“I agree, but for some reason she doesn’t see it that way.” Callie looked at her, and Taylor couldn’t find the strength to break the contact. Callie continued in a softer tone. “All she sees is me trying to get into your pants. Trying to take advantage of you.”
“Is that what you’re doing?” Taylor waited for an answer, trying her best to ignore the pulse between her legs as Callie continued to hold her gaze. How was it possible for Callie to cause such an immediate reaction simply by looking at her? She wasn’t surprised when Callie scooted a little closer to her and took her hand.
“No.”
Callie’s single word, spoken with such sincerity, succeeded in making Taylor feel lighter than she had in ages. Had she really been so worried Callie was only after one thing, and when had she started to hope she wasn’t? She reached out and brushed the backs of her fingers against Callie’s cheek as her heart rate sped up. It was getting harder to take a breath.
“Jesus, Callie,”
she said, her voice strained. “How do you do this?”
“Do what?” To her credit, Callie hadn’t moved, hadn’t tried to lean in to kiss her. It was almost as though she knew it wasn’t what Taylor needed right then.
“Make me feel. Make me want things I thought I’d never want again.” Taylor shook her head in wonder. When Andrea died, she vowed to herself she’d never let anyone close again. And she’d been successful in keeping her promise for the past three and a half years. And then Callie had to come along, and make her feel alive again. She wanted to believe Andrea would be happy about it being Callie she was finally feeling this way about.
“I guess it’s just my charisma,” Callie said with a shrug. “I’m irresistible. What can I say?”
“And modest too.” Taylor chuckled. “Don’t forget modest.”
“Who needs modesty when you have this level of magnetism?”
“Okay, now you’re just being egotistical.” Taylor laughed when Callie seemed to not have a comeback for that one. “We should go.”
They stood, but Callie grabbed her hand when she started to walk toward the door. Taylor turned and faced her, instantly turned on by the look in Callie’s eyes. She fought to not show it outwardly. Callie pulled her closer and placed her hands on her hips.
“You make me feel things too, Taylor,” she said. “Things I’ve never felt before. I did use to live that life, wanting nothing more than to get into a woman’s pants, but it isn’t what I want anymore. Look, you know I’m interested, right?”
Taylor nodded, not trusting herself to speak at the moment. All she could think about was what Callie would feel like, what she smelled like, learning how she liked to be touched. But what invaded her thoughts the most, was wondering how Callie’s hands would feel on her skin.
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