Wynn opened her eyes and found herself in the same space and time as she had the past seven days. Her life as she saw it in the future was over. She’d fallen for a dream that would never come true. She wasn’t going to get through this day, at least not the way she wanted to—with the outcome she hoped for. Chances of a happy ending with Carly were dwindling. Not knowing whether she would ever see a future with Carly, or anyone else for that matter, frightened her. How many more times could the day repeat? Would they all be frozen in time for eternity? Would she be able to accept that fate? Could she? She shook her head. No. Then she remembered what Carly had said to her last night as she was drifting off to sleep: Kiss me every day until we get it right. So, she would do just that, live the day over again until she got it right.
She rolled out of bed, went through her usual morning routine, and loved on Shadow for a bit before she sent Carly a text.
Good morning, beautiful. She kept it short and sweet today.
Carly’s usual response appeared. I think this was meant for someone else.
Nope. You’re gorgeous, Carly. Always have been.
I don’t know what to say. Thank you? The text ended with a smiley face.
Say you’ll have breakfast with me. I have things to tell you, plans to make with you. Her stomach rumbled as she waited for a response. Please? She’d never begged for a woman’s attention, but she would do anything for Carly’s, until the end of time if necessary.
Okay popped up on the screen, and her stomach settled.
I’ll pick you up at your office at 9:00.
I can meet you somewhere. The bakery near my office?
I’ll come to your office first. We’ll walk over from there.
Okay. I’ll see you then.
Now to look at the past few days to figure out what was making her life repeat, what was wrong, and make plans to do it differently again. She had to be missing something.
After she’d placed all the sticky notes in their appropriate headings on the kitchen table, she picked up Shadow, nuzzled her close, and studied all the events that had occurred throughout each repetition. The table looked like a horrible abstract piece of art. She’d thought Jordan was the last piece of the puzzle, but evidently not. Maybe Carly could help her figure it out, or maybe not.
She held Shadow in front of her and looked into her small, black eyes. “Maybe I’m not supposed to tell Carly any of it. Just let her fall in love all on her own.” She kissed Shadow’s nose. “Do you think that could happen?” Shadow pawed at her face. “You think so? You have a lot of faith in destiny. Much more than I do.”
She’d never just let things happen. She’d always controlled everything around her. Otherwise she would’ve never gotten to where she was today at Sexton Technologies, which was still up in the air, depending on how her day went. On the other hand, she might be happily married to Carly by now if she’d just let go of that stupid goal. Wynn took a deep breath. She had to have faith in destiny—to embrace the fact that whatever would or wouldn’t be wasn’t her choice.
* * *
For some reason, Carly had thought about Wynn more than once during the past few days. She wasn’t sure why, but she’d been excited when she received the text from her this morning and still was. She’d bypassed her usual conservative slacks and jacket for a skirt and blouse.
The door opened, jolting her out of her thoughts.
Stephanie led Wynn through the door. “She said you knew she was coming?”
“Yes. Thanks, Steph.” She’d had Stephanie clear her schedule this morning, but had gotten distracted thinking about Wynn, wondering what she needed to discuss.
As soon as Stephanie was gone and the door closed, Wynn seemed nervous. “I’m sorry to bother you this morning, but I need to resolve something.” She paced for a moment before she crossed the office quickly toward her.
Carly was surprised when Wynn took her into her arms and kissed her. She relaxed into Wynn, kissed her back, and immersed herself in the tingle coursing through her body as it settled deep in her belly. When the kiss ended and Wynn put some distance between them, she felt like a heated blanket had been snatched away.
Wynn jerked her lip up to one side. “Well, now that we’ve done that.”
Still in a daze, Carly swallowed hard and tried to regain her composure. No one had ever kissed her so thoroughly, and she wanted Wynn to do it again. “I don’t think I’m done yet.” She hooked her hand behind Wynn’s neck and guided her back. When their lips touched again, all her nerve endings exploded. She’d been waiting for something like this all her life and wasn’t about to let it end so quickly.
She trailed her lips across Wynn’s jaw. Wynn leaned her head back, giving her a clear path to the beautiful neck she wanted to taste. She could feel Wynn’s pulse throb against her lips as she made her way to the sweet spot that joined with her shoulder. Knowing Wynn was aroused made her want Wynn even more.
She put her hand on Wynn’s chest and felt the same rhythm pounding in her chest. “You’re nervous.”
Wynn nodded. “You do that to me.”
She captured Wynn’s mouth and kissed her thoroughly again. When the kiss broke this time, they were both breathing hard.
“You are so beautiful.” Wynn shook her head. “I never thought you’d kiss me like that.”
She wanted to do a whole lot more than kiss Wynn right now. She turned, walked to the door, and locked it. As she caught Wynn’s gaze, she could hardly contain herself as she strolled across the office to her and returned her mouth to her neck.
“You don’t sleep with women you haven’t dated at least five times,” Wynn choked out with a gasp.
She had no idea how Wynn knew that, but she didn’t care. “I know.” She licked a path to the open area of her button-down shirt. “We’ve been through at least ten or more events together. I’m counting those.” She unbuttoned the first button and moved to the next.
Wynn moaned. “I’m not going to argue with that logic.”
Somehow they made it to the couch, and she pushed Wynn onto it, then sat on her lap, straddling her. Wynn slid her hands slowly up her sides underneath her shirt. A tremor filled her as she grazed the side of her breasts. Jesus. She was about to explode. Buttons seemed to unfasten themselves, and her shirt was pushed to her arms. The clasp of her bra released, leaving it loose on her shoulders. She hadn’t realized Wynn had even touched the clasp. The moan that escaped her as Wynn slipped her hands up her sides and brushed her thumbs across her nipples was loud and erotic. She’d always been super-sensitive and never held back. She grabbed Wynn’s hair and held on as pleasure sizzled through her. She slid closer on Wynn’s lap, attempting more friction against her waist.
Wynn stopped her, swallowed hard, and took a deep breath. “We need to stop.”
“What? Why?” She’d just gotten half-naked on Wynn’s lap, and now she didn’t want her?
Wynn began buttoning Carly’s blouse. “I don’t—”
“You don’t want me?” She pushed Wynn’s hands away. “Well, this is embarrassing.” She tried to move from her lap. “Talk about mixed messages.”
Wynn grabbed her hips and stopped her. “Of course I want you. There is nothing in this world I want more than to make love with you. I just don’t want our first time to be rushed, here on the couch in your office.” Wynn took her face in her hands and kissed her.
The world disappeared again, and Carly wanted nothing more at this moment than this woman. She broke the kiss and growled. “Let’s get out of here.” Then she stood, straightened her clothes, and kissed Wynn again before heading behind her desk to grab her bag from the drawer. “My place is close.”
Someone knocked on the door, and Wynn glanced her way, she assumed to make sure she was settled enough to see whomever it was. She nodded, and Wynn opened the door.
Stephanie stepped into the office and assessed them both. Carly didn’t make a habit of locking her office door, ever.
“The Baxters are here.”
She’d thought all her morning appointments had been rescheduled. She raised her eyebrows, and Stephanie seemed to notice her confusion.
“I wasn’t able to reach them, and they didn’t receive my message.”
“I…” She glanced at Wynn.
“It’s okay. We can talk later.”
“Give me a minute, Steph.”
“Sure.” Stephanie backed out of the room, still assessing them as she closed the door behind her.
Wynn walked to her where she stood behind her desk and brushed a strand of hair from her face, letting her thumb graze Carly’s cheek as she tucked it behind her ear. “Are you okay?”
“I don’t know.” What the hell had just happened to her? Magical things were sparking between them. “You touched me and something happened.” She glanced around the room, trying to make sense of the mix between excitement and calm coursing through her. “I feel we’ve experienced something together, but I don’t know why.” Wynn touched her arm, let her hand slide down to Carly’s. Heat radiated through it, and she almost couldn’t speak. “I can’t explain any of this—not the kiss, not the familiarity, not the…burning desire to make love to you. I just don’t know how it’s possible.” She was on fire and couldn’t explain that either. She wiped the moisture from her forehead. “I’m thoroughly confused. And completely turned on.”
Wynn smiled. “That makes two of us.” She kissed her softly, and electricity zapped through Carly.
“I’m not going to be able to concentrate on my patients with you lingering in my mind.”
“I’m sorry about that, but then again, I’m not.” Wynn grinned. “Can I escort you to the fund-raiser tonight?”
“Absolutely. In fact, I’d be pretty upset if you didn’t.”
“Okay, then.” Wynn backed away and went to the door. “I’ll pick you up at six.”
“You need my address.” She picked up a pen and began to write, then dropped it to the desk. “You know it already, don’t you?”
“I do.” Wynn smiled broadly. “I’ll see you tonight.”
As soon as Wynn left, Stephanie came through the door. “What was that about?”
“You have no idea.”
“I think I do.” Stephanie came across the office and began unbuttoning and rebuttoning her blouse. “You missed one.” She pulled the hem to straighten it. “Did you have sex?”
She shook her head. “But we were close.” She plucked a hair tie from her desk drawer, then pulled her hair into a ponytail and fastened it.
“I interrupted you.” Stephanie flattened her lips.
“No. She stopped it.” Thinking about it now, she realized it was a good thing she had.
Stephanie’s brows flew up.
“It’s fine. She was sweet.” She flopped into her chair. “She wants it to be special.”
“So why haven’t I seen her before?”
“I’ve known her for a while, but this is very new.” She smiled, wondering why she hadn’t pursued Wynn before. “I think it surprised us both.”
“I can see that.” She went to the door. “Sorry I interrupted. I’ll give you a couple more minutes to cool off.”
“Thanks.” She stared at the couch. What had she been thinking? She hadn’t been thinking at all. The passion—the desire had taken her so quickly, she’d wanted to touch every part of Wynn at that moment. She would’ve had her if Wynn hadn’t stopped them, and she would’ve regretted it. How was she going to handle the event tonight? Would the attraction be front and center? Would she be able to ignore it? Get it together.
A soft knock sounded on the door before Stephanie led the Baxters into the office. She stood, cleared Wynn from her thoughts, and crossed the room to greet them. She had work to do.