Page 51 of The Love We Make

“You do.”

“I kissed you on that rooftop.” Her toes climb up my ankle. “Thank goodness I asked for permission.”

“Would you like to ask permission for anything else?”

She grins at me. “How about another kiss?”

“That can most definitely be arranged.”

Nora leaps out of her chair and bridges the distance between us. She plants her hands on the armrests of my chair and gazes down at me. “Christ, Mimi. What have you done to me?”

“As far as I know, I didn’t do—” Before I can finish my quip, Nora’s lips are on mine. They’re much hungrier, much less shy, than earlier today. Maybe because dusk is falling, and we both knew this was coming.

She lowers herself onto my lap. Her hands skate along my neck, into my hair. I guess she didn’t invite me over to take things slowly.

I pull her to me, wanting to feel as much of her as I can in this position. I press my fingertips into the flesh of her magnificent shoulders, then run them over the enticing bulge of her biceps. I’ve seen Nora in a bikini. Her body belongs on the cover of all the magazines, inspiring countless articles on how to stay fit after fifty. Mine, not so much. The only workouts I get these days are running after my grandchildren. But neither one of us is perfect. Nora might hide in her perfect house with her perfect body, she’s made it clear she has plenty of other issues. My body might be far from perfect, but I have other strengths. And I think Nora’s drawn to them. She wouldn’t be kissing me the way she’s doing right now if she didn’t.

CHAPTER23

NORA

I’m trying to follow Mimi’s advice and not dwell on the future before it even has a chance to happen, but it’s hard not to wonder what the immediate future has in store for us. This is not the kind of kiss that will just end here, that can end without consequences. I try to let myself be carried away by the insistent pulse between my legs, by the butterflies in my stomach, by the divine sensation of Mimi’s lips on mine and her fingers all over my skin—exactly where I’ve wanted them all week. But when you haven’t done this for such a long time it might as well be a new sensation altogether, it’s impossible not to worry.

This was always going to be like a war raging within me. Because of course I’m terrified, but I’m also turned on and desperate for so much more.

“You’ve probably been dying to see my bedroom,” I say, trying to sound sultry, but failing miserably.

Mimi looks at me as though I can never fail at anything ever again in my life. Her eyes are all hunger, all raw desire. She can’t seem to get enough of my upper arms—I spend enough time working on them so it’s good that someone’s finally enjoying them. I flex my biceps a little, pushing myself up on the chair, and I swear to god, she’s moaning in the back of her throat. There’s no end to the ways in which she delights me.

“Absolutely dying,” she whispers. “If you’re sure?”

I’m not sure of anything except that I don’t want this night to end. I nod and slip off her. I hold out my hand and walk us upstairs. My dogs follow suit. They’re not going to be happy about being locked out of my room. I should have called Chad, but what should I have said?Odds are I’m having sex tonight. Can you take the dogs somewhere else?

“They’re going to make a fuss for a little while, but they’ll get over it soon enough. They have each other.” I crouch down. “Sorry, babies. Mommy’s doing—” I catch myself before I finish my sentence. Mimi’s standing right next to me, a big smirk on her lips. I rise. “Sorry about that.”

“It’s okay. They’re your babies.” Mimi holds out her hand to me.

“To say they’re not used to this is a great understatement.”

Mimi turns to the dogs. “I promise I will return your mistress in one piece and fully satisfied.” She says it with such conviction, something inside me gives again. Her easy confidence has that effect on me.

We go into my bedroom, and I close the door. The dogs whine, as expected, but it’s easy enough to shut out the noise because when Mimi kisses me, she also brushes the left strap of my tank top off my shoulder. Next, she kisses me right above my collarbone.

“Jesus,” she whispers. “Your shoulders are like a work of the finest art.”

Mimi’sobvious appreciation of my body turns me on. I work on it every day—a remnant of myHigh Lifedays, when the producers, mostly out-of-shape men, demanded the cast hit the gym because we had to look a certain way for the show. There are days that I wonder why I go through the grueling effort—because it is grueling—but Mimi’s words are more than enough reason for all the pain I’ve put myself through.

Her lips travel up my neck, leaving a hot trail of kisses. I need to find a way to stay in this, to not let my ever-churning thoughts get the better of me. Because I want Mimi, for many reasons, and I want to enjoy every single second of this. Odds are, I will screw up sooner rather than later. I can tell myself I will try, but I honestly have no idea what that even looks like. Maybe I should cast a quick glance into the mirror—that should give me a good enough idea. But I can’t possibly look at myself right now.

Mimi’s lips find mine again and we kiss, but only briefly, before she pulls away. She looks me in the eye. “Are you nervous?”

“Yeah.” Maybe she felt my heart hammering in my chest, or saw my pulse flutter raggedly when she kissed my neck. I swallow hard.

“We’ll go slow. And even though it goes without saying that we can stop any time, I’m saying it anyway.” Her eyes narrow. “Do you want to stop? Is it too much?” She gives my arm a gentle squeeze.

I shake my head. “Definitely not.”

“Okay.” A hint of a smile. “Do you want to get into bed and just lie down together for a while? To calm our nerves?”

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