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There was a silence long enough that Hope thought Ava might not answer. But she did. “Because when I kiss you everything seems right.”
“Right?” Hope said.
Ava shrugged. “My life has, not to put too fine a point on it, been a bit shit lately. And mostly it’s still not great. Yet for some reason, the second I kiss you everything clicks into place, everything just seems right.”
Hope took a breath to ask another question except she didn’t have to. She knew exactly what Ava meant. There were a thousand reasons not to get involved with someone like Ava, not least that she wasn’t around permanently. But when their lips meant every single one of those reasons went out of the window.
“Okay,” she said slowly. “So why don’t we start there?”
“Start where?” asked Ava.
“With a kiss,” said Hope, holding out her hand. Ava laced her fingers into Hope’s and warmth traveled up Hope’s arm as she pulled Ava up off the couch, pulled her in closer, their heights almost matching, so they were almost nose to nose. “No expectations,” Hope whispered.
But Ava was already reaching up, already cupping Hope’s face in her hands, leaning her head until she could slide in to fit their lips perfectly together.
Hope’s knees turned to jelly, her heart started to beat harder and there was a rush of warmth between her legs. She was struggling to breathe again, but this time she didn’t care, she could suffocate as long as this kiss didn’t stop.
She leaned into it, let herself disappear into Ava’s lips, let her eyes close and her body feel and then Ava was pressing up against her, pushing her back, then she was leaning against a wall and Ava was melded to her, their bodies connecting with every atom, so close that Hope couldn’t tell where she ended and where Ava began.
Ava pulled back, her green eyes heavy-lidded and her lips bruised, voice hoarse. “So much for no expectations,” she said.
And Hope was going to ask her what she meant, but Ava’s lips were already descending onto her neck and then her collarbone, and then the carefully buttoned shirt she’d put on was being torn from her and her hipbones were pressing up against Ava’s and then this was happening whether they’d planned on it or not.
Chapter Twenty Five
Ava could taste her, a salty, fruity taste like a margarita but better. She nuzzled her head into Hope’s neck and closed her eyes, willing herself to make the right decision here.
What if this is all it was, argued one side of her. What if this was just pure physical lust? In that case, shouldn’t she just jump in with both feet and get this, her first sexual encounter after her divorce, out of the way?
But what if this wasn’t all it was, argued the other side of her. That was the side that terrified her, the one that made her freeze inside and wonder if she should be backing out, if she should stop leading Hope on.
Then Hope’s hands went to her hips and pulled her in and Ava groaned softly into Hope’s skin, and they were kissing again and Ava could feel every pulse of Hope’s heart in her lips. Her breath was coming faster, there was heat between her legs, and all she wanted was more of this.
She pulled away, just enough so that she could look into Hope’s dark eyes. “Care to move this to the bedroom?”
“If we stop, are you going to start again?” Hope asked. “Because if the only way this is going to work is to get screwed up against this wall right now then I’m not going to complain.”
Ava laughed, then Hope’s hands grasped her backside and the laugh turned into a moan. “We’re not stopping,” she said, suddenly knowing it was true, knowing that they wouldn’t stop.
Hope raised an eyebrow. “We’re not stopping. I’ve got your word on that?”
“Solemn promise,” Ava said.
Then Hope was pushing her away and sliding out from between her and the wall. “In that case, race you.”
She was gone, pounding up the stairs and with a gleeful laugh, Ava followed her, running up the stairs and practically crashing through the bedroom door until she stopped, paralyzed at the sight of Hope sitting there on the edge of her neatly made bed. The sight of Hope with her long, dark hair messed up in curls, her lips swollen, her eyes clouded and dark.
“You promised,” said Hope, voice deep.
She stood up, quickly flicked open the button of her jeans and pulled them down, baring slim, smooth legs and leaving her only in a white shirt and underwear.
Ava’s heart stopped. “I did promise, didn’t I?” she said, voice cracking.
“I’m not a teasing kind of girl,” Hope said, sitting back down on the bed.
“You’re not a girl at all,” said Ava, taking a step toward her.
“So, what happens now?”
