Beautiful People | wlw

Twenty-nine: Naked

Vera would never get tired of waking up beside Sharise, the heat of two bodies warming sheets tangled between two pairs of legs. Tentative morning light crept through the open window to hang its bright train over smooth brown shoulders and pale hands with needle-pricked fingertips, over two small feet stuck out the bottom to cool down and another pair tucked tight into the blankets.

It was too early to be awake, especially after their late night, but Vera didn't want to go back to sleep. Not when she could lay here listening to the gentle sigh of Sharise's breath like meditation.

Dark lashes flickered, then fluttered open over brown eyes hazy with sleep. "What's that look for?"

Vera realized she was grinning stupidly. "Just thinking about how beautiful you are."

"Even in my bonnet?" One perfectly manicured nail flicked the ruffled edge of the pink silk cap over her hair.

"Especially in your bonnet." Vera snuggled closer, palm finding the softness of Sharise's bare hip under the sheets. She set her lips against Sharise's collarbone, then against the hollow at the base of her throat, her skin warm and sweet.

Sharise let out a small sound of contentment. "You're insatiable."

"I'm just waking you up. Or did you forget we had a breakfast date?" Vera said in a perfectly reasonable tone, while her hand trailed over the curve of Sharise's thigh with a very different question in its touch.

"I don't think this counts as a breakfast date." Sharise shifted her hips. One arm settled above her on the pillow as her eyelids drifted lower.

"We could consider room service," Vera said against her ear.

It wasn't the thought of room service that shallowed Sharise's breathing. She slipped one hand around the back of Vera's neck and pulled her closer, lips brushing against the shallow bridge of her nose and then against her lips with a mingle of slow exhaling breath.

A sharp knock at the door startled Vera upright.

More hammering followed. Sharise let out a sigh that was very much not contentment.

"Is it too much to ask that nothing goes wrong for just one day?" she grumbled, sitting up with a hand on her bonnet.

Vera tossed her one of the bathrobes and shrugged the other on herself. When she pulled the door open, she almost took the next knock straight to the face.

Publicist Cora caught herself before she knocked Vera right out. Her hair was disheveled, and she had deep shadows under her eyes, like she had barely slept. She kept glancing at her tablet as she spoke. "I'm looking for Sharise."

"Can it wait?" Sharise was still tying the knot of her robe as she came up behind her.

Cora gave her A Look. "Would I be here banging on your door at this ungodly hour if it could wait? I've been trying to reach you. Did you turn your phone off?"

"You seemed to have everything under control. I guess I should have checked in." Sharise pinched the bridge of her nose between two fingers. "It's that bad?"

"That bad." Cora tapped at the screen of her tablet. "Come up to Carmen's room. We might as well talk about this all together."

"Let me get dressed."

"Don't take your time."

So Cora headed back down the hall, and they shut the door on their hope for a peaceful morning.

Sharise paused over the yellow jumpsuit she had laid out for their breakfast date but opted for jeans and a loose floral top instead. Vera wriggled back into her clothes from the night before, trying to keep her disappointment under control. She knew this was an important time for Carmen. Maybe they could make time to grab lunch later, after this was all sorted out.