Page 27 of Frozen Hearts

“Do you want some water before we go?” Mel offered.

“No. But thank you for asking,” Willow smiled.

Olsen and Wells was decorated with various types of mounted fish. When they sat down at their table Willow couldn’ttear her eyes away from the giant swordfish mounted on the wall above Mel’s head. She gave the fish a grimace. Mel gave her a puzzled look. Willow realized too late that she was directing her expression of disgust right at Mel. Willow gave a tiny laugh.

“I’m sorry. I was giving the dead fish above you a dirty look. Not you,” Willow explained.

“That’s good to hear. I can’t be too careful,” Mel smirked.

“Are you ever going to let me live our little feud down?” Willow laughed.

“I don’t know. You’re going to have to be very nice to me while we find out,” Mel said with a grin that told Willow she was being teased. Mel’s lips curved upward into a crooked grin, and Willow couldn’t help imagining the feel of those lips against her own.

“Out of curiosity, when did you decide you wanted to ask me out? Was it the spur of the moment?” Mel asked. Her questions brought Willow back to the moment in front of her.

“When you left my house last night, I knew that I wanted to see you again.”

“I had no idea,” Mel said with a warm smile.

“I’m not always the easiest person to read I guess,” Willow admitted.

“You? Hard to read? No.” Mel’s tone dripped with sarcasm and Willow had to laugh.

“I know. It’s hard to believe.”

“I guess at least you don’t go around knocking people over everywhere you go,” Mel said with a firm note of self-deprecation.

“I’m sorry I was such a jerk to you,” Willow sighed.

“It’s okay. Knocking a woman off her feet isn’t meant to be taken literally,” Mel laughed. Willow couldn’t help her lips curving up into their own smile.

Willow took a minute to fully appreciate Mel. She was a gorgeous woman. Her long brown hair fell silkily over her shoulders. Willow watched Mel’s mouth move as she talked to their server. She remembered those same lips sucking on her nipples.

“Are you okay?” Mel asked.

“Of course. Why do you ask?”

“You just look a little flushed,” Mel answered.

Willow was aware of the heat surging through her body and settling between her legs. She tried to put all thoughts of her night with Mel out of her mind. Her eyes looked up and met Mel’s, there was a burning behind the other woman’s eyes. Willow wondered if Mel was having the same kind of thoughts she was.

Willow grabbed her glass of water and took a huge sip. As she went to place the cup on the table it landed half on her fork. The cup pitched forward, water went everywhere including down the front of Mel. Willow watched in horror as Mel was drenched.

“Oh shit, I’m so sorry!”

“It’s okay,” Mel answered gracefully.

“At least this time it was you and not me,” Mel chuckled.

The entire front of Mel’s shirt was covered in water. If the earth beneath her had opened up and swallowed her up, Willow would have been relieved. Instead she had to survive this awkward moment. Mel was taking it all in a stride. It somehow made their first encounters all the more embarrassing for her over reactions to them.

“I work in a cafe. This isn’t the first time I’ve had something spilled on me. Thank goodness this is only water,”Mel laughed, and the sound carried, filling the space between them.

Mel had a warmth to her that Willow had previously missed. Probably because she’d been so busy trying to find fault with Mel that she hadn’t noticed what was right about her. The server hurried back with a new glass of water, Mel thanked the man. She turned back to Willow and offered a smile.

“Tell me something about yourself,” Mel said, her lips curved upward into a grin.

“What do you want to know?” Willow asked.

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