The Woman in 3B - Eliza Lentzski Page 0,44

around the rim of her wine glass. “So you’re not going to run out on me tonight?”

Her question and the low burn of her voice produced an involuntary reaction in me.

“I wasn’t planning on it.”

I was thankful I had the oversized wine glass to clasp between my hands. Without the task, I worried my hands might shake.

I toyed with the rim of my wine glass. “I still can’t believe you live here all by yourself.”

“I promise I’m not hiding a secret family in the attic.”

“I know. It’s just so much space.” My apartment was a shoebox compared to her square footage.

“I’m gone too much for a pet,” she told me. “I thought about getting a roommate, just so I wouldn’t come home to an empty house, but I realized I’m not very good at sharing.”

“You really buy the seat next to you on all your flights?” I asked. “How does your boss allow that? I thought you had layovers because your company was so stingy.”

“It’s free,” she said. “I do so much flying, the airline gave me a companion pass. And since I don’t have an actual companion, I use it to keep the seat next to me open. You meet a lot of weirdos while traveling. I like to have a barrier between the weirdos and myself.”

“Too bad it does nothing to protect you from weirdo flight attendants,” I nervously joked.

Anissa cleared her throat. “I would like to address the elephant in the room.” She set her wine glass on the kitchen island. “I would like to have sex with you tonight.”

“R-really?” I managed to choke out.

“Really,” she confirmed with a nod. “But not if it’s going to make you anxious until we actually do it. I’d like to enjoy some time with you before we actually enjoy ourselves,” she emphasized. “Will you calm down if you know that, yes, we are having sex—but not right now?”

I paused to consider her question. “I think—yeah. That actually might work.” It was actually a brilliant proposal. I wet my dry lips. “There’s just one thing I need to do first.”

She arched an eyebrow, but I didn’t elaborate or expand on my explanation. The quizzical expression on her face remained even as I rounded the kitchen island. I leaned closer, eliminating the space left between us. I took a quick breath; she smelled like the same soap that had been in her guest bathroom—light and flowery.

I licked my lips once more before pressing my mouth against hers. My body seized the moment our lips connected. Anissa made a quick sound of surprise before I felt her kissing me back. Any kind of fantasies or daydreams I’d had about what her mouth might feel like paled in comparison to the real thing.

Her lips were soft, yet firm. I loved the gentle press of the side of her nose against mine and the scent of her skin. I could taste the slightest hint of the white wine we’d been drinking. I was tempted to deepen the kiss or at least to brush my fingers against her chiseled cheekbones, but I didn’t think I’d be able to stop at a simple kiss if I’d done that.

Anissa’s eyes were still closed when I finally pulled away. Her tongue flickered between her slightly parted lips as if still tasting me there.

She seemed to have gotten choked up. I heard her quiet cough as she inspected the floor. “Glad we got that out of the way,” she mumbled.

I chuckled. “Such a chore, right?”

Anissa looked up again, this time looking more sure of herself, more aggressive. “I think I need a little more.”

My eyebrows arched in amusement. “Is that so?”

She stepped into my personal space and her hands fell to my hips. “Just a little more,” she murmured. The low drag of her voice affected me more than I wanted to admit.

“I think I can handle that,” I decided.

I leaned forward and cupped either side of her face. I brushed the pads of my thumbs across her thick, pliant lips. Her golden eyes fluttered shut. I could feel her uneven breath on my fingers. I leaned closer still, drawing our faces near until only a breath separated us. Her fingers tightened against my hips in anticipation.

It was she who eventually erased the final distance between our mouths. I heard a small grunt of surprise; it took a moment before I realized that I had been the origin of the sound.

She ran her tongue along the front of my teeth.