It all happened so quickly that it took both of them by surprise.  Neither of them saw it coming.  But they should have.  Had they paid attention, the hints were all there.  The warm hugs. The light, friendly kisses on the cheek. The comforting arms of reassurance when needed.  At one point these gestures were merely platonic, but soon the lips lingered on the cheek a moment. A soft sigh accompanied each hug. The arms around one another didn’t let go right away.  It all pointed to something else.  Something neither of them even knew was there.  It was right in front of them, but neither saw it until it came up and smacked them both across the face.

Shane herself should have suspected something, but she was too distracted with helping Jenny.  When Carmen walked out for good, it didn’t help Shane’s state of mind either.  So distracted was Shane that as she found herself once more holding a sobbing Jenny close, the fact that Jenny’s hair smelled so damn good didn’t even register.  As Shane wiped those tears away and looked into Jenny’s eyes, thinking to herself that they were the most beautiful and expressive eyes she’d ever seen and found herself unable to tear her gaze away, alarms should have been going off in Shane’s head.  But they didn’t.

And Jenny, for all her relentless soul-searching and attention to detail, had been just as clueless.  She’d lay wrapped cozily and securely in Shane’s arms, their bodies pressed together, and never once had an inkling it could be something else.  She would stare at Shane’s exquisite lips, tracing every contour of them with her mouth, without realizing what was happening between them.

It all culminated into a beautiful, yet disastrous, explosion of love and lust. 

Jenny, lying once more in Shane’s secure arms, marveled at those lips again, finally giving in to the subconscious urge to kiss them.  She didn’t even think about what she was doing.  It just happened.  And Shane, mesmerized by Jenny’s remarkable eyes, returned the kiss without a second thought.

Before they knew it, one kiss led to two.  Two led to three.  By the third kiss, their eyes were wide and staring searchingly into the other’s as their tongues began to duel.  Soon, there was no distinguishing between when one kiss ended and the next began.