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Lara just had to figure out how it could happen again. Because she could tell how much Charlotte wanted this. And while Charlotte certainly had her reservations, Lara couldn’t miss the raw desire in her eyes.
The question Lara was going to have to wrestle with was what would she be comfortable with? If Charlotte didn’t want a public relationship with her, didn’t want anything to do with her as far as the media was concerned, would she accept a secret affair?
Lara got dressed for bed, turning that thought over in her mind. Right now? With the feeling of Charlotte’s lips on hers so fresh in her mind? Yes, definitely.
But when she went back to her earlier thoughts of what it would feel like if she’d slept with Charlotte tonight and in the morning, she’d told her that this wasn’t happening again? Lara felt the hypothetical rejection at the pit of her stomach right now.
Lara got into bed, hoping exhaustion would take over, because her head was a mess right now.
Tomorrow.
Tomorrow would tell her a lot about what her chances with Charlotte really were, and the fact that she was even thinking about that was still unbelievable.
She’d love to call Hayden right now. Even though she was her client, she was still one of her closest friends. Sydney too. But Lara didn’t feel like she could talk to either of them about this.
Charlotte was out, but Lara didn’t feel right about talking to either of them about Charlotte. Not right now anyway.
And that meant that Lara had to make it to tomorrow evening on her own. And figure out what she was going to cook. And what she would wear.
Lara closed her eyes, curling up under the sheets, her mind a jumbled mess, but she ignored all of her worries, focusing instead on the feeling of Charlotte’s lips against hers, of how soft they were, of how much passion had been in those kisses, of the way that Charlotte had been the one to initiate it.
Because that was the craziest part.
10
Charlotte shifted the bottle of wine into her other hand, uncharacteristically nervous as she waited for Lara to answer the door, and when she did, Charlotte had to take a steadying breath.
Lara stood in the doorway dressed in whitewash jeans, a black top hanging off one shoulder, her glossy hair falling across her shoulders. It was a stark contrast to the white backless dress that she’d worn to Jessica’s party, but Charlotte honestly couldn’t say which look she preferred, and maybe that shouldn’t have surprised her. Lara had that effortlessly gorgeous thing going for her.
Charlotte was dressed casually as well, going with her favorite pair of black jeans and an olive-colored blouse.
“Hey,” Lara said, her smile warm as she held the door open for her. “Come in.”
“Hi.” Charlotte lifted her arm to hug her just like she would hug Ada or Sydney or Jerry if she’d been invited to their house, but it wasn’t until she had Lara’s body pressed against her own that she realized this wasn’t the same, a shiver chasing up her spine as she tried not to let that feeling of desire overwhelm her.
As much as she’d told herself that this was just dinner, repeating it over and over again throughout the day, every time she’d been tempted to text Lara and cancel, that hug and her body’s response to it made it clear that this wasn’t simply dinner with a friend, no matter how much Charlotte wanted to be.
If Lara was as affected by it as she was, she didn’t let it on, pulling away with a smile still on her lips, leading her towards the kitchen, the delicious scent of Italian food wafting through the house.
“Thanks,” Lara said as Charlotte handed her the bottle. “This will go perfect with dinner. Seafood linguine okay?”
“Yes. I can’t remember the last time I had it. It smells amazing. I didn’t know you could cook.”
“And you still came when I offered to make dinner?” Lara asked as she slid the bottle of wine into the fridge, her lips curving into a smile.
“Well, people have different definitions of cooking. I’ve seen people serve up dinners where their chef had ninety percent of it done, and they just stood at the stove stirring a sauce and plating it up, like they’d been in the kitchen for hours.” Charlotte slid onto a bar stool at the breakfast bar. “So, I don’t assume anymore.”
Lara lifted the lid on the pot on the stove, giving it a stir before turning down the heat. “Really? Who?”
“Oh, I can’t reveal names.”
Lara smiled as she came over towards Charlotte, her arms resting on the countertop across from where she was sitting. “I shouldn’t be surprised. I’ve already seen enough things in the last three years that I never could have imagined happening.”
“Like what?”
Lara took a second to think about it. “Body doubles. I knew about stunt doubles. I think everyone does. But I was on set with Kerri more than once when I was surprised to see the lead actor stride off set and someone with a strikingly similar figure and body type come in. Eerily similar. I know that’s the point, but as a fan, it just made me wonder how many scenes I’ve watched where I think I’m looking at my favorite actor or actress, and it’s not actually them.”
Charlotte nodded. “I’ve used a body double before. It’s not always the scenes with nudity either. I was so sick once, I knew I wasn’t going to be back on set for four or five days, and rather than wait for me, they shot it from behind, with my back always in the shot. A little voice-over work and some talented editing and no one’s the wiser.”
