Fallon continued after a brief hug from her wife. I’d give Mackenzie one thing, she treated her wife very well. “Blair, what you did for Drea? Taking care of her when you weren’t obligated to, and you weren’t even together? I will never forget that gesture. I will forever be indebted to you for that. I believe her every time she says you saved her soul. You’re the reason she’s still with us today. Thank you, Blair. Just thank you.”
Now I didn’t feel bad, because I was crying, too. It made sense now why everyone was crying. They all knew what happened.
I remember Drea telling me about it one afternoon while I was working in Kaia’s office. Kaia had come in saying the doctor’s office had called just to check in on things and I’d asked if she was alright.
We hadn’t known each other, not really, but she smiled and told me she was now. She told me about her break up with Blair and the accident that almost cost her her life. She told me how she believes Blair had saved her and I’d remembered thinking it was a beautiful story and proof that life was just too short.
Drea was part of the reason I went to the masquerade ball to begin with. I had put dating on the back burner to focus on work and spending time with my abuela. She’d kept pushing me to get out there more, and I’d just shrug it off. But after Drea’s story, I decided to stop putting it off. I wanted to find someone and I sawthe ad for the ball and thought it was a sign from the universe. Who would’ve thought I found the meaning of life dressed in red?
“And as a wedding present, we bought you a new chair for the store. We know how much you loved the old one, but I think it’s seen better days.” Fallon continued.
“Oh, it has definitely seenmuchbetter days.” Mackenzie winked at Drea who made a disgusting face.
I turned to Cara, confused. “Do I want to know what that means?”
She laughed and leaned in closer. So close her perfume was floating into my nostrils, making it very hard to concentrate on anything else. “When Fallon and Mackenzie were keeping things casual, Drea sort of caught them on a chair in the back of the bookstore. I didn’t ask for any more details after that, because of our situation at the time, but Drea groans every time one of them brings it up. She kept saying she needed to get rid of the chair, but never did and I’m not sure why. If I knew Blair had done something on a piece of my furniture, I’d want to burn it.”
I smiled. “Well, maybe we should see what the hype is all about.” I winked.
“Hmm, you’d like that, wouldn’t you?”
“You know I’d love nothing more than to bend you over the arm of a chair, or a couch, or sit you on an island. Anywhere you’d like.” I reveled in the blush that appeared on her perfect cheeks.
She knew I was serious, and I knew she liked my ideas. I had so many things planned for us, and tonight would just be the beginning. At least, I hoped. I planned to make it so good she couldn’t get enough. Once I had her, I wasn’t letting her go.
“You’re making it very hard to pay attention to their speech, Vera.” My only reply was a wink.
Mackenzie and Fallon wrapped up their speech with a tearful hug to Drea and Blair. I was grateful to be a part of their special day, and I loved seeing everyone together. Their own little family being there for each other. It was something special to see, especially in a place like Bali.
I was having the best night of my life. I was sitting with a wonderful group of new friends. Eating and drinking and just enjoying our time together. And something had gotten into Cara. She couldn’t keep her hands off me all night. I assumed it was for her friends, but when she started to rub my leg underneath the table where no one could see, I started to wonder if it was real or not.
When she moved her hand up higher and was toying with the waistband of my pants, I took in a breath. She was dangerously close to getting dragged out of the restaurant and taken to our room.
I didn’t know what had gotten into her. She hadn’t had any more than two glasses of champagne, but I couldn’t say I hated it. I’d wanted her for so long, and it seemed like I’d finally get what I’d been praying for for months.
“Princesa, you have to stop touching me like that.”
“Why? Is it bothering you?” She whispered in my ear, and having her that close made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.
She had moved her hand practically inside of my pants and was lightly scratching at my sides, making my eyes flutter closed. I groaned and took her hand out, kissing it. “No. It’s making me want to take you upstairs and rip that dress off.”
Luckily, everyone was too busy in their own conversations to pay attention to us. I was getting soaked and my blush was unmistakable.
Cara leaned closer and played with my ear before whispering, “Careful what you wish for, Vera.” She smiled before I grabbedher and kissed her. She was walking a very thin line. I only had so much self-control, and the longer she touched me, the less of it I had. The night was going to get cut short if I had anything to say about it.
She leaned back and I groaned, not ready for the kiss to be over. “Care to dance, darling?” she asked, loud enough where everyone could hear, as if she hadn’t just made me an aroused mess.
I smiled at the thought of dancing with her to this song. The song playing was a popular salsa style that I’d heard a few times. “Si, Princesa. I’d thought you’d never ask.”
“Excuse us,” I said to the table. I stood up and offered my hand. She took it and I pulled her closer to me, loving the little gasp it produced. I placed a gentle kiss on her lips before leading her to the dance floor.
There were a few other people dancing as well, but I didn’t pay attention to any of them. The only person I ever saw was Cara.
When we stopped, I grabbed her and pulled her closer to me. “You look absolutely beautiful tonight.”
She smiled and toyed with the hairs on the back of my head. “Thank you, Vera. I meant what I said to Kenzie. You look very sexy tonight. I’m obsessed with these suspenders. I keep having dirty thoughts of what I could do with them.”
Cara having dirty thoughts about any part of me was making my resolve crumble every minute I was close to her. I gathered myself and led her into our dancing. The beat of the song was fast enough that I started salsa dancing. I tried to incorporate the same moves from our dance in Fairview, hoping a little dance down memory lane would help things.
