Chapter 28
Ivy
Ivy sat with her body turned toward Cleo, who was mirroring her.
They each had their legs crossed and their ankles touching under the table.
Ivy held her glass in her right hand and playfully ran her fingers along the length of Cleo’s where her hand rested on the bench between them, stopping every now and then to feel the cold metal of Cleo’s various rings under her fingertips.
Over the last two hours they had talked about books, wine, hobbies, dream locations to visit around the world, favorite memories, and everything else they could think of.
Ivy couldn’t believe how well it was going between them.
It just felt… right. She smiled into her glass as she took a sip, taking in how comfortable they were sitting together.
This is exactly what Ivy had been missing out on. But now she had it. And she wasn’t going to let it go.
“...and then the pirate waved his cutlass in the air, then dropped it, pointed it at me and told me he was going to make me walk the plank.” Cleo’s voice snapped Ivy out of her daze.
“That’s great. Wait, what?!” Ivy asked, completely confused.
Cleo laughed, and wow, that husky voice was going to be the death of her. If she wasn’t already sitting down, her knees would definitely have wobbled with weakness.
“You were so deep in thought, so I wanted to see what book theme it would take to bring you out of it. I told quite the tale with a few colorful characters. Apparently, you’re not bothered by aliens, angry henchmen, or an old mystic woman named Olga.
.. but pirates? That’s the winner.” Cleo chuckled as Ivy leaned into her and dipped her head against Cleo’s shoulder.
“I’m so sorry, I just, I got distracted that’s all.” Ivy said, her cheeks flushed from more than just the wine.
“That much I figured, but don’t worry, it was literally only about a minute or so.
But, anything you want to share?” Cleo sat her glass on the table beside her and lightly ran her fingers along Ivy’s upper arm.
“Or do you want me to just assume you got distracted by my devastatingly good looks that your ears stopped working?” Cleo chuckled.
“Something like that,” Ivy admitted as she lifted her head from Cleo’s shoulder but couldn’t bring herself to make eye contact for fear of immediate mortification. Though she wasn’t sure her cheeks could physically burn any hotter than they currently were.
“Would it help if I admitted that,” Cleo’s hand moved from Ivy’s arm and tucked it gently under her chin to lift her head enough to catch Ivy’s eye, “I’ve been secretly glad you chose white wine tonight instead of red, so that I don’t have the tell-tale stained lips, teeth and tongue thing going on later when we eventually have to say goodnight?
” Cleo’s cheeks flushed but she didn’t drop Ivy’s gaze.
Ivy felt heat rush through her entire body at the admission, as she was suddenly aware of all the background noise in the bar fading away.
“Is that so?” Ivy asked with a small smirk.
Her breath hitched as she felt Cleo’s hand reach up and twirl a section of Ivy’s hair around her finger. “Very much so,” Cleo’s voice rasped.
Ivy couldn’t stop her next thought from tumbling out of her mouth as she sat her glass on the table without dropping their gaze.
“Do you really want to wait until we have to say goodnight?” She felt herself leaning in slightly, giving Cleo the chance to hold back if she wasn’t yet ready.
She had promised Cleo to take things as slow as she needed, and as much as her heartbeat pounding in her ears was telling her that she needed to kiss Cleo, she knew that she would never rush a woman to do anything they weren’t ready for.
She felt Cleo’s curled fingers under her chin gently pull her even closer, as Cleo moved to close the gap, as her irresistibly velvety voice whispered, “Not in the slightest.”
As soft as she remembered Cleo’s lips had felt when she had kissed her cheek at the weekend, and again when they met earlier that evening, the memory was nothing to the way they felt on Ivy’s lips.
They were soft and gentle, yet with the perfect amount of pressure for a first kiss.
Ivy felt her eyelids flutter as they closed.
She felt the lightest of vibrations on her lips as a soft hum left Cleo’s mouth.
This, Ivy knew, was the best first kiss of her life.
As they slowly pulled apart, the noise of the bar returned to her ears, and she realized how completely lost she’d gotten in the moment.
She locked eyes with Cleo and her breath caught in her throat at the way she was looking at Ivy.
Her smile was radiant, her eyes held such a mix of emotions, but Ivy was delighted to notice that not a single one of them was regret.
“Wow,” Ivy breathed out. “That was...” she found herself lost for words as she lifted the hand not on Cleo’s up to her own lips, where she could feel them still tingle from their kiss.
“Yeah, it really was.” Cleo said with a tone close to wonder, eyes dropping to Ivy’s lips.
After two more hours, another shared bottle of wine, a selection of appetizers to share, and several additional wonderful kisses, they were ordering taxis to take them home.
Ivy stood and reached for Cleo’s coat, holding it open to help her put it on.
Cleo’s cheeks flushed as she turned her back to Ivy to slip her arms into the sleeves.
Ivy lifted the coat up onto Cleo’s shoulders and trailed her hands across her shoulders and down her arms as she let her hands fall by her sides.
“Do you know how distracting your arms have been in that top all night?” Ivy said with a smile in her voice as Cleo was working on buttoning the front, turning to face Ivy.
“Yet another distraction for you?” Cleo laughed. “You can blame that one on my sister, she’s a sports physical therapist and won’t let anyone else put together my workout routines.”
“Blame her? I should be sending her flowers as a thank you!” Ivy replied with a chuckle.
She turned to lift her own coat off the hook and felt Cleo’s hand on her lower back as she spoke softly from beside her. “Please, let me.”
Ivy dropped her hand and took a step back to let Cleo collect Ivy’s coat from the hook where it hung.
She watched as Cleo picked up her coat in one hand and made a spinning motion with her finger on the other hand to indicate Ivy to turn around.
She laughed as she did as Cleo instructed and then took a step backwards to find the sleeves with her hands, as Cleo raised the coat up her arms, she felt warm lips briefly brush the base of her neck.
“I’ve been wanting to do that since you took your coat off when we got here.” Cleo breathed softly against her neck as she lifted the coat up onto Ivy’s shoulders.
“I... I’m glad you did.” Ivy found herself flustered at the small, intimate gesture.
As she turned to face Cleo, their phones both alerted them to the arrival of their taxis.
“Shall we?” Cleo said, gesturing for Ivy to walk ahead of her.
Reaching out for Cleo’s hand, Ivy entwined their fingers as they made their way out of the bar and back into the quiet side street.
Once the door closed behind them, Ivy felt a small tug on her hand, and as she turned around to face Cleo, she felt their lips meet.
This time, with no one else around, the kiss was deeper, needier, and in Ivy’s opinion, the most perfect end to the most perfect night.
Cleo was the first to speak when their lips finally parted, as their foreheads rested against each other's. “I had an amazing night, Ivy. Thank you for bringing me here.”
Ivy pulled back and lifted her free hand up to cup Cleo’s cheek, gently rubbing her thumb across it in an arc. “Believe me when I say it was my pleasure,” Ivy replied as she leaned in to place a lingering kiss on Cleo’s lips, with a grin that almost made her cheeks ache.
They made their way to the front of the building where their taxis sat, waiting. They checked their phones and ensured they knew which one was theirs, but neither made a move to get in yet.
“Can we meet again?” Ivy found herself asking shyly.
“Beautiful girl, did the kiss back there give you any reason that you even need to ask?" Before Ivy could answer, Cleo continued, “because if it did, I’m willing to try again to reassure you that I most definitely want to spend more time with you.” Ivy’s heart swelled in her chest as Cleo wrapped their joined hands behind Ivy’s back to pull them closer, and their lips met again.
Ivy’s phone alerted her to a new message while she was still a few minutes from her apartment.
Cleo: That’s me safely home, beautiful. I had the best night, truly. Let me know when you make it back to your apartment, ok? XO
Her head swirled as she read the same term of affection that Cleo had called her beside their taxis, and her belly swooped at the kiss at the end.
Talk about swoony! Ivy couldn’t believe this was her life right now.
After all these years of waiting, she could never have imagined that the woman she’d pined after for so long, would be even more amazing in real life now that she was getting to know her.
She typed out a quick reply.
Ivy: Thank you for trusting me when I took you down a side street to what looked like a creepy shopfront. I should be back in a few minutes, but I’ll let you know. XO
She noticed another message come in on her phone.
Gabby: Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do ;P
Letting out a slight groan as she rolled her eyes, Ivy fired off a quick reply of “stop it,” to Gabby as she waited the last few minutes before the taxi pulled up to her street.
Once inside her apartment, she removed her jacket and boots, then made her way to the bedroom where she collapsed on her bed and dug her phone out of her jeans pocket.
Ivy: That’s me back safe, gorgeous. Tonight was perfect, I can’t wait to spend more time with you. XO