Page 54 of Elite Connections: an LGBTQ Romance Charity Anthology

Deep breaths, Blair. You can do this.

With our plane getting in later than originally anticipated, we had just enough time to drop our bags off in the room before hurrying down to the welcome hour.

I wish I had more time to freshen up. To try and get my legs under me. From the minute I shook hands with her, my mind has been a swirly mess.

“You coming, tartlet?”

Raven’s words stir me out of my spiral.

“Tartlet? Really?” I quirk a brow as I pass her on the way out of the elevator.

“It felt wrong the second it came out,” she answers with a laugh.

The lobby restaurant is bustling with guests.

Old. Young.

People with bright turquoise mohawks. My own simple blonde hair.

Men. Women.

I had no idea this many people would turn out to try and nab this company.

“Are they all here for traveLLin’?”

Raven nods, grabbing a cocktail from the bar.

“Cocktail?”

I nod, taking the proffered orange-colored drink. The bubbles help cool my overwhelming nerves.

“Why is no one talking to each other?” I cover my whisper with the glass.

Raven’s eyes take in the room as we find an empty spot at a high-top table.

“I don’t think I’ve done something this awkward since my first time.”

“I’m sorry?” I almost spit my drink out. God, what a first impression that would make on these people.

“I’m serious.” Raven looks around.

“You’d think this many people from different walks of life would have more in common, but they don’t.”

Now that she mentions it, everyone is clinging to the walls like they’re needed to hold it up. A few people are mingling, but no one is making the first move.

“Do you think they just don’t want to be the first person to break the ice?”

“One would think they’d try since it’s what’s required of them for this job.”

“Oh yeah?” I cross my arms, leaning across the table. “What exactly is required for this job?”

“Not this.” Raven waves a hand around the crowd. “If I were the one that had to break this down for a feature, I’d say don’t come here because drying paint is more interesting than these people.”

An unladylike snort leaves me, choking over the fizz in my drink. “I can safely say you’re more interesting than that.”

“And even if I wasn’t, fake it ’til you make it, right?”

“Easier said than done,” I whisper over my glass.

“We’ve got this,” Raven tells me, her voice quiet. “Act like you’ve seen me naked and you’ll be fine.”

Heat blooms in my cheeks.

That’s the last thing I need to be doing.

“Relax. We’ll be fine. No one will know about us.”

“Know what?”

I jump at the voice behind us.

Turning, I see an older woman with reddish brown hair and a studying look on her face.

“That this is our first time in Milan.” Raven links her arm with mine. “Raven West. And you must be Laney.”

Oh shit. Eden’s wife. No doubt Raven did her homework on both of them.

Crap. Did she hear any of our conversation?

“Wonderful to meet you, Raven. And you are?” She holds her hand out to me.

“Blair Stevens.”

“Lovely to meet you both. First time in Milan, then?” She sips on her drink. “You must be excited.”

“I can’t wait,” I tell her. “I want to pack as much as I can in these next few weeks.”

“If you need any travel tips, you know where to find us.”

“Good evening, everyone.” A loud voice crackles over the speakers. Raven straightens, turning to find an older woman with short gray hair, dressed in a fashionable tunic, with a mic by the bar. “I’m Eden Sands and welcome to Milan!”

“That’s my cue, ladies.” She waves us off and goes to find her wife.

This gets the first reaction out of people all night.

“My wife, Laney, and I are so happy you all could join us these next few weeks. I know this is a bit unusual, but seeing as how the company is travel-based, I figured what better way to get to know people than on a trip.”

A few enthusiastic people cheer her on. Raven is watching her with rapt attention, brown eyes so focused that an asteroid could slam into the earth and she wouldn’t notice.

“We’ve curated some of our favorite places in Milan to take you to over the next few weeks. We hope you have the time of your lives, and I can’t wait to get to know you.”

Turning the mic off, people swarm her as she makes her way through the crowd.

“Eden, come meet Raven and Blair.” Laney guides her over to the two of us.

Patting down her hair, Raven gives me a nervous smile.

Mingling and making small talk with people? This is something that comes naturally to me working in the prosecutor’s office.

“Wonderful to meet you,” we both tell her, shaking her hand.

“It’s their first time here,” Laney informs her wife.

“Brilliant!” Eden’s face lights up. “I know you two will just adore it.”

“I’ve always wanted to come here, and I’m so happy that Raven and I can do it together.”

Eden drops a kiss on Laney’s cheek. “Italy is better with your love, isn’t that right?”

They share a warm look. One that tells me they’ve been happily in love for years. Something I wish I had. Or, that I wasn’t only pretending to have right at this moment.

“I hope we get to see as much as possible while we’re here.”

“Eden is going to keep you two so busy, you won’t have time to put your feet up,” Laney laughs.

“Maybe if we’re in that tub of ours,” Raven tells them. “I wouldn’t mind a nice relaxing day here.”

“Then you’ll love the spas here,” Eden says. “To die for. Really, everything is in Milan. That’s why I picked here.”

“I’m not complaining at all,” I confirm. Because if this is the first bit of Milan that I’ve seen, it won’t be a hardship to be here for a few weeks.

“You two must be exhausted. We’ll let you get going and see you soon?” Eden waves us goodbye before meeting with the others around us.

Raven sways, betraying just how tired she really is.

“C’mon.” Giving her hand a tug, I pull her toward the elevators. “We can mingle more tomorrow.”

“That went well, right?” Raven asks as we head back to our suite.

“I think it did.”

As tired as Raven is, I’m wide awake at the thought of sharing a bed with her.

Raven slides the key over the lock and pushes open the door.

Neither one of us is overly chatty as we get ready for bed.

As I’m in the bathroom brushing my teeth, my mind keeps going back to having to sleep with the bombshell in the next room.

I give myself a pep talk as I slide into my satin tank and sleep shorts—pajamas I thought no one else would be seeing.

Shutting off the lights in the bathroom, I find Raven sitting in bed, wearing an oversized T-shirt. She shouldn’t look as enticing as she does.

Raven rolls her eyes when she sees me hesitate, sliding her eye mask down into place. “I don’t bite.”

Except what if I want her to?

Jesus, get it together, Blair.

Sliding under the duvet next to her, I’m as still as possible. Just the proximity to Raven is messing with my head.

The smell of her perfume.

The heat coming from her body.

And now having to share a bed with her?

Night one and being around Raven is tempting. Too tempting for my liking.

I don’t know how I’m going to survive the next few weeks with her.

Raven West may be the end of me.

But what a way to go.