Free Cadence of My Heart by Keira Michelle Telford Page B

up to her nanny, and if they can tuck behind the driver’s seat, there’s a better chance they won’t be caught touching inappropriately.
    Reading her mind, Cadence shuffles closer and lets Marlee put an arm around her, drawing her into a hug, kissing the side of her head. When they’re close, concealed behind the seat in front, Cadence puts her hand back on Marlee’s knee.
    Marlee can’t help but notice that she’s wearing the same t-shirt as yesterday: the one stretched tight across her chest. Those perky breasts are on display, and … Marlee has to look twice to be certain. Cadence isn’t wearing a bra! How had she not noticed that before? Her jacket must’ve been zipped up in the park.
    Just knowing that her breasts are naked beneath the shirt has Marlee reaching a new level of fervor, consumed by an intense yearning to touch them again—and she can’t wait. They’re still twenty minutes away from Lymington, and she’s desperate to cop a subtle feel. Under the guise of straightening Cadence’s jacket, she grabs the lapel between her fingers and angles her thumb against one of Cadence’s breasts, rubbing up and down. It might not be the most sophisticated act of fondling ever, but it’s enough to elicit a response from the teen’s nipple, which swells to a firm pebble in a matter of seconds.
    Cadence snuggles tighter, starting to move her hand up Marlee’s leg. As before, when she gets to the top of the stocking, Marlee prevents her from going any further. She reaches down and holds Cadence’s hand, weaving their fingers together. Instead of pulling her away, though, she simply controls the direction of her exploration. Kneading Cadence’s hand firmly up and down, she even goes so far as to uncross her legs and let Cadence’s fingertips touch the bare skin of her inner thigh—albeit fleetingly.
    This goes on for several minutes, and by the time they arrive at the Lymington bed and breakfast, neither one of them has much interest in exploring the picturesque seafront village.
    Cadence’s parents have reduced the booking to one family room containing a queen-size bed and a single, and it’s delightfully quaint. The four-poster queen bed takes up most of it, with the little single pushed off to the side. At the far end, there’s a dresser that doubles as a table for a kettle and a selection of complimentary teas and instant coffee, a little stack of cups beside them. Pictures of fishing boats and ornamental ship wheels adorn the walls—typical seaside décor. The en suite bathroom has a shower and soaker tub, almost every surface decorated with seashells and starfishes. All in all, it’s cute.
    Marlee opens the bedroom window, letting a warm gust of sea breeze into the room. Ahh, smells like childhood. It’s comfortingly familiar, but so distant.
    “I’m sorry your parents couldn’t be here, darling.” She takes in a lungful of salty air, reflecting on her own happy memories of a loving mother and father.
    Cadence snorts, starting to unpack. “I’m not. This is perfect. It’s so much better now they won’t be anywhere near when we … you know.”
    Marlee doesn’t know. “When we what?”
    “Have sex for the first time.”
    Those words rolls off her tongue far too nonchalantly for Marlee’s liking.
    “Have sex?” She could swear her heart just seized up. “Who said anything about us having sex? What makes you think we’re … ?”
    “Oh.” The smile drops from Cadence’s lips, unable to hide her disappointment. “I thought you’d be ready. Aren’t you ready?”
    Marlee can’t help it: she bursts out laughing at the ridiculousness of the question, and of their current predicament. Her sixteen-year-old would-be lover is asking her if she’s ready for sex! Unfortunately, Cadence takes the spontaneous fit of laughter far too personally, and ends up locking herself in the bathroom for twenty minutes.
    Apologetic, Marlee sits on the carpeted floor outside the en suite, trying to