The Sweetest Fix

“Coconut, obviously. It’s an old-fashioned flavor. And the little flecks of white will call snowflakes to mind.”

Leo gave her lopsided smile.

She couldn’t help returning it, even as she grumbled under her breath.

“The thing is…” Reese started, knowing she shouldn’t say the rest, but unable to help it. There was a current of acceptance and familiarity—a spark between them that shoved the words right out. “If I spend time with you, Leo…” she said quietly. “I have a feeling that I’m going to want to spend a lot more time with you. Leo.”

He was only a few inches away when his smile dipped, a muscle jumping in his cheek. “You won’t hear me complaining.”

“Hmmm.”

Their breathing had already turned shallow by the time their lips locked, muffled sounds breaking from both of their throats. Reese felt the contact all the way down to her heels. The low voltage of it raising bumps on her legs, her arms. He was warm, his breath racing, matching her pulse beat for beat. Her lie of omission hung between them, guilt sneaking into the space between her shoulder blades, but then his mouth opened over hers and it sailed away on a jet stream of enjoyment.

Just like the other night, Leo’s hands were part of the kiss. They slid inside her coat to mold over her hips, his thumbs brushing her belly. And that hot thrum started between her thighs, the one he’d tickled to life the first time. Little spokes reached out from her core, teasing her nipples into points and making her breath catch.

Holy hell.

Were those her fingers sinking so confidently into his hair, pulling him down closer so she could deepen the kiss? A pretty bold move for a girl who wouldn’t agree to a date, but who cared? Because his mouth came when beckoned, his lips pressing hers wider for the invasion of his tongue, his hands drawing her tight to his body, slowly lifting her onto tiptoes. Or maybe she did that herself, there was no way to tell when her thoughts were muddy with pleasure.

Being this close to him, there was no way to miss the rise of his manhood, the length of it settling against her belly, swelling with every stroke of their tongues. And the pace, the tone of the kiss was changing rapidly, going from exploratory to demanding, his hands beneath her shirt now, smoothing over the base of her spine, her lower body moving of its own accord, twisting subtly against his erection. A line inside of him frayed, she felt it in a brief stiffening of his upper lip, and those huge baker’s hands dropped to her bottom, grinding her closer once, just once, before he broke the kiss with a groan.

“Goddamn, Reese.”

“Yeah,” she managed, pulling air into her lungs. “So, okay. M-maybe we can have one brainstorming session about the, um…the Sweetest Fix. I mean, since it was partly my idea and all. That only seems fair.”

A combination of relief and victory lit his face. “Brainstorming session. Yeah.”

“We should probably have it somewhere…” She pulled her coat closed to hide her body’s intense response to the kiss. “Public.”

“If we want to get anything done,” he said slowly, tongue pressed into his cheek. “This isn’t ah…typical for me. I just…want you to know that.”

“You don’t spontaneously make out with strangers the first two times you meet them?” A laugh left her on an exhale. There was more to it. More than kissing. The kissing seemed to happen almost as a given because of the push and pull between them, the forming connection. “No, it’s not typical for me either.”

They looked at each other for several beats. “I guess you should give me your number then,” he said finally.

“I guess I should.” She waited while he took out his phone, reciting his number while she punched it in. “I have some—” She stopped herself before she could say “auditions.” Was this…going to be okay? Seeing this guy after meeting him under false pretenses? Or was she signing up for something seriously problematic?

Tell him the truth. Now.

It was right there, poised on the tip of her tongue.

I don’t have a job yet.

I’m sleeping on a beanbag chair in a closet.

I was supposed to audition for your father.

But she couldn’t pull the trigger.

Frankly, it was embarrassing to have reached this point. To have been celebrated as a child competition dancer, cast in a huge commercial and hailed as the next big thing. And then kind of just…fizzle out. Go nowhere. To suddenly be twenty-one and have no college credits, no future prospects in this career she’d foreseen. The thought of Leo knowing those things about her made Reese queasy.

If she made it…no, when she landed a spot on a chorus line, she’d have the confidence to explain. And she would succeed. She’d do everything in her power to get hired. She’d stretch her capabilities to their limit to realize the ambitions she’d had since childhood.