Courage
Robyn cursed the short stretch of the path from house to car as she tried to organize her thoughts. She’d just been getting comfortable with Grace when Kristine got home. Kristine with her quirked eyebrow and teasing questions. She was probably watching the two of them from inside, which made Robyn feel like an unsure teenager.
Grace stopped at her car. She looked at the dark house and then back to Robyn. She placed her hand on Robyn’s shoulder. “I feel really bad for Kristine and Gloria, but I have to say we managed pretty well.”
Robyn flashed a smile. “Yeah,” she said, distracted. Though it was after midnight, she didn’t want the night to end. Talking about how neither one of them wanted to have a baby made her wonder what other desires they had in common. Right now she very much desired another kiss. She remembered the last one viscerally and regretted presuming that she already knew the kind of person Grace was.
Grace gave Robyn’s arm a little squeeze before she let go to open her car door.
“I want…” Robyn stammered.
Grace paused, waiting for Robyn to continue.
“I don’t want to go home,” she said, feeling like an idiot when the words came out of her mouth. “I know it’s late, but I…” Robyn felt like she was floundering in a wild sea hoping Grace would reach in and rescue her, yet Grace kept her hands to herself. Under the soft glow of the streetlamp, she waited. Robyn’s insecurities laughed at her for even thinking about asking for what she wanted, noting Grace’s flawless complexion, her styled hair and expensive coat.
She wanted to feel Grace’s arms around her again, feel their bodies meeting in all the right places and melt into the heat of her kiss, but couldn’t see what Grace would see in her, so opposite in poise and confidence.
Pushing past the tides of doubt, she took a tiny step. She reached for Grace. She bent to pull Grace to her, gasping at the satiny warmth of Grace’s lips. Grace’s hands quickly slipped through Robyn’s hair, pulling her closer.
Robyn’s arm curled around Grace’s hips to anchor her body as the kiss swept her away.
Not letting go of her head, Grace pulled away enough to breathily ask, “You want…”
“More.” Robyn sank back into the kiss.
She felt Grace’s smile before she broke away again. Tipping her mouth out of reach she asked again, “You want?”
Robyn pulled back enough that she could see Grace’s eyes. When she’d said more, she was thinking about how much she wanted to touch Grace. More skin. More contact. But she couldn’t say that out loud. She should ask for a date, take her out. Her spinning thoughts slammed into the regretful memory of telling the beautiful woman in front of her that she’d already dated her. “I want to say I’m sorry for presuming things about you before I even knew you.”
“Your eyes are telling me something very different, but I accept your apology.” Grace captured Robyn’s sensitive earlobe between her teeth. “What do you really want?”
Robyn inhaled sharply, tipping her chin into the soft warmth of Grace’s neck. “For you to follow me home,” she whispered. It was easier to say when she couldn’t see Grace’s reaction.
Grace answered her with a slow, searing kiss. “Drive. I’m right behind you.”