Page 30 of Heal You
“Hey, I promise you.”Morgan placed a hand on her chest.“I’ll make sure Jan is safe.Don’t worry.”
Finn’s phone pinged twice in her hand.She looked down at it and sighed.“Babe, the cab is here.What do you want to do?”
Gillian took a step towards Morgan and studied her.Eventually, she nodded and agreed.“I also don’t want to fall out with you, Morgan.You get my best friend home safe, okay?”
“I will.She’ll be okay here with me.You two get home safe.”Morgan turned and walked away, whistling along to the low music playing as she did so.Jan wanted to admire her, but she would wait until she was alone.One hint of her looking and the game would be up.A game, it seemed, neither Jan nor Morgan had intended to play with one another.
“Come here.Give me a hug.”Gillian opened her arms to Jan and held her tight.“Call me tomorrow.Please.I know you think you can manage all of this on your own, but you can’t, Jan.You need friends around you, and I’m going to do everything I can to be there for you.We both will.”
Jan drew back.“I’ll call you tomorrow at some point.”She eyed Finn.“You may think I need looking after, but you make suremybest friend gets home safe.”
Finn saluted Jan.“Got it.”
Once Gillian and Finn left the bar, Jan breathed a sigh of relief.She caught Morgan watching her, and Jan could only smile back.She would be spending some time with her bartender tonight, and as she sat here, she couldn’t wait.
“Thought they’d never leave you alone,” Morgan said as she approached the table again.She watched Gillian and Finn pull away in their cab, and then Morgan took a seat next to Jan, her hand out of view of the few customers finishing their drinks.“Hey, you okay?”
“Me?Yes.”Jan dipped her head, blushing.“Thank you for getting them off my back.”
“It’s what I’m here for.”Morgan slung the towel she was holding over her shoulder and settled a hand on Jan’s thigh.The thrill that rushed through Jan’s body was the very same thrill that had led to her guiding Morgan’s hand down the front of her pants just a few nights ago.“You want another drink?It’s on me, obviously.”
“I’ll have another red and a bottle of water, please.”
Morgan squeezed Jan’s thigh, not moving from her position.“You wanna stay over here with me tonight?”
Did she?Was it a wise decision?Right now, Jan didn’t care.She enjoyed being with Morgan rather than alone in a hotel room.“Yes.”
Morgan grinned.“O-oh.Great.I’ll, uh…I’ll be locking up in a few minutes.You okay to hang around here until then or did you want to go up to my flat now?”
“I can’t sit here admiring you if I’m upstairs, can I?”
It was Morgan’s turn to blush this time.She shook her head lightly.“No, I guess you can’t.”
* * *
Morgan double-boltedthe door to the bar and put the shutters down.It hadn’t been easy to get rid of Eric, one of her regulars, but eventually, his long-term friend Ged had convinced him itwasmidnight and that the bar was now closed.Eric had been coming here since Morgan bought the bar four years ago, and he was a permanent fixture every Friday night.He’d lost his wife the year before Morgan moved in here, and most of the time, she enjoyed listening to his stories from the past.But tonight, she had somewhere much more important to be.
She turned around, smiling when Jan stood in the middle of the bar, her clutch bag gripped in her hand.“All done?”
“Yep.Locked up and free.”Morgan closed the distance and took Jan’s free hand.“I meant it before when I said you look gorgeous tonight.I haven’t been able to take my eyes off you.”
Jan tugged on Morgan’s hand and pulled her closer.“I don’t care if they know about us.”
“Neither do I, but I’m not sure you’re in the right place for them to know at the minute.Once they talk you down from whatever ledge you’re on, I probably won’t see you again.Once will never be enough for me, not when it’s with you.”Morgan lifted a hand and stroked her knuckles against Jan’s cheek.“Please, can I have you for just a bit longer before we go our separate ways?”
Jan walked backwards towards the door she knew would take them upstairs.Her back connected with it, and Morgan pressed herself against Jan.“Who says I’m going anywhere?”
“If Gillian and Finn have anything to do with it, neither of us will have any choice.They’re protective of you, and I get that, but I don’t know.I have a feeling they won’t like this when they find out.Ifthey find out.”
“Because they’ll insist that I’m straight.”
Morgan switched her gaze from Jan’s eyes to her lips.Could she just kiss her from now until they were forced apart?“Yes.Exactly that.”
Jan drew her hand up Morgan’s stomach beneath her shirt.Morgan shuddered, wetness gathered between her thighs, and right now, she knew she should just stop talking.If this was what Jan wanted, then Jan could have it.“If I want you, that’s my decision.”
“Do you want me?”Morgan pressed her hand to the door beside Jan’s head and leaned in.Their lips brushed, she felt Jan practically melt into the door, and then their eyes locked.“Well?”
“Oh, I want you,” Jan whispered against Morgan’s lips.“I don’t know what the hell I’m doing, but I want you.Make no mistake about that.”
