Page 8 of The Forbidden Fling

Diana’s lips twitched. Raul wasn’t wrong. Then she took Faye’s elbow. “You acted fast. That was impressive. Are you feeling alright?”

Faye nodded, her focus falling to where Diana held her through the fabric of her jumper. “Just feeling the adrenaline.”

Heat seared under Faye’s gaze, but Diana didn’t drop her hand. “Do you want some water?”

“Please.”

“Let me.” Raul fetched some water and ice to their table, hovering while Faye drank. When she set down her glass, he produced a bottle of the wine Diana had been drinking and placed it in front of her. “Free drinks! For you.”

Faye inspected the bottle.

“Do you drink?” Diana asked, hoping she wasn’t being intrusive.

“Not really. No.”

Raul brought over two more wine glasses and poured a generous helping into all three without asking. He raised his in a cheers, and Diana reluctantly clinked their glasses.

“You don’t have to drink it if you don’t want to,” Diana assured her when Raul left to rejoin the others.

“I am trying to say yes to more things, but…” Faye’s gaze locked with hers. Diana couldn’t read the emotion swirling in her irises, but then a small smile played on Faye’s lips, and she lifted her glass. “I guess I’m in if you are. It’d be sad to drink it alone.”

Diana considered it. Maybe she should start saying yes to more things, too. She wasn’t past having a few harmless drinks. It couldn’t hurt, and it might help unlock some ideas for the manuscript hidden deep inside her brain.

“It would be my pleasure,” she said, and she clinked her glass with Faye’s.

* * *

Darkness cloaked the bar as Raul switched off the lights. “Right. Come on, everyone. Let’s go. Todos embora! I mean it this time.” The slight slur to his words wasn’t convincing, and he had to grab the shoulders of the men slumped over the bar to guide them towards the exit. He turned to the two women giggling in the corner, two empty bottles between them. “You too, ladies. Don’t make me manhandle you as well.”

Diana scoffed. “Try it, and we’ll set the chickens on you.”

The two of them cracked into fits of laughter, and Raul shook his head, muttering something in Portuguese under his breath. “Ladies, please. You have an early boat to catch.”

Something in Raul’s glassy gaze pulled Diana back into functioning mode. She stood, tugging Faye with her. “He’s right. Time to go.”

“No,” Faye groaned. “I don’t wanna go yet. This is the most fun I’ve had in ages.”

Raul blew out the last of the candles, and with only the streetlights to illuminate the bar, everything took on a hazy tone. A bang on the window made the women jump. Faye grabbed Diana’s hand, their bodies drawing together like two magnets. When the men pushed their faces against the glass, pulling stupid expressions, Diana shook her head. Then the warmth in her palm registered. The dusting of Faye’s breath against her neck. The curve of her body pressed into her side. A new fuzzy feeling spread from Diana’s fingertips to her cheeks, filling her body with heat.

That must be the fifth or sixth glass of wine.

She steered Faye towards the door, said goodnight to Raul, then pressed the button for the lift as they waited by the reception desk.

Maybe it was because Faye was unsteady on her feet, or maybe it was something else—something she didn’t want to read into right now—but Diana didn’t let go of her hand. She sat down on the wooden desk, listening to the whir of the mechanical chains and Raul banging about through the adjacent wall.

“I had so much fun tonight,” Faye said softly.

Diana turned her head, struck by the look of awe in her eyes. “Me too,” she answered honestly. The night with Faye had passed quickly—too damn quickly—and for those few hours they’d left the world behind. But now they’d stepped out of the bar, already her dizzy mind started to snag onto tomorrow. Setting her alarm, catching the boat, seeing Molly.

Faye moved closer, sliding herself between Diana’s legs.

Her breath hitched.

Faye’s body pressed warm heat to the inside of her thighs. She tilted her head back to meet her gaze, Faye’s scent pulling them closer together. Vanilla, and something sweet, like summer rain.

All she could focus on was Faye’s mouth—the lipstick faded but still colouring her lips a darker pink—instead of the sensation fluttering between her legs. This wasn’t supposed to happen tonight. But somehow, she didn’t want to stop it either.

“I really like this mole.” Faye brushed Diana’s cheekbone. “This one here.”