How Sweet It Is by Melissa Brayden

her lips parted, Jordan eased her tongue into the warmth of her mouth and she felt the results everywhere. Her heart raced and a dull ache moved from her center downward with alarming speed.
    It wasn’t enough.
    She aggressively walked Jordan backward toward the sofa, breaking the kiss for only a heartbeat as she eased Jordan into a seated position and followed her down, straddling her lap and settling her mouth decidedly on Jordan’s once again. It was a runaway train that continued to pick up speed, and she couldn’t help but let it roll on. It was crazy, breathless, and Molly lost track of everything.
    That’s when hands began to move.
    Jordan’s were first and settled on the small of her back before slipping under her T-shirt to the skin beneath. Her insides fluttered at the contact and she felt herself pushing desperately against Jordan’s stomach as the aching escalated. All the while, her mouth savored every moment of the tantalizing kiss. The flash of desire was staggering and her hands drifted from Jordan’s face, to her neck, down her collarbone to her breasts. At the briefest of touch, Jordan took in air, pulling her mouth away. Her breathing was ragged, her eyes unfocused. “Wait a second, Mol. Wait.”
    And it all came crashing down.
    At the sound of Jordan’s voice, reality infused Molly’s conscious thought and she tumbled back to the land of the present, the land of rational, and the land of what the hell? “Oh my God,” she whispered. “What just happened?” She moved off of Jordan and backed away as if she’d been burned. She ran her fingers through her hair because she didn’t quite know what else to do to erase the past three minutes. But somehow she had to erase them.
    Jordan watched her from the couch. “Calm down. It’s okay.”
    “It’s not okay. It’s not okay at all. You’re Cassie’s sister. You’re Jordan, who’s like ten years old. You’re a child.”
    “I haven’t been ten in a long time. We’re both adults, Molly.”
    “You have to go.”
    Jordan stood and held up her hands. “Okay. I’ll go. But please don’t blow this out of proportion. Nothing unrecoverable happened here. We kissed. It happens.”
    “And it was a mistake.” God, it was a mistake. What had she been thinking? What was wrong with her?
    Jordan stared at her for a beat and then nodded once, her expression unreadable. “We’ll just pretend this didn’t happen then.”
    “Exactly. Because it never should have.” She crossed her arms in front of her defensively and watched as Jordan made her way silently to the door. Alone in her living room, she sank in the chair as a multitude of self-recriminations surfaced and swirled.
    She’d acted impulsively. She’d betrayed Cassie with her sister. She’d forever ruined her friendship with Jordan. And God, for a very brief time, she’d enjoyed it.
    That was the part that upset her most of all.

Chapter Eight
     
    “What does a man have to do to get his coffee made to his liking?” Mr. Jeffries held his cup across the counter, just shy of Molly’s chin. She took a breath because, man, she was not in the mood for him this morning. Channeling her inner Donna Reed, she forced a polite smile.
    “I’m sorry, Mr. Jeffries. What exactly is wrong with your coffee?”
    “Only one sweetener. I take two packets in my coffee. Everyone knows that.”
    This was true. She’d made his coffee every day for as long as she could remember, and she’d never once screwed up. But having not slept at all the night prior had her grappling for focus. “Sorry about that. But in good news, it’s easily remedied.” She took his cup and added the additional packet of sweetener. “Here you go. And tomorrow’s is on the house.”
    “Well, it’s the least you could do. Don’t you think?” He shook his head in disgust and walked back to his favorite table. “Of all things,” he muttered angrily to himself. Twenty minutes later, Mr. Jeffries placed his hat on his head