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“Fuck, I feel sorry for Greg and Tony, and I know you’re gonna miss her like crazy, but Miller has been trying to fill that position forever. Colby will be a great fit. And at least she’s still in the family. We can get deliveries.”
“We?”
Al set the whiskey glass aside and angled on the bench toward CC, an arm behind her, the other on the table. “I’m not going back to New York either, CC. I have no immediate plans to leave New Orleans.”
CC held her stare several long seconds, as if letting the words sink in, and when they finally did, the corner of her mouth turned up in that killer smirk that had hooked Al a month ago in an airport bar. “We closed the deal.”
“We did.” Al lowered the hand on the table to CC’s thigh under the table, tracing her blunt nail up to the hem of her skirt. “And tonight, we celebrate with our families.” She dove under the hem, hand clasping the inside of CC’s thigh and making her gasp, a lovely blush racing up her neck to her cheeks. “And then you’re going to meet me at my place tomorrow night, wearing that dress and those fuck-me heels from the Christmas party, and we’ll have our own celebration.” She cupped her over what felt like lace panties that if Al wasn’t in a public place, she’d get down on her knees to examine more closely with her tongue. “How does that sound?”
Her grin stretched wide. “Like a party I wouldn’t want to miss.”
Chapter Twenty-One
CC parked her car in the driveway behind Al’s rental and took a moment to reflect over the past month, over the ups and downs that had brought her to the edge of this cliff, about to take a leap she couldn’t have imagined at the start of the holiday season. She couldn’t have guessed that the salt-and-pepper spitfire who had approached her table at SFO would be her companion on the roller coaster of the past month, would be the person holding her hand as she jumped tonight.
Her belly somersaulted with excitement, the earlier worry that had nagged her all month gone. Her clients were happy, and CC was pretty damn sure Al was going to make her a happy woman tonight too. Hopefully for many more nights to come. Was there a risk the fire between them might burn out? Sure, she had to be realistic, but for the first time in six years she wanted to walk through that fire. She didn’t want to hide from herself, from her needs, or from the woman whose needs she hoped to help meet too. They’d only known each other a month and had a lot more to learn, but what CC knew of Al already included the open arms and giant heart she wrapped around her loved ones, and it made CC want to be counted among them. Made her want to help Al feel at home here in New Orleans too.
She snagged the gift box off the passenger seat and pushed her car door open. Following the instructions from Al’s text that afternoon, she bypassed the walkway to the front of the house and instead approached the back gate. She punched in the code, swung it open, and followed the stone path around the garage, toward what she recalled was the pool and back of the house. She’d barely cleared the garage corner when a whistle drew her attention back toward Al’s office.
CC nearly dropped the box in her hands. The space formerly known as Al’s office had been completely transformed. Electric candles of varying shapes and sizes flickered from every surface, vases of fresh flowers dotted the bookshelves and wet bar, and the office chair and desk had been removed, the chaise now positioned front and center.
And in the middle of it sat Al, her legs crossed and arms stretched across the back cushions. She wore a black silk robe cinched at the waist. The fabric parted over her crossed knees to reveal leather garters and sheer stockings; it gapped at the top to reveal nothing but pale skin. CC recalled Al’s words from their flight all those weeks ago—the mental image she’d painted of her breasts spilling out of a leather corset—and CC hoped like hell that was what was hiding under the silk.
“Eyes up here, Red.”
She whipped her gaze to the dark one that glowed in the candlelight. “You wore that knowing exactly where my eyes would go.”
Al’s answering smirk was devastating. CC whimpered, and if not for the box in her hands, she would have either clenched her own breasts or reached between her legs to relieve the pressure there.
“I’ll take care of that soon,” Al said, as if reading her mind. “I promise. But we have a few things to go over first.”
“Like?”
Her eyes dipped to the gift box. “Like what you’ve brought me.”
CC closed her eyes and inhaled deep, grasping for composure. Praying for the strength to approach the living, breathing temptation on the chaise in front of her and not immediately drop to her knees. When she thought herself steady enough, she opened her eyes again and approached. “Since you’re staying in town, I wanted to be sure you had what you needed for life in New Orleans.”
Al’s expression softened, her eyes crinkling at the corners and her smirk smoothing into a fond smile. “You didn’t have to get me anything.”
“I wanted to.” She handed the box over, then lowered herself onto the chaise beside Al, a leg folded under her.
Al’s dark eyes shot to the gap in her skirt, then to the part of her thighs the position created.
“What’d I do?” CC feigned innocence.
“Trouble,” Al muttered as she dragged her gaze away and back to the box on her lap. She removed the bow, lifted the lid, then drew out the first of four items wrapped in tissue paper.
And laughed out loud at the plastic cup of beads.
“For Mardi Gras season,” CC said.
The laughter continued as she unwrapped a flashlight—“For hurricane season,” CC explained—then a black and gold neck fan—“For football season and the everything-but-three-months-of-the-year season.”
She pulled out the last item, her brows furrowing as she no doubt noticed the much lighter weight than the others. But it was the gift that got the loudest laugh of all. “For the needling Greg season,” CC explained as Al wove the green and white Tulane-branded neck scarf through her fingers. “And because you and your ties have been torturing me from day fucking one.”
“It’s perfect.” Grin turning wicked, Al looped it around her neck, quickly tied it, then moved to tuck the ends inside her robe.
CC batted her hands away and instead used the ends to draw Al closer. “I need to kiss you.”
