Page 33 of Is It Casual Now?

thirty-three

Siena shouldn’t be nervous, but her fingers shook a little as she slid her key into her front door.

She had tried to get out of the office a little earlier, but that had gone by the wayside when more issues arose for some of her newer clients. The beginning of representing someone always carried with it teething problems. But the last few she had put in her books were definitely pushing her to new levels of patience.

Still, she had a little bit of time to get things ready before Jamie was due over for dinner.

And to hear Siena’s proposal concerning work. Siena was excited about how logical it seemed, how easy a progression and transition it could be for Jamie. She just hoped Jamie would see it that way as well.

After having a quick shower and changing into something far less professional, Siena ordered in dinner and eventually found the packet of candles she knew she had in the bottom drawer in the kitchen. Only two of them had been used, their blackened wicks not even halfway down the length of them. She grabbed them but quickly changed her mind as she returned them to the drawer and pulled two brand new candles from the open packet.

“New beginnings.” Siena smiled to herself as she took them into the dining room.

It was five minutes to seven when Siena’s doorbell rang.

“Right on cue.” She chuckled as she turned the lighter over in her hands once more. She’d been carrying it around with her, playing with it and refusing to put it down for fear of forgetting where she had put it when she needed it.

She dimmed most of the lights, paid the delivery driver for their dinner, and laid it all out nicely. She chuckled as she looked at the extra little touches she had made and couldn’t wait for Jamie to see it all. The bucket with ice held the pitcher she had prepared herself, while the many bowls of food littered the table between the only two seats that had plates at them, opposite each other.

And all of it had been done with the lighter still in her hand.

She really shouldn’t be so nervous, but she was.

So many changes had happened this year, and she wouldn’t do it differently. Not to risk the incredible future that lay in front of her. But still, her hand shook a little as she flicked the lighter to life. The candles bloomed easily as she touched the flame to them, one after the other. Their light flickering over the walls and the meal she hoped Jamie would enjoy and find as amusing as she did.

She couldn’t stop smiling and wondered how she could have ever fooled herself into believing any other relationship she’d had before this could have been confused for being in love.

As she wandered to the front door, forcing her feet to walk and not run, she dimmed the last of the lights and with a flick of her wrist tossed the lighter onto the key table by the door. Her hand felt empty, and the nerves threatened to rise .

“Hi.” She opened the door with a smile.

Jamie’s smile was brighter than Siena had ever seen it before. Considering how that sexy smile had managed to pick her up in a restaurant, that certainly said a lot.

“You look beautiful.” Jamie bit lightly on her lower lip.

“Is that a bad thing?” Siena asked with a chuckle, though she didn’t hide her confusion at Jamie’s expression.

“Definitely not.” Jamie wrapped her arms around Siena’s neck as she stepped over the threshold and into Siena’s home. “But it does make it a lot harder to focus on eating anything else.”

Siena laughed and shook her head. “Careful, or I might start to think you only love me for the orgasms.”

Jamie kissed Siena in reply. The kiss, soft and gentle, sent a river of fire racing up and down Siena’s body, from her toes to her scalp where Jamie’s short fingernails were being dragged.

“Wow.” Siena breathed when Jamie pulled away from her just as gently as she had leaned in to kiss her.

Jamie brushed Siena’s hardened nipple with her shoulder as she sauntered past, leaving Siena open-mouthed in the frame of her still-open front door.

With a shake of her head which might as well have been her entire body, Siena smiled as she closed the door, making sure it was locked before she quickly scurried after Jamie’s swaying hips.

Jamie stopped at the archway into the living room. Siena would have run directly into her back, distracted by those hips and that ass if she had been following any closer.

“You did this for me?” The incredulity in Jamie’s voice sent sadness directly to Siena’s heart.

“Of course I did.” Siena gently wrapped her arms around Jamie’s waist, resting her head on Jamie’s shoulder and seeing what Jamie saw, and tried to find the thing that put such shock in her voice .

“It-it’s beautiful. Thank you.” Jamie turned her head and brushed Siena’s lips with her own. The angle wasn’t the most conducive, but they were Jamie’s lips, and it seemed no matter how contorted either of them were, those lips continued to send a spark through Siena’s very being.

“You’re beautiful. And you deserve to be treated like a queen.”

“Because I’m beautiful?” Jamie asked in a tone that suggested she might be testing Siena.

“Absolutely not.”

“What?”

“The one doesn’t define the other. Who you are deserves to be treated like a queen. And you are beautiful. Both exist separate from the other.”

“Hmmm.” Jamie’s tone shifted to that smirk Siena loved. “It’s almost like you are trying to wine and dine me after all.”

“Absolutely.” Siena chuckled as she unwound her arms from Jamie and moved to one of the places she had set up with a plate and glasses.

“Oh my God.” Jamie laughed as she sat in the seat Siena pulled out for her. “Are you kidding me?”

“I would never kid about…” Siena lifted the pitcher from the ice bucket so Jamie could see that as well. “Fajita’ing and magarita’ing.”

“You really are perfect.”

“Huh.” Siena scoffed, but she couldn’t hide the smile and doubted the flickering light of the flames truly covered the heat in her cheeks. “Hardly. But I’ll do everything to be perfect for you.”

“Just be you,” Jamie said. “That’s more than enough.”

“Then dig on in, before the fajita meat gets cold,” Siena said as she took her own seat and they both dove in, making fajitas their own way.

“So are you going to tell me what this big job opportunity is about?” Jamie seemed genuinely curious about it, which was a good sign.

Then again, she was unemployed right now, so she’d probably take anything she could get if there was a chance it would help pay the bills.

“I was going to wait, but all right.” Siena took a deep breath and dove in. “Come work for me at D.Y.K.E. Management.”

“What?” Jamie’s eyebrows knitted together.

“Come and join as D.Y.K.E.’s public relations consultant. Primarily, you’ll be in charge of controlling Bunny and Piper’s media presence, as well as helping me build up my new clients Jo and Bea.”

“Jo?” The shock on Jamie’s face was evident. “The same Jo who’s fake-engaged to Piper?”

“The one and the same. That’s a complicated situation, but I can fill you in on all of that when you start.” Siena smiled, unable to get rid of the ridiculous amount of joy and hope that filled her now that her idea was out in the open.

“Siena.” Jamie’s lips pursed together, and she placed her freshly wrapped fajita back down onto her plate.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong.” Jamie smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “It’s an amazing opportunity, and past me would have jumped on it the minute you said, ‘work for me.’ But I don’t want to fall back on bad habits and jumping into things without thinking them through. It’s just one of those many habits I want to change.”

Siena sat with Jamie’s words for a moment, rolling them around in her head. This hadn’t been what she expected. Surely working for her and doing this kind of PR would be Jamie’s dream job. She’d talked about it more times than Siena could count, and having access to all the gossip firsthand would surely be the perfect job for Jamie .

“I’m sorry. But can I think about it before you jump into getting me sized up for a uniform?” Jamie was genuinely smiling this time, which was a relief to Siena’s racing heart and the disappointment filling her.

Siena laughed and the image of Jamie in any kind of uniform presented a whole new option for her to pursue at a later date.

“Of course you can.” Siena returned to making her own fajita. After a moment, she looked up to see Jamie hadn’t picked her dinner back up.

“You really aren’t mad at me?” Jamie asked when their eyes met.

“Mad at you?” Siena blinked, and she stopped wrapping up her first fajita. “I’m proud of you. You’re wanting to be a better version of you.”

“What if I can’t be? What if this is the best I get?” Jamie cringed, her hair falling over her shoulder as she seemed to try and hide behind it.

“This is what I’ve fallen in love with. And I know you. No matter what, you’ll keep trying to be better. You’re not a bad person.” Siena reached over and touched Jamie’s hand lightly with her own, giving her a tender squeeze. When they’d first met, Siena had never expected that Jamie would have this much to be self-conscious about. She hid it well during their initial trysts and conversations.

“All right, enough of all that.” Jamie waved her hand and picked up her fajita. “How was the rest of your day?”

And just like that, Siena and Jamie started talking about their days. The margaritas flowed and the fajitas were made.

“Oh my God. You should have stopped me before I ate that last one.” Jamie groaned as the two of them moved to Siena’s couch.

“I wasn’t getting my fingers bitten off.” Siena laughed as Jamie pouted. “Lie down and I’ll rub your tummy all better. ”

Jamie laughed but still laid her head in Siena’s lap. “Is that a euphemism?”

“Not at all.” Siena chuckled, far happier now than she could ever remember being in the last few years. She settled in next to Jamie on the couch, combing her fingers through Jamie’s hair and simply relaxing. God, when was the last time she had done this? Yes, her brain was still spinning with work and everything that she could potentially do for Bea and Jo in the upcoming year, but she was simply content.

The sensation was simply breathtaking.

Siena didn’t know when they had fallen asleep, but she woke with her bladder screaming at her.

“Jamie,” she whispered at first until she realized there was no way to wake Jamie that easily or gently. “Jamie, wake up, baby. I need to pee.”

“Hmm?” Jamie stirred and looked up. After blinking a few times, a smile stretched sleepily across her lips.

“Let’s go to bed, baby.”

“I’m sorry. I’m too tired.”

Siena laughed. “Bed, Jamie, not sex. Come on, baby.”

Jamie finally moved with a few more nudges from Siena.

Siena took Jamie’s hand and led her toward her bedroom. Looking back, she saw Jamie’s eyes still closed. The trust she had in Siena to lead her safely filled Siena with the kind of fullness she’d never experienced before.

They hadn’t fucked, they hadn’t made love, and they had barely even made out throughout the evening, and yet Siena could say without hesitation that tonight had been one of the most beautiful and intimate evenings they had ever had.

Hell, it had been one of the most intimate evenings she’d ever had with anyone.

After she laid Jamie on the bed, Siena went and relieved herself. Hearing Jamie’s soft snores from the bathroom, she decided to get changed into a camisole, leaving just her panties on.

“Why did you put more clothes on?” Jamie said groggily as she pushed herself up onto her elbows.

“Because it’s been a big week, and we need sleep more than sex.”

“Never.” Jamie smiled but her eyes were already closing.

“Let’s sleep tonight, baby. We have forever to explore more ways to please each other.” Siena helped tuck Jamie comfortably into her bed, and then slipped in beside her.

“Hee-hee, big spoon.”

“I’ll always be your big spoon, for as long as you want me.”

“Mmmmm.” Jamie’s breathing had already slid into the easy slow rhythm of sleep.

Siena snuggled closer and closed her eyes. Who knew that falling asleep clothed and without having had sex would be one of the most incredible nights of her life?