Kiss the Girl Read online

  “You bring it out in me, I guess,” she answered sincerely. A moment passed between them that Brooklyn felt all over. The sensation that came over her as Jessica’s eyes held hers had her stomach doing a series of hard-core somersaults.

  She liked it. She liked Jessica. Talking to her, staring at her. All of it.

  And, damn it, it was a problem. She recalled her talk with Mallory, and feelings for Jessica weren’t really an option. “What are we going to do?” she murmured.

  Jessica blinked, her gaze dropping noticeably to Brooklyn’s mouth. “About?”

  “This. The fact that you’re staring at me like I’m your next meal and all I want to do is kiss you into next week.”

  Jessica’s lips parted in surprise. “Well, if you’re just going to jump out there and say it…”

  “I am,” she said in frustration. “Because it’s there. Every time I see you. And it can’t be anymore.” Brooklyn was up and pacing the small expanse of the elevator. “It causes problems with my friends, who are everything, and it messes with my head, and it’s bad for business. Yours and mine. ”

  “What problems with your friends? Are you talking about Mallory?”

  “Yes, actually. But that’s just part of it. There are the texts. The business suits and that stupid top button. Seriously with the button? The way you do that little thing with your mouth where you bite your lower lip right before you say something thoughtful. That has to stop, by the way. The lip thing. No more of that. And that sleek, confident dancer walk you do—”

  Jessica stood and held up her hands. “Whoa. You have to slow down. Half of that doesn’t even make sense.”

  “It makes sense to me. It makes tons of sense, and that’s why it has to end.”

  Jessica seemed to regroup. “So you’re saying it drives you crazy when I bite my lip?” The small smile playing at the corners of that gorgeous mouth irritated Brooklyn to no end.

  “Stop it.”

  “Stop what?” Jessica stood.

  “Making light of this situation.”

  Her smile faded. “I’m not. In fact, I think I might have a solution.”

  “I’m listening.”

  “I think you should kiss me.”

  She studied Jessica. “Very funny.”

  “Except I’m serious.” And Brooklyn realized she was. “Maybe it would get it out of our system if we just, you know, went for it, once and for all. One really good kiss might put this whole thing to rest. A kind of closure.”

  It sounded insane, but sometimes insane surprised you. Sometimes insane was the way to go when logical was no longer working. “And nothing comes of it?”

  “Nothing comes of it,” Jess said. “Of course not. It wouldn’t work anyway. Can you imagine the issues we’d have, given our lives? Our jobs?”

  “A proverbial laundry list of crazy.”

  “Exactly. But no harm ever came from one kiss.”

  The intelligent side of Brooklyn’s brain was blaring warning signals like there was no tomorrow, but the physical pull she felt to Jessica was drowning them the hell out. Tentatively, she crossed the short distance between them until she was just inches away, close enough to pick up the scent of citrus and honey, which had her heart pounding and her head spinning. God, this woman was so many things, and intoxicating was definitely one of them.

  Jessica was maybe an inch taller, but the difference felt minimal as they stood there, so very close. She could see every shade of blue in those beautifully expressive eyes, and there were several. They hadn’t even touched and Brooklyn already felt that familiar stirring all the way through her, from the top of her head down to her toes, circling madly across her center. She wondered if Jess felt it too, because in that moment, her smile dimmed and those eyes went very serious.

  She held Jessica’s gaze and ran her hands slowly up her arms, across her collarbone to her neck until she cradled her face in her hands. Then, she gently tilted her face. It was achingly sensual to be so close to her. And she did mean achingly. It was becoming clear to her that their chemistry was maybe even more explosive than she’d first thought. And if this was her one shot to experience it, her only get-out-of-jail-free card, she intended to take her time. This would be a moment she would carry with her and access when other moments weren’t an option.

  Leaning in, she brushed Jessica’s lips with hers softly, going in more fully after that because she simply didn’t have a choice. Her mouth was warm, wonderful, and quickly awoke all kinds of unfamiliar yearnings Brooklyn was having a hard time categorizing. But she knew one thing for certain. In that moment, there was nowhere else she’d rather be, and she illustrated that fact by pressing closer and deepening the kiss, angling her head for better access.

  And, man, could Jessica kiss.

  Brooklyn let out a hum of pleasure because it was good. So good that she was struggling to keep her head about her. She could live in this kiss forever, drown there and be just fine. Jessica reversed their positions, settling Brooklyn against the wall and meeting her there as their mouths continued to dance with sizzling abandon. Jessica’s breasts pressed against hers and brought forth a whole new onslaught of yearning. Plain and simple, her body was responding quickly. Too quickly. She was throbbing and needed more. She sucked on Jessica’s bottom lip, then swiped it slowly with her tongue, gaining entrance. She needed to taste.

  Jessica’s mind went white.

  With Brooklyn in her arms, up against her like this, she was lost, searching for a way to think, but nothing came. She answered Brooklyn’s tongue each step of the way. In a new twist, the one-kiss agreement seemed to have bubbled into something off the tracks, and in that moment, she couldn’t remember why that was a bad idea at all.

  In fact, it felt quite the opposite, the best idea she’d had in weeks. Her rational side could take a few minutes off. The world wouldn’t end.

  And Brooklyn was everything she remembered and more.

  A slow rhythm rolled between them, this give-and-take that was taking her places and fast. Jessica forced her hands to obey and not travel to areas they desperately craved to travel to. She was in torturous need, dying to explore more than just the kissing offered. She wanted to touch and be touched, and her restraint was fading to the recesses of consciousness. She moved her hands from Brooklyn’s waist, down the outside of her hips and up again. The motion caused Brooklyn’s pencil skirt to edge up her thighs to decadent heights, but that was more than okay because the skin there felt amazing beneath her fingertips. She lingered there a moment longer before tracing higher.

  The ding of the elevator that interrupted that motion was like a god-awful alarm clock in the midst of the most wonderful dream. In jolted response, Jessica took a step back and attempted to catch her breath. Brooklyn gave her head a little shake and straightened her clothes. Two-point-two seconds later the door opened and a small group of workmen and office workers applauded their rescue, unaware of what they’d almost witnessed.

  Brooklyn’s eyes widened and she swore under her breath.

  “Jesus,” Jessica managed.

  One of the workmen offered her his hand and helped her out of the elevator. “You okay? You look a little shaken up.”

  She stared at him, still reeling, hazy, and attempting to put her thoughts back in order. “Yeah, something like that.”

  “Thank you so much for your hard work in getting us out,” Brooklyn said to a man with a hard hat and a walkie-talkie.

  He tipped his hat. People still did that? Hat tipping? She couldn’t remember. She couldn’t think. “We’re just glad everyone is okay,” wrench guy said.

  “We’re fine,” Brooklyn told him. She met Jessica’s eyes in all seriousness. “Right?”

  “We’re fine.” But she wasn’t quite sure she believed it.

  They were one spark away from igniting in that elevator, and it had stirred something in her that had been quiet for far too long.

  She felt alive. And it was all kinds of exhilarating.
<
br />   Chapter Seven

  Two days later and Jessica sighed deeply before forcing herself onto the elevator in her building. “And here we go again,” she murmured. Elevators had new meaning now, for a variety of reasons. She could never look at one the same way again.

  It was a love-hate kind of thing, but a necessary relationship when living where she did. So she was just going to have to get past that “hate” aspect. Lofty, but since when was she one to shirk a challenge?

  It was after ten when her car had dropped her off, as she’d worked late again. The day had kicked her ass, and she needed to eke out a little sleep so she could get up and do the whole thing over again tomorrow. That’s just how her life went.

  In celebratory news, the elevator delivered her safely to her floor, but as she approached her door, she caught sight of something, make that someone, slumped in the hallway just shy of the Colemans’ door. Staring hard and then realizing it was her neighbor, Karina, she sprang into action.

  “Karina, hey. Are you okay? Are you hurt?” She knelt down next to the woman and realized she’d either spent the day volunteering at a bourbon distillery or was drunk off her ass. Geez, that was strong.

  Karina stirred and blinked at her a few times, her brow deeply furrowed. “Go away,” she murmured. “Busy right now.”

  “Karina, you’re lying in the hallway. Why don’t we get you inside your apartment?

  “Later. Sleepy.”

  Jessica smoothed the mass of hair from her face. “How about we find you some water, get you into bed, and you can go right back to sleep?”

  “Fine. Okay. S’probably good.” Karina, seemingly put out by the disruption, pushed herself into a seated position, and Jessica helped her up the rest of the way.

  Then a thought occurred to her. “Karina, where’s Ashton?”

  “School. Ashton goes to school.”

  “It’s after ten at night. She’s not at school right now. Is she home?” Jessica tried the apartment door, but it was locked.

  “Oh,” Karina said, as if a magical thought had just occurred to her. “It’s late.”

  Jessica held her tight as she stumbled. “Whoa. Yeah, it is. It’s getting late.” She knocked on the door. “Ashton, you at home?”

  In only a brief moment the door opened, and Ashton in pajama pants and T-shirt stood before them, her eyes moving from Jessica to her mother. “Oh my God, Mom. I’ve been trying your phone for hours.”

  “I think she’s had a little to drink,” Jessica informed her conservatively.

  Ashton’s face flashed mortification, and she sprang into action. “Thanks, Jess. I got this.” She ducked under Karina’s shoulder and took Jessica’s spot, helping her mother into the apartment. Jessica followed them in a few steps, but as soon as Ashton had her mother safely on the couch, she raced back, her palms up. “It’s under control. I promise.” Her tone was short. Clearly she wanted Jessica to leave.

  “Why don’t I stick around awhile? We should get her some water—”

  “And three aspirin followed by more water. I know the drill. I can handle this. Can you just please go?”

  A pause. Jessica didn’t feel good about this. “Are you sure you don’t want me to at least wait until—”

  “Please?!” Ashton’s eyes were wide with emotion. Clearly, her presence was making things more difficult for Ashton. She considered her options. Karina didn’t look to be in any danger, until she woke up with a major hangover the next morning. And Ashton really did seem familiar with the scenario, which was upsetting for a whole separate reason. Deciding there was nothing she could do in the moment, she reluctantly moved to the door with plans to check up on them later.

  “Call me if you need anything. I’m serious.” When Ashton didn’t answer, she stood her ground. “Ashton.”

  Ashton’s eyes were filled with a combination of sorrow and embarrassment when she turned around to face Jessica. “Okay, fine. I promise.”

  “I’ll check in with you in the morning.”

  Jessica had a hard time sleeping that night as she was consumed with genuine worry. She’d lived next door to the Colemans for a little over three years, and she’d watched as Karina’s behavior spiraled into the land of questionable. How involved should she get? Where was the line between irresponsible and dangerous? Because it was feeling kind of close.

  *

  Brooklyn was in the homestretch of her presentation. This time, however, she was coasting, in the zone. “And this brings us to the last shot, which is the group of kids following young Tanner and his jar of peanut butter into the sunset. We watch them retreat in silhouette, as the camera pulls back to reveal the image on a movie-theater screen, and the audience breaks into thunderous applause.” She smiled at Sandra and waited for her response. She was a tough cookie to read, this woman. She had her pegged in her early fifties, probably married with no kids and an impressive high-rise apartment in the upper West Fifties.

  Sandra sat back and regarded Brooklyn. “I have to say, I think I like it.”

  “That’s great.” Would back handsprings the length of the hallway be too much? Because Brooklyn was considering them.

  “No, I mean, I really like it. As you know, your competitor has already pitched their idea, but it feels to me like you have a deep understanding of our product and whom we’d like to market it to. And it’s a very clever spot.”

  Brooklyn exhaled and let the compliment settle. “Thank you. I imagine you’ll want to talk it over. I’ll leave the storyboards with you and the CD with the art mockups.”

  “You lost the bacon project, you know.” Sandra stood and came around her desk.

  “Excuse me?”

  “I don’t know if they’ve officially announced that yet. But we’re going with The Lennox Group’s idea.”

  “Oh.” She took a moment. “I hadn’t heard that.”

  “So you’re down by one.”

  “I see.” Her spirit took a hit at that news.

  “But the peanut butter is going to you.” And suddenly they were back in it. “I don’t need to discuss it with my team. This is a home run as far as I’m concerned, and I’m ready to move forward with Savvy on the concept.”

  “So that’s it? It’s ours?”

  “It’s yours.”

  Brooklyn suppressed the desire to hug Sandra eight thousand times and instead nodded once graciously. “I’m so happy to hear that. We will work night and day to get this campaign off the ground.” In actuality, if they lost the account in the end, The Lennox Group would be implementing her ideas after the initial spot, as it was part of the signed agreement. She wasn’t ready to let that happen.

  Sandra shook Brooklyn’s hand. “I’m rooting for you, Brooklyn. I’d like to work with Savvy in the future, and I hope the account eventually settles with your group.” Sandra held up one hand and smiled. “Understand I’ll deny having said that outside of this room.”

  Brooklyn laughed. “Of course. Your secret is safe.”

  She departed the Foster offices with much of the afternoon to spare, throwing a glance at the individuals in the waiting area, possibly on the lookout for one in particular. But she was in the clear. She hadn’t seen Jessica since the scandalous elevator escapade, and she’d contemplated the best course of action for the next time she did run into her. She was trying to be more of a planner.

  Avoidance was an option, but it wasn’t incredibly practical. Their appointments at Foster were generally either on top of each other or in succession. They’d have many future run-ins. She decided breezy was the way to go. Friendly. On purpose. Make a point of proving that no crazy make-out session in a tight little elevator had affected her. No, it hadn’t.

  So when she caught sight of Jessica on her phone outside the office building, she made a beeline for her. Okay, so maybe it wasn’t just Jessica she was trying to prove a point to.

  As she approached, Jessica glanced up and flashed a smile, holding up one finger as she spoke a few directives into her
phone. Business, Brooklyn noted to herself. “Sorry about that,” she said to Brooklyn after finishing her call. “How was your meeting?”

  “Fabulous. Yours?”

  “It was good. Some good news.”

  Brooklyn wanted to roll her eyes. “The maple bacon is yours. Congratulations.”

  Jessica paused and looked genuinely sympathetic, which only annoyed Brooklyn further. “I didn’t know if they’d put that information out there yet, so I didn’t want to lead with it.”

  “That and the fact that it would be incredibly rude to gloat.”

  Jessica winced. “That too.”

  It didn’t sit well with Brooklyn that Jessica didn’t seem to perceive Savvy as any kind of a threat. Her demeanor was way too serene. She minimized their competency, which was kind of infuriating. And that frustration motivated what she said next. “Sad about the peanut butter, though.”

  “In what way?” Jessica raised a perfect eyebrow.

  “That job went to us. The little guy.”

  She stared at her. “What makes you so confident?”

  “I don’t know. The fact that Sandra just told me it was ours. I think the word she used was home run.”

  A pause.

  A series of emotions passed across Jessica’s face. Confusion, embarrassment, disdain, and finally that perfect professional mask settled back in place. “Congratulations. I’m sure Savvy deserves the work. And with that, I better run. You take care.” With her attaché in hand, Jessica headed out across the plaza to the street.

  “It kills you, doesn’t it?”

  Brooklyn’s words stopped her progress and she turned back. Jessica was sensing some uncharacteristic aggression from Brooklyn that she didn’t quite know what to do with. Yes, it was a definite blow to have missed out on the most recent project for Foster, a hit she hadn’t seen coming, but why would that upset Brooklyn? She should be celebratory. “Kill is a strong word. I think I’ll manage.”

  Brooklyn crossed the distance between them. She’d worn her hair down today and the wind caught it, lifted it as she talked. “You don’t think we’re as good as you are, the incomparable Lennox Group.”