Chapter 16
Chapter Sixteen
Jo hadn’t planned on seeing Amelia today. Not in the middle of Church Street, and not when she looked like she’d barely slept the night before. Yet here she was, hiding across the street, wondering whether she should slip off down one of the alleyways until the coast was clear.
She tugged the collar of her jacket higher, tucking a flyaway strand of hair behind her ear as she slowed her pace near the entrance to one of the beauty shops, the heavy bag on her shoulder digging into her skin.
She needed to pop into the camera shop around the corner, but now all she could do was freeze.
Because there she was…heading towards her, completely oblivious to the fact.
Amelia.
Striding down the high street like she owned it in her heels, expensive tailored overcoat, and that luscious hair catching in the wind in that way that made Jo forget her own name. She wasn’t sure what she’d expected after days of not seeing Amelia in person, but it wasn’t this.
Amelia, flushed from the cold, her cheeks pink, her eyes lit up as though she’d just come out of a very good meeting.
Because she had, hadn’t she? She’d mentioned something about meeting with an architect for a new place and a development she was working on.
She recalled the brief mention of being on site throughout this week.
As Jo gazed at Amelia, she couldn’t love that look on her face any more than she already did.
Jo could have turned and ducked into the bookshop, pretending not to have seen her, but her feet betrayed her. She stood there, her heart situated in her throat, her face burning as Amelia caught sight of her.
The smile she wore wasn’t a casual, polite one. No, it was as real as they came.
Still, Jo felt as though the pavement was going to swallow her whole the moment Amelia made a beeline for her.
As she watched her approach, Jo suddenly became acutely aware of everything. The weight of her phone in her coat pocket, the memory of that phone call still vivid in her mind. Her own voice in her head and the moaning as she breathlessly said Amelia’s name when she came.
Fuck!
And then there was the text exchange. The lingerie, the lace…the photo shoot. Jo nearly groaned out loud. She cast her gaze to the ground just as Amelia reached her.
“Jo,” Amelia said, a little surprised but as light-hearted as always. “I didn’t think I’d be bumping into you.”
“Yeah.” Jo tried to meet Amelia’s eyes, but it was a struggle. “The city’s small when you need it not to be, huh?”
Amelia tilted her head. “Are you okay?”
Nope. Not in the slightest. “Yeah.” Jo gestured at the bag on her shoulder. “Just got some bits to pick up. Lenses and that. For a job next week.”
“Ah.” Amelia tucked her hands into her coat pockets, the wind catching her scarf and whipping it around her collar. “I’ve just come from a site meeting. I feel like I’ve been out in this wind for hours.”
“You look…gorgeous.”
Shit. She hadn’t meant to say that out loud.
A slow smile curled on Amelia’s lips. “Thanks.”
Jo’s eyes darted down the street, praying she could find an escape route if this conversation became any more awkward. “So, um…we’re still on for Friday?”
“Absolutely. If you still wanted to talk.”
Jo exhaled a shaky breath. “Yeah. I do.”
When they both fell silent, Amelia’s gaze lingered, searching Jo’s face. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
Jo nearly laughed. Not because it was funny, but because all of this was absurd. “I’m not gonna lie,” she muttered, briefly finding Amelia’s eyes and then looking back down at the pavement. “It’s weird seeing you after that call.”
“Hey.” Amelia stepped closer and lowered her voice. “I get it. It was…unexpected.”
“I mean, I know we’ve been playing around with words. But that wasn’t just words, was it?”
“No.” Amelia’s silky voice sent the hairs on the back of Jo’s neck upright. “It wasn’t.”
Jo nodded, her mouth running dry, and every nerve ending buzzing from the mere fact that she was standing a foot away from Amelia.
“I’ve been panicking about it since it happened.
Maybe I’ve even been avoiding you.” Jo swallowed.
“I’ve never done anything like that with someone I wasn’t, you know, sleeping with. ”
Amelia reached out her hand and stroked her fingertips up the inside of Jo’s wrist. “I don’t want you to feel embarrassed.”
Jo laughed, even though her stomach was doing somersaults. “It’s a little late for that.”
“You also don’t have to justify anything to me or explain why it happened.”
Jo gazed fully at Amelia, appreciating what she was saying. “Maybe not, but I feel like I should. It’s just been a lot to handle lately. That night with you at Satin just tipped everything over the edge.”
Amelia closed her hand around Jo’s and squeezed gently. “Friday is just to talk. To…figure out where we go from here. That’s all.”
“Thank you. I need that.”
“Me too.” Amelia stepped back. “I think it could be good for us.”
As they stood there, both clearly unsure of how to end it and how to walk away, Jo felt it again.
That magnetic pull, the one that always intensified around Amelia.
The same one that had her hand between her thighs while they whispered filth down the phone to one another just a few nights ago.
The same one that had her teasing Amelia over text about photographing her in lace.
And now here they were, face to face, surrounded by shoppers and buses and the wind…and the intensity of it all still crackled between them.
Jo let out a steady breath and relaxed her shoulders. “I should go.”
“Okay.” Amelia leaned in and hugged her with one arm. “Text me when you’re home?”
“I will.” Jo nodded, already turning away before she said or did something she couldn’t take back. “See you Friday.”
Jo rushed off down the high street, not once looking back for fear of seeing something she couldn’t handle. Perhaps Amelia smiling at her, or chasing after her, or just those sultry eyes and that smile begging her to stay and keep talking.
Still, as she continued on, she felt Amelia’s eyes on her all the way down the street.
Ada was already curled up on Jo’s couch by the time Jo had finished making tea.
It hadn’t taken much convincing to get her over there, just a single text telling her she needed to talk.
Ada’s reply had come not even a minute later, threatening not to show unless Jo had chocolate Hobnobs in for her.
But that was Ada. Always finding humour in those moments when Jo felt as though she was falling apart.
Jo set two cups down and sat beside her, sighing heavily.
“Are you going to tell me what’s happened?” Ada glanced over, concern written all over her face. “Or do I have to interrogate you?”
Jo wrung her hands in her lap. “I bumped into her.”
Ada didn’t need to ask who. The conversation always revolved around the same woman lately. “Oh, shit! How bad was it?”
“It wasn’t bad. Not really.” Jo reached for her cup and cradled it in her hands. “It was a shock, though. I didn’t know how I’d feel the first time we saw one another again, but Amelia was…lovely. As always.”
“So, you spoke to her then? Like, you had an actual conversation?”
“Yeah, we spoke. Once I’d got my head around how fucking good she looked and managed to pull myself together, anyway.”
Ada nodded slowly, sensing the weight behind Jo’s words. “And?”
“And I could barely make eye contact with her.”
“Oh, Jo.” Ada sat forward and took her hand. “I know it probably doesn’t help at all, but it was bound to feel weird when you saw her again.”
“I kept seeing her in that robe,” Jo whispered. “Every time she spoke, I kept remembering her voice on the phone the other night…”
Ada winced and handed her a biscuit. “Eat. You’re spiralling.”
Jo took it and laughed. “Sorry. Spiralling seems to be what I’m good at lately.”
“Don’t be sorry. That’s a normal reaction when you’ve essentially had the most erotic phone call of your life with your ex’s mum.”
Jo groaned and buried her face in her hands. “God, don’t say it like that.”
“I’m just stating facts.” Ada sighed. “However you look at it, that is what happened, babe.”
Ada was right, Jo knew she was, but it didn’t help at all when she reminded Jo of who Amelia had always been to her.
Yes, she was a friend, and she was a confidant, but first and foremost, she was Callum’s mum.
It didn’t matter which way you flipped it; that was exactly who she was.
Jo peeked through her fingers. “It’s all such a mess. ”
“Is it, though?”
Jo brought her hand away from her face and glared at Ada.
“I mean, yeah, it’s complicated. I get what you’re saying.” Ada lifted a brow. “But messy? No. I don’t believe it is. Not unless you make it messy.”
Jo sat back and dragged a hand through her hair. “We’re meeting on Friday to talk. I have two days to sort myself out and somehow find the ability to function like a normal human being around her.”
“Good. That’s…yeah, that’s good.” Ada sipped her tea. “And about time, too.”
“She specifically said just to talk and that’s all. Which makes me think that we’re both aware it could turn into something more if we’re not careful. That’s what scares me. How quickly both of us seem to unravel when we tell ourselves we won’t.”
“Jo, you’ve always been brave,” Ada said gently. “But I think this time, you’re scared because you actually want it. You want her.”
“I don’t just want her.” Jo’s voice broke. “I think…God, I think I’m a little bit in love with her.”
“It’s about time you admitted that.” Ada’s eyes softened. “And now I have to ask…why shouldn’t you be allowed to feel that way?”
“Because of Callum, obviously.”