Jade’s hand shot out, and pulled Rian closer to her bare torso.

“And you are definitely cuter,” Rian whispered, as she ran a finger lightly over the more pronounced squarish jaws of Jade.

“Well, you are still the stuff of all my wet dreams, Rian,” Jade whispered. “You have no idea of how turned on I am right now.”

Rian laid a hand on a firm chest, the soft, silky skin feeling increasingly hot under her hand, “Jade, we can’t” she breathed out. “We promised each other ….”

Jade inhaled deeply, hanging her head. She continued to hold on to one of Rian’s hands. And then she exhaled.

“I know, Ri,” she said, at length. “But having you so close, in the flesh … and so, so beautiful…”

Rian drew a sharp breath.

She dropped Jade’s hand. “Tell you what, baby. I’ll leave you in here,” she started to say. She smiled reassuringly when Jade looked up in panic, “But I’ll just be standing outside the door. Why don’t you take off your bra, and just wear your tux by itself? Let’s see if that works.”

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After adjusting Jade’s jacket in the best way they could, they walked back to the table, and Rian could see that all the food had been cleared away.

Jade kept her jacket buttoned as they each re-took their seats.

Fabienne looked at her in surprise. “You took your shirt off?”

Jade nodded and drained her water glass. She was disappointed that they’d cleared her plate since she hadn’t finished the rib eye she was enjoying. There were still three or four bites to go, and she thought that she’d be able to finish off the perfectly-grilled meat when she got back. Plus, she’d missed the molten chocolate cake listed as the dessert for the evening in the table’s tented menu card. I wonder if I can ask for one anyway?

She saw Rian had picked up the menu card and was running her finger lightly on its side, a disappointed look on her face also.

They exchanged a knowing glance and grinned at each other. During the reception of Pauli’s wedding in Wyoming, she and Rian had polished off the chocolate ganache of Bette and Tina as well as those of Max and Carl, who’d all sat back halfway through dessert, saying they were all sated by the heavy dinner that had been served. They all shook their heads at Rian and Jade as the two spooned up the remaining chocolate ganache.