Page 99 of The Paid Wife: A Lesbian Romance
Dani’s. She wanted to get closer. To lean into her and absorb
her body heat. What would it be like to set her head on Dani’s
shoulder, to lean forward and inhale the lovely vanilla scent at
the base of her neck?
“But you…” Dani pr
essed.
“I don’t know. I’m just sorry for it, that’s all. It’s terrible
being lonely in a city this size. It’s bad enough when you’re
naturally alone but being alone when you’re surrounded by
people all the time, that’s hard.”
Dani surprised her with a soft smile. “It’s not like that.” She
toed the sand harder, sending a little spray of the white grains
up into the air. “I just grew up different than you. It was lonely
and hard too. I guess I’m used to it. I’ve been by myself for a
long time.”
Emily heard what Dani wasn’t saying. At least she thought
she heard. Maybe she was wrong. It sounded like Dani was
keeping people at a distance on purpose. It hurt Emily to think
that when Dani was so vibrant. She had the same kind of
energy her shop did. A good energy. Emily could practically
feel it buzzing in the air between them.
“You deserve to be happy.” On impulse, Emily lifted her
hand and caught a flyaway strand of raven black hair between
her fingers. It was soft. So exquisitely soft. She tucked it
behind Dani’s ear. “Everyone does. I really believe that.”
Dani still didn’t pull away. It was like she was caught up in
whatever spell was knitting them together. Whatever it was
that was happening between them. Emily couldn’t believe
what she’d just done, and she snatched her hand back. She
tucked them both firmly under her legs so that she wouldn’t be
