Chapter 21
Chapter Twenty-One
Aware that her head was probably going to fall off before this evening was over, Alba switched her gaze between Ellie and Danielle, trying to ground herself in the reality of the moment.
Her pulse was still racing, her lips still tingled from the kiss at the door, and her body…
well, that hadn’t quite settled back into itself yet.
She was mindful that this wasn’t the time or place to discuss things further.
Not while Ellie’s best friend was here anyway.
Everything that needed to be said…had already been said. Or at least, it had been felt.
Ellie was likely to be feeling a multitude of things since she definitely hadn’t expected Alba to show up at her door tonight, but this was where she was supposed to be.
Alba knew that now. She’d realised it as she’d reached her front door a few hours ago, her keys still in her hand and her chest aching with everything she’d left unsaid.
The short walk back with Colin had given her time to think.
Ellie had walked away looking so miserable that Alba knew she had to be forthcoming with the truth, even if only to put Ellie’s mind at rest. The last thing she wanted was for this woman to go home thinking that Alba just couldn’t be bothered with a friendship anymore.
Because that couldn’t have been further from the truth.
Then came the idea that Ellie would think Alba was having second thoughts, given what had happened in the past with Eloise. Leaving Ellie without real, honest answers just wasn’t an option for Alba as she’d sat down with a cup of tea, feeling dreadful about the last week or so.
Then Alba had touched her cheek where Ellie had so gently kissed it, and everything had shifted.
She didn’t often get that sensation deep in the pit of her stomach, she certainly hadn’t when she’d met Audrey, but with Ellie, it was immediate and undeniable.
Just that whisper of a breath, the careful press of her lips, Ellie’s scent lingering longer than it should have.
It had followed her all the way home, settling into her skin, refusing to let go.
And it was all Alba could think about as she’d warred with herself back at home.
And now she was here.
She cleared her throat and relaxed her shoulders when she realised both Ellie and Danielle were staring back at her. “So, um…I guess I’ll see you at work tomorrow.”
Ellie wore a shy look, but Alba had felt everything Ellie had wanted to convey in that kiss. Shyness wasn’t necessary. Not anymore. “Did you want to stay for a glass of wine?”
“N-no. You have company, and I turned up here without calling first.” Alba hitched a thumb over her shoulder, suddenly aware of herself again, of the situation, and the fact that she hadn’t planned for any of this. “I’ll head home. We can do this another time.”
“Oh, I don’t think so,” Ellie said as she took her hand. “You’re not going anywhere. Not yet.”
Danielle lifted a brow when Alba looked in her direction. “I think it’s about time I went home to my wife. Give you two some space to talk.”
Huh. Ellie’s best friend was queer.
Alba blinked, processing that alongside everything else going around in her head. “Don’t leave because I’m here. Really.”
“I should. If I get home at a reasonable time, we may just get the chance to actually sit down with one another and watch TV.” Danielle lifted her bag from the floor in the hallway and stepped towards Ellie. She drew her in and hugged her. “Give me a call at the weekend if you’re around.”
“Thank you for coming over.” Ellie clung to her best friend, and it reminded Alba of her own friendship with Lois. “Give Gabrielle my love, okay?”
Danielle offered a nod, and then she turned to Alba. “You look after her for me.”
Alba held up her hands and smiled. She would do anything she could to look after Ellie Hamilton. “Always.”
As Alba watched Ellie and Danielle head for the door, she decided to make herself scarce.
She needed a second to breathe, to…steady herself.
She made her way into the kitchen, the quiet shift in space offering a small reprieve.
If she was going to sit down and talk with Ellie, she needed to get rid of her dry mouth.
She filled a glass with water and gulped it down, the coolness a stark contrast to the heat still lingering beneath her skin. Then she refilled it and stopped as she looked out of the kitchen window. She wanted to give herself a moment to get everything right in her head.
Alba turned around when she felt a presence behind her.
Ellie was standing in the doorway watching her, the look in her eyes still there from moments ago when they’d kissed.
Open, curious, wanting. Alba’s breath hitched.
She wanted to say something deep and meaningful, something that matched the weight of what had just happened between them, but she was at a loss right now.
She’d come here tonight to explain…and then leave, but what she’d been met with was the very thing she’d craved. An intimate moment with Ellie Hamilton.
“So…”
Ellie didn’t let her finish. She strode across the kitchen, wrapped her hand around the back of Alba’s neck, and drew her into a fiery, heart-stopping kiss. Everything dropped away. The world, the tension, the uncertainty…it all vanished beneath the heat of Ellie’s mouth.
Fuck. Considering Ellie had never been with another woman—as far as Alba was aware—she sure knew how to kiss one.
Alba’s hand instinctively found the skin of Ellie’s waist beneath her hoodie, soft beneath her palm.
She pulled her closer, aching for the contact, needing more.
Ellie fit against her so naturally that it was almost overwhelming, as though her body had been waiting for this very moment without realising it.
She felt alive in Alba’s arms, but more than anything…she was moaning into Alba’s mouth with every swipe of the tongue, and that sound alone sent a shiver straight down Alba’s spine.
Oh, she’s going to destroy you in all the right ways.
Alba smiled against Ellie’s lips at the thought, breathless when Ellie drew back, her chest rising and falling faster than before.
“I’ve been dying to do that.”
“I hope to God you plan to do it again at some point.” Alba puffed out her cheeks, trying but failing to steady herself. “You can’t kiss a woman like that unless you’re absolutely going to do it again.”
Ellie stroked her fingertips against the back of Alba’s hand, lingering as she gazed into her eyes, and then she guided her out of the kitchen and into the living room. “Come on. I need to sit down before my knees give out on me.”
Oh, Alba’s were planning to do the very same thing. She’d never felt so weak for another woman before. Audrey and Ellie…there was no comparison. None whatsoever.
As they stopped in the middle of the room, Alba wrapped an arm around Ellie’s waist and smiled, her thumb brushing slowly against her side.
“I know things are a little bit crazy right now, but I am serious about this.” She drew Ellie in again, unable to get enough of her lips, and touched their foreheads together.
“You’re so fucking gorgeous that I cannot function lately. You’re all I think about.”
“I didn’t expect to find myself interested in a woman, but I’m also serious.” Ellie drew in a breath. “I don’t know what any of this means, and I know you still have fears surrounding Audrey, but I want to try…if you’d also like that.”
Alba cupped Ellie’s chin and lifted it as she smiled. “We’ll figure it out, okay?”
“Okay.”
The quietness of the living room enveloped Ellie as she sat with her hand in Alba’s, her heart no longer heavy or uncertain, but full instead.
She wasn’t sure where to begin, but she knew Alba, and she knew that nothing needed to be rushed.
Not this, not…them. When Ellie could find the words, she would speak them out loud.
Until then, she was going to enjoy this moment and the woman sitting beside her, her thumb brushing slowly against Alba’s skin.
It seemed that she needed the constant touch as a reminder that this was real.
Everything had felt like a lost cause when she’d left Alba and Colin out on the street earlier, that ache in her chest remaining long after she’d walked away, but now it had all changed. In a split second, Ellie was hopeful again. Even though hope sometimes felt risky, she welcomed it anyway.
While she wasn’t quite sure what happened next, Ellie wasn’t fearful.
She wasn’t worried about people knowing about Alba.
Hadn’t she been through enough to understand that you had to take whatever you could from life?
Didn’t she know all too well just how quickly it could change?
Ellie may not know what the future held, but she did know one thing with absolute certainty.
She was far happier when Alba Clifford was in her life.
“Are you busy on Friday night?” Alba asked, mindlessly stroking her thumb across the back of Ellie’s hand. “In the evening?”
Ellie turned to her on the couch and smiled at the simplicity of the question. “When am I ever busy?”
“I’d like to take you out on a date.” Alba said that in such a nonchalant tone, Ellie couldn’t help but wish that Friday was here already. “Out for dinner if you’d like to?”
“I’d love to.” Ellie rested back on the couch, her body relaxing into Alba’s as she pulled Ellie in closer and wrapped an arm around her.
This kind of contact felt natural now…as though it had always been this way.
She gave herself a second to digest everything that had happened in the last hour or so, and then she cleared her throat softly. “I can’t believe you came here.”
“I had to. I was going out of my mind at home. Even Colin was getting pissed off with me, I think.”
Ellie laughed. “Colin is very in tune with the things going on around him.”
“He’s always been like that. Sometimes I wonder if he’s a dog or a child. Aren’t dogs meant to be easier to look after?”