Page 31 of February (New Orleans #2)

B ridgette pulled open the door and said, “I’m sorry.”

“What are you sorry for?” Monica asked as she took a step toward her.

“I should’ve just called you yesterday. I was… I still am really scared, Mon. I walked around the office yesterday before I went back inside, and you weren’t there. The first thing I thought was that you were already on that plane, and I might never see you again because I’d walked out and didn’t have the courage to stay and talk. Then, I sat here all night, waiting for you to call because I thought you would. You didn’t, but I also didn’t pick up the phone myself. I’m not normally this immature, but I’ve never dealt with anything like this before.”

“Bridge, can I come in?” Monica asked.

“Oh, yeah. Sorry,” she said before she moved aside to let Monica into the apartment, closing the door behind her. “What did you mean before when you said you fell asleep?”

“Last night; I fell asleep at the desk in the hotel room. I remember I got off the phone with the president of Good Day, and I just rested my eyes for a second because it was so late and I was exhausted, but I just fell asleep and woke up like that this morning. Bridge, I’m so sorry.” Monica took a step toward Bridgette, who was now leaning back against the front door of her apartment. “I was trying to take care of it all. I saw the look on your face in the bathroom, and I thought that if I could just get back to the hotel, talk to my father, and get this straightened out before I called you, I’d have answers for you.”

“Do you?”

“Not all of them,” Monica replied.

“But some?”

“I’m staying for a while, Bridge.”

Bridgette felt confused, so she asked, “You are?”

“I got my dad to agree to give me at least a week before he even schedules the board meeting, and then, another two or three before it happens. It’ll take that long to get everyone together, anyway. I’m hoping they’ll all be busy, and he has to push it back even further. Then, it won’t matter because it’ll be time for the regularly scheduled board meeting, and I’ll only have to go back once.”

“And he was okay with that?”

“No, but he’ll do it. I really had to convince my mom more than my dad. She wears the pants, and it’s her telling him to retire now.” Monica took a step closer to Bridgette and held on to her hips. “Babe, I don’t want to leave. I want to stay here with you.”

“I want that, too, but this only just reminded us that this has an expiration date.”

“It doesn’t have to,” Monica replied.

“But it does. I don’t want to move, Mon. And you can’t be a CEO of Arnette and live in New Orleans.”

“We don’t have to worry about that now,” Monica told her as she cupped Bridgette’s cheek. “Babe, I’m here for at least three to four more weeks. Let me keep working on him, okay? Maybe I can get him to finish out the year, and I can work from here three weeks a month or something. That wouldn’t be so bad, would it? You’ll probably be sick of me and need a break for that one week, anyway.”

“Don’t say that. I won’t get sick of you. I couldn’t even sleep in my own bed last night because you’d slept there before, and I can smell you there. I can smell us .”

“Babe, I’m sorry,” Monica replied as she slid a finger over Bridgette’s bottom lip. “Please don’t give up on us.”

“I’m not,” she said. “But it’s three or four weeks. What if he doesn’t stay on and retires?”

“Well, that could happen.” Monica’s eyes softened. “And I’m working on a plan for that, too.”

“How many plans do you have, exactly?”

“A few.” Monica chuckled. “And you should know that I’ve always only had one before you.” Her arms went around Bridgette’s waist, and she pulled her against her body. “I was going to become CEO, take the company to the next level, work harder than my dad, retire, and relax with my wife. We’d travel, if we wanted to, or just stay at home and sip lemonade on the porch swing together or something. That was it; that was what I wanted.”

“And now ?”

“Now, I don’t know if I even want to be the CEO,” Monica revealed.

“What?” Bridgette wrapped her arms around Monica’s neck.

“I like solving problems. I like working on the ground, so to speak. Being here helped me remember that. Back at my office in New York, I sit behind my desk in meeting after meeting, responding to email after email, and it’s okay, but I’d forgotten what I’d loved about business in the beginning. Working with your parents and then working with you when you actually started talking to me and not just laughing at me, was fun.”

“Sorry,” Bridgette said as she pressed her forehead to Monica’s.

“Don’t be. It was kind of hot.”

“Yeah?”

“Definitely,” Monica said. “And I’m hoping I can get my dad to agree to retire at the end of the year because I can work on the two main candidates for the job and maybe get him and my mom more on board with the idea of one of them taking over instead of me.”

“And you’d work down here?”

“Some of the time, yes,” Monica said. “Virtual meetings aren’t always ideal, and there will be board meetings I need to attend in person and other reasons to go back, but, Bridge, this is important to me. You are important to me. I’m not ready to leave, either.”

“Okay,” Bridgette said.

“Okay?”

“Yeah, okay. I guess that’s the best we can hope for right now, right? It’s not all set in stone, like I want it to be, but it’ll have to work.”

“If I’m not the CEO, Bridge, I don’t have to live in Manhattan. You got that part, right?”

Bridgette closed her eyes and said, “Yes. I’m just trying not to get my hopes up that you’ll really be able to make this happen. And if you still want to be the CEO, I want to support you in that. Besides, I know how family pressure works, Mon. It’s hard to say no to them or tell them what you really want when they want something else for you. We just met. You’ve only been here for a few weeks. What if you find that the longer you’re here, the less you like it?”

“I can’t imagine that will be the case,” Monica replied. “Babe?”

“Yeah?”

“I know we still have talking to do, but can I please just kiss you now?”

Bridgette opened her eyes to see Monica’s almost pleading ones, and she nodded. Monica cupped both of her cheeks and kissed her a little hard at first, likely because they’d been apart the previous night, but her lips softened, and Bridgette moaned against them. She’d missed her, too. It had been less than twenty-four hours since they’d last done this, but Bridgette had missed it more than the days she’d spent away from any previous girlfriend. A few moments later, Monica’s arms moved back down to Bridgette’s sides, so Bridgette settled in against the door, knowing they would be staying here for a while. When she felt Monica’s hand move to lower her sweats, Bridgette smirked into the kiss. Monica’s lips moved slowly against her jaw, almost as if she were attempting to distract Bridgette from the fact that her hand was now moving into her underwear.

“I’ve missed you,” Monica said. “I dreamed about you last night.”

“And what did you dream?” she asked as Monica’s lips sucked on her earlobe.

“That we were making love in your bed. I was moving inside you,” Monica said as her fingers moved into Bridgette’s folds. “And you were wet.”

“I wasn’t exactly expecting this,” Bridgette said when she realized she wasn’t wet now.

“It’s okay. I don’t mind helping you get there,” Monica replied and caressed Bridgette’s clit.

Bridgette relaxed into how good it felt to have Monica’s hands on her again, Monica’s lips on her neck, and her free hand skating over her skin just under Bridgette’s breast. When Monica finally cupped it and played with the nipple, Bridgette went from zero to turned on. Monica then lifted her shirt as high as she could, and her mouth went around that nipple.

“Yes,” Bridgette whispered.

Monica’s fingers continued to gently stroke her clit. When her hand moved lower, Bridgette almost told her to stop because she wasn’t wet enough for Monica to go inside yet, but Monica was only checking that out for herself, letting her fingers dance in the wetness that had gathered there. She brought it up to Bridgette’s clit, and her strokes grew harder, as did the sucking on Bridgette’s nipple.

“I don’t think I can keep standing,” Bridgette said after a moment. “Not after… the other night. I’m…”

“Wobbly?” Monica asked with a smirk on her sexy face.

“Yes.”

“Couch, then.”

Bridgette looked over at the couch, which had a spare blanket and two pillows at one end.

“Maybe the bedroom,” she suggested.

Monica pulled back a bit and likely saw how unsure Bridgette was in her expression.

“Babe, I’m not going anywhere, okay?”

“I didn’t say anything,” she deflected.

“You don’t want to make the sofa smell like us because you’re afraid I’m going to leave tomorrow.”

“Stop reading me. It’s annoying,” she replied only half-seriously.

Monica stroked her hard and said, “No, it’s not. It’s the good part about finding someone; how they always seem to know you better than anyone.” She pressed harder against Bridgette’s clit and added, “Now, take off your clothes and join me on the sofa. I’m claiming that just like I claimed your bed the other night.”

Monica pulled out of her underwear and removed her own sweater and shirt before she started walking. Her bra and jeans went after her shoes and socks. Lastly, she kicked off her own underwear, too, and sat down, looking at Bridgette expectantly.

Bridgette removed her shirt, kicked off her sweats, and moved to stand in front of Monica in only her underwear. Monica leaned forward and pressed her face to Bridgette’s stomach.

“You make me feel like I can throw out my plan, and it’ll all be okay,” Monica said before kissing just above her belly button.

“It will be,” Bridgette replied as she ran her hands into Monica’s hair.

She didn’t know how true that was, really. She couldn’t. She didn’t have a crystal ball and couldn’t predict the– Her thoughts cut off when she remembered the fortune teller in Jackson Square, who’d said something about them having two dogs one day. Bridgette knew it was crazy to believe a stranger who pretended to have some kind of power, but in this moment, staring down at the beautiful woman before her, who was naked and waiting for Bridgette to straddle her hips, she trusted that fortune teller.

She let Monica’s hands on her hips pull her down on top of her, and she lowered her head, meeting Monica’s lips with her own. She kissed her long and slow before she began to rock her hips just as slowly. In the meantime, Monica’s hands had been everywhere. Now, one was on Bridgette’s ass, pressing her closer to Monica’s body, and the other one was sliding between her thighs, where Monica pushed two fingers inside her and pressed her thumb to Bridgette’s clit. Bridgette responded by rocking against her, loving how full she felt and how good it felt to kiss Monica, with her inside her like this. Slowly, Bridgette moved against her, taking what she needed, wanting this to always be how it was between them. Monica’s lips moved back to Bridgette’s neck, sucking on the skin she found there and groaning when Bridgette began to move a little faster.

“Give me your nipple,” Monica said softly.

Bridgette lifted her breast, and when Monica leaned in, she took the nipple into her mouth, sucking on it as Bridgette held her there, as close as she could be, feeling how much Monica wanted her by how she lavished attention on her breast. Bridgette had to slow her hips down then, which confused Monica, who looked up at her.

“It feels too good,” she replied to the unspoken question in Monica’s eyes. “I don’t want to come yet.”

“You can always come again,” Monica said before she wrapped her lips back around Bridgette’s nipple.

“You’ll stay the night?”

“Well, it’s morning,” Monica said, pulling her mouth away from Bridgette’s nipple. “So, I think we…” She kissed between her breasts. “Do this, shower together, have breakfast, do more of this, have lunch, do more of this–”

“I get it.” Bridgette chuckled.

“And then, I’ll stay,” Monica added. “We’ll go into the office tomorrow, and you’ll start working on your plan for the company.”

“Shut up,” Bridgette replied with a soft laugh. “Talk about that later.”

Monica smiled up at her and said, “Then, come for me.”

When she pushed in deeper, Bridgette rolled her hips down into Monica’s hand.

“Tell me how good it feels again,” Monica requested.

“So good, baby,” Bridgette replied. “I want it like this again.”

She closed her eyes and focused on the orgasm building between her thighs.

“Bridge?”

Bridgette opened her eyes and met Monica’s.

“Look at me when you come,” Monica said softly.

Bridgette nodded, and when the orgasm finally began to take her over, she grasped Monica’s face in both of her hands, using her hips to keep the buildup going, and stared deeply into Monica’s eyes.

“I’m coming,” she said, focusing not just on the sensation but on keeping her eyes open and on Monica’s. “God, I’m–” She stopped when she came.

Her hips moved erratically, but she still kept her eyes trained on Monica’s, trying to silently tell her that she loved her without using the words just yet. It was too soon. Too much was still up in the air for them both. She couldn’t risk putting the words out there only to not hear them said back to her.

“Oh, baby,” Monica said before she kissed Bridgette. “God, you’re so…” She placed her hand between Bridgette’s breasts. “Just everything I always wanted and never knew I could have.”

“You have me,” Bridgette told her as her hips slowed. “You have me. I’m yours.”

Monica leaned up, captured her lips in another hard kiss, and said, “I’m yours, too. No matter what, never doubt that, Bridgette.”

“I won’t,” she said as she stopped moving. “I won’t.”

Monica pulled her hand out from between them, and Bridgette felt it cup her breast. Her own wetness coated her skin as Monica then took that breast into her mouth.

“Will you sit on this sofa and let me–”

“Yes,” she interrupted. “Whatever you were about to say, the answer is yes.”