Page 104 of Is It Casual Now?

Siena shouldn’t be nervous, but her fingers shook a little as she slid her key into her front door.

She had tried to get out of the office a little earlier, but that had gone by the wayside when more issues arose for some of her newer clients. The beginning of representing someone always carried with it teething problems. But the last few she had put in her books were definitely pushing her to new levels of patience.

Still, she had a little bit of time to get things ready before Jamie was due over for dinner.

And to hear Siena’s proposal concerning work. Siena was excited about how logical it seemed, how easy a progression and transition it could be for Jamie. She just hoped Jamie would see it that way as well.

After having a quick shower and changing into something far less professional, Siena ordered in dinner and eventually found the packet of candles she knew she had in the bottom drawer in the kitchen. Only two of them had been used, their blackened wicks not even halfway down the length of them. She grabbed them but quickly changed her mind as shereturned them to the drawer and pulled two brand new candles from the open packet.

“New beginnings.” Siena smiled to herself as she took them into the dining room.

It was five minutes to seven when Siena’s doorbell rang.

“Right on cue.” She chuckled as she turned the lighter over in her hands once more. She’d been carrying it around with her, playing with it and refusing to put it down for fear of forgetting where she had put it when she needed it.

She dimmed most of the lights, paid the delivery driver for their dinner, and laid it all out nicely. She chuckled as she looked at the extra little touches she had made and couldn’t wait for Jamie to see it all. The bucket with ice held the pitcher she had prepared herself, while the many bowls of food littered the table between the only two seats that had plates at them, opposite each other.

And all of it had been done with the lighter still in her hand.

She really shouldn’t be so nervous, but she was.

So many changes had happened this year, and she wouldn’t do it differently. Not to risk the incredible future that lay in front of her. But still, her hand shook a little as she flicked the lighter to life. The candles bloomed easily as she touched the flame to them, one after the other. Their light flickering over the walls and the meal she hoped Jamie would enjoy and find as amusing as she did.

She couldn’t stop smiling and wondered how she could have ever fooled herself into believing any other relationship she’d had before this could have been confused for being in love.

As she wandered to the front door, forcing her feet to walk and not run, she dimmed the last of the lights and with a flick of her wrist tossed the lighter onto the key table by the door. Her hand felt empty, and the nerves threatened to rise.

“Hi.” She opened the door with a smile.

Jamie’s smile was brighter than Siena had ever seen it before. Considering how that sexy smile had managed to pick her up in a restaurant, that certainly said a lot.

“You look beautiful.” Jamie bit lightly on her lower lip.

“Is that a bad thing?” Siena asked with a chuckle, though she didn’t hide her confusion at Jamie’s expression.

“Definitely not.” Jamie wrapped her arms around Siena’s neck as she stepped over the threshold and into Siena’s home. “But it does make it a lot harder to focus on eating anything else.”

Siena laughed and shook her head. “Careful, or I might start to think you only love me for the orgasms.”

Jamie kissed Siena in reply. The kiss, soft and gentle, sent a river of fire racing up and down Siena’s body, from her toes to her scalp where Jamie’s short fingernails were being dragged.

“Wow.” Siena breathed when Jamie pulled away from her just as gently as she had leaned in to kiss her.

Jamie brushed Siena’s hardened nipple with her shoulder as she sauntered past, leaving Siena open-mouthed in the frame of her still-open front door.

With a shake of her head which might as well have been her entire body, Siena smiled as she closed the door, making sure it was locked before she quickly scurried after Jamie’s swaying hips.

Jamie stopped at the archway into the living room. Siena would have run directly into her back, distracted by those hips and that ass if she had been following any closer.

“You did this for me?” The incredulity in Jamie’s voice sent sadness directly to Siena’s heart.

“Of course I did.” Siena gently wrapped her arms around Jamie’s waist, resting her head on Jamie’s shoulder and seeing what Jamie saw, and tried to find the thing that put such shock in her voice.

“It-it’s beautiful. Thank you.” Jamie turned her head and brushed Siena’s lips with her own. The angle wasn’t the most conducive, but they were Jamie’s lips, and it seemed no matter how contorted either of them were, those lips continued to send a spark through Siena’s very being.

“You’re beautiful. And you deserve to be treated like a queen.”

“Because I’m beautiful?” Jamie asked in a tone that suggested she might be testing Siena.

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