“Tonight, you will all be competing for a private cooking class date with Megan and a professional chef,” Monica announced.
There were gasps and murmurs and one high-pitched moan from Tori, who was dressed in a long silver dress with a fitted bodice and a feather boa around her neck.
Elise, who had come up with the idea, silently patted herself on the back. She’d been so full of good ideas lately… but then also, not. That compatibility test had been her worst idea yet. In fact, Elise was so traumatized by it that she’d removed it from the schedule entirely.
Megan crossed the stage and took her seat on one of the sofas. She flicked back the few strands of hair that had toppled over her shoulder and crossed one leg over the other. Tonight, the winner would be entirely Megan’s decision. No input from production at all.
Monica stepped forward. “First up, we have Jamie.”
Jamie sprang to her feet. Elise was sure she’d heard a collective sigh of relief from the remaining contestants, though in Elise’s opinion, it was always better to go first. Jamie, however, didn’t seem to mind the order. She was grinning as she walked onto the stage. The side of her head with hair was slicked back into a glossy swoop. Elise wasn’t sure who had approved the triple denim situation—denim jacket, denim shorts, denim boots—but she was sure to bring it up during the next team meeting.
“Evening,” Jamie said, nodding, her focus entirely on Megan. She reached for the mic, immediately knocked it sideways, and caught it thankfully through a catlike reflex. “Sorry, I’m a little nervous,” she muttered, looking only slightly embarrassed.
Elise caught sight of Megan’s face.
The bachelorette was staring at Jamie with full-on starry-eyed wonder. It seemed Jamie, to Elise’s delight, was a good contender for that final rose.
“I hope you enjoy,” Jamie said softly.
Then the music cued, and Jamie opened her mouth.Back to Blackby Amy Winehouse poured out of her like liquid velvet, all smoky and dark, twisting under the stars above and glowing beneath the pool.
Elise felt Jamie’s voice in her chest, in her shoulders, in the tiny hair-raising prickles along her forearms. She felt it in another place too that she didn’t want to think about because would that mean she was… mentally cheating? Surely not.
The other contestants also watched in absolute awe. Amelia gaped. Tori’s jaw went slack. Rebecca’s knee bobbed and her fingers tapped, clearly nervous. Just as she should be. There was no way anyone was going to top Jamie tonight.
Elise glanced over their heads and glimpsed Harper standing near the back row of cameras. She was half in shadowand half haloed by the soft golden spotlight. She had her big lens lifted and her brow furrowed. Elise was suddenly desperate to catch her eye despite avoiding her like the plague all day. In fact, she wanted to walk right over there and apologize. She’d been so stupid. The compatibility test didn’t mean anything. Weren’t they better off because they were so different? Didn’t opposites attract? Yin and yang? Desert to ocean?
Elise spun around to place her tablet on the equipment table, but when she turned back, Harper was gone. “Shit,” she muttered under her breath just as a pang of disappointment rippled down her spine like a mild earthquake.
But she had it coming. Elise wasn’t a saint in this picture. Harper had no doubt noticed Elise ignoring her all day and wanted to give her a taste of her own medicine.
“Oh,” Elise shuddered as warm breath suddenly touched her bare shoulder.
Then Harper’s voice whispered in her ear and, well, that feeling she had for Jamie’s voice was suddenly directed toward the correct person. The only person she wanted to be with.
“Do you want to go back to your place?” Harper whispered.
“Yes,” Elise breathed. “Very much so, yes.”
~~
Elise couldn’t get her shirt off quickly enough. In fact, it got stuck, bunching around her elbows while she made a strangled sound against Harper’s mouth. Thank goodness Harper found this endearing. She laughed into the kiss and tugged the fabric down Elise’s arms.
“Very graceful,” she muttered and pressed Elise up against the front door.
“Tell me you’re impressed,” Elise said, breathless, her cheeks blazing.
The faint sound of Jamie’s velvety voice drifted through the open windows, then stopped. Monica’s muffled voice came next, followed by a sound Elise couldn’t identify. In fact, she didn’t actually even care to identify. She wasn’t even thinking about that stupid compatibility test. The fact that they’d scored six out of twenty-five wasn’t even crossing her mind. It wasn’t important anymore. Elise was pretty sure that if they had to do a chemistry quiz, they’d ace it.
“I’m very impressed.” Harper kissed down the side of her jaw to her neck, and Elise’s knees wobbled. Harper must have felt it because her grip tightened as they slid up Elise’s back. Then her fingers loosened and moved down to Elise’s pants, and before she knew it, they were at her feet. So too were her panties. And her bra.
Harper’s clothes didn’t last much longer. Elise took each item off with a slowness that made Harper moan and tilt her head back, eyes closed. She’d even stepped back an inch, which had given Elise the best damn view in the house. Not even the glittering Tyrrhenian Sea with feathers of orange and pink scattered across the sky could compare to Harper’s breasts, her curvy hips, her deliciously long legs, and short waist every supermodel dreamed of.
The minute she was completely naked, they were on each other again. Their mouths collided. Elise skimmed her hands down Harper’s shoulders to her waist. Then her fingers curled around Harper’s hips before smoothing down her sides to her lovely ass.
Harper’s hand went to Elise’s breast and cupped it tight. Her thumb swiped over her nipple and Elise, who hadn’t felt something that good, well, not since the last time they’d slept together, moaned into Harper’s mouth. She moaned again whenHarper stopped swiping and bent her head low to envelop Elise’s nipple with her mouth. She then flicked it with her tongue, nibbled it with her teeth, and repeated the process. She went harder and harder. It was beginning to hurt. But was it really painful, or was it erotic?
Erotic, Elise decided. That had to prove they were compatible, right? Harper knew exactly what buttons to press, what lit her up, what flipped her switches in all the right ways—even if Elise didn’t know it yet.