One night stands like this really weren’t her style. If she was going to do casual sex, it was usually in her own luxury hotel room with her own things around her. Oh, and she usually kicked them out after the sex, she didn’t spend the night sleeping with them.
This situation was way out of her comfort zone.
She became suddenly nervous, though she couldn’t even begin to explain why. She splashed some water on her face and rinsed her mouth out, but then decided that it would be best if she went back to her hotel room to get ready for the day.
When she made it out of the bedroom, Ava was standing at the small counter with a coffee mug in hand, another sitting on the counter waiting for Elizabeth. She gave a slight smile at the thought, but then started gathering the remainder of her things. A slight feeling of discomfort came over her, but she spoke to dispel it. “I think I’m going to go back to my room at Lavender’s instead.”
“Are you sure?” Ava asked. “If you want I can run over and grab some things while you shower.”
Heat flushed Elizabeth’s cheeks and she shook her head. “No that’s fine, it will be easier if I just go.”
“Do you want me to drive you?” Ava asked.
“It’s only a few blocks, I’ll walk,” Elizabeth said with another shake of her head.
“Um, okay.” Suddenly Ava looked flustered, and Elizabeth immediately felt guilty.
“Thank you,” Elizabeth said as she buttoned her wrinkled blouse. She stepped over to the counter where Ava was sipping from her mug. The other sat waiting and Elizabeth picked it up and took a sip. “Have you heard from the hospital?"
“Oh, I haven’t even checked,” Ava said and heat began to color her cheeks. She set her coffee down and went to grab her phone from the nightstand. Elizabeth held her breath, curious if she was going to acknowledge the text message.
Ava tapped the screen a few times without saying anything before looking back up at Elizabeth. “Nothing new,” she said, and Elizabeth deflated slightly. “A few reports, thingsseem to be holding steady, they’ve made a little progress on treatment variations.”
Elizabeth nodded. She opened her mouth to ask about the other text but thought better of it. It was none of her business. Still, she knew she needed to get out of there before saying something that she would regret.
“I don’t mind driving you, I’m almost ready,” Ava said again, but Elizabeth just shook her head.
“I need to clear my head anyway before heading back to the hospital, I think a walk would do me some good.” Elizabeth noticed the slight frown on Ava’s face when she spoke. She opened her mouth again to explain further but closed it. It would just dig the hole deeper. “I… um… I’ll see you in a little while.”
Ava nodded and took a step toward Elizabeth, who wet her lips. “I had a great time last night,” Ava said without lifting her eyes.
“I did too, Ava,” Elizabeth said and took a step toward her, closing the distance between them.
Ava looked up, her eyes were liquid, and Elizabeth wished she could tell what Ava was thinking. Elizabeth reached up and touched Ava’s cheek, her pulse quickened when Ava leaned into the touch. She leaned forward and pressed her lips to Ava’s, lingering on the taste of coffee and citrus. Ava brought a hand up to Elizabeth’s cheek and lingered there for a moment before they parted. As Elizabeth pulled back, Ava took a breath to speak.
“Do we need to talk about this?” Ava asked, her eyes hopeful.
“Not until we both know whatthisis,” Elizabeth answered, and Ava winced but nodded. “I’ll see you in a little while,” Elizabeth reassured her.
Ava nodded again as Elizabeth pulled away and slipped into her shoes, aware of Ava’s lingering gaze as she stepped out the door into the morning sunlight. The air was cool and crisp causing Elizabeth to pull in a deep breath almost automatically. She let the air back out of her lungs as she began walking in the direction of her hotel.
She tried to focus, to think about the case at the hospital, but her thoughts continued to turn back to Ava and how she made Elizabeth feel.She had never felt this way about another person. She’d loved people, she’d been in relationships, but this was different. It was thrilling and terrifying. Her blood pumped hotter as she thought back on some of the details from last night. The way Ava’s touch lingered on her skin, the incredible heights of orgasm. Ava had joked this morning about moving in, but Elizabeth couldn’t be sure she would say no to that if it was genuinely offered.
Elizabeth shook her head at that last as another one crept in. That mysterious text this morning. She had noticed that it had come in the night before, obviously Ava hadn’t noticed it while she was with Elizabeth, but it did make her wonder. A deep fear that Ava wasn’t as interested in this as she was rooted itself in Elizabeth’s mind. It was well beyond her control; if Ava has relationships with others it was really none of Elizabeth’s business at this point, but she couldn’t help the slight badgering of jealousy creeping into her thoughts.
Elizabeth snorted at herself. She was being ridiculous. She was a professional woman in her midlife, there was no longer spacefor trivial nonsense like jealousy, she knew that. She needed to get her mind straight before getting to the hospital, there were much more important things to worry about than whether or not Ava had someone else in her life.
Before she even noticed, Elizabeth was climbing the stairs to her room, thankfully no one was in the lobby to see her coming in wearing the same clothes she left in the day before, but it was no one else’s business anyway. They wouldn’t have any way of knowing that she hadn’t slept at the hospital. Except for the disheveled state of the clothes anyway. Lavender Larwood, the owner of the cafe-bar where she was staying looked like a woman who certainly knew things but kept them to herself. Elizabeth looked down at herself as she unlocked the door to her room. She closed it behind her and leaned against it.
Behind the door, she finally felt like she could relax. No one was watching her, no one was judging her, and no matter how many times she told herself that it didn’t matter, the nervousness still clung to her. She took another deep breath before heading to her en suite bathroom. She turned on the water and allowed it to heat up as she brushed her teeth, watching with interest as her image disappeared from the rapidly fogging mirror.
Once she was showered and refreshed, she pulled on a dark navy pantsuit and stood in front of the mirror to style her hair and apply some light make-up. When she finally felt like herself again, her thoughts turned toward the case at the hospital. She almost felt guilty that she’d forgotten about it for so long.
She packed her bag to get ready to leave, and her thoughts turned back to Ava. She wondered how she was going to act around her at the hospital. Ava was a professional, though, Elizabeth shouldn’t worry about it. The decision not to talk about it this morning was probably not the best idea, but at that moment, she couldn’t even be sure what she was feeling, much less how to take that feeling into work with her.
She checked to make sure that everything was in her backpack as she slung the strap over her shoulder and headed back down the stairs. She stopped in the cafe for a quick breakfast before departing, and an errantthought entered her mind that she should invite Ava to her room next time. She immediately chastised herself for assuming that there would be a next time. She couldn’t believe how ridiculous she was being.
7
