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This kiss was slower yet so much more intense, and Heather never wanted it to end. Heather sighed as Vanessa’s body pressed against hers and they gave into whatever this thing was between them.
Vanessa broke the kiss, her nose grazing Heather’s as she hovered there before pulling away completely. “You have no idea how relieved I am,” she said, her eyes searching Heather’s, her hand still caressing Heather’s cheek. “No idea,” she whispered.
“I’m so sorry I didn’t tell you sooner.”
“Well, last night I wouldn’t talk to you. So, it’s not your fault.” She dropped her hand and put some space between them. “You should get back. Before anyone starts worrying about you.”
Heather nodded, and she bit the inside of her cheek as she felt her throat tighten. The sudden wave of emotion nearly threw her off balance as she pushed herself off the door. She couldn’t leave here without knowing, but at the same time, she wasn’t sure what the answer would be. “Are we okay?” Heather asked as Vanessa opened the door again.
A hint of a smile tugged at Vanessa’s lips. “Yes. Let’s just say I know what my sister is like.”
“With Gabriella?”
Vanessa nodded. “Anna just wants everyone to be as happy as she is, and for her that absolutely means being in a committed relationship. But she does have a tendency to push it too far.”
“I can admit I was more than a little jealous,” Heather said, relief washing over her as she smiled. “I helped carry the food in. She is a very attractive woman.”
“She is. And right around the same age as me, so of course, Anna thought we would perfect for one another. And maybe we would be,” Vanessa said with a sigh.
Heather’s stomach dropped at those words, but thankfully Vanessa wasn’t done.
“But I seem to be quite taken by this girl from the city,” Vanessa said with a smirk, and Heather smiled into the kiss, her body feeling light and full of energy.
“I’ll see you tomorrow,” Heather said after another few moments in Vanessa’s arms.
Vanessa nodded. “Goodnight.”
“Night.”
When Heather drove off, her heart was still racing, her mind still processing what had just happened, and by the time she got back to Megan’s, she had to put on her best poker face.
“Did you get lost?” Megan asked when Heather came into the kitchen to get a glass of water before bed.
“Yes.” Heather hated lying to Megan, but she already was. “I actually did.”
At some point, she’d have to find a way to tell Megan about Vanessa, and that relief that she’d been riding high on for the last fifteen minutes vanished into thin air.
Yes, she might just have a real chance with Vanessa, but there was nothing to stop Megan from completely rejecting the idea of Heather being with her aunt, and that thought stayed with her as she followed Megan up the stairs, and it was the first thing she thought of when her alarm went off the next morning.
18
The reception was in full swing with guests laughing, chatting, and dancing under the warm glow of the chandeliers. But all Vanessa saw was Heather, radiant in a sleek turquoise dress, her hair softly curled as it cascaded over her shoulders.
Their eyes met again across the crowded room. Vanessa felt her cheeks flush but she didn’t look away. Vanessa had tried her best to avoid Heather all evening, busying herself with wedding duties, not wanting anyone to notice her lingering gazes. But now, with the ceremony over and everyone enjoying themselves, she found her gaze wandering back to the woman who had occupied her thoughts so often in the last month.
Vanessa had no idea what to do with this situation. Heather lived a fast-paced city life while Vanessa still called her hometown her home. An eighteen year age gap separated them. Was she crazy for even considering how this could work?
Two days ago, it had been a normal Friday morning. She’d arrived at work to open up and went through her routine before coming out and helping with the customers when it started to get busy. When she had lunch at the cafe across the road, she thought she saw someone going into her coffee shop who looked so much like Heather from the back.
Vanessa didn’t want to count how many times something like that had happened in the last month, and no matter how many times she told herself that it was never going to be Heather, it now was.
Heather had walked into this ballroom Friday night on Megan’s arm, and Vanessa didn’t have any time to be happy that for once, her eyes weren’t playing tricks on her.
Instead, Vanessa thought her heart might shatter into a million pieces, seeing the woman who had captivated her so completely that night in New York City on the arm of another woman, accompanying her niece no less. The sight of them together ignited a painful ache within Vanessa’s core that had lasted for the next twenty-four hours, until Heather put her out of her misery.
Logistics aside, if Vanessa didn’t already know it, this was so much more than a one-night stand, and they would have to find time to talk before Heather returned to the city.
As Vanessa got up from her table, her breath caught at the intensity in Heather’s gaze from across the room. Without breaking eye contact, Heather said something to Megan, and then Megan was being waved over to the bar by one of her cousins. Vanessa’s pulse quickened.
