Page 22 of January (New Orleans #1)

“G ood morning,” Kyle said.

“Morning,” Melinda replied. She had only just opened her eyes when she realized how cold she was. Having looked around, she added, “We fell asleep out here.”

“Yes, we did.” Kyle chuckled. “At least we put some of our clothes back on.”

Melinda looked down, pulled back the blanket, and noticed she had her shirt and panties on but nothing else. Kyle had her underwear and shirt on as well. Melinda didn’t remember them putting these things back on. They’d made love under the stars, and they’d talked until they’d fallen asleep. They must have both been cold and had put at least something back on and then snuggled back together.

“I don’t even remember doing that.”

“Me neither,” Kyle shared. “We should go inside. We’re lucky we had blankets.”

“And body heat,” she replied, slipping on top of Kyle. “You feel warm in some areas.”

“Oh, yeah?” Kyle laughed and ran her hands into Melinda’s hair.

“Want to warm up all over with me?” Melinda asked.

“Yes, but I checked my phone, which is almost dead, by the way, and it’s after eight.”

“Shit!” Melinda shot up, straddling her. “I have work.”

“Yeah… And contractors should be walking through the door here soon.”

“I bet they’d like the show,” she noted, smiling down at Kyle.

“I bet they would, but I’d prefer to keep this show between us.”

“Just us, huh?” Melinda teased, running her hands up and down Kyle’s chest under her shirt and over her breasts and those hard nipples. “How am I supposed to go to work today when you’re here, looking like this?”

“How do I look?”

“Sexy and happy.”

“I am happy.”

“You’re also sexy,” Melinda repeated. “And I knew that already, but now I really know it.”

Kyle sat up a little and kissed between Melinda’s breasts over her shirt.

“Are you free tonight?”

“For you? Absolutely,” she replied.

“Your place or mine?” Kyle asked, lifting Melinda’s shirt to kiss her skin.

Enjoying herself, Melinda closed her eyes and let Kyle press her lips wherever she wanted.

“How about mine?”

“Because there’s an actual bed there?”

“I don’t need a bed. I thought I showed you that last night,” she replied, cupping Kyle’s cheeks and lifting her face to look at her. “I have to run. I’ve got to get home to shower and change, and… God, I need to brush my teeth. Don’t kiss me.”

Kyle laughed and said, “I need to brush mine, too, so give me those lips.”

Melinda laughed, leaned down, and kissed her with a closed mouth, not risking her bad breath ruining this already perfect morning.

“I’ll get dressed and order a car. It’ll be faster.”

“I can make you coffee,” Kyle offered. “And I’ll order the car for you. Just get dressed.”

“I’ll get coffee at the office,” she replied before she kissed Kyle again and stood up, stretching. When Kyle’s head tilted to the side and her eyebrow lifted, Melinda added, “Don’t look at me like that. You’re making me want to call in sick.”

“Is that an option?” Kyle asked, running her hands up and down Melinda’s legs .

“I have three tours today, so no. But, tonight, you can have your way with me,” Melinda told her, taking a step back and picking up her jeans.

“I like the sound of that,” Kyle replied, picking up her phone to order Melinda a car. “Now, let’s get inside before the neighbors realize what we did back here last night.”

◆◆◆

“You’re late. You’re never late,” Jill said when Melinda came in through the back, which led upstairs to her apartment.

“Sorry,” Melinda replied. “Overslept.”

“Did you oversleep with your mouth attached to your neck?” Jill asked.

“Huh?”

“You’ve got a massive hickey under that uniform shirt,” Jill pointed out, laughing.

“Shit.” Melinda quickly covered the spot she’d forgotten all about with her hand as if that would somehow wipe Jill’s memory of seeing it. “I forgot. I need to run back up and cover it.”

“I’m coming with you,” Jill said. “I want details.”

Melinda hurried up the stairs, with Jill hot on her heels, and rushed into her bathroom, looking through her drawers for the concealer she hoped to find.

“Can you get me a turtleneck or something?” Melinda asked.

“I know it’s January, but it’s not that cold.”

“I think I have an old sleeveless one in there somewhere. Can you check?” she asked, finding the tube of concealer.

“Fine. But you better spill.” Jill moved toward Melinda’s closet and disappeared inside it.

“I was with Kyle.”

“Obviously,” Jill replied. “Now, tell me something I don’t know.”

Melinda smiled, pulled her polo away from her neck, and began to apply the concealer to the dark hickey Kyle had left there.

“We went on the helicopter ride.”

“And?”

“Dinner at the Palace,” she added.

“Mel, get to the good part,” Jill implored. “And I found your turtleneck. It’s white, though… You’ll get that makeup all over it.”

“I don’t care. Just toss it on the bed for me.”

“Tell me what happened after dinner.”

Melinda looked out and saw Jill holding the turtleneck that was still on its hanger.

“Are you holding my turtleneck hostage until I give you details?” she asked, glaring at Jill.

“Spill,” Jill said.

“We went to her house in the Garden District, and we talked and lay out in the courtyard. She brought blankets, and we fell asleep. My phone was in the house, so I missed my alarm.”

“You fell asleep on her mouth?” Jill asked.

Melinda grunted and returned her attention to the concealer, which was generally doing its job, but she’d still need the turtleneck for at least the day.

“No, we made out.”

“I’d say so,” Jill teased. “That thing is dark. How long did she hang out there, sucking?”

Melinda cleared her throat, recalling how Kyle sucked on a completely different part of her body not all that long ago.

“It was a good night. Now, give me my turtleneck so I can get to work.”

Jill laughed and pulled it off the hanger, tossing it to Melinda.

“When are you seeing her again?”

“Tonight.” She pulled off her uniform shirt.

“Are you going to let her get to third base tonight or maybe even let her slide into home? ”

There was a joke Melinda could make there about how Kyle slid in just fine, but she decided now wasn’t the time. She was already late for work, and she was meeting Bridgette later for lunch. Jill was a friend, sure, but Bridgette would get all the details before Jill would.

“We’ll see. Let’s go.”

Minutes later, as she led the tour, Melinda felt like an idiot with a white sleeveless turtleneck under her uniform polo and a smear of concealer on the edge of said turtleneck because she hadn’t been careful enough when putting it on. She did her best to pretend like she didn’t have a mess to deal with later and walked the Quarter with her first tour group. She focused on the tourists because they’d paid good money to have someone give them the history of their vacation spot, but her mind wasn’t all the way there. It was on Kyle and how much she wanted a repeat of the previous night.

During her second tour, which went through Jackson Square, Café Du Monde, and the Hurricane Katrina Memorial, she thought about how she had to beat Kyle to her apartment later because it needed to be straightened up again. Kyle had only briefly seen it, and Melinda didn’t want her to think she was a slob. Then, after her second tour, she met Bridgette for lunch at Henry’s place.

“Okay. Spill.”

“You and Jill… What’s up with spill?”

“Don’t be cagey with me. You got laid last night, didn’t you?” Bridgette asked, taking a sip of her sweet tea right after.

“I had sex last night, yes.”

“Damn. I’m jealous,” Bridgette replied.

“I wouldn’t call it ‘getting laid,’ though. ‘Sex’ isn’t right, either. It was more than sex.”

“More than sex? What did she do? Some tantric-type stuff?”

Melinda laughed and said, “No, but it was still more. It wasn’t just two people on a second date having sex because they wanted to. We didn’t plan it or even talk about it. We just kind of started slowly, and then, it was happening. And, Bridge, God, it was so damn good.”

“She’s good in bed?”

“It’s not like that. It’s like we were good together. I knew what she needed without her having to say it. She knew what I needed without me saying a word. We made love in the garden and fell asleep holding each other.”

“Damn, that’s romantic,” Bridgette noted. “I want that.”

“I want it again ,” Melinda said. “I can’t stop thinking about her. I’ve been texting her non-stop. I pause when I’m on the tours for a while, but when they’re all looking the other way, I get my phone out just to message Kyle.”

“Text her or sext her?” Bridgette teased.

“A little of both,” she replied. “I’ve never really sexted anyone before.”

“Yeah? How is it?” Bridgette took a bite of her sandwich.

“She’s very good,” Melinda said, recalling Kyle’s last message. “She’s sent me, like, two novels in her messages. One was about things that happened last night, and the other was about what she wants to do to me tonight, and she’s descriptive .”

“Oh? Let me see,” Bridgette held out her hand expectantly.

“No way! My eyes only,” Melinda replied, laughing.

“All jokes aside, Mel: what happens when she leaves? I thought you were going to take it slow.”

“We were. Like I said, we were just going to sleep, but it happened, and I’m very glad it did.” She sighed. “I don’t know what happens when she leaves. We didn’t talk about that before.”

“You probably should have though, right? You’re really into her. It’s obvious. I don’t want you to get hurt, Mel.”

“I don’t want to get hurt, either,” Melinda said. “She’s just different.”

“Different how?”

“It’s not like I’ve had that many girlfriends, but Kyle isn’t like the few that I’ve had. She’s so sweet, Bridge. She’s just herself all the time with me. She doesn’t hold anything back.”

“Definitely not in the bedroom if that hickey is any indication,” Bridgette teased.

“I want her to stay,” Melinda said.

“Obviously.”

“No, I mean, I really want her to stay. I hate the idea of her going home. I feel like New Orleans is her home; like she’s meant to be here. You should see her in that house. It’s like she was meant to be here all along.”

“How does she feel?”

“She says she loves it here,” Melinda replied.

“That’s good. This place isn’t for everyone.”

“It feels like it’s for her, though. She liked chicory coffee before she even came here.”

“Really?” Bridgette took another bite.

“Yeah. And she loves the history, too. You should’ve seen her in the helicopter last night. She looked like a little kid, seeing it from above. All smiles.”

“Mel, you’re getting really attached to someone who says that she likes the place but lives somewhere else. Her family is there, too, right? Besides you now, there’s only the properties really keeping her here, and she’s renting or selling those.”

“I know,” Melinda said, looking down at her uneaten Po-Boy.

“It’s your relationship. I just think you two clearly have some things to talk about. I joked about the sex thing, but I didn’t think you’d hook up with her so soon. You said you wanted to take your–”

“We didn’t hook up , though, Bridge. Hooking up is what you wanted to do. Kyle and I didn’t hook up.”

“Okay. That’s fair. But outside of having another date with her, what have you two talked about when it comes to the future? Are you dating? Exclusive? Girlfriends? Considering long-distance when she goes back home? I know it’s all new and everything, but if you don’t want to get your heart broken, you need to start figuring this stuff out now. She’s a flight away, and you pretty much work six days a week. Do you even get vacation days there? I know the boss loves you, but–”

“Okay,” Melinda interrupted. “I get it.” She held up her hands in defense.

“I’m not trying to bring you down, Mel,” Bridgette said.

“I know. It’s just a lot.”

“You said you didn’t want to go fast anymore.”

“I’m aware. But it’s not like I was planning on meeting someone. I’ve given probably thousands of tours at this point, and I can’t recall one tourist who I walked around this place and thought I wanted to date them. Bridge, I know you technically saw Kyle first, but when I saw her at the pub, something clicked.”

“You didn’t tell me that.”

“Because you were interested in her, too,” Melinda said.

“Yeah, sleeping with her. But nothing clicked for me like that.”

“It did for me. She’s beautiful, and there was something in her eyes and that smile she had when she looked up at me.” Melinda smiled at the memory. “I was smitten. Then, she showed up on the tour, we started talking, and last night, it was perfect. It was the perfect first time. It’s a night I’ll always remember even if she and I don’t work out.”

“You just met her, though, Mel. Are you sure?”

“I’m sure that I want to try. When she leaves, I know I want to do long-distance.”

“You said you didn’t want a long-distance relationship,” Bridgette reminded her.

“I don’t particularly want one now, but if she doesn’t live here, I know I still want her.”

“Do you think she wants that?”

Melinda looked down when a message buzzed on her phone and checked the screen.

“Speaking of the best sex I’ve ever had.”

“No one was speaking about that,” Bridgette said, rolling her eyes .

Melinda unlocked her phone and opened her messages app.

Kyle Schafer : I miss you. Lame or not lame?

Melinda smiled and messaged her back. Within seconds, Kyle replied.

Kyle Schafer : Good, because I can’t help it anyway. How’s work going?

“You two are already annoying,” Bridgette stated.

“You just want to be annoying with someone, too, don’t you?” Melinda replied, texting back a quick reply that she’d call Kyle later before she returned her attention to her friend.

“Yes. I like relationships, Mel. I hate being single. I’m not really interested in hooking up. It’s just that I miss sex. Good sex. The best sex of my life kind of sex.”

“I know. And you’ll find your someone, too.”

Bridgette lifted an eyebrow at her and said, “Your someone? Kyle is your someone?”

Melinda looked down at her phone for a few seconds when another text came in.

Kyle Schafer : I’ll bring wine for dinner tonight. Red or white?

It was a simple message. Nevertheless, it had Melinda’s butterflies flying around in her stomach and her heart pounding. Kyle was her someone.