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“We can go through the presentation now if you’d like.” Cherish blinked slowly as she slid into the chair at her desk, and Haylee almost forgot why she was there, distracted by finally being this close to Cherish, her very presence making her swoon. Needing to stop that immediately, Haylee slid onto the corner of Cherish’s desk with her hands in her lap. Keep her hands there, and she’d be less tempted to touch something she wasn’t supposed to.

“Right. Let’s get down to business.” Haylee smiled. This meant they could spend time together. Haylee had upheld her end of the bargain, and now it was time for Cherish to uphold hers. They were going to come up with a way to present Haylee’s grand idea.

“First, I’d like to talk.”

Cherish leaned back in her seat, playing a black pen between her fingers, sliding it from one end, flipping it, and then sliding it to the other end.

Haylee was entranced. Her stomach flipped and then flopped. She’d wanted a moment like this between them all day, and it was worth the wait.

“About the gala.”

“I thought that went off without a hitch.” Haylee cringed. What had she missed? Weren’t they here for things other than Febe?

“Oh, it did. I meant our many conversations over the night.” Cherish dashed her tongue across her lips. “I’ve been thinking about that night a lot.”

Which was exactly what Cherish had told her she was going to do. Haylee was glad to see that it wasn’t all in vain. “And have you come to some sort of conclusion?”

Cherish shrugged slightly, but her lips twitched as if playing coy. There was the flirty woman Haylee had missed all week. The question was if she would stay or go.

“Yes.”

“And that is…?” Haylee dragged out the word. She was always going to have to pry these types of conversations out of Cherish, wasn’t she? She wasn’t someone who naturally shared anything, but Haylee could handle that.

“I would like to see if maybe this could work.”

“That would be amazing.” Haylee sighed in relief, heat rushing all over her body. But wait…what was this? The project Haylee wanted to start? Or them? Haylee shifted, ready to push herself off from Cherish’s desk at the same time as Cherish wheeled her chair back and stood up.

“Oh shit,” Haylee swore as time turned into slow motion.

Cherish reached up, grabbing both of Haylee’s elbows in her strong firm hands. Flailing for a moment, Haylee’s instincts kicked in faster than her thoughts as her hands slapped down onto Cherish’s forearms, her fingers gripping on for dear life.

Muscle moved beneath her touch, and Haylee looked down to her hands and the tensed arm beneath them and back up into Cherish’s gaze. Her heart skipped.

And just like that, time sped back up once more.

“Hi.” Haylee would have laughed at her own breathy voice, but the smoldering gaze in Cherish’s blue eyes, darker than she had ever seen them before, sucked her embarrassment out of the room. The tension between them intensified. Haylee wanted to lean in, kiss, touch, taste—anything to rekindle the hope that her dreams weren’t completely shattered.

“Are you okay?” Cherish asked as her eyes flicked to Haylee’s mouth and then back up to her eyes.

“Yeah.” Haylee’s voice cracked. She cleared her throat and nodded, dropping her gaze so she could stop staring into that intensity. “Yeah. I’m fine.”

“Good.” Cherish didn’t move though. She kept her hands firmly on Haylee. “And for the record, the this I’m talking about, is us.”

Haylee opened her mouth to say something, but before any sound escaped, Cherish’s lips crashed into her own. Somewhere in the back of Haylee’s mind, a part of her screamed to stop this, to slow it down. Not because she didn’t want Cherish. Her body was a raging inferno for her. But because that part also knew she wanted Cherish just a little too much. Haylee tangled her hand in the back of Cherish’s hair, and instead of pulling her away, Haylee pulled her in.

Cherish’s lips parted, opening Haylee’s with the bruising kiss. At the first touch of Cherish’s tongue inside of Haylee’s mouth, a deep guttural moan escaped her. Haylee would never forget this. The spark that she’d only had a taste of before exploded.

“Oh God.” Haylee pulled back for air as Cherish pushed Haylee onto her desk. The small plastic container for pens dug into her hip before it popped and clattered to the floor. Would Cherish bend down to pick them up? Give Haylee an entirely different show?

Shoving Haylee’s knees apart, Cherish stepped into the space she had created while she traced lines across Haylee’s jaw and down her neck with her tongue. Cherish’s teeth grazed skin, and Haylee’s hands flew to Cherish’s back to keep her in place.

“I’ve wanted this for so long,” Cherish murmured, sliding her finger along Haylee’s sides.

Haylee whimpered, her eyelids fluttering shut. This was everything she had dreamed of.

“I really, really want to taste you.” Cherish’s voice was low and raspy as she sucked on Haylee’s earlobe, nipping lightly.

“Oh yes, please,” Haylee panted, still not sure if she wanted to open her eyes and have her entire fantasy vanish. This couldn’t be real. Cherish had toyed with her so long—although Haylee was sure it wasn’t on purpose—but could she trust this? Was this really happening?