Page 19 of Balancing Act (Soulmate #1)

SEVEN

BETH

Beth regretted the invitation before Jamie even answered. The moment the words left her lips, she heard her own voice loop back at her: You never think, Beth. You say the first thing that pops into your head. God, now she’s thinking about how weird you ? —

“Yeah, sure. Sounds like fun.” Jamie’s response cut through Beth’s loop of thoughts, causing her to raise her eyebrows in mild shock. But those perfect dimples peeked out as Jamie smiled at her, and before long, all was forgotten.

And now here they were, just the two of them, sitting in her living room with the fire crackling and a bottle of wine gradually emptying.

It was all so ordinary—a simple evening of conversation that felt as comfortable as if they’d been friends for years.

She found it truly astonishing. This was Jamie Lyons, the stunningly attractive Olympic gold medalist, the object of an alarmingly large number of her waking and not-so-waking thoughts, and she was just Beth.

Adding another log to the fireplace, gently stoking the flames with an antique iron poker, she closed the grate before twirling back around, wineglass in hand.

An open bottle of her favorite Viognier from one of the local wineries sat on the coffee table between where she and Jamie had been sprawled out on the couch for the last two hours.

She had spent weeks internally agonizing over what it would be like to finally spend time alone with Jamie, conjuring scenarios filled with uncomfortable pauses and nervous laughter.

Yet none of her fears had materialized. She was amazed at the lack of awkwardness, how natural it felt to laugh and share stories with Jamie.

The way Jamie listened, genuinely engaged, and interested as she laughed along, making Beth feel at ease in a way she hadn’t experienced before.

Beth couldn’t help but wonder why everything with Jamie felt so right when even thinking about her in the ways she had let herself over the last few weeks had felt so wrong, given the fact that she was one: leaving in a few weeks, and two: her daughter’s coach, and three: only interested in being friends, as she had made explicitly clear.

“Oh my God, shut up!” Jamie laughed with her hand over her mouth.

Beth plopped down on the couch beside her, a little closer than she had been sitting before.

“I know. Up until she was about ten, Lily genuinely didn’t realize that men played professional sports, too. I guess we went a little heavy on the female representation in athletics with her. And look where it got us.” She laughed and playfully swatted Jamie.

Her eyes fixed on her hand still resting on Jamie’s knee, perplexed as to why her brain had not yet sent the signal to her hand that it was time to move.

But instead of pulling her hand away, she let it linger there, feeling the heat of Jamie’s leg against the palm of her hand.

Her eyes shot up and met Jamie’s puzzled expression.

“Sorry.” She grinned, pulling her hand away and setting her empty wineglass on the coffee table. “I’ve probably had enough of that for tonight,” she said, blaming her actions on the wine.

She made to scoot herself away from Jamie when a hand clasped around her wrist. She stilled, looking back at Jamie. This time, she was the one left confused by the unexpected gesture.

“I don’t mind,” Jamie said, her voice so soft that Beth had almost missed it.

Jamie didn’t mind? What did that mean?

“What?” she tried to say, wanting clarification, but Jamie slid a hand onto Beth’s thigh, giving her a gentle squeeze that Beth immediately felt radiating through her.

Okay, she was confused.

Was what she thought was about to happen actually going to happen?

The way Jamie was eyeing her made her feel absolutely out of her mind with need, and she wanted Jamie more than she had wanted her that night in the gallery, before she had ever known who she was.

But now, after the last month, she’d gotten to know Jamie, and that feeling of wanting her so badly? Yeah, it had only intensified.

Confusion stiffened her body. Jamie had been very clear about wanting to be friends, so why the sudden change?

“I don’t mind being touched by you,” Jamie confessed, reaching a hand out to tuck a stray strand of Beth’s blonde waves behind her ear.

Beth heard the catch of her breath as Jamie’s fingers brushed ever so slightly across her cheek.

The sound only seemed to make Jamie’s mischievous smile stretch even wider. “I like it when you do.”

Time slowed as Jamie studied her, slowly sweeping chocolate-hued eyes over her body.

Her pulse quickened as Jamie leaned forward into her space, and she felt her presence in every nerve ending.

She shuddered as Jamie’s lips brushed against hers softly, tentatively—wordlessly asking permission to continue.

She granted it, her lips parting, inviting Jamie in—an invitation she didn’t refuse.

Their mouths moved together, each desperate to taste as much of the other as they could.

She lost herself in the feeling of Jamie’s kiss as she pulled at the fabric of the dark hoodie Jamie had worn that evening.

Slipping her hands up and under the soft fabric, delighting in the feel of warm skin underneath.

Their kisses were full of contradictions—hard and soft, fast and slow, intense and languid, all at once. It was dizzying, and her body hummed with excitement, but a small voice in her head was telling her to stop, that this wasn’t a good idea.

“Jamie, wait.” With Herculean effort, she pulled her lips away from Jamie’s, pushing slightly against her chest.

Jamie immediately stopped the movements she had been making with her lips over Beth’s jawline and pulled back, moving herself a good foot away on the couch. She looked at her as if she had been caught doing something wrong.

Beth nervously ran her fingers through her hair, willing her breathing to return to normal as her chest heaved from equal parts excitement and nervousness about the implications of what they’d done.

Her words shook as she spoke. “I-I think we’re drunk.”

That had to be it, right? That could be the only reason for the momentary lapse in judgment they had both shared. They’d each had a little too much wine, and hopefully they could laugh about this tomorrow.

Except, she didn’t feel drunk. Maybe a little buzzed, but definitely not drunk.

It had been twenty-seven days since she had felt Jamie’s lips on hers, and twenty-six days of pure torture, knowing how badly she wanted to feel them again.

“I’m not drunk,” Jamie said, holding her arms wide before bending her elbows one at a time and bringing the tips of her fingers to touch her nose. “See? Full coordination.” She grinned. “Are you drunk?”

“No, I don’t think so,” she said slowly. She didn’t want to say what she needed to next, but she knew she had to. “I thought...” She took a deep breath. “I thought you only wanted to be friends?”

A slow grin spread across Jamie’s face as she let her eyes deliberately drag their way over Beth’s body.

“I thought so, too.” Jamie’s voice was low and husky as she leaned forward into Beth, running her tongue up Beth’s neck to nibble on her earlobe, sending a shiver of excitement down her spine.

“But the problem is, I don’t think about my friends the way I think about you.

” Jamie growled, the heat and thickness—a jolt of tightness coiling through her.

“And I definitely don’t think about fucking them the way I’ve been thinking about fucking you. ”

Beth couldn’t contain the whimper that escaped, her chest heaving as she stared at Jamie in disbelief.

The last few weeks had been a test of her willpower.

Having to see Jamie on a near daily basis but knowing she couldn’t have her, and all this time, Jamie still wanted her? This was such a bad idea.

Or was it? She couldn’t tell, but her track record with romantic decision-making wasn’t great. But this? Yeah, this probably—no, definitely—would fall under the “bad idea” column. She didn’t care, though. Jamie still wanted her, and that was all that mattered.

She grabbed fistfuls of Jamie’s hoodie as she pulled her down on top of her, feeling her back crash into the cushions of the couch, and she relished the delectable press of their bodies together, Jamie on top of her as their lips met.

A deep moan escaped her lips as Jamie parted her legs with a toned thigh, pressing ever so slightly up and into her.

If she thought her head had been spinning before, it was nothing in comparison to what she was feeling now.

God, she felt like a teenager again, unable to handle even the lightest of touches.

She could feel her clit throbbing against the fabric of her underwear as Jamie ground her thigh against her again.

Her breath hitched, and her fingers grasped for something—anything—to hold onto.

Her hands found Jamie’s waist, and she dug her fingertips into her and moaned again as Jamie pressed her thigh against her once more.

“I can tell you’ve wanted me, too.” Jamie groaned, slipping a hand under the hem of Beth’s sweater.

She gasped as Jamie’s fingers danced across the skin of her abdomen, causing her muscles to contract involuntarily. A never-ending loop of Oh my God ran through her mind as her excitement began to build. So many times, she had thought about what it would be like to feel Jamie touch her again.

“The way you’re always watching me at the gym.

..” Her fingers slipped under the elastic of the lacy bralette Beth was wearing.

She quietly thanked herself for unknowingly planning accordingly, and she happened to be in one of her cute bras.

Jamie’s hand worked its way up to cup her breast, massaging gently, running the pad of her thumb across Beth’s already-hardened nipple.