Fool for Love (High Rise) (7 page)

“Don’t you want me to stop?” She finished her question with a peck on Alex's ear lobe, soft, but enough to set Alex's flesh on fire again.

“God no,” Alex moaned. Maddie’s lips travelled along her neck, tracing a moist path of kisses on the way to her clavicle. “Kissing is perfectly acceptable on the first date.”

MADDIE

“Are you seeing her tonight?” Isabella sipped from her protein smoothie while waiting for an answer. Maddie had barely touched hers, her stomach too fragile to take anything in. After Alex had left last night, after a few more rounds of extensive—but chaste—kissing, she hadn’t slept a wink. Although exhausted, physically as well as emotionally, her mind had fallen prey to an onslaught of questions. What if Alex changed her mind again? What if she decided she didn’t want to be with a banker after all? What if she wasn’t ready? What if… she didn’t feel the same way? Questions Maddie hadn’t bothered with in years.

“No, she has a family dinner.” Maddie looked at Isabella. She was so happy to have a psychiatrist as a friend, someone with a soothing, sane influence. Maddie desperately needed some grounding—and the yoga class they just took hadn’t really helped. Possibly because it wasn’t taught by Alex, although that would probably have made it worse. “And she’s hardly the type to pop in after midnight for a quickie.”
 

Maddie giggled at the memory of last night. They’d made out like teenagers in a dark corner at a dance party. Kissing like crazy, but hands always in check. It was the most spectacular night Maddie had had in five years. Because, unlike any other woman she’d slept with since moving abroad—since leaving Emma—Alex was worth waiting for.

“You look shattered but still, you’re glowing.” Isabella winked.

“How things can change in twenty-four hours.” Maddie brought her hand to her chin and stroked it, still caught up in disbelief. “I was honestly thinking of leaving. What with June’s big announcement and having to face my mistakes every day. I was so bloody unhappy and I didn’t even realise.” Maddie opened her hands. “And look at me now. Smitten like a fool.”

“I sincerely hope it works out.” Isabella slurped the last remnants of her smoothie through the straw.

“I know this will sound dramatic, maybe even a bit fatalistic. But I seriously believe my decision to ultimately stay or go will depend on Alex.” Maddie sighed. “If this crashes and burns, I can’t see how I can possibly stay.”

“Don’t get ahead of yourself. Just let things take their natural course.” Isabella reached out her hand to pat Maddie’s arm.

“I know. I sound like a sixteen-year-old. But I haven’t felt like this in a very long time.” Maddie’s head felt as if it were about to implode. So much impulsive emotion thrashing through her body, she hardly recognised herself. This was not how bankers operated. They stayed cool and responsible under every circumstance. They had to.

“Really? You could have fooled me, Madison.” Grinning, Isabella squeezed her arm. “What am I going to do with you for the rest of the day?”

“Well, we’ve had our exercise and this is Hong Kong. We’re faced with the impossible dilemma of choosing between this city’s two favourite pass times—shopping or drinking. What would the doctor advise?”

“I have a really nice bottle of Shiraz and a killer view. Let’s go to my place.”

Maddie shoved her untouched smoothie to the side and, together, they exited the gym.

* * *

At work the next day, everything seemed different. Gone was the sense of gloom that had been hanging in Maddie’s office for too long. Impatiently, she waited until ten to text Alex. It was her day off and she wanted to invite her for lunch. Nerves eating at her stomach, she waited for the reply. It came almost instantly.
How about organic pizza?
Ludicrously hot, kind, principled and funny. This is meant to be, Maddie thought. If I don’t get this woman I will move to the Australian wilderness and live like an old maid for the rest of my days.

They ended up in a small Vietnamese place around the corner from Maddie’s office. As soon as they sat down opposite each other, Maddie couldn’t stop grinning.

“How was your family dinner?” Maddie didn’t really want to talk. She just wanted to stare at Alex's face for an hour, memorise the curve of her lips and get lost in the darkness of her eyes.

“You’d think growing up in a half-European family would make your parents less judgmental, but you would be hugely mistaken.” Alex shot her a weary smile. “After having been a fitness instructor for more than ten years, my mother still thinks it’s a big waste of time.”

“How can she look at you and think that?” Maddie was glad the wine arrived. She needed something to calm her down. Her heart drummed in her chest.

“She doesn’t look at me with the same eyes as you do.” Alex's foot found Maddie’s under the table. “Her intentions are more honourable.”

“Would you care to explain what might not be honourable about this appreciative glance?” Maddie’s exaggerated fluttering of eyelids and licking of lips made Alex grin.

“Not enough words in a dictionary for that.” Alex had kicked off her flip-flop and ran a toe over Maddie’s open-shoed foot. “Anyway, she’d rather have me wither away in some dull physics lab than do what I love. Same old song and dance.” Alex was getting agitated and, to Maddie’s dismay, had withdrawn her foot.

“Physics lab?” Maddie couldn’t connect the dots. “It would be a crime against humanity to hide that shoulder line under a lab coat.” Alex was wearing a white tank top again. She must have a few shelves reserved in her wardrobe for them, if not all. The memory of Alex lifting her tank top over her back the other night slammed into Maddie’s mind again, resulting in a moist tingle between her legs.

“I have a Master’s in Physics. An education my parents paid for, with the single hope of getting a great return on their investment.”

Full of surprises, Maddie thought. So much to learn. “You’re a brainiac, then. Not just a hot bod. Colour me impressed.”

“For someone with such a high-up corporate job, you have surprisingly basic language skills.” Alex bored her black eyes into Maddie’s, which only intensified the sensation between Maddie’s legs.

“I’ll readily admit my brain function is a bit stumped at the moment. An event for which you are entirely responsible.”

Alex's foot was back on Maddie’s, her toe snaking up Maddie’s calf. “Feeling frisky, Madison?” She bit her bottom lip after she asked the question, while keeping her gaze on Maddie.

“Does this count as our second date?” Maddie caught Alex's foot under the table and tickled its sole. “Because I sure hope you put out on the third.”

ALEX

“You haven’t fucked her yet?” Nat was sprawled out in the sofa, one leg dangling over the back rest, the other stretched out in front of her, a battered paperback resting in her lap. “What is wrong with you, Pizza?”

Alex knew this conversation was inevitable. Just as she knew Nat was joking. “Sod off, Orange. We’re not all sluts like you.” She sat down on the arm rest of the sofa, her bare feet planted on the bottom cushion. “What surprises me is that you haven’t put the moves on the fair lady Isabella yet.”

“Why on earth would I do that?” Nat pulled a grossed out face. “She’s hardly my type.”

“Oh, sure.” Alex kicked Nat gently against the shin with the side of her foot. “And everything you say always corresponds exactly with how you feel.”

“One shrink in the building is enough, thank you very much. If I need some analysing, I’ll go two floors up.” Nat bounced Alex's foot back.

“There’s an idea.” The arrival of a text message made Nat’s phone buzz. She reached for it on the coffee table. Probably the arrangement of another meaningless date.
 

“Excuse me, but I don’t seem to have planned time in my busy schedule for moralising.” Nat glued her eyes to the screen of her phone, her face lighting up at what she saw. She looked up briefly. “Don’t you have a date to get ready for? Armpits to shave?”
 

“I got them lasered.” Alex kicked Nat in the shin again, a bit harder this time.

“Just get laid tonight, please. I’m tired of living with your dryness.”

Nat was right. Alex did have a date to get ready for. The fourth date to be exact. If a quick drink—in a public place—after last night’s body combat class counted as the third.

“Don’t wait up tonight.” She rose from the sofa and jumped off while winking at Nat.

Alex wouldn’t call herself prudish, just careful. She wanted nothing more than to dive between the sheets with Maddie, but it was her nature to always think one step ahead. She probably got it from her ever-prudent mother, who did nothing without serious risk calculation first.
 

Alex was not a cheap thrill chaser like Nat. The only reason she went all the way with someone was because she had a serious interest in them. She didn’t adhere to the let’s-see-where-it-goes philosophy so many people in this town believed in. It was either the real deal, or it wasn’t. Maddie could be the real deal.

Deciding to be adventurous, Alex opted for a navy tank top, an extra tight one. She wasn’t fooling herself. Tonight would be the night. She’d been dreaming about it for weeks. Maddie’s hands all over her, Maddie’s fingers inside of her. If she had to be alone with Maddie one more time without touching every little bit of her, certain body parts might spontaneously self-combust. She was ready.

Half an hour later, she knocked on Maddie’s door, a bottle of Perrier in each hand.

“Hey, neighbour.” Maddie leaned against the door jamb and looked her over. “Need a cup of sugar?”

“If that’s what you want to call it.” She held up the two bottles. “I suggest we stay sober tonight.”

Maddie pulled her in by her arms, shut the door and pressed her against it. “I suggest we skip the eating and drinking part altogether.” They stood at the same height and Maddie pinned her banker stare on Alex.

“I usually wouldn’t advise such madness, but I’ll make an exception just this once.” Alex still clutched the two bottles of sparkling water in her hands, preventing her from touching Maddie.

“I won’t tell anyone.” Maddie traced a finger along her jawline before letting it plunge down to her collar bone. “I’m going to kiss you now.”

“Oh yeah?” Alex inhaled Maddie’s scent.

Maddie inched closer until her lips almost touched Alex's. “Any objections?”

“Can you do it a little faster? Or are you feeling your age?”

“I’ll make you pay for that remark one day.” Maddie’s fingers curled around Alex's neck.

“I look forward to it.”

Maddie shot her a sly grin, one that promised certain things Alex would surely agree with. Then, at last, she planted her lips on Alex's mouth.

Alex still couldn’t touch Maddie without dropping the glass bottles and she got the distinct impression Maddie got a kick out of being in control like that. Then again, Alex hadn’t expected anything else. It was a huge part of her attraction to Maddie.

“Let me take these. At my age, you can’t expect me to do all the work.” Last night, at the bar, Maddie had revealed her age. Her ID card said she was forty, but she certainly looked much younger. They’d cracked jokes about it the rest of the evening.
 

Maddie liberated her from the bottles of Perrier and put them on the nearest surface she could find, a hallway cabinet.

“I’ve been here five minutes and we haven’t made it further than the hall. How on earth will you ever get me into your bedroom at this pace?” Alex quipped.

“Like this.” Maddie grabbed her by the hand and dragged her through the hallway, across the living room and into her bedroom. “Fast enough for you?”

“You must have been working out.” Maddie pushed her against the door, against her bedroom door this time. Alex had to gasp for air for a split second. She was finally here.

“Correct. The instructor is so hot. I just can’t stay away.”

Maddie kissed her again and this time Alex didn’t waste any time ruffling her fingers through Maddie’s hair, along her neck, her sides.

“I want you so much,” she whispered in Maddie’s ear while she kissed her neck.

MADDIE

Maddie couldn’t believe Alex would finally be hers. Her knees buckled at the magnitude of the thought. She’d known her for how long? A few weeks? Of which they didn’t speak for three… and already it felt like so much longer. This was not just a dalliance against her office door. The woman gasping between her arms, responding to every little flick of her fingers, was available, gay and heartstoppingly beautiful.

The door. That was what was wrong with this picture. As if a door was to Maddie what a bed was to every other normal human being.

“I want you too,” she hissed in Alex's ear and ushered her away from the door. This occasion, more than any other, deserved a bed.

Their arms tangling up, they stumbled further into the room. Maddie wanted to tear Alex's clothes off and bury her fingers inside of her, but at the same time she needed to savour this moment, draw it out so as to have more to hold on to later. They were making a memory for the ages, Maddie was certain of that.

Alex's fingers were in her hair, intertwining themselves with strands of blond locks. She exhaled soft moans driving Maddie to early ecstasy. Maddie deliberately tempered her movements, which had become too frantic too quickly. She broke from their lip lock and scanned Alex's face. All she saw was pure want, raw desire, her eyes darker than Maddie had ever seen them, blazing with need. Going slow would be a challenge.

Without taking her eyes off Alex's face, Maddie trailed her right hand along her neck, over her collar bone and in between her breasts. She’d only inadvertently touched them, but now, she’d do much more than touch. She let her hand glide all the way down Alex's top and slid a finger under. Rock hard abs responded to her touch. They both inhaled sharply, craving more oxygen to process this desire.

“Take it off.” Alex's voice came out in stutters. Even saying only three words seemed too much. Maddie feared she’d lost the ability to speak altogether the moment she’d laid hands on Alex's belly.

Slowly, she eased Alex's tank top up, revealing her copper-skinned abdomen inch by inch. Maddie felt heat pool in her core. And she hadn’t gotten to the best bit yet. Her hands arrived at Alex's bra, which, much to her surprise, was a sexy number in black lace—in all honesty, Maddie had expected a sports bra. Clearly, Alex had dressed for the occasion.