Page 22 of Nothing Heals Me Like You Do

“My view?” Sienna toyed with her spoon. “I’m not sure I have one, I just… seem to have a tendency to be attracted to women who are not always very good for me.” Sienna couldn’t help but wonder if Justine thought about herself that way right about now.

“The emotionally unavailable type, you mean?”

“I wouldn’t put it that way, but maybe. I have been in two long-term relationships, but they didn’t work out.” Sienna resolutely picked up her spoon. “But I don’t really want to get into that right now.”

All Sienna wanted to find out was whether Justine wanted to take things further—and whether that was a good idea. From what Justine had confessed about herself, probably not. But her words stood in stark contrast to the warm vibe of the evening and the easy but profound conversation between them. “How about some chocolate mousse instead?” she asked.

Chapter12

Justine didn’t know what to do. If she’d had this kind of conversation with Sienna at Min-ji’s—if she’d allowed herself to take the time for it—she might not have invited Sienna to her place. She might not have slept with her because she liked her too much. In fact, there was very little not to like about the woman sitting across from her, licking her dessert spoon. The more the evening went on, and the more wine she drank, the more Justine wanted to have sex with Sienna again. But she shouldn’t. There was actually something at stake here and Justine knew what she was like. Although she had just been very honest about that as well. So, she figured she’d do what she always did: leave it up to the other person. To Sienna.

“Once again, utterly delicious.” Justine looked into Sienna’s eyes—because it was one thing to leave the initiative to her, it was another to not convey interest.

“Thanks.” Sienna returned her gaze. “And for the record, I don’t really know what to make of you either, nor of… this.” She waved her spoon about.

“That’s a dessert spoon. Probably a very expensive one, but that’s really all it is.”

Sienna chuckled softly as she shook her head. “You must have broken quite a few hearts,” she said. “You’re very easy to like and, well, I didn’t just sleep with you because you’re a legend either.”

Here we go, Justine thought. “Maybe I’m easy to like, but I’m much harder to love. Trust me.”

Sienna shrugged. “I’m not looking for love tonight.” She licked her spoon as she returned Justine’s gaze again.

“Just so you know,” Justine said. “If you come on to me, I’m not going to resist you.”

“Because you can’t or you don’t want to?”

“Maybe a little of both.” No matter how delicious, Justine was no longer in the mood for dessert. “I’ve been meaning to ask: is Bright your father’s real name? Because it does such a good job of describing you.”

“You’re such a delicious flirt. I reallyquitelike it.”

“I figured as much.” Justine waited. “And ditto.”

“Would you like to see my other Raffo Shah painting?” Sienna asked, putting her spoon down.

“Raffo would never forgive me if I didn’t enjoy her work when given the opportunity.”

“Come on, then.” Sienna pushed her chair back. “I’ll show you.”

Justine followed Sienna up the glass-and-steel staircase to the top floor of her gigantic duplex loft, into her master bedroom, its color scheme seemingly picked to complement Raffo’s painting.

Justine made a spectacle of examining the work, exaggerating her reaction, probably because she was a touch nervous about this.

“Raffo’s so talented.” She marveled at the vibrant hues of the painting. Justine had never seen it before, yet it felt keenly familiar.

“Do you ever stop to think that you gave Raffo the opportunity to develop her talent?” Sienna stood behind Justine and, without further ado, slipped her arms around her waist.

“Nope,” Justine said resolutely. “Because that’s not why I do what I do.”

Sienna chuckled and her breath was warm on the back of Justine’s neck. Sienna’s hot whisper of breath was soon followed by the soft touch of her lips on Justine’s sensitive skin there.

“You don’t seem to care much that making art can be the most important thing about a person,” Sienna said softly in between gentle kisses.

Even though potentially interesting, this was not a conversation Justine wanted to have right now. She pivoted in Sienna’s embrace and faced her.

“Is it the most important thing about you?” she asked, not because she was desperate for Sienna’s answer, but simply because she wanted to prolong the moment.

Slowly, Sienna shook her head, then tilted her head forward and brought her lips a mere fraction of an inch away from Justine’s.

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