“I talk to all my shareholders.”
“They’re not your shareholders yet.”
“They’ve been my shareholders for eleven years,” Alexandra said. “That doesn’t stop being true just because you filed a proxy statement.”
A flicker of a smile ghosted across Simone’s face as she took a sip of her drink, the kind of smile that Alexandra knew she reserved for when she heard something unexpected and liked it.
Their conversation drifted to the merger framework. Simone had revised three sections of the proposal from December since Alexandra had refused it, quiet and without flagging the changes, slipping them in as though they might go unnoticed. They hadn’t. Alexandra had read every revision twice.
“The language about the water treatment center, where you wrote,best efforts to maintainwon’t hold up. I need something with teeth—specific obligations, defined timelines, and real consequences if they’re missed.”
Simone tilted her head. “That’s not standard in a merger agreement.”
“The relationship isn’t standard. The city manager has had the same contact at Vaughn Industries for nine years. You can’t write that into a contract, but you can write around it well enough that a future board can’t quietly let it erode.” She paused. “You know this already. You’ve read the history.”
“I have,” Simone said. “I just wanted to hear you explain it.”
Alexandra looked at her. There it was, the thing Simone did, the admission that the question was never really about the answer. In the conference room, it was a strategy, but here, she was less certain about what it was.
“Seventy-five days for the provisions,” Simone said. “I’ll redraft the section.”
“Ninety.” Alexandra kept her voice low.
“Seventy-five is generous.”
“I need ninety.”
Simone paused and considered her for a moment, something shifting in her expression that Alexandra couldn’t quite read. “All right,” she said. “Ninety.”
She knew it wasn’t an agreement. The entire conversation existed conditionally, both of them building up to something that neither of them had said they wanted to build. Alexandra was grateful for the whiskey. It gave her hands something to do.
She had been aware of Simone across the couch all evening. The day had ground down some layer she normally kept intact without effort, and replacing it was beyond her current capacity.
They fell into another one of their silences, the kind that had stopped feeling so uncomfortable.
“It didn’t used to be this quiet in this house,” Alexandra heard herself say aloud. She had no idea where it came from. Certainly not from the whiskey or her tiredness or anything she could point to. It had simply surfaced, the way things surfaced when you’d been holding them under for long enough.
She kept her eyes on the sage green velvet curtains framing the large window and continued, “Dorothy filled it. The rooms had a reason for being this size when she was in them.” She stopped abruptly. “It’s been twelve years. I don’t know why I’m saying all this now.”
She tore her eyes away from the curtains to Simone. Her expression was one Alexandra had seen only once before: at Elements, the night Alexandra had told her about the coastal road and why it was so important. There was an undercurrent of recognition in her eyes. Simone’s gaze had the steadiness of someone who had their own version of the same thing.
Simone said nothing. She didn’t move toward or away from Alexandra, just maintained eye contact, and Alexandra felt something in her chest give. She became aware of just how close they were sitting and didn’t know when that had happened. Simone was near enough that Alexandra could see the dampness from the rain on her collar and gold chain against her throat. Simone held the glass loosely between her fingers.
Alexandra reached over and took the glass from Simone’s hand and set both of them on the table. When she turned back, Simone was still watching her and Alexandra closed the distance between them. Her lips met Simone’s before she could second-guess herself. The contact was firm, her mouth pressingin. Simone’s breath caught against her, warm and immediate, but she didn’t pull back. Alexandra’s hand found the side of Simone’s neck, her fingers curling into the damp fabric of her collar, holding her there as the kiss deepened. Simone’s lips parted under hers, soft but yielding only as much as she allowed, and Alexandra tasted the faint bite of whiskey on her tongue. Her free hand slid to Simone’s waist, gripping the curve through her blouse, feeling the heat of her body seep through the cloth. The rain tapped steadily against the tall windows of the living room, a low rhythm that matched the pulse building in Alexandra’s chest. The turquoise Tiffany lamp cast long shadows across the leather couch, turning Simone’s face into planes of gold and shadow, her eyes half-lidded now, watching Alexandra with that same unflinching gaze.
Alexandra pulled back just enough to shift, her knee nudging Simone’s thigh as she swung a leg over to straddle her lap. The movement brought them flush, her hips aligning in a way that sent a jolt through her core. Simone’s hands came up, resting lightly on Alexandra’s hips. Alexandra leaned in again, this time angling her mouth to Simone’s jaw, her teeth grazing the skin just below her ear. A small sound escaped Simone, not quite a gasp, more like a held breath releasing, and it hit Alexandra harder than expected. She’d heard Simone command rooms and break negotiations with a single word, but this fracture in her composure stirred something raw in her gut.
Alexandra’s mouth moved lower, nipping at the column of Simone’s throat where the gold chain lay cool against warm skin. Alexandra’s fingers worked the buttons of Simone’s blouse open, one by one, unhurried, exposing the lace edge of her bra and the smooth plane of her stomach. Simone arched slightly, her chest rising, and Alexandra felt the tremor in her body, subtle but undeniable. She pushed the blouse aside, palms sliding over bare skin, her thumbs brushing the undersides of Simone’sbreasts. The fabric of the bra was thin, and Alexandra hooked her fingers under it, tugging it down to free them. Simone’s nipples hardened in the cool air of the room, and Alexandra’s mouth followed, closing over one peak with a slow suck that drew another sound from Simone, a low, involuntary hum that vibrated against Alexandra’s lips.
Fuck, that sound.It undid something in Alexandra and made her press harder, her teeth scraping lightly as her hand kneaded the other breast, rolling the nipple between her fingers. Simone’s hands tightened on her hips, her nails digging in just enough to sting, and Alexandra ground them instinctively, feeling the friction against her own core through their clothes.
Alexandra’s body was ahead of her thoughts as her hands moved to Simone’s skirt, bunching it up her thighs. She broke the contact at Simone’s chest to kiss her again, deeper this time, her tongue sliding against Simone’s as the ache built between her legs. Simone responded, her mouth hungry now, but still letting Alexandra set the pace. Alexandra’s fingers found the clasp of Simone’s skirt, undoing it with precise tugs, then sliding it down her hips, along with her underwear. Simone lifted her ass slightly to help, her eyes locked on Alexandra’s, dark and intent. Naked from the waist down, Simone’s thighs parted just enough, and Alexandra’s hand slipped between them, her fingers tracing the slick heat already there.
Simone was wet, her folds parting easily under Alexandra’s touch, and Alexandra’s breath hitched when she felt them. She circled Simone’s clit with her thumb, slow and firm, watching Simone’s face for her reaction—the way her lips parted, the faint crease between her brows. Alexandra pressed a finger inside, then two, curling them against the spot that made Simone’s hips buck. The control in Simone’s posture cracked then, her head falling back against the couch, that hum turning into a quiet moan. Alexandra watched it happen, the way Simone’scomposure slipped, her thighs tensing around Alexandra’s hand. It was more intoxicating than her own building need, this unraveling she had caused.
She pumped her fingers steadily, her thumb still working the clit, leaning down to bite at Simone’s shoulder, marking the skin with her teeth. Simone’s hand came up to Alexandra’s hair, gripping but not pulling, as her inner walls clenched around Alexandra’s fingers. Alexandra added pressure with her mouth, sucking at the pulse point on Simone’s neck while her fingers thrust deeper. Simone’s moan grew sharper, her free hand clutching Alexandra’s thigh, her nails biting into the fabric of her pants as her body gave under her.
Simone’s hips rolled up to meet her hand, chasing the rhythm, and Alexandra matched it, unrelenting. She shifted lower, kissing a path down Simone’s stomach, tasting salt on her skin, until her mouth replaced her fingers. She licked a slow stripe up Simone’s pussy, savoring the taste, then closed her lips around her clit, sucking gently while sliding her fingers back inside. Simone’s hand tightened in her hair, a gasp breaking free, pure release. Alexandra’s own arousal throbbed, her pants suddenly too tight, but she focused on Simone, her tongue flicking and circling, and her fingers curling in time with the sucks.
