“Birdsong, I am not joining the mile high club.”
“Me either. I’m not trying to land myself in federal prison.” She chuckled before she got serious again. She pulled Juniper’s body flush with hers and leaned into her ear. “I would do so many things for you, Junie.”
They spent the rest of the day finalizing their presentation for that evening. Before heading home to eat and change ahead of the meeting, Juniper checked her inbox one last time. She bit the tip of her thumb in excitement as she smiled. She had one new email from Rowan Birdsong with a round-trip ticketto New York City in three weeks.
Even though in the natural world wildflowers do not need tending, they need certain circumstances around them to thrive, to believe in their worthiness to bloom, to have the courage to share their own beauty with the world.
Chapter 15
Juniper heard the door swing open and angled backwards to watch as Rowan walked in, in a navy blue suit with a white button down open at the neck. The part where Juniper fully lost it though? The sexiest, nerdiest tortoiseshell glasses. Juniper had no control over her lips parting, her eyes transfixing themselves on Rowan, on literally every part of Rowan.
Oh, fuck me.
A look of anxiety crossed Rowan’s face.
“What? Do I look okay? Did I spill something on myself?”
Rowan adjusted the cuff of one of her shirt sleeves while she looked down at her shirt and pants and then back up to Juniper’s eyes.
“Yes.” Juniper knew she was practically panting.
“Shit, where?”
“Huh?” Definitely panting.
“I asked if I spilled something on myself, and you said yes.”
“Oh, I meant yes to you looking good.”
“Ah, got it. You look… great,” Rowan added.
She felt Rowan’s eyes scan over her entirely, from her heels, up her bare legs, across the curves of her hips emphasized so obviously by her black pencil skirt. Juniper cleared her throat out of self-consciousness, a good kind of self-consciousness. She finally caught Rowan’s eyes dart back up to hers.
“Um, do you feel ready?” Rowan asked, attempting to clearthe air.
Juniper was ready for so many things. “More than you know.”
Rowan smirked. “No, I think I know.”
Juniper adjusted the waistband of her skirt and made sure her silky lilac top was still in place as it should be before she joined Rowan at the table. She watched Rowan greedily track every movement. Juniper sat in the chair angled toward the chair Rowan sat in. She pressed her thighs together before crossing her legs. She was fairly certain her heart was no longer beating at all in her chest and instead had found its new forever home between her legs.
Rowan sat forward, her elbows resting on her spread-out knees, while she reviewed some printed notes probably for the hundredth time. Juniper loved this new way she took up every inch of space she wanted to. Sure she was still on the quiet side, more introspective and reflective than most, but what she exuded now was like a quiet dominance.
This assertiveness, this confidence was brand new to Juniper, and it was hot. Oh god. But it was. It wasreallyfucking hot. It made her want to be near her, like the proximity to her alone could create a change within Juniper herself. It made her want to reach out and touch her. And be touched by her.
“Hmm?” Juniper hummed, snapping out of it at the realization she had totally missed what Rowan had said.
“I said I tore a contact lens in my last pair, so I had to wear these glasses.” Rowan repeated without looking up, shuffling through her papers.
“Oh,” Juniper breathed out, thankful that it wasn’t something more.
“I like them. They suit you well,” she added, reaching out to touch the side of the frames.
And because she couldn’t imagine not touching her in some way in this moment, she let her extra fingers rest on Rowan’s cheekbone momentarily before grazing the side of her face all the way down until her hand found her own lap again.
“Thanks.” Rowan’s eyes flickered up to hers. They stared at each other for a few seconds before Rowan blinked and looked down at her papers again. “The tracking number says the contacts will get here Friday, because of course.”
“You know everything takes an extra week to get to us all the way out here,” Juniper added.
