Just One Moment

by Dena Blake

  Chloe took in the glorious body in front of her, dressed only in black skinny jeans and a black bra with the soft, white flesh of her breasts brimming over the top. Her hands went to the clasp, and in a split second, Shay’s breasts were spilling out into her hands and then into her mouth. Shay pressed against her and tugged on her hair as Chloe flicked the nipple with her tongue. The taste of Shay’s skin was exquisite, a sweetness she’d missed. Suddenly Shay was off her lap, standing in front of her and shoving her jeans to the floor. Chloe leaned forward and stopped her when she started on her panties, gazing up into her eyes as she drew them down her legs. The desire was clear, and Chloe was sure her eyes conveyed the same. It was all she could do to stay in place as Shay’s nakedness blanketed her again.

  Shay moaned as Chloe slid a finger between her folds, felt the glorious hot wetness, twirled her finger in it. Soon Chloe’s fingers were deep inside as Shay moved up and down, her breasts pressed into Chloe’s face. Within minutes, she began to quiver, let out a cry, and Chloe embraced her as the orgasm ripped through her. Her rhythm slowed, and Shay collapsed against her. She sat, fingers still inside with Shay draped across her as her walls clenched around them, tiny spasms gripping them sporadically. She would’ve stayed holding her like that for hours if she could, but when Shay stood up and held out her hand, she let her lead her to the bedroom.

  After they reached the bed, Shay turned her around and unfastened the clasp of her bra. A jolt of electricity shot through her when Shay’s lips pressed ever so slightly against her back, and she felt the heat of her breath trail downward as she slid the skirt from Chloe’s waist. Light touches from Shay’s fingertips taunted her, willing her to press into her. When she did, the pure erotic feel of Shay’s breasts against her back toppled all her willpower, and she moaned. She felt Shay’s breath hitch, and then she spun her around and said, “You are so beautiful.” Chloe took her face in her hands and kissed her, fought for control as their tongues danced together perfectly. Soon her arms were wrapped around her, tugging her closer, making each part of their lengths touch.

  The whole thing was surreal. A month ago, Chloe hadn’t thought she’d ever be this close to her again, and at this moment it was all she wanted. When they fell onto the bed, Shay took control again, and Chloe let her. Every inch of her needed to be touched, sucked, taken. Shay didn’t waste any time doing just that. She moved between Chloe’s legs, spread them, and let out another moan as she pressed her mouth against the heat waiting for her. She knew exactly what to do, where to touch her, and suddenly without warning the orgasm took her, and a rush of pleasure shot through her.

  Shay’s name flew from her lips, and she whimpered. With that, Shay grabbed her ass tighter, crushed her mouth against her as she hit the top and came back down again. She lay there still feeling the beats of her body as each aftershock went through her. Every muscle felt like jelly. Shay crawled up beside her, kissed her lightly, and laid her head on her chest. Any awkwardness left between them was completely gone.

  Chloe was greedy, wanted so much more of the treasure she’d rediscovered in Shay, but she was spent. The warmth of Shay against her soothed her, and soon she couldn’t keep her eyes from closing.

  * * *

  The show had gone well, and Chloe had sold several pieces. Shay had left for the restaurant a couple of doors down to order food to take home. Chloe was shocked to see Erica walk through the door. The gallery was almost empty, but the owner and a few of her friends were still milling about in the back.

  She rushed to the door to intercept her, glancing out the front window to see if Shay was anywhere in sight. She wasn’t. “Erica, I didn’t expect to see you here.” She said it politely, as though she were only a customer.

  Erica dropped her purse on the table by the sign-in book. “It would’ve been nice if you’d told me personally, rather than just sending me a postcard.”

  Fuck. She’d forgotten to remove her from the mailing list. She glanced out the window again.

  “Shay’s here with you, isn’t she?” Erica’s voice seethed with jealousy.

  She nodded. “She’s gone to get dinner. You need to leave.”

  Erica raised her eyebrows. “So, you don’t have any love left in your heart for me?” The mix of anger and hurt on Erica’s face was hard to stomach. She had to come clean with her now.

  “It was almost love, Erica. But we never quite got there.” The weight in her chest lifted. She’d finally done what she’d been trying to do for weeks. She glanced at her watch and then out the window again. She hoped Shay had to wait at the restaurant.

  Erica moved into her line of sight, forcing her to look at her. “It could be.”

  She shook her head. “No. It will never be the same kind of love I have with Shay.” She’d never have that again with anyone else. Definitely not with Erica.

  “Have?” Erica moved closer into her space. “So, you’ve forgotten everything she’s done to you?”

  Chloe closed her eyes and took a breath as the reminder brought the pain back. She hadn’t found a way to block it completely. Forgotten, no. Forgiven, yes.

  “You’re not even giving me a chance.” The hurt in Erica’s voice had morphed into anger.

  “You’re right. I don’t know why you’ve stayed around this long.” She had to let Erica go. Chloe knew that feeling all too well. She was never going to get over Shay, at least not in the near future. Miraculously, she’d been given one last chance to make it work, and she wasn’t going to screw it up by letting Erica come between them. “I can’t see you anymore, Erica.” She shook her head. “I need to stay with Shay until she’s fully recovered. She needs me.” Making it work with Shay was the best thing for her. It hadn’t been easy to admit, but she needed her too.

  “That’s where I think you’re wrong. You don’t have to stay. You want to stay.”

  “Maybe so.” It was true, but telling Erica that would only make things worse.

  Erica’s lips thinned as her eyes narrowed momentarily, and Chloe thought she was going to blast her, put on a spectacle for everyone left in the gallery to see. Her smile returned as quickly as it had disappeared, and Chloe was confused.

  “You think you can just let go that easily? Just ignore me like we never had anything?”

  “Listen, Erica. I’m sorry if you’re hurt, but we both knew this wasn’t permanent. You’re already dating someone new.”

  “Barb and I are just friends.”

  “We both know that’s not the case.” She raked her fingers through her hair. “You love many women, and I don’t fault you for that. But I can only love one.”

  Erica picked up her purse from the table and slung it over her arm. “You’ll regret this when she’s done with you,” she said as she spun and reached for the door. She left without looking back.

  “I’m sure I will.” The door closed, and she went to it and turned the deadbolt. “One way or another, I’m sure I will.” She rested her head against the door pane. It would be a miracle if Shay never found out about her relationship with Erica. When she did, her last chance might be gone.

  The rap on the glass startled her. She backed up to see Shay standing outside with their food. She unlocked the door, let her in, and held up a finger. “Let me get my bag and we can go.”

  “Was that Erica I just saw leave?”

  “Yes. She’s in town with her girlfriend for the weekend. Barb has family here.”

  “Barb wasn’t with her?”

  “No. I didn’t see her.”

  “Maybe we should get together with them tomorrow for brunch.”

  “No.” She kissed her on the lips. “I’m not sharing our time this weekend with anyone.” Not in a million years. What a miserable time that would be.

  She’d have to tell Shay about the extent of her connection with Erica someday, but not this week or even this month. The thought lurked in the back of her mind that Erica might tell her before she had the courage to, but that was a chance she was will
ing to take right now. She wasn’t willing to risk returning to the way things were before the accident. If she came clean and Shay remembered, she might revert to being the Shay she’d drifted away from in the first place, and their relationship could change again.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  The following week, the call Shay had received from Erica hadn’t been unexpected. She’d seen her rush out of the gallery in St. Augustine Saturday night. She’d seemed upset, and Chloe had been as well. When she’d peered through the window and seen her with her head pressed against the door, she wasn’t sure exactly what had happened. When they’d arrived back at their weekend place, Chloe had seemed fine, more relaxed than she’d been all day, and they’d made love again. Desire rushed through her just thinking about the warmth of Chloe’s hands skimming across her thighs, her mouth between her legs. The night had been pure bliss.

  She hadn’t wanted to spoil it, so she hadn’t pressed her about Erica. She’d hoped Erica was out of the equation for good, but that didn’t seem to be the case. Erica wanted to meet Shay for lunch. She’d said Chloe had told her that she was doing the books for the gallery now and had used the excuse of getting receipts for Chloe’s works she’d previously purchased. Shay knew that was bullshit, but she’d printed them off and folded them all neatly into an envelope for her.

  The restaurant wasn’t far from where Shay worked, so she’d arrived early and asked for a booth toward the back of the restaurant. The lunch was definitely not about receipts because a stamp and any US Post Office would’ve sufficed if that had been Erica’s only concern. Even so, she had them out on the table in front of her as she waited for Erica to arrive.

  “Thank you so much for meeting me,” Erica said with a smile as she slid into the booth across from her. She was nothing if not cordial.

  “Sure. All the receipts you asked for are right here.” Shay pushed the envelope across the table. “Is there anything else I can do for you?” It was a loaded question, but if Erica had something to say, she wanted it out in the open now when Chloe wasn’t around.

  “Why don’t you stay and have lunch?” Erica asked as she picked up the menu in front of her from the table and focused on it. “I hear the chicken salad is delicious, as is the vegetable soup.”

  Neither one of those sounded appetizing. Shay opened her menu, perused the items, and opted for a quick bowl of conch chowder. She wanted Erica to get to her point, so she could get the hell out of there.

  After they ordered, Erica continued with small talk until the food arrived. Shay had no interest in passing time discussing Chloe’s art, the weather, or anything else with Erica.

  “I know you’re interested in my wife, Erica. Why don’t you just tell me what you want?” Shay asked, taking the direct approach, since Erica was having trouble addressing the subject.

  “It may not be my place.” Erica hesitated like she might actually have a conscience, but Shay knew better.

  “I’m sure it’s not, but you’re going to tell me anyway, so just get to it.”

  Erica looked up from the chicken-salad sandwich in her hands. “I just don’t think it’s fair to her or you for Chloe to keep things from you now that you’ve recovered from the accident.”

  “Just what exactly is Chloe keeping from me?” She spooned a bite of chowder into her mouth. It was pretty good. She’d have to remember this place in the future. She glanced up at Erica, who had now abandoned her sandwich and was staring at her. Maybe not.

  “During the time period you don’t remember, you and Chloe had separated. She and I have been seeing each other.”

  Shay dropped her spoon into her chowder, trying to make her reaction look good. “I don’t believe you. We’re ridiculously happy. Chloe doesn’t have any reason to look anywhere else for attention.”

  “She didn’t. You were fucking a colleague at work, and she caught you doing it in your office.” Erica’s callousness triggered something. The memory crashed into Shay’s mind, and the devastated look she had seen then in Chloe’s eyes almost crippled her. “You broke her heart, and I put it back together again.” Erica stared at her, obviously waiting for some sort of reaction, but the memory had horrified her, and she couldn’t talk. “You already know this, don’t you?” The anger in her voice rose. “You remembered and haven’t told her.”

  “No.” She wiped the tears from her cheeks. “I didn’t remember until just now.”

  “You deceptive little liar. You’re keeping her under false pretenses.”

  “And you think you know what’s best for her? That’s absolutely ridiculous. You don’t know her at all.”

  “Well, we’ll just see what she thinks about you knowing all this time.” She dropped a couple of twenties onto the table and got up.

  Shay bolted from her seat and grabbed Erica’s arm. “Please, Erica. I swear, I didn’t remember.” Her world was crashing down around her—again.

  Erica wrenched it away. “I don’t care.” She spun around and left the restaurant. Erica had decided Chloe needed to know, and Shay couldn’t stop her. She had no idea how to head off this disaster. Life as she knew it with Chloe would be destroyed in a matter of minutes. Not only had she had the affair, but now she’d kept her discovery of it from Chloe.

  * * *

  Shay hadn’t gone back to work. She couldn’t. The thought of sitting in the office where she’d betrayed Chloe was too much. She found herself at the hospital waiting in Rachel’s office as she finished with her last patient for the day. When Rachel had seen her distraught expression, she had stopped working with the young boy she was coaching up and down the practice steps in the corner of the room and told her to go into the office, that she’d be there in a few minutes.

  As soon as Rachel finished with the boy and had successfully handed him off to his mother, she rushed back into the office. “What happened?”

  Shay pressed her fingers to her forehead and then whipped her gaze to Rachel. “I remember it.”

  “The affair?”

  She shook her head. “Not everything, but the whole fucking messy scene when Chloe caught me with Lila.” The bits of memory were starting to come together, and she hated herself more as each piece of the puzzle became clearer.

  “Were you at work? Was Lila there?” Rachel seemed to be trying to understand.

  “I wasn’t at the office, thank God. I had lunch with Erica. She made up some bullshit story about needing receipts. I shouldn’t have gone.”

  “Erica told you…Oh my God. I wonder if she’s told Chloe.”

  “Yeah. She thought I didn’t know and took it upon herself to clue me in. As she was telling me, the whole thing came crashing back in vivid color.”

  “Okay. Okay.” Rachel dropped into the chair next to her. “Just calm down. Have you talked to anyone about it besides me?”

  “God, no. I can’t tell anyone else that. I don’t even want to think about it.” She rubbed her face. “I don’t know if I can go back to what we were after actually feeling what I did.” She bolted from the chair and paced the room. “Before, it was like a story I’d written about myself. It wasn’t actually real. Now I know I cheated on Chloe, felt how my stomach dropped when I saw the devastation in her face. She trusted me with everything, and I fucked it up. How stupid could I have been?”

  “Was it really that bad?” The pity on Rachel’s face hit her square in the chest.

  She sank into the chair. “It was horrible, Rach. I feel like I’m about to throw up. What am I going to do?”

  “You’re going to do exactly as you have been. Chloe still loves you.” She crouched on the floor in front of her. “You can’t let that go. Not now after all you’ve both been through together.”

  “She’ll hate me after she finds out I knew about what I’ve done.”

  “Maybe. Maybe not. Don’t you think you should let her decide that?”

  She nodded. Rachel was right. Nothing she could do now would change how Chloe felt if she found out. She’d just have to
wait and be prepared for the other shoe to drop.

  * * *

  Shay stopped by the apartment before going home to the beach house. She had no recollection of any feelings for Lila, only that they’d had sex. If Lila had any feelings for her, she hadn’t made them known. The only way to find out if Lila was going to become a threat to her relationship with Chloe was to read more of her journals. Most people would’ve read every one of them by now, but Shay hadn’t been able to bring herself to face all the sordid details of the last year of her life just yet. At least she’d been smart enough to keep the ones dated after she’d started whatever it was she had with Lila at the apartment, where Chloe wouldn’t find them. She went into the closet, found the journal preceding the time when Chloe had found her and Lila together, and thumbed through the pages. She stopped on a page that made her wonder.

  Is it love?

  Lila sent me another steamy text today, and I fell back into it again. The banter is just so easy, and it feels so good to be wanted. She makes me feel beautiful and sexy. I hate myself for needing that, and it makes me wonder about my future with Chloe. Am I in love with Lila—no. Does she make me feel wanted—yes. Chloe used to make me feel wanted, and that was all I ever needed. What did I do to change that? Can I change it back? She’s been so preoccupied with the gallery lately that we aren’t communicating much at all—and we’re rarely spending any time together. We had sex a week ago, maybe two. I can’t remember exactly when. It was good, as always, but not spectacular like it used to be. The emotional intimacy we shared isn’t there anymore. God, I miss her and how we used to be together. I wonder if she does too.