Page 22 of October (New Orleans #10)

S he thought she would be over her nerves with Finley.

They had had two dates. Finley liked her.

She had held her. She had even kissed Molly’s neck right under her earlobe as they’d talked to Melinda on the tour.

After that, their dinner had been amazing, and they’d shared their entrées a little, with Molly stealing a piece of Finley’s pizza and Finley taking a few bites of Molly’s pasta.

Molly had ordered the beer she had wanted, and they’d shared a tiramisu that had been the best Molly had had in a long time.

It had been the perfect date, which was what she had wanted, but when she had gotten to her door, the nerves had taken over once again, so while she had wanted Finley to come inside, she didn’t think she was ready for what might have happened had Finley done so.

Molly knew that if Finley had wanted to take things further, she would have let her.

She wouldn’t have been able to resist the chance to finally be with the woman she had been interested in for such a long time, even if she wasn’t ready for that, and she didn’t want to end up regretting anything with Finley because she’d done something that she wasn’t ready for.

When Finley went in for the kiss instead of asking to go inside, Molly had thought this was the moment.

They’d have their first kiss, and that she had been ready for.

Unfortunately for her, Finley had only wanted a cheek kiss.

A damn cheek kiss. Had Finley been trying to get her back for the kiss on the cheek Molly had left her with the night before?

Had it been Finley teasing her because of that kiss?

She didn’t know, but she’d rushed inside her apartment, closed the door, locked it, run into her bedroom, and closed that door as if Finley was following her.

Molly had crashed onto her bed and screamed into her pillow.

Why couldn’t she get it together when it came to this woman?

She had never been like this with anyone else she’d dated, a trainwreck who was proud of the fact that she could at least speak to Finley in complete sentences now.

She’d tried to call Juliet to tell her about her newest mistake, but Juliet hadn’t answered, so after leaving a voicemail, Molly had silenced her phone and had gone to sleep.

That morning, she woke to a text from Juliet telling her that she’d try to call her later and that she was sure whatever Molly had done wasn’t that big of a deal.

Molly disagreed, but she had to get up and go to work, where she would see Finley because Finley sat right next to her now, and she had to try to get herself together before then.

Arriving at the office a few minutes late because she’d been delaying the inevitable, she was happy to see that Finley wasn’t at her desk.

Molly set her things down and got out her laptop.

The new hire, whom she still didn’t like, said hello to her and then was busy reading through a training manual that Molly recognized because she had seen Juliet with the same one repeatedly.

Molly went to her first meeting, followed by a second, and by the time she returned to the row of cubicles, Finley was sitting at her desk now.

Molly sat down in her chair without saying anything and pretended like she was getting back to work.

A minute later, though, she chanced a look, and Finley was staring at her.

Molly turned away quickly and started moving some documents around her desk because she couldn’t focus on actual work.

Then, figuring that she’d waited long enough between glances, she turned again and found Finley still staring at her.

Finley smiled at her this time, and Molly rolled her eyes.

Finley laughed. Molly glared at her. Finley stood and walked toward her.

“Can I borrow you for a second?”

“Nope. Lots to do. So much work.”

Finley leaned down over her and said, “I think you’ve moved that one a few times already.” She pointed to one of the documents that, indeed, Molly had moved at least three times. “Maybe you can spare a minute before you reorganize your desk again?”

“Fine. Okay,” she replied.

Finley straightened, and Molly stood. She didn’t know where they were going, but she followed Finley around a corner and up the stairs she rarely took. Eventually, Finley swiped her ID badge, opening a door that Molly knew all too well because Finley used to work there. It was the server room.

“What are we doing in here?” she asked, checking for Levi or Rusty.

“They’re on the first floor, working on the remodel,” Finley said. “I just checked on them. They won’t be here for hours, if at all.”

The door closed behind them, and for the first time, Molly noticed that there were no windows around, just walls of computers or servers or something that she knew nothing about, and the door behind her.

Finley moved into her, and suddenly, Molly’s back was against that door, and Finley’s hands were on her hips.

“Finley!”

“I wanted to kiss you last night, and not on the cheek.”

“We don’t have to talk about–”

“You’re right; we don’t,” Finley interrupted.

Then, she leaned in, but Molly didn’t move.

She couldn’t. She was frozen in time. She had wanted this for so long, and as things buzzed and beeped around her, Finley pressed her lips to hers for the first time.

It wasn’t exactly the soft music in the background that Molly had hoped for, but she supposed this was even better.

Finley was surrounded by computers, which she loved, and Molly had had many fantasies of them doing this and much more in this very room.

When her brain finally caught up, she actually remembered to move her lips against Finley’s.

Finley’s hands moved to cup both of her cheeks, and she held Molly there as if telling her that she didn’t want any more kisses on the cheek until she had this one.

Molly wouldn’t argue with that. Slowly, the kiss built, and she moaned a little.

Her hands remembered how to work and moved straight into Finley’s hair.

God, this was just how she had imagined it.

She ran her fingers through the wavy strands, loving that she was the one who could do this.

Finley’s hand dropped to Molly’s hip again, and then, it was under her shirt, just resting on her skin there.

When Finley’s lips pulled back, Molly almost insisted that they return, but Finley’s mouth was on her neck, and her hand was sliding up a little higher with every kiss, nip, and suck of Molly’s neck.

“God, you feel good,” Finley whispered into her ear. “I wanted this last night, Molls. I just wasn’t sure you were ready.”

“I was. I was,” she replied and let her hand fall into the back of Finley’s shirt, resting her hand between Finley’s shoulder blades.

Her other hand found Finley’s lower back and moved under the shirt there as well, bringing Finley even closer to her body, needing to feel her warmth and her strength as if to prove to herself that this wasn’t a dream; it was actually happening.

When Finley’s hand slid up a little higher until it was just under Molly’s breast, she knew she wasn’t dreaming because her nipples hardened instantly, and she opened her eyes because she knew they were going too far.

They needed to stop. They were at work. Technically, anyone with a badge allowing them access to this room could walk in at any moment and find them making out against the door.

Then, Finley’s hand was on her breast over her bra.

“Oh, fuck,” she let out.

“Too much?” Finley asked.

“No,” she replied. “Yes.”

Finley continued to massage Molly’s breast but only for a moment longer before her hand and her lips were gone.

“Wait. Why’d you stop?”

“Because I should,” Finley told her and pecked her lips. “But I don’t want to. Does that count for anything?”

“Everything,” Molly replied, and Finley smiled at her as she cupped her cheek. “I thought you were going to kiss me last night, and I messed things up again,” she added, leaning into the touch.

“You didn’t mess anything up,” Finley said and kissed her quickly. “You were cute. Besides, it’s not like I announced that I was going for the cheek. I thought about asking to come inside.”

“Why didn’t you?”

“Because I don’t want to pressure you.”

“Into sex?”

“Into anything.”

“Why are you worried about that?” Molly asked.

“Because I really want you,” Finley admitted. “Like, I want you so much, I just touched your breast at work. And you’re HR, so that probably makes it even worse.”

“Even better if you’re in my shoes right now,” Molly replied. “And you’re right: we shouldn’t be doing this here.”

“I know. I just kept looking over at you, and I knew you were feeling awkward about last night.”

“How?”

“Well, you moved documents around until they formed different shapes. You had a square and a rectangle after that. I also realized that the newbie sitting across from you was staring at me, probably wondering why I was watching you and smiling, because I think you’re fucking adorable.

If she comes to you with an HR complaint later about me being a creeper, will you defend my honor? ”

Molly laughed and said, “I might.”

“You might?”

“Well, you did kiss me like that.”

“Yeah? How was it?” Finley smirked.

“Better than I imagined it would be.”

“You imagined it?”

“What part of me liking you forever was confusing to you, Fin?”

Finley just chuckled at first, but then her lips moved to Molly’s nose, and she kissed it before she also kissed Molly’s forehead.

“So, it was better?”

“Way better. It was real. You were really kissing me.”

“I’d like to do it again sometime, and more than once, if you let me.”

“I’ll let you tonight, if you want.”

“I do want, but I have something I have to do tonight. Maybe tomorrow? I mean, we can kiss again right now, and maybe again, when we’re leaving, just to hold us over.”