Chapter 13 #2
Jo didn’t want to imagine seeing Amelia with another woman. She didn’t want to imagine what Amelia was capable of at the club. If she could just pretend that Satin was nothing more than a generic bar this evening, she may just find the courage to step inside.
She hadn’t texted Amelia to say she was coming. She wasn’t even sure why. Maybe it was cowardice…maybe it was curiosity. Maybe it was the hope that if she turned up unannounced, she could finally see what this place and Amelia looked like when she wasn’t expecting her.
Jo stepped inside, the familiar scent of expensive perfume wrapping around her immediately.
It was a strange feeling to know that a simple scent could calm you in an instant.
The woman at the desk greeted her with a soft smile and a nod of recognition.
It wasn’t busy, but there were enough people lounging, drinking, and laughing in quiet corners to fill the space with a gentle buzz.
She didn’t know what she was looking for. Not really. Until she saw her.
Amelia.
Laid out on one of the wide, velvet-draped beds in the main lounge area, her long legs crossed at the ankle, a flute of champagne dangling from her fingers.
Wearing lace.
Lingerie. Black. Delicate. Unforgiving.
Jo’s heart lurched in her chest as though someone had just shoved her from behind.
Amelia’s robe had slipped off to reveal the full line of her thigh, the curve of her waist, and the elegant dip of her collarbone.
Her hair was loose tonight, cascading over one shoulder, and her smile—directed at the woman beside her—was lazy, warm, and so fucking dangerous.
Jo’s stomach flipped. She should leave. She should turn around and walk out the door before Amelia looked up. Before she saw her. Before she ruined everything. But Amelia’s gaze shifted and landed right on her.
Oh, God. This can’t be happening.
Time folded in on itself, and Jo’s feet refused to move. Her brain screamed go, but her body was frozen, caught up in the gaze of a woman she had never seen like this before. Not Amelia the mother. Not Amelia the friend. Not even Amelia the flirt.
This was something else entirely.
Amelia held her gaze from across the room, something unreadable flickering in her expression. Then, so fucking slowly, she uncrossed her legs, murmured something to the woman beside her and sat upright, her robe now pooled around her.
Jo’s mouth ran dry when Amelia gestured for her to come closer.
She didn’t know how or when her feet had started moving, but now she was walking one step at a time, until she was standing a few feet away from the bed where Amelia still sat, her bare thighs glowing gold in the soft light and her body devastatingly unreal.
“Jo,” Amelia gazed up at her. “I didn’t know you were coming.”
Jo swallowed. “N-neither did I.”
A smile tugged at the corners of Amelia’s mouth. “You look a little surprised.”
“I-I—” Jo blinked repeatedly. “I’ve just never seen you like this.”
Amelia tilted her head. “Is that a bad thing?”
Jo didn’t answer because if she did, she would say something entirely inappropriate, and she had to keep her wits about her tonight.
Still, as she reminded herself of that, she refused to look away from the thin strip of lace crossing Amelia’s chest, or the flushed skin of her throat…
or that sensual confidence in her posture.
Tonight, Amelia was something else. Something out of bounds. Something untouchable. And yet…Jo wanted to touch. With every breath in her body.
Amelia stood slowly, her robe draped across the bed behind her. She reached for it and wrapped it around herself, tying it loosely at the waist. It didn’t help, though. It barely dulled the image already seared into Jo’s memory.
“Would you like a drink?” Amelia asked as she stepped closer. “You’ve gone very quiet.”
Jo nodded, still trying to find words she could confidently say out loud. “Sure. Yeah.”
“This way.” Amelia brushed past her, barefoot, as she led them towards one of the small booths near the back of the lounge. A low table, plush seating, and a little more privacy.
Jo followed her like a woman sleepwalking through a dream.
As they sat down, Amelia called a server over and ordered for both of them before turning back to Jo with that softness in her eyes. “You don’t have to stay, you know.”
Jo knew she didn’t, but there wasn’t a chance she was leaving. “I don’t want to leave.”
“Even after seeing me like that?”
Jo looked away, laughing quietly to herself. “Especially after seeing you like that.”
“I didn’t mean to shock you.” Amelia smiled, but it was laced with sadness. “I’m sorry.”
“You didn’t.”
“I think I did, but you forget this place is part of my life, too.”
“I don’t forget.” Jo turned to her, their knees almost touching under the table. “I just never imagined…”
“What?”
“That you’d look so at home in it.” Jo shook her head. “O-or that I’d want to crawl across the bed and drag you into the nearest private room.” She scrubbed a hand down her face when Amelia gazed back at her, quite clearly shocked. “Sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.”
“It’s okay. I think we’re past the point of pretending, aren’t we?”
Jo’s heart ached. God, she would give anything to be sitting here with Amelia under different circumstances. She wanted to be Amelia’s. “It’s just…you look incredible, and I didn’t expect to react like that.”
“Jo—”
“And now I don’t know what the fuck I’m doing here. Because I told myself I was fine with friendship. But then you looked at me like that, while dressed in…very little, and I don’t feel fine anymore.”
The server arrived with two drinks, placed them down, and left again.
Part of Jo wished she’d stayed, even if only to give Jo a moment to compose herself, but no…
she was all on her own with this one. She picked up her glass and stared down into it.
If she didn’t, she would find herself salivating over Amelia’s cleavage.
“Maybe we’re not meant to feel fine.”
Jo looked up and frowned.
“Maybe that’s the point. Maybe it’s supposed to feel like this. Scary, uncertain, maybe even messy.”
Jo’s fingers curled around her glass. “It already is messy.”
“Perhaps it is.” Amelia nodded. “But it’s also real.”
Jo swallowed. “I don’t want to lose you, Amelia.”
“You won’t.”
As Amelia slid her hand over Jo’s and squeezed, she gazed into those dark eyes and sighed. “I almost didn’t come tonight.”
“But you did.”
Jo felt something shift inside her. It felt as though a line had been drawn and immediately crossed.
Amelia had wrapped herself in silk, lace, and confidence, but beneath it all, she was still the same woman who had held Jo when she couldn’t stop crying.
The same woman who texted little kisses.
The same woman who said I’ll be here and meant it.
Jo knew then, even if she couldn’t act on it tonight, even if she couldn’t let herself unravel any further in public…that she was in serious trouble.
Because she didn’t just want Amelia. She was starting to need her.