Popcorn Love (39 page)

“Oh,” she hissed, “
yes
.”

Elena’s legs wrapped tightly around Allison’s waist,
and Allison shuddered. Her back lurched forward as Elena’s skirt
rode up and the heat between her legs met with the trembling plane
of Allison’s stomach, separated only by the thin materials of
Elena’s underwear and Allison’s shirt. Their kisses were passionate
and scorching as they panted into one another’s mouths and Allison
used her hips to make gentle rocking thrusts between Elena’s legs
that had her almost whining.

Allison sprang away from Elena so quickly that Elena
nearly hit the floor as the elevator chimed its arrival on the
thirtieth floor, both caught off guard given that neither had felt
the machine rock to a gentle stop. Elena caught herself, heels
smacking roughly against the elevator floor. Both her face and
Allison’s were heavily flushed as they quickly patted at their hair
and smoothed down their clothes.

The elevator doors slid open to reveal a single
person waiting. As soon as she saw him, Elena stiffened her spine
and kept her jaw rigid, determined to show that she was nothing if
not completely composed. The man stared at them for a moment, his
eyes tracking over the slight wrinkles in their clothes, especially
those marring Elena’s skirt. His lips pursed as he stepped onto the
elevator. “Afternoon, Miss Vega.”

“Elliot,” she replied with an acknowledging tilt of
her head before practically shooting out of the elevator. She heard
Allison choke out a quick “Sup?” before darting out of the elevator
to follow her.

* * *

As soon as Allison closed Elena’s office door and
looked at Elena, they both burst into loud laughter.

“Oh God,” Allison said, “that was so damn
awkward.”

Elena held her stomach as she laughed and nodded her
agreement. “I think he knew.”

“He definitely had an idea,” Allison said. “He
probably would’ve asked if he wasn’t so afraid of you.”

“He has always been afraid of me,” Elena gloated. “He
honestly cannot stand me, but he is the type who prefers to let
that be known behind closed doors and behind my back.”

“Yeah, typical,” Allison grunted. “There are way more
people like that in the world than there are people willing to say
stuff to your face.” She sighed as her laughter waned, but then the
image of the awkward elevator exchange drifted through her mind
again, and she burst into loud laughter all over again.

“What?” Elena asked.

“It’s nothing,” Allison said. “I just keep seeing it
in my mind. Your face was so red.”

“Yours was just as red,” Elena countered, wiping at
the tears that had developed in the corners of her eyes.

“And you were just like, ‘
Elliot
,’” Allison
said, mimicking Elena’s rigid posture and cold voice before
cracking up all over again.

“Oh yes, dear,” Elena drawled, “because ‘
Sup?’
is so much better.”

Allison grabbed her phone from her pocket. “Wait,
wait. Say that again. I
have
to get that on camera.”

Elena smirked and shook her head. “No.”

“Come on,” Allison whined, offering the woman her
signature charming grin. “Please?”

“Not a chance. That crooked smile of yours has no
sway over me, dear.”

“Yeah, right,” Allison said as she strutted over and
wrapped her arms around Elena’s waist. “Don’t deny it, Elena. You
find me totally adorable.”

Elena’s eyes practically sparkled as Allison danced
her around. “Is that right?”

“
So
right.”

“Hm.” Elena narrowed her eyes, pretending to
contemplate the claim.

Allison winked at her and waggled her eyebrows
ridiculously. Elena rolled her eyes in response but said, “You may
not be
entirely
wrong.”

“See?” Allison bragged, leaning forward to kiss the
slender column of Elena’s throat. “That’s what I thought.”

“Allison.”

“Hm?” Allison hummed against her throat.

“We have to stop.”

“No we don’t.”

“Oh, but we do.” Elena sighed. “I actually have a bit
of work to do, and I, unfortunately, cannot put it off any
longer.”

Allison groaned into Elena’s neck as she squeezed the
woman tighter, breathing her in. A moment later, though, she
relented and pulled her face from Elena’s neck. “Okay,” she said,
“but if you expect me to be able to help you out with anything,
then you’re going to have to stop smelling so good and looking so
good and tasting so good and sounding so g—”

Elena pressed an index finger to Allison’s mouth to
quiet her. “I get it, dear.”

Allison snorted with laughter and kissed Elena’s
lips. “So, what can I do to help?”

“I don’t actually believe there
is
anything,”
Elena replied. “It’s mostly paperwork and a meeting that I need to
be present for. You are welcome to stay and wait for me, Allison,
but it will likely be incredibly dull and we won’t have much
opportunity to interact.”

Allison sighed as she scratched at the back of her
neck and pondered what to do. She didn’t want to leave Elena,
because she was still on one of those clingy highs after the
bonding and the sex and then the almost-sex and all the little
playful moments and laughter. She pretty much wanted to crawl
inside this date and live in it. At the same time, she didn’t want
to be in the way or anything, nor did she want to just be chilling
on the couch in Elena’s office, twiddling her thumbs.

“Well, damn,” she said. “I don’t really have anything
else to do.”

She pulled her phone back out and glanced at the time
only to see that she had a text message from Macy, likely just
checking in. She opened it and read the short message.

Still alive. Bit dusty. Tired. The hell are you?

Allison snorted at the typical hung-over-Macy text.
Though Allison couldn’t hear her voice or see her expression, she
knew Macy was grumpy. She had never seen anyone as grumpy when not
feeling well as Macy.

“Macy just texted me,” Allison informed Elena,
turning the phone around to show her the message.

Elena arched a brow, confused, and Allison
laughed.

“Yeah, I know. Just wait until you meet her.”

“And when will that be?” Elena asked, brows knitting
together and eyes widening. It somehow managed to make her look
both nervous and excited about the idea.

“Do you actually
want
to meet her?”

“Of course,” Elena replied. “It’s the least I could
do after unleashing the storm that is my mother and Vivian on
you.”

“Well, really, it was more like they unleashed
themselves.”

“True.”

“I get that you think you
should
meet her,”
Allison said after a moment, “but I mean do you really
want
to? Because I won’t make you; at least not so soon.”

“No, no,” Elena told her, shaking her head and
pulling Allison close again. “I
want
to. She’s important to
you, so this is important to me.”

Allison hated the burning sensation in her throat as
Elena’s words actually managed to choke her up. She bit the inside
of her cheek to keep any tears from welling up in her eyes, but
they came anyway. She sucked in a cool breath and nodded, not
wanting to say anything, for fear that her voice would crack. But
when Elena stroked her cheek, Allison’s chest practically concaved,
and she knew she had to get away for a minute. She moved quickly
and wordlessly away from Elena and into the private bathroom
attached to the woman’s office, closing the door behind her.

* * *

Allison cursed at herself in the mirror of Elena’s
office bathroom as the woman’s words echoed through her mind over
and over. She blamed her stupid post-sex hormones or whatever for
the sudden urge to cry, but Allison knew it was really just because
it was incredibly nice to have someone who cared about the things
and the people that
she
cared about simply because she cared
about them.

She glanced around the bathroom and was surprised to
see that the room was fully stocked, and not just with the typical
items. There were two complete makeup kits, the top-dollar stuff of
course; makeup cleansing wipes; face and body lotions and
exfoliating washes; various nail polishes and remover; cotton
swabs; Q-tips; nail clippers; toothbrushes; toothpaste; mouthwash;
and more. Allison was pretty impressed. She reached for the makeup
cleansing wipes and pulled one out. Her makeup was a little smudged
from the sweating in the studio and now the watery eyes that
Allison refused to deem as crying. She contemplated simply cleaning
away the smudged bits and touching up her makeup afterwards but
decided to just wash her face bare and leave it that way until
later. It wasn’t like she ever wore very much makeup
anyway—foundation, a thin layer of eyeliner, a bit of eye shadow,
and some mascara.

Allison scrubbed her face clean and took a deep
breath before heading back into the office where Elena was busy
typing away on her computer, a thin pair of crimson-rimmed glasses
perched on her nose. Allison’s stomach bubbled and fizzled
pleasantly at the adorable sight.

Elena glanced up at the sound of the bathroom door
opening and smiled at Allison. She pulled the glasses off her face
and laid them on her desk before swiveling in her chair to face
Allison. “Hi.”

“Hi,” Allison murmured.

“I see you utilized a few of my many supplies.”

Allison nodded. “Yeah. You have a whole arsenal in
there.”

“I used to spend many nights here when I first took
the position,” Elena said. “The restroom is actually quite tame. I
used to have an entire section of my office blocked off with a crib
and changing table for Lucas.”

“Yeah? I bet that was cute.”

“I don’t know about ‘cute’.” Elena said.
“
Convenient
, though, yes.”

Allison crossed the distance between them and dropped
to her knees in front of Elena’s chair to be more level with her;
that, and it made it easier to slip her hands over Elena’s
thighs.

Elena smiled at her, eyes roaming over Allison’s
face, and Allison felt full of so much in that moment that she
could hardly breathe. Elena reached out, and Allison felt her brush
her fingertips over the faint bruise between her eyes.

“Almost completely gone,” Allison said. “I keep
bruises for a long time. I guess because I’m so pale. I don’t
know.”

“I still feel terrible about that.” Elena rubbed over
the flesh again.

“Don’t,” Allison said. “It’s a funny story that we
can tell people one of these days.”

“One of these days,” Elena whispered. “Do you plan on
being around for a while?”

Allison reached up and caught Elena’s wrist. She
pulled the woman’s hand down from her forehead and pressed a kiss
to the center of Elena’s palm. “Is that what
you
want?”

Elena was silent for a long moment, her gaze intense
as she held Allison’s eyes. “In this moment, Allison,” she
whispered, rubbing her thumb gently against Allison’s chin, “it is
all
that I want.”

Allison let out a gentle sigh, relieved. She had
always been a runner. The system had taught her how to detach, how
to remain at a distance. It taught her to love only the sounds of
things and people fading into the distance as she moved forward,
moved on. It taught her to be on her own, but with Elena, it felt
easy to stay. It felt natural. The woman had come blazing into her
life like a wildfire in a sensible pantsuit, and Allison had been
willing to burn ever since.

Allison leaned her head into the soft flesh of
Elena’s palm and nodded. “Then yeah,” she whispered, “I plan on
being here.”

* * *

“Are you sure you don’t wanna walk me down to the
first floor?” Allison asked, offering Elena a mischievous little
grin. “Another loooooong ride on the elevator.” She waggled her
eyebrows.

A loud laugh left Elena’s lips. “I think it is best
if we avoid the elevator for the time being.”

“True,” Allison said. She rocked on her heels,
stalling. She wasn’t quite ready to leave. “I should probably take
the stairs. Last time I rode in that elevator, some hot brunette
attacked my mouth.”

Elena pinched Allison’s arm. “Rumor has it that you
did not resist.”

With a cluck of her tongue, Allison shook her head.
“I don’t know who told you that, but they were totally telling the
truth.”

Elena smiled and pulled Allison into a gentle
embrace. “Thank you for today.”

Allison shook her head in answer. “Thank
you
,
Elena. This was
all
you, and I loved every second of
it.”

“I did as well.”

“Well, good.”

They pulled apart and stared at one another a moment
longer before Allison said, “All right. I’m gonna go hang with
Macy, but when you’re finished up here, give me a call, yeah? I’d
like to see you again before the night is over, if that’s okay with
you.”

Elena nodded. “I will call you.”

“Okay good.” Allison pressed a quick kiss to Elena’s
lips before turning to go. She turned back just before she stepped
out of the woman’s office and said, “Oh, and Elena?”

“Yes dear?”

“We should visit your studio more often.” She winked
as a wide smile stretched between Elena’s crimson cheeks, and then
slipped out of the office.

“You did what?!” Vivian hissed through the phone, and
Elena winced as it echoed loudly in her ear.

“Vivian, I am not going to repeat myself,” Elena
said, glancing up and around her office nervously. Despite knowing
that no one could hear her, Elena still felt as if every ear in the
entire universe was currently tuned in to her very private
admission of secret studio sex with her lesbian
babysitter-turned-lover.