Page 34

Victoria remained out of sight and Charlotte looked at Ali, winking as she brushed vibrant hair behind her ear, following the strand down to the curled ends.

Ali smirked, aware of what Victoria wasn’t. Charlotte no longer worked on the weekends.

“Have it on my desk before noon Monday,” another pause, a flaming curl wound round and round her finger, sliding like silk against her skin. She pretended to hang up, slipping the phone into her pocket. “Hello, my darling.”

Ali’s cheeks tinted pink.

“I was thinking tomorrow we could have brunch before we check out the new exhibit you were telling me about.”

“I’d love that.”

Charlotte hummed, letting her gaze linger where the impression of a dimple formed.

Victoria’s gaze bored into the back of her skull. Charlotte ignored her and scoffed internally because Ali was her type. Her features were delicate in all the places Charlotte was defined. Charlotte only had one freckle. Ali’s freckles were innumerable and Charlotte often searched for constellations hidden among them. Ali was warmth itself and when she smiled, the big one where dimples tunneled and little lines crinkled around her coffee eyes, Charlotte’s chest swelled with want and warmth.

One hand smoothed along Ali’s jaw, speckled skin soft beneath her touch. Her eyes tracked the motion, thumb gliding over Ali’s bottom lip, drinking in the way her lips parted just so.

“I thought you might,” Charlotte mused. “Someday, we’ll be going to a solo show of yours.”

Ali melted into her touch, just on the verge of going completely pliant in her hands. A wanting so deep sparked, spreading through her to settle in her core. A sensation becoming all too familiar whenever Ali was near.

“You think so?”

“I do,” Charlotte confirmed, eyes darting down to Ali’s mouth and back up. Heart aching because Ali looked at her like she was the only good thing in the world. “Can I steal a kiss before we go back out there?”

Ali’s breath caught and she nodded, tongue darting out to wet her lips.

Charlotte shifted, guiding Ali’s head up on the hook of her finger. A soft intake of breath could just be heard as she leaned in, brushing their noses together affectionately, like they’d done this a thousand times.

For long months they flirted and enjoyed endless playful banter. And over the past couple of days they built something resembling a natural easy friendship. Charlotte fully intended to remain friends… Right up until their lips pressed together.

Charlotte had more than her fair share of first kisses. This topped every single one, leaving any kiss she ever had in the dust as sparks she believed to be myth erupted behind her lids, sending a shock through her system.

Ali raised her hand, tangling powder blue painted nails deep into the forest of onyx curls atop her head, tugging at the roots and pulling her closer. The sense of vulnerability that usually made her skin feel two sizes too small any time someone played with or pulled her hair never came. Instead, an airy whimper rushed out of her to hum into their kiss.

Heels clacked as Victoria stomped away. Charlotte all but grinned against plush lips in triumph.

Ali nipped at Charlotte’s bottom lip and heat sparked, pooling between her thighs. All thoughts of Victoria disappeared like vapor in her mind.

In response, Charlotte ran her tongue along the seam of Ali’s lips. The lingering hint of champagne and a taste unmistakably Ali hit her. Both of them groaned. Hearing the sounds Ali made… She wanted more, needed more.

It took every last shred of willpower not to push Ali down on the couch and make her see stars. To hear what she sounded like when she came. To feel her flutter and tighten and go slack. Discover if she would flush even more brilliantly or pale as orgasmic bliss washed through her.

But Ali deserved more than a rushed muffled romp on some priceless sofa in the Pryce mansion. And if they were caught? The scandal.

Sasha might not kill her but her sister Jasmine on the other hand…

Besides, she and Ali were just friends.

Charlotte broke the kiss, much to her own sorrow. Her eyes fluttered open. Darkened umber pools gazed back in shock and wanting. Charlotte’s lids dropped to parted lips, so soft; she was desperate to get lost in her and bury herself between pale thighs. She ached with it.

But they were just friends.

Charlotte sucked in a shaky breath and snatched up what remained of Ali’s champagne, downing it in one go, like it might steady her. It didn’t. She tried to summon the memory of the last kiss that lit her up down to her toes. But none existed because the connection between them was singular. Which further complicated their already complicated friendship… situationship?

Shit.

One kiss and already fuzzy lines between them blurred beyond recognition.