Page 15 of Can We Skip to the Good Part?
“Yes?”
“Correct me if I’m wrong, but did we have a moment earlier tonight?”
“I think that’s left to one’s interpretation.”
“Okay. What’s yours?” Ella asked. She seemed nervous, which just made Max like her all the more.
“We definitely did.”
“Oh.”
Max couldn’t tell if she was blushing because her cheeks were already pink from the cold. What she did notice, however, was that she was not wearing gloves and was rubbing her hands together.
Max stopped them beneath the streetlight. “Where are your gloves? Give me your hands.”
“You don’t have to do that,” Ella said, but she placed her hands in Max’s. Max was wearing her cashmere-lined leather gloves and used them to cover Ella’s likely frozen fingers.
“I don’t have to. No.” She met Ella’s gaze and lost herself in those blue eyes that were both beautiful and sincere. Max was a sucker for that very combo. A flutter arrived in her midsection, confirming the attraction. The two of them just stood like that, content in the silence underscored by the very distant buzz of the haloed streetlight.
“I wonder if the others are wondering what happened to us.” Ella’s voice was quieter now. Her gaze didn’t move from Max’s.
“They probably forgot all about us.”
“Yeah.”
She was hypnotized and in love with this moment. She would stand on this street corner with this captivating woman for hours if she could. How long had it been since someone truly snagged her attention in this short a period? And right after she’d denounced romance in front of Sonya and the book club. Almost as if fate was daring her.
“Let’s get a drink sometime.”
Ella blinked. “Yeah. Let’s do that.” The way her mouth formed the words sent a ripple through Max’s midsection. She wasn’t the type of woman who could let a moment like this pass unseized. It needed something, and she knew just what. Without waiting, she took one step in and caught Ella’s mouth with hers. Satisfaction rained down in heaps when Ella kissed her back, slow and perfect. God, she could have luxuriated in those lips all day, lost herself on the street corner, and never regretted a second of it.
She pulled back ever so slightly and locked onto the blue eyes. “Had to.” Her hand was still on Ella’s chin.
“Do you always act on impulse?” she asked, looking up at Max, her breasts pressing against her white sweater, visible beneath her unzipped coat. Max had been aware of the perfect way it hugged her curves all night.
“No. That’s the tricky thing about tonight. I seemed to have left my control back there. Or you absconded with it when you arrived.”
“Absconded is a big word.”
“If that impresses you, I have lots more words I can say.” Max straightened fully and took a step back. She enjoyed their volleys. Ella was quick in addition to attractive.
“Let’s not go using them all up,” Ella said and passed her a grin.
“Yet, you mean.”
Ella watched her as if trying to figure this all out. “Wow. You are very unexpected.” She whispered with her eyes bright. Max loved the shade of blue, somewhere between slate and sky.
Max handed over her phone. “Give me your number so we can schedule that drink.”
Ella typed and returned it. “If nothing else, I’ll see you at next week’s meeting.”
“I don’t want to wait. I want to hear all about Tulsa.”
“Oh, you do, huh?Tulsais riveting conversation material for you?”
Max nodded eagerly. “Hell yeah, it is. Oklahoma is on my list of must-get-to destinations. You can tell me all the ins and outs.”
“Tornados.”
