Chapter Twenty-two #2
“Yeah. I don’t have a lot of photos. It was too hard when I first moved.
When I first opened the bar, I once sat at my desk and stared at her for more than an hour.
I had to open late. So after that, I kept a few photos out, but I put them in less obvious places, and I started setting random alarms to remind myself to breathe and go for a quick walk around the block.
But sometimes I still talk to her about important things.
” She lifted the frame again, but this time, she placed it back on the filing cabinet.
“It probably sounds silly, but it helps me. I asked her if she was mad at me that I was exploring something with you.”
“And did she answer?”
Harper laughed. “Not a damn word, but nothing fell off the wall or tipped over when I told her about you. When I told her that you’re becoming special to me.
” She placed her hands on Charlie’s hips and pulled her into the office until Harper was leaning against her desk, sandwiched between it and Charlie.
“Because you are. And not just because we slept together the other night. And the nights after that. And last night.” She smirked.
“Well, good, because you’re becoming special to me too. I have some feelings about you, and I’d be awfully sad if I was alone in that department.” She tucked a few pieces of Harper’s hair that must have come loose from her bun behind her ear.
“Good,” Harper whispered right before she kissed her.
It was a sweet kiss, but Harper tried to communicate what was in her heart as their lips brushed, even if she wasn’t ready to say anything more.
She rested her forehead against Charlie’s, and they breathed the same air.
They both seemed to be breathing harder than necessary, and Harper knew her heart was pounding with the revelation of everything she was feeling.
“So I actually came back here because I wanted to ask you something. Two somethings.”
Harper stood straight and smiled. “What can I do for you?”
“Well, it’s not exactly what you can do for me, but I’ve been texting my parents, and they invited us up to their place for Thanksgiving.
Would you want to go up with me? It’s a bit of a drive, like eight hours, but we could make a fun long weekend out of it.
We could drive through Alligator Alley on I-75.
Maybe stay the night in Naples on the way up or something?
” The earnest look on her face touched Harper’s heart.
“I would love to. I’ll need to make sure I can get the bar covered.
I normally close on Thanksgiving itself, but the days around it can be tricky.
I think Aiden would like to have an excuse not to have to spend too much time with his family, as he normally offers to work.
I’ll let you know for sure as soon as I can, but with this amount of notice, I should be able to handle it.
” She’d always worked all the days around the holidays.
With no family in the area, it was the only thing that made sense.
But Charlie’s invitation called to Harper in a way that was surprising. She really did want to go.
Charlie beamed. “Thank you! This makes me so happy.” She kissed Harper harder this time, and Harper wished she’d closed the door to her office when she’d pulled Charlie in, but it was too far to reach now, so she slowed the kiss before Aiden or Em walked by.
Charlie let out a disappointed sigh.
“I’m sorry. We should have closed the door,” Harper whispered.
“Yeah, we’re probably going to want to close that for my second question, now that you mention it.” She leaned back and closed the door.
“Oh?” Harper’s curiosity piqued.
“Yeah.” Charlie settled back against her legs, straddling her.
“Well, don’t keep me waiting.”
Charlie’s tongue flicked out and moistened her bottom lip. “Earlier, at the yoga studio, we were joking about kinks, and while it’s at the milder end, I haven’t been able to stop wondering about your thoughts on toys in the bedroom. It’s been on my mind all day.”
Heat flooded Harper’s midsection, and she pulled Charlie closer until they were pressed together, Charlie’s center flush against her pelvis. “It’s been a while, but I’m definitely interested.”
“Good. Because I have a small collection that I’ve purchased from that cute feminist sex toy shop here, What a Girl Wants.
Some of them have gotten quite a workout since I met you, and I thought, maybe you’d like to play with them together.
” She undulated her hips slowly, and Harper didn’t know if she was going to survive that moment.
“How am I supposed to work for the rest of the night knowing you’re waiting for me upstairs with a plethora of goodies to try out together?” Harper squeezed her thighs together, trying to quell the throbbing, but it wasn’t working.
“You could close up early and come upstairs now?” Charlie said and dipped her head to kiss Harper’s neck. “Or I could do a little something to take the edge off now so you can focus on work.”
“As amazing as that sounds, I don’t think a quickie is going to help me concentrate.
And I can’t close yet. I have to get caught up on some paperwork.
And I have to go out there to let Aiden and Em have dinner breaks.
” But there was nothing she wanted in that moment more than to give in to both options.
“Okay, but just know what you’re missing while you’re down here,” Charlie said as she stood and took a step back. It wasn’t fair how sexy she was in yoga pants and a T-shirt.
Harper definitely thought about it while she tried to do paperwork for fifteen minutes before going out onto the floor to provide dinner break relief. Charlie sitting at the bar crossing and uncrossing her legs didn’t help Harper get her head in the game, either. But the flirting was fun.
After their dinner breaks, however, the bar was fairly slow, so Harper tried to go back to paperwork, fighting against her wandering mind that wondered what Charlie had in store for them.
Vibrator? Dildo? But it was the thought of Charlie wearing a strap-on while waiting for her that finally did it.
She was wasting time trying to find a focus that had been eluding her since Charlie had come by.
She stood, verified that Aiden didn’t need anything from her since he was scheduled to close, and headed out.
She shot off a text to let Charlie know she was coming and barely kept herself from running.