Page 100 of Any Kind of Life

Juliet pressed the heel of her hand to Paige’s clit, hurtling her over the edge immediately. Paige cried out as her body shook, but Juliet slowly eased in and out of her, moaning as she rolled her fingers over Paige’s clit, only to dip inside her again.

Paige squeezed her thighs together, most definitely needing a moment before Juliet even thought about going a third time. Her eyelids fluttered closed, just the sound of her wetness floating around the room when Juliet slipped out of her.

Silence blanketed them, but Juliet’s arms held Paige until she’d come down from her high. Only it was a high she rarely came down from. While Paige may have known what to expect from a relationship with Juliet back when they met, nothing could come close to what they had now. This stuff… It was the stuff of dreams.

“You okay?” Juliet dipped her head and kissed Paige’s forehead.

With shaking legs, Paige lowered them and slid from the desk. She turned to Juliet, pulled her in by the waist, and held her jaw. “We need to leave right now.”

“Mm. We do.” Juliet smirked, knowing quite well what she had created here tonight. A monster. “I know it’s been a while, but have I not satisfied you yet?”

“I’m always satisfied with you, but I know exactly what’s waiting for me when we get home. You…naked…on our bed.”

Chapter 35

One month later…

“Hannah! Give me a hand with these drinks, please.” Paige waved Hannah over, eyeing her where she sat beside Caz in Juliet’s area of the bar. It was positioned perfectly when it came to keeping an eye on customers, and it was set back out of the way. “Sometime today would be amazing.”

Hannah rolled her eyes as she made her way towards Paige. “Don’t you have staff to do this stuff for you?”

“We do. But Henry is checking the barrels, and Stephen is dealing with a table in the new area.” Paige lifted a shoulder. “And we own this place, so the least we can do is take care of ourselves.”

“Fair enough. We get free drinks, so I shouldn’t complain.” Hannah winked as she took two drinks from the bar, leaving the other two for Paige. She stopped when Paige came out from behind the bar and leaned in. “You know, you and Juliet seem…different.”

Paige chewed the inside of her cheek to keep her from smiling. “Yeah? How so?”

“I don’t know. Like there’s been a shift of some kind.”

Oh, there had. There had been a huge shift within their relationship. “Yeah. I think she’s just back to her usual self and enjoying life again. You know.” Paige walked away and made a beeline for their table, setting Juliet’s glass of red down in front of her, an espresso martini for herself. She looked to her fiancée and then Caz. “What are you two nattering about?”

“Nothing much.” Juliet lay a hand on Paige’s knee. “Caz was just telling me that Ofsted have been to inspect her school. They came back with exceptional in their report.”

“Oh, Caz. That’s brilliant!” Paige smiled back at a very proud-looking Caz. Life was just…perfect for them all lately. “Some schools don’t have much luck with Ofsted these days, so it’s nice to hear you got the result you deserve.”

Caz waved a hand. “Oh, stop it. I just oversee everything. It’s the staff who make the school what it is.”

“Nah. You’re the boss. What happens is down to you at the end of the day.” Paige lifted her cocktail and eyed Caz. “Take the credit. You deserve it.”

“Paige is right, babe. You really should give yourself more credit.” Hannah leaned in and kissed Caz below the ear. When Hannah drew back, Paige watched the look in Caz’s eyes. Unconditional love. “That school was on its arse when you took the headteacher job. If it wasn’t for you, it would probably be hitting special measures by now.”

“Never mind me and the Ofsted report.” Caz looked between them all. “Tell us what you and Juliet have been getting up to. We haven’t seen you for a couple of weeks.”

Paige puffed out her cheeks. “We’ve been…busy, shall we say?”

“Busy is one way of putting it.” Juliet’s hand remained on Paige’s thigh. Just where she liked it to be. “Paige and I have a few plans in the works.”

“Do you never have a break? You’ve only just reopened this place after having it renovated. I wish you’d slow down.”

Paige almost laughed at that. With the plans they had, there would be no slowing down in the near future. Kids…yeah, nobody was slowing down.

“I’m perfectly fine with my life at the moment.” Juliet gave Hannah a knowing look. “I prefer to be busy. I can sleep when I’m dead.”

Paige winced at that. “Less of the death jokes, babe. It’s still a little raw for most of us.” While Juliet had thrown herself back into life at a force Paige couldn’t comprehend, the people around her struggled to understand how quickly she could move on. Paige still had nightmares, and Hannah and Caz rarely found the strength to engage in any conversation that included Juliet’s potential demise. Caz, even as Paige looked at her right now, had tears in her eyes. “But yeah,” Paige said, clearing her throat. “We’ve invited you here tonight so we could talk through some stuff with you both.”

Caz lifted a brow. “Oh?”

“The…wedding.” Paige had wanted to give Juliet anything she wanted when it came to their wedding day. Just because Paige had already been married and failed with it, she wouldn’t dampen the mood by suggesting something small. If Juliet wanted the fairytale day and white dress, she could have that. Only Juliet had gone and suggested what Paige was trying to avoid. Small and intimate. And by small, she meant just Hannah and Caz as witnesses at the local town hall.

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