Chapter 45
Willow woke slowly, surfacing from a dream she didn’t want to end. Then her mind cleared, and she realized it hadn’t been a dream.
Scottie was wrapped around her from behind, her warmth pressing against Willow’s back. One arm was looped around Willow’s waist, her forearm tucked between Willow’s breasts.
Willow blinked her eyes open, and Scottie’s bedroom came into a hazy focus. She had no idea where her glasses had ended up.
Last night, it hadn’t mattered.
God, last night…
Memories of the way they had touched each other sent a renewed wave of heat through Willow’s body. They had kept pushing each other to the brink and beyond until they’d both been too exhausted to continue.
She’d never been this insatiable before. Making love with Scottie felt nothing like the carefully controlled attempts at intimacy she’d shared with past partners. With Scottie, there was no holding back—and she didn’t want there to be.
A giddy smile tugged at the corners of her mouth.
Her entire body was buzzing, not with static electricity but with happiness.
Even though every muscle ached and a few spots were deliciously sore, she felt more relaxed than she had in a very long time.
She lay still, enjoying this new, peaceful feeling.
Scottie stirred behind her, pressing even closer. Her arm around Willow tightened. “Mmm. Morning, beautiful,” she mumbled against her shoulder, then pressed a tender kiss to it.
“Morning, gorgeous.” Willow turned in her arms.
Scottie’s expression was soft, her grin as giddy as Willow felt. Her hair was adorably mussed.
They lay still for a few moments, cuddled together on the same pillow, just gazing into each other’s eyes from inches away.
Finally, Scottie bridged the tiny gap between them and placed a tender kiss on her lips. “How are you feeling?”
“Good.” Willow paused. “Actually, better than good. You?”
Scottie’s smile seemed to light up the room. “Happy.”
Willow cuddled closer. “Mmm, me too.” She could still barely believe that she was the one to make that happen—to give Scottie the happy ending she deserved.
She combed her fingers through the chaotic strands, brushing the soft waves back from Scottie’s face. Secretly, she loved Scottie’s hair when it started to become slightly too long, and she couldn’t help admiring the way it glinted like gold in the sunlight.
Wait! Sunlight?
That meant…
Willow sat up abruptly. “Scottie! The sun’s up!”
Scottie rolled onto her back and folded her arms behind her head with a serene smile. “Yeah, isn’t it beautiful? Not even the Portland weather would dare spoil a morning like this with rain.”
“No! I mean, yes, but… We overslept! We’re late for work!” Usually, her internal alarm clock woke her up without fail, even if her phone didn’t, but this morning she had slept so deeply, wrapped in Scottie’s arms, that she’d lost all notion of time.
“Shit!” Scottie jerked upright too. “Where are our phones? I set my alarm for the entire week, but I didn’t hear it go off.”
“I left mine in my coat,” Willow said.
Scottie glanced around. “Same, I think.”
They threw off the covers and scrambled out of bed.
Scottie hurried down the short hallway and returned with their phones.
For a moment, Willow was distracted by the sight of Scottie’s gloriously naked body bathed in morning sunlight, then she forced her gaze to the phones Scottie held up.
“Battery’s dead—both of them.” Scottie flashed her a grin. “Looks like you fried more than just my fuses last night.”
A full-body flush engulfed Willow. “I… I’m sorry. That has never happened before. Not if I leave it by the door.” She gestured toward the hallway. “My impact radius doesn’t usually extend that far, so I didn’t think…”
“Hey.” Scottie dropped the phones onto the dresser and crossed the room toward her. “There was nothing usual about last night.”
The husky tone of her voice made Willow’s pulse trip.
Scottie pulled Willow into her arms. “It was so, so worth it. Zero regrets. Okay?”
Willow pressed her overheated cheek to Scottie’s neck for a moment. “Okay. No regrets. But we have to get going—or we will regret it. I can’t very well tell my boss I was late because of battery-draining, world-class sex.”
Scottie chuckled. “Go take a shower. I’ll get you a towel.”
“Thank you.” Willow grabbed her clothes that were strewn across the floor. She hurried through her shower, mind whirring as she tried to come up with an excuse for being late to work.
Could she say her phone battery had died, or would that only cement her reputation as someone who made devices glitch?
She reached for the shower gel.
A fruity scent wafted up as she absentmindedly worked the gel between her palms.
Apricot—like the lotion Scottie had used on her the night before. It was her favorite scent, and Willow had a feeling that wasn’t a coincidence.
Scottie had clearly bought the lotion and the shower gel with her in mind, wanting to make her comfortable. She had thought only of Willow the entire time.
And yet here Willow was—thinking of ways to keep her effect on electronics a secret. Instead of reliving the amazing night she’d shared with Scottie, she was sorting through excuses and trying to decide which one sounded least like “I short-circuited my phone battery.”
As if she hadn’t spent the night in Scottie’s arms, feeling more seen, accepted, and free than ever before. Now she was back to exerting the same tight control, letting her life be dictated by the need to keep her tech affliction a secret at all costs.
Did she really want that?
Scottie’s words came back to her: “A happy ending is not a finish line that you cross once and then you’ll be happy forever,” Scottie had said when she’d confronted Willow about slipping back into one-woman-army mode.
“It’s not a goal; it’s a journey. A choice that you make every single day—a choice to be there for each other, no matter what. ”
A choice… Willow bit her lip.
A soft knock sounded, then the bathroom door creaked open. “I’ll leave two towels for you on the counter,” Scottie shouted over the patter of the water.
“Thanks.” Willow braced her hands on the cold tiles. “Scottie?”
“Yeah?” Scottie pulled back the shower curtain a couple of inches and peeked in. Her gaze roamed down Willow’s body, then returned to her face as if she was doing her best not to stare. “Do you need anything else?”
“Yes.” Willow reached out, grabbed Scottie’s arm, and tugged her beneath the warm spray with her.
A mix between a yelp and a laugh escaped Scottie. Water soaked her hair, flattening the chaotic strands. “Willow! This is not going to speed things up.”
Willow wrapped both arms around her and pulled her against her body.
Hot water cascaded down on them, and the slide of their naked skin against each other made Willow’s eyes flutter closed.
“I don’t care. Like you said yesterday, Mr. Sorensen will probably go back to ignoring me.
Even if he doesn’t, I’m the one who saved his presentation.
I doubt he’ll fire me for being an hour late.
” She nibbled a spot just beneath Scottie’s collarbone, eliciting a moan.
“Or two.” She kissed a path up her neck. “Or three.”
Scottie made a sound low in her throat that wasn’t a protest at all. She traced a sensual path down Willow’s back. “Or,” she whispered, pressing closer, “we could call in sick.”
“Sounds reasonable. I’m starting to feel a little flushed and weak-kneed.” She trailed kisses along Scottie’s jaw.
“Must be contagious,” Scottie murmured, “because I feel the same.” She cupped Willow’s face between her palms and guided their lips together.
They kissed beneath the warm spray, deep and unhurried, and Willow knew without a doubt she’d made the right choice.