Love Me

Chapter Three

Melina laughed again. “Yeah, right.” She glanced at Abby sideways and when she saw the playful look on her face, her laugh dried up.

“I’m serious.” Abby smiled. “You want to get his attention? Nothing gets a guy hotter than a little girl on girl action.”

Melina swallowed hard and stared at Abby. “Well, yeah, but…I’m not a lesbian.”

“Neither am I,” Abby allowed. “Although I have played around a little.” She shrugged nonchalantly and at that moment Melina recalled talk about Kylie’s bisexual cousin. Whoa. “Again, I’m not saying to jump into a full-fledged affair. We can just flirt a little…” She reached out and ever-so-gently pushed a piece of hair off Melina’s face. “Get him going.” She arched a brow.

“Um…” Melina was rarely at a loss for words but this had temporarily tied her tongue in knots. She glanced over at Gavin. He’d been joined by another buddy and Gavin threw back his head and laughed.

Suddenly, Melina was filled with anger. He was having so much fun over there with his friends, totally ignoring her, after he’d rushed in late from work, expecting her to get his clothes ready, wrap the present that she’d had to go and buy, barely even saying two words to her all evening. Well, fuck him.

She turned to Abby and smiled, a tight little smile, but a smile. “You’re going to have to help me,” she said through tense lips. “’Cause I don’t have a clue how to flirt with another girl.”

Abby shifted her hips closer to Melina’s on the couch and smiled back. “Sure. Just follow my lead.” She leaned her head a little closer, too, moving into Melina’s personal space. The personal space that only Gavin had been inside for the last year and a half. She swallowed again, forced herself not to back off. “We’ll just talk for a few minutes, but try to look like you’re hanging on my every word.”

Melina nodded, meeting Abby’s dancing eyes. The fun and playfulness in them reassured her that that was no big deal. She was just having fun. She relaxed a little.

“Tell me about your job,” Abby invited, resting just her fingertips on Melina’s thigh.

“Um…well, you know I work at Jensen’s as a designer.”

“Yeah, I knew that. It sounds like a fun job.”

“It is.” Melina smiled again, held Abby’s eyes. “It’s hard work, but it’s creative, which I love. I like stretching the rules, putting together displays that get people talking.”

“Mmm. Kind of like what we’re doing right now.”

“Ah…yeah, I guess so.” It was funny thinking of it that way. She flicked a glance over to Gavin, who still stood talking to his friends.

“There’s a hair on my shoulder, on my shirt,” Abby said.

“Huh?”

Abby’s smile deepened. “Pretend. Reach over and take the hair off. Slowly.”

Melina put a hand out and touched Abby’s shoulder, pretending to carefully pluck an invisible hair and drop it to the floor. “Now brush my hair back.”

Melina lifted a hand, slowly, and touched Abby’s soft shoulder-length hair, brushing it back. She smiled. Abby moved closer. Their faces were so close now they could kiss. If they wanted to. Which she didn’t.

Did. Not.

A warm liquid heaviness settled low inside her and she shifted a bit on the couch. Oy.

Abby bent even closer and a thrill leaped inside Melina, but Abby just put her mouth near her ear to whisper. “I’m just whispering in your ear. You know, girl secrets.”

Melina nodded, licked her lips, cast her eyes down as if listening.

Abby kept whispering, her nose tucked under Melina’s long hair. “Don’t look at him. Just keep smiling and nodding.” She could do that. Then, for good measure, and because she couldn’t help it, she closed her eyes briefly. “Turn toward me a bit.”

She turned her body and her breast pressed against Abby’s upper arm. Normally she would have jumped away from that kind of contact with someone she hardly knew, but she willed herself to stay there and, in fact, Abby’s arm pressed closer. The pressure on her breast felt good and, to her horror, her nipples had gone hard and tight. She glanced down at herself, saw her nipples clearly through her bra and T-shirt.

“That’s good,” Abby whispered, making her shiver, making her nipples tingle even more. Jesus. Abby put her fingertips on Melina’s jaw and gave a tiny, whisper-soft caress. Then she moved back and they smiled into each others’ eyes.

“I’m going to casually glance over there and see if anyone’s looking,” she said softly. “But don’t you look. Not yet.”

Abby sat back a bit, lifted her wine glass to her mouth and sipped, then shook her hair back. “Got ’em,” she said with satisfaction. “Duncan is staring over here with his mouth hanging open.”

Melina would have liked to see that, but just smiled at Abby.

“Right now he’s probably saying something to Gavin and then Gavin will be looking, too,” Abby predicted. Melina took a gulp of wine. God, she wanted to look at him. “Just wait,” Abby said as if she knew how she felt. They shared a smile, this time genuine and Abby leaned toward her, touching her forehead to Melina’s. They sat like that for a few heavy heartbeats, then drew apart.

Melina was being inundated with familiar sensations in a completely unfamiliar situation. Her lips had parted involuntarily as Abby leaned in, saliva pooling in her mouth, while a tight achy feeling grew between her legs. God. She was getting turned on by this little display.

But only because Gavin was watching.

She hoped Gavin was watching.

Her skin felt hot and sensitized, her bra too tight, her panties wet. Sweet Jesus. She dropped her eyes to Abby’s T-shirt and her nipples, too, were standing at attention. Her breasts were much smaller than Melina’s, but very perky in a stretchy top that hugged them sweetly. What would they look like bare?

Oh dear God. The fake sexual tension was becoming all too real. This was not supposed to happen.

“He’s looking,” Abby whispered, leaning in again. This time she rubbed her breast against Melina’s bare upper arm. Melina felt the hard little nub drag across her skin and that liquid heat inside her got hotter and heavier. She struggled to draw in a long breath.

She smiled at Abby. “I want to look. I have to look.”

“Okay, but be casual.”

She could do casual. She lifted a hand and did the hair toss that Gavin had teased her about the first time they’d met, throwing her long hair behind her shoulder and giving her head a little shake that allowed her to glance his way. All three guys were staring at her and Abby in fascinated stupefaction. So were some other people in the room.

Heat flared in her, a spike of hot sexual tension that made her all tingly and quivery. She wasn’t an exhibitionist, didn’t care about the others who’d noticed and were whispering, only cared that Gavin was watching, and dear lord, she’d gotten his attention.

She smiled at Abby with female satisfaction. Abby smiled back, reached to touch her hair again, playing with a long lock. “You have gorgeous hair,” she said.

“Thanks.” Abby’s fingers stroked down the length of the strand of hair, pulling it down in front of her so that her fingers brushed across one stiff nipple. Melina drew in a sharp breath.

Abby’s gaze had followed her fingers, studying Melina’s breasts, but at Melina’s indrawn breath, Abby lifted her eyes, smiled knowingly. Melina’s breasts felt heavy and, aware of Gavin watching her, everything inside her tightened with excitement.

“Oh, shit,” Abby hissed.

“What?” Melina almost couldn’t hear her over the buzzing in her ears.

“They’re leaving! I can’t believe it!”

“He’s leaving?” This time Melina swiveled her head and watched in stunned disappointment as Gavin’s back disappeared into the kitchen. “Oh.” She went from a happy high to a big dip in the roller coaster of excitement she’d been riding. “Probably needs another beer.”

“Maybe they’ll be back,” Abby said, optimistically. “Let’s keep going in case they do. I’m surprised he never came over here.”

“I guess it wasn’t enough,” Melina said slowly. “We were just talking, after all.”

“We can take it up a notch,” Abby offered with a sly smile. “I’m willing.”

Melina met her eyes and smiled back, strangely unoffended, unafraid. Abby seemed nice. She was really pretty, with that glossy shoulder-length chestnut hair. It had been silky to touch. And her eyes, also brown, sparkled with amusement and sexy fun.

“Oh yeah?” Melina murmured. Dear God, she was flirting for real. With another woman. Abby.

“Yeah.” This time when Abby leaned in, slowly, she did touch her lips to Melina’s. A hot rush of liquid between her legs almost took her breath away as Abby kissed her, a soft gentle brush of mouths. “And you’re not even pretending, are you?”

Melina shook her head slowly, a little dazed.

Abby brushed her mouth over hers again. “You like this, don’t you?”

On a long, shaky inhalation, Melina nodded again. It was forbidden, shocking, and she should be stopping this. Right. Now. Abby touched her tongue to Melina’s lips, licked her, then kissed her again, still soft but this time lingering, clinging.

They drew apart and gazed at each other wide-eyed. “I’m not a lesbian,” Melina said again. Abby laughed.

“I know.”

Melina blinked rapidly several time, glanced around the crowded room. No Gavin, but lots of other people interested. “We shouldn’t be doing this.”

Abby looked around, too. “Maybe not. Making out in public is so high-school. Let’s find a bedroom.”