They had a few hours worth of driving ahead of them before getting back to their hotel and Jules took the wheel for the drive back, insisting it was only fair that she drove after everything Frankie had done both in Halifax and in California.
As the Jeep wound its way along the ocean lined stretch of road, Frankie stared out the window, happily listening to Jules sing along to music on the radio, soaking up their last moments like this before they were brought back to reality.
And reality was good. Frankie liked her life and her work, but spending time with Jules, getting to exist in her orbit the way she’d done today, felt like a dream. It was a breath of fresh air and she knew when she woke up in the morning, they’d go back to pretending like there wasn’t a river of unsaid words flowing between them.
“So…thank you again, for today,” Jules said as she stood in the threshold of her room once they’d made it back to the hotel. Frankie refused to leave her at the elevator, saying it was Valentine’s Day and the least she could do was be a chivalrous gentleman and walk her to her door.
It was nearing midnight and they both had their own separate flights home the following morning but Frankie smiled, ducking her head to look down at her feet. She wasn’t ready to say goodnight but she knew she had to.
“You’re welcome, I had a lot of fun and I’m really glad you decided to join me,” she said. “We’ll have to do it again sometime.”
“Come to California and drive up the coast?” Jules grinned. “Say the word and I’m in. It’s only a plane ride away. Not far at all.”
They both laughed and Frankie rubbed the back of her neck then offered Jules a little salute, regretting the cheesiness of it immediately. “Goodnight, Jules Clarke. Happy Valentine’s Day.”
Jules gave her a salute right back. “Goodnight, Coach Stevens. Happy Valentine’s Day to you too.”
The door closed as she turned to walk away and the closer Frankie got to the elevator, the more she wanted to turn around, the more she wanted to follow her heart and do something she would probably regret but ached to do anyway. Her chest tightened with how muchwantshe had.
She reached the elevator and pushed the down arrow. A few seconds later the doors opened and a man inside stared at her. “Going down?”
Frankie swallowed hard and gave her head a shake then spun on her heels and walked back in the direction she’d come from. She stopped in front of room 357 and raised her knuckles to the door, knocking three times.
The door opened a moment later and before Jules could speak, before she could even react and before Frankie lost her nerve, she stepped forward and cupped Jules' cheek.
Blue eyes widened in surprise but then Frankie kissed her and nothing else mattered. Frankie kissed Jules the way she’d been wanting to for months and the little‘oh’that slipped out of Jules mouth as Frankie’s other hand slid around her waist to pull her close made Frankie weak in the knees.
It only took a few seconds before Jules melted into the kiss, her body slackening against Frankie’s as she kicked the door closed behind them.
Frankie spun them and backed Jules against the door without breaking the kiss, trailing her tongue across Jules' soft, plump bottom lip in a silent plea for more, for all of her. Jules gave her what she asked for without question.
Her lips parted and Frankie slipped her tongue inside, marveling at the way Jules tasted, the way she pressed against her, the way Jules was just as soft as Frankie knew she would be. She pushed her knee forward, slotting her leg between Jules’, and earned herself a gasp from Jules. Their kiss finally broke and Jules slid her hands up to Frankie’s shoulder’s, gripping her tightly.
“Frankie,” she moaned, letting her head fall back against the door as Frankie pushed her knee up slightly, knowing exactly where she was putting pressure and loving every single second of the way Jules reacted to her touch.
She grinned and dropped her mouth to Jules' neck, pressing kisses to the base of her throat and up across her jaw before reaching a spot beneath her ear that made Jules shudder.
“You have no idea,” Frankie panted, “how badly I’ve wanted this, how long I’ve imagined it. You drive me crazy and you don’t even realize it.”
“I…I didn’t know…but I…” Jules mumbled, her voice a strangled cry as Frankie sucked the skin below her ear.
“Didn’t know that you’re so unbelievably gorgeous? That you make my heart skip a beat whenever I look at you? That you…” Frankie leaned back to look down into blue eyes she knew she could look into forever. “...are so much more than you think you are.”
“I didn’t know you felt any of this but I…I’ve wanted you too.”
The confession hung in the air between them, the tension they’d been tightening for longer than either of them was willing to acknowledge finally snapping.
Now that it had, there was no turning back. But turning back was the last thing Frankie wanted to do. She'd had some of Jules and now she wanted all of her.
Chapter 24
Astrong hand slid up and tangled in her hair as Frankie ducked her head and kissed her again. The feeling of it, of Frankie pinning her to the door, of warm breath on her skin and the smell of bergamot and leather overwhelming her senses in the most delicious way, was enough to turn Jules into a puddle.
And she was well on her way to becoming exactly that as Frankie’s knee pushed up into her again. She moaned into the kiss and Frankie smiled, gently nipping at her bottom lip with a hunger that was absolutely intoxicating.
She hadn’t seen it coming, definitely not tonight, but finally one of them was willing to make the first move. If it had taken any longer, she was going to spontaneously combust from so much as Frankie smiling at her.
“Fuck, Frankie,” she whined, her fingers moving from Frankie’s shoulders to her face. She cradled Frankie’s jaw and stroked her cheek with her thumb. The gentle touch made Frankie draw back from their kiss to meet her gaze again and Frankie’s green eyes were filled with wonder and the unmistakable look of desire. “Has anyone told you that you’re like…really, really hot?”
