CHAPTER 16 #2
“I did,” she replied, squeezing Myra’s hands.
“I meant what I said: I’d just never been to a food truck.
I haven’t told you much about where we lived, but you can probably guess that it’s about ninety-nine percent White and Christian.
It’s a small, upper-middle-class to straight-up wealthy community, and there are only nice restaurants within the town itself.
Outside of the town, there are fast food chains and maybe some food trucks, but we never really ate there.
Archie Senior loves fancy restaurants, and I tried to keep the kids away from fast food whenever I could.
I liked the food tonight. I even liked the fact that it came from a truck.
I really liked being there with you. I just couldn’t shake his words earlier out of my mind, and I should’ve called you and asked to postpone because I’m worried that I ruined my chance. ”
Myra let go of one of her hands and cupped her cheek. Elisa met her eyes and did everything she could to stop herself from shaking because she didn’t want to freeze up now. She didn’t want to be nervous. She wanted to be strong. She wanted to show Myra that she was ready for this, whatever it was.
“Do you want to try again?”
“Huh? Try…”
“Elisa, do you want to have a do-over first date? We can go to another food truck, or I can pick a restaurant that doesn’t have wheels, and we can do something after, like go for that walk by the water or see a movie or something.”
“Yeah?” she asked.
Myra smiled at her and said, “Yeah, of course. I’ll admit, I was pretty pissed off before, but I was mostly just confused, really.
I thought this was something we’d both wanted, but you seemed anywhere but on our date tonight, and I worried it was because you’d never been out with a woman, so you might not have been ready for all of that.
If you are, though, and you still want to go out, we can try again. ”
“Yes, I want that,” Elisa said quickly, probably a little too quickly. “Sorry, I’m not desperate or anything. Actually, no, I am desperate, but it’s like desperate in a good way.”
“How’s that, exactly?” Myra asked with a little laugh as she caressed Elisa’s skin.
“I’m desperate for a shot with you. I don’t want to mess this up.”
“You didn’t. Your asshole of an ex did. And if he stops by uninvited again, feel free to call me. I know members of NOLA PD.”
“What? You do ?”
“Big family, remember? I’ve got two cousins who are cops. If I ask, they would happily make a house call just to get that jerk out of New Orleans.”
Elisa leaned into Myra’s hand, trying to show her that this was okay and that more would be okay, too.
She also let go of the other hand that Myra was still holding and moved hers to Myra’s hip, swallowing hard.
Myra moved her free hand to Elisa’s other cheek and held her face with both hands now, staring into her eyes.
“Do you want to wait for that do-over date?”
“For you to kiss me?” Elisa asked and shook her head. “No, I don’t want to wait another second if–”
Myra’s lips pressed to her own then, cutting her off, and when Elisa’s brain caught up with what was happening, she finally began kissing Myra back.
God, she had been missing this. Myra’s hand moved to Elisa’s hip and lightly pushed her against the counter.
Elisa groaned, digging her fingers into Myra’s hip as their lips continued to dance together, and her other hand moved around Myra’s neck and under her thick braids, cupping her there to bring her in more.
Elisa wanted her closer. She wanted Myra inside her, on top of her, beneath her, and everywhere else.
Myra was so soft and warm, and her tongue felt like silk as it moved into Elisa’s mouth, stroking Elisa’s own and licking the back of her teeth.
Myra sucking on her bottom lip caused her to moan, and before Elisa knew it, she was lifted onto the counter.
Myra now stood between her spread legs and ran her hands over and under her dress, not making any move for more.
When Myra’s lips moved to her neck, Elisa felt like she wanted them to stay there and return to her mouth at the same time.
She didn’t want to be thinking about her ex-husband at all right now, but he was her only point of comparison when it came to lovers, so naturally, he crossed her mind.
He had never kissed her on the neck like this.
In almost two decades, he had never taken the time to show her this kind of affection, to show her that he cared about what made her feel good, too, not just his own pleasure.
“Your skin tastes good,” Myra said before she nibbled on Elisa’s earlobe.
“That sounds weird,” she replied with a giggle and then wished she could have just stopped herself from saying any words because Myra pulled back and stared into her eyes.
“Yes, it does. But it sounded better in my head,” Myra replied with a smile as she gently pushed hair behind Elisa’s ear. “You looked so beautiful tonight, Elisa. And you still do. You might even look more beautiful now that you’re on my countertop like this.” Myra winked at her.
“Yeah?” Elisa asked, teasing her a little.
“Yes. Do you want to stay here while I finish making us that coffee? We can talk more, and I’ll kiss you goodnight at your door for real this time.”
“No lame cheek kiss? Sorry about that, by the way.”
“No lame cheek kiss,” Myra replied and leaned back in. “Now that I’ve actually kissed you, I don’t plan on there being any lame kisses again.”
Elisa nodded rapidly at that, and Myra kissed her one more time before moving to finish their coffee.