Talia chewed her lip, lowering her eyes momentarily. “Do you plan to tell hereverythingabout me?”
“Not if you don’t want me to.” Faye shifted closer, surprised when Talia pulled her leg over her lap. She gently placed a hand on Faye’s knee, leaning in for a soft kiss.
“I want you to do what’s best for you, Faye. I wouldn’t expect anyone to understand your reasons for dating me, least of all your mum, so whatever you decide, okay?”
Faye had no issues with telling her mum about Talia’s career. She wasn’t embarrassed to be dating her in any way at all. “I think right now, what’s best is that we take our time and not rush into anything.”
Talia palmed Faye’s skin, her fingers slowly edging back and forth up her thigh. “Agreed.”
“Tonight has been beautiful,” Faye whispered against Talia’s lips. Arousal slid to her core when Talia took Faye’s bottom lip between her teeth, releasing it slowly as she smiled into a kiss. God, this woman was unbelievable. “Talia…”
Talia’s hand inched higher again, pushing past the tight material around Faye’s thigh. She really didn’t want her to stop, but Faye knew they should. The last thing she needed was to sleep with Talia only to end up heartbroken and attached.
“Just keep kissing me, Faye. I don’t want anything else from you…except your lips.”
Faye’s heart fluttered as she wound her fingers through Talia’s long dark hair. She deepened the kiss, sliding her tongue against Talia’s, desperately trying to close her thighs together when Talia moaned into her mouth. Tonight, Faye was soaked.
Talia dragged her nails down Faye’s thigh, sending a shudder throughout her entire body. Talia must have felt it since she was smirking. But it was when Talia got to her knees and urged Faye to slide down the couch—now braced above her, those dark eyes staring down at her—that Faye well and truly lost her breath.
“You have no idea what you do to me, do you?”
Faye’s chest heaved; her hand fisted in Talia’s shirt as she pulled her down against her. Their tongues danced, Faye’s hands resting on Talia’s backside as she urged her against her, but it was Talia’s knee between Faye’s thighs that had her body wild with a desire Faye had only ever written about.
“Faye,” Talia whispered, one hand braced against the arm of the couch above Faye’s head. “You do want this, don’t you? To be with me?”
Faye offered a sad smile, that fear in Talia’s eyes painful to witness.
“Because if you don’t, and you’re leading me on, I can’t do this with you. I can’t just be some fun. This…it needs to be more with you.”
“I’d never do that to you,” Faye said, brushing her thumb across Talia’s bottom lip. The urge to press against Talia’s knee was ever-present, but they had to stop this before things went further. “You do believe me, don’t you?”
“I do. It’s just…you’re wonderful, and I wonder what the hell you see in me. Why you would want to be with me.”
Shocked, Faye leaned up and captured Talia’s lips again. She had no words to describe how she felt inside; she just knew she wanted to be kissing Talia at any given opportunity. “Wow,” Faye whispered, pulling back. “I was thinking the exact same thing about you.”
“You’re so beautiful,” Talia pressed a kiss to the tip of Faye’s nose, forcing herself up and off her. “But we need to slow this down. As much as I want you, and God, I really do…you’re not ready.”
“Tal—”
“Hey, there’s no rush. I want you to be certain about me, okay?”
“I am certain.” Faye sat up on her elbows, frowning as she watched Talia stand and straighten herself out.
“Then…I want you to becertaincertain.”
CHAPTERSIXTEEN
Faye stareddown at her phone, at a loss as to what she should do with herself this afternoon. Her manuscript had been sent off last night, and now she was sat in the bistro with nothing to do. Okay, Phoebe was meeting her here in the next ten minutes or so, but aside from that…Faye felt lost. And dread. She felt dread at seeing Phoebe again. Especially because of what Faye had to say to her.
Since last Thursday, she’d spent every possible moment with Talia, including Saturday and Sunday when Talia should have been relaxing after two heavy night shifts. But Talia had insisted Faye go over to her place, so they could spend some time together and get to know one another, and that had only spilled out into Monday morning and Tuesday evening too. While Faye loved every second they’d spent together recently, it didn’t quite satisfy her as she sat here alone.
Talia wasn’t working at the bistro today; she was working on fresh choreography for future shows. Faye couldn’t wait to be at one of them—enjoying watching Talia do what she did best—but it didn’t change the fact that she missed her. Still, they would see one another this evening if Faye had anything to say about it.
The bistro door opened, and Phoebe strode in, a defiant look on her face. They hadn’t spoken since that night after the club, the night she sent Faye into that room with Jensen, but Faye was tired of fighting with people. Despite all of Phoebe’s flaws, Faye would still consider Phoebe to be a friend.Just. A friend who required a wide berth at the moment, but one she hoped would eventually come to see what Talia meant to Faye.
“Hi,” Phoebe said, shoving her hands in her pockets. “Did you want me to sit down, or…”
“Well, I didn’t invite you here so you could stand there looking at me as thoughI’vedone something wrong. So, yeah. Sit down.”