Page 69 of Iris Kelly Doesn't Date

Stevie watched as Iris gazed up at the modern-style white house, all glass and reclaimed wood and ninety-degree angles, her mouth hanging open adorably. The breeze blowing through the palm trees was sultry and warm, and Stevie could just make out the sound of the Pacific rolling behind the house.

“It’s real,” Stevie said, smiling at her over their rideshare’s roof. Their driver popped the trunk and lifted out their luggage, then promptly took off down Yerba Buena Road. Stevie rolled both suitcases toward where Iris stood on the cobbled driveway. “Welcome to the Riveros’ ridiculously opulent seaside mansion.”

“I’ll take ridiculous,” Iris said. “I’ll take this kind of ridiculous every day.”

Stevie laughed then took advantage of that fact that Iris was still staring up at the house to... well, stare at Iris. Not that she hadn’t been doing the same thing all morning whenever she could, since the moment Iris picked her up to head to the airport, and then again throughout their entire two-and-a-half-hour flight.

She just couldn’t seem to stop.

Stevie wasn’t sure if she was staring because Iris was beautiful—she was, completely radiant with her bright hair in a fishtail braid, a grass-green sundress flowing over her freckled skin—or because she was still trying to process the last time they were together.

Their... lessons.

She and Iris had only texted a few times since, discussing trip details, packing lists. Once, Iris had asked about a certain line inMuch Ado, and she and Stevie had then watched the Emma Thompson movie while texting constant comments and ideas. But neither woman had said anything about the kissing, the shirtless pressing.

The moaning.

God, the moaning—Stevie didn’t think she’d ever forget the sound Iris made when she’d slid her leg between Iris’s thighs. It was gorgeous. Raspy and hot and had promptly sent Stevie in a tailspin of too many thoughts and not enough time to slow them down.

In the last week, Stevie had relived that sound over and over again, and she wasn’t sure she could ever admit to anyone how many times she’d gotten herself all worked up, underwear completely drenched in seconds, just thinking about it. On the one hand, the lesson Iris guided her through seemed to have worked—she’d felt more relaxed as they’d kissed, she was able to undress them both without needing to dry heave. On top of that, the moan Iris emitted was real, and Stevie felt a surge of pride and hope that one day she might actually be able to do that to someone in an organic situation that would end in actual sex.

On the other hand...

Yeah, Stevie couldn’t stop staring at Iris.

Maybe she just needed to work on this a little more—if Iris making sounds of pleasure threw her off, maybe she simply needed Iris to help her through a lesson where there were... more moans of pleasure?

Jesus, she sounded absurd. She yanked her gaze from Iris and scrubbed her face with one hand. She one hundred percent had to stop thinking about moaning. For many reasons.

Not the least of which was the fact that Adri, Vanessa, and Ren were already at the Riveros’—they’d flown down yesterday to get things set up—and Iris and Stevie had to put on their fake dating game faces. The rest of the principal cast was arriving tomorrow, which gave Stevie a bit of time with her friends to settle into... whatever the hell she and Iris were.

“You ready for this?” Iris asked.

“Honestly?” Stevie said. “Not really, no.”

“It’ll be fine. You did great at Bitch’s the other day.”

“Did I? Adri wasn’t very pleasant.”

Iris smirked. “Again, unrelated to our lie.”

“You still think that?”

“We’re very convincing, trust me. And, you know, the other night... I really believed you.”

Stevie frowned. “Believed me about what?”

“That you really wanted to get me naked and have your wicked way with me.” Iris winked, but her cheeks went a little pink.

Stevie’s, of course, flamed supernova. “Iris, that...”

But... what? It wasn’t real. She didn’t actually want to get Iris naked and have her wicked way with her. They’d tried that—disaster. So this really was acting, a part they were both playing, as was pretty much every single thing they were going to do for the next two days,Much Ado–related or not.

Stevie shook her head. Got back into her character.

Except she wasn’t exactly sure who the hell that character was.

“Hey, you two!”