This work contains themes and scenes intended for mature readers (18+). It explores intimacy, emotional complexity, and adult relationships through contemporary romance and erotic realism. Reader discretion is advised.
The Almost-Kiss
Interrupted Intimacy
Adriana helps after Leo's playground injury and comes to Claire's house. As they stand in the quiet kitchen, powerful intimacy builds, nearly leading to a kiss before Leo's nightmare interrupts.
An Excerpt from this Chapter...
The house was quiet. Children asleep. Adriana was still there, standing in Claire’s kitchen, pouring hot water into mugs. Chamomile scent filled the dimly lit room.
Claire sat at her table, watching. In the soft glow, Adriana looked different. Her professional mask was gone. Lines around her eyes seemed softer. Quiet confidence was layered with vulnerability Claire had never seen.
Adriana set a mug before her. “Here.”
“Thank you,” Claire said, voice thick. “For everything. My brain just went offline.”
“You would have done what you always do,” Adriana said, leaning against the counter. “You’re a good mom, Claire.”
The statement landed with physical force. Everything Claire wanted to be, everything she feared she wasn’t. Hearing it from this woman was too much.
“I try,” she whispered, staring into her tea.
Silence followed, different from car quiet. This held weight, charged with everything building between them.
Adriana’s gaze was soft, full of emotion Claire was afraid to name. It felt like being seen completely, without armor.
They stood for a long, humming moment, only sound the oven clock’s quiet tick.
“I should go,” Adriana murmured. But she made no move. Her eyes were locked on Claire’s.
Air grew thin, electric. Space between table and counter seemed to shrink, pulse with life.
Claire looked up, and the word left her lips before she could stop it, a quiet, desperate plea. “Don’t.”
Adriana’s breath hitched. Her gaze, dark and intense, dropped from Claire’s eyes to her mouth.
Slowly, deliberately, she pushed off the counter, took a step forward, then another. She stopped just before the table, so close Claire could feel warmth radiating from her body. Scent of her skin—sun, sweat, clean soap—filled Claire’s senses.
She leaned in, movement agonizingly slow. Claire’s heart hammered. Her eyes fluttered shut. She could feel Adriana’s breath on her cheek, warm and soft. They were one breath apart.
A cry, sharp and terrified, shattered stillness. “Mommy!” Leo. A nightmare.
The sound was a physical shock. Adriana pulled back as if burned, eyes wide, chest rising rapidly. Claire’s eyes flew open, body jolted back to motherhood reality.
The unspoken question hung between them, huge and shimmering and terrible.