Page 46 of Hairpin Curves

Eventually, Megan sighed and turned that thousand-watt smile to Scarlett. “You must be so bored of this after living here.”

“It’s all right.” Scarlett didn’t need to tell her that all New Yorkers avoided Times Square except with visitors they really liked.

She didn’t have to say anything, though, because Megan saw through it. “You hate it.”

“It’s all right.” This time, Scarlett had to laugh. “It’s all right because you’re here. I’m glad you like it.”

Megan pulled her camera out of her pocket and looked down at it, then up at all the lights. “None of these pictures are going to come out, are they?”

“I don’t know. You’re the photographer.”

“I hardly think this qualifies me as a photographer.” Megan held up the little instant camera and made a face. “But I think everything will get washed out. This doesn’t have any manual settings.”

“So take one and see. You’ve got a ton of film in your bag.”

Megan snapped a shot of the billboards and then frowned down at the image as it slowly developed. Scarlett could kiss her. She could kiss those sweet, soft lips, currently downturned in a worried expression, feel the cold of Megan’s nose press into her cheek, lose herself in the warmth of her mouth. She wanted to know what Megan tasted like, wanted to feel the sweet press of her mouth and the way her body moved against Scarlett’s when their tongues tangled together.

“It’s no good.”

The words snapped Scarlett out of her daydream, and for a minute, she thought Megan had read her mind. “What?”

Megan held up the photo, with its distorted colors and too-bright, blurred billboards. “The shot. It’s no good.”

“Sort of artsy, though, right?” Scarlett squinted down at it. The blur could look purposeful.

Megan hesitated, then her expression brightened. “Back up.”

“What?”

Instead, Megan backed up. “Never mind. Stay right there.” She held the camera up and looked through the viewfinder.

“What are you doing?”

“Look up and to the right. Look at that billboard.” Megan waved her hand vaguely toward where she wanted Scarlett to look, but she was already lining up the shot. Scarlett did as she was asked, staring up at a billboard advertising some movie she didn’t care anything about, until Megan called her over.

They watched the shot develop, and then there was Scarlett, lit by the red glow of some advertisement nearby, smiling off at something unseen. The photo was beautiful. Scarlett didn’t normally like pictures of herself, but Megan had captured something unique in that shot.

“I like this one.” Megan slipped it and the camera back into her pocket.

“But you don’t have any of the actual Times Square!”

“This is enough.” She looked up at Scarlett, and something in Scarlett’s chest plummeted with need and longing and anxiety all in one bundle. Again, she looked down at Megan’s mouth, and they were so close. It would be so easy to lean down and kiss her. Megan must have known it. She stayed in place, her lips parting softly, eyes widening almost imperceptibly. But neither of them moved.

And then a taxi honked nearby, they both jumped, and the moment was gone.

Scarlett felt dizzy and breathless, like she’d just run up several flights of stairs. “Do you...do you want to get some cheesecake?”

Megan checked the time. “It’s after midnight.”

“So? Junior’s is open late.”

Megan smiled and nodded, and it wasn’t a kiss, but it was something else, something sweet. Something Scarlett could reasonably handle without getting in way over her head.

Two in the morning was a time ripe with the potential for bad decisions, and yet knowing that did not stop Megan from standing all too close to Scarlett on the elevator back to their room. She could blame it on sleepiness, but it wasn’t sleepiness. Her whole body tingled with excitement and adrenaline and the overtired manic energy that softened all the edges of her vision and made the world seem beautiful and unreal.

“You okay?” Scarlett gave her a nudge, and Megan jolted out of her daydream to see the elevator doors open and Scarlett holding them open with her foot. “Too much cheesecake?”

“The perfect amount of cheesecake.” Megan preceded Scarlett out of the elevator and down the hallway to their room. She fumbled the door key card once before letting them in, and immediately went back to the window to look out at the city, leaving the room lights off.