All Lila wants to do this winter is skate. She wants to land jumps, not love.
Lila, a beautiful 20-something recreational figure skater, is done with dating until mini-skirt season, at least that's what she tells her friends when she invites them to join her to visit every ice rink in Chicago.
Then one crisp morning while skating at a new rink, Lila meets Ashley. Not only is Ashley stunningly good-looking with long ash blond hair, she can land an Axel, an advanced jump that has eluded Lila. Ashley agrees to coach Lila the following weekend. When Ashley doesn't show, Lila realizes that she wasn't that serious about taking a break from dating, and she doesn't care if she ever lands an Axel.
She cares about kissing Ashley, but doesn't know how she will find her again.
Landing Love is the sixth book in the Lesbian Light Reads series, but each book can stand alone. This lesbian contemporary love story includes graphic sex and is intended for adults only.
Excerpt:
"You skate really well," she said. "But you can't do an Axel, can you?" She spoke her words softly, slowly and clearly. Every word felt sweet, like chocolate sauce on ice cream.
"I've already sacrificed for that jump," I said, turning to her and pointing to the tiny scar on my chin.
The Axel was by far the toughest of all the jumps. The forward entry made it especially tricky. You were more likely to trip over your toe pick and go splat on the ice than you were to vault gracefully into the air.
She put her hand on my shoulder. I could feel her warmth through my sweater. Her nails were short and neat. Her fingers were long. I stared into her eyes. Neither of us spoke for a moment.
"You should let me teach you," she said.
I knew I had told my friends that I was going to skate, not date, but all I wanted at that moment was to be naked with her.
"I worked on that for a long time and never landed it," I said.
"Maybe this time will be different," she said. "Sometimes things can all fall into place when you least expect it. You have power and maturity that you didn't have the last time you tried. I bet you could do it now."
She was close enough for me to see the dimple that formed in her left cheek when she smiled and the widow's peak at her hairline. Her eyebrows were neat but not harshly plucked. She had taken her hair out of the ponytail, and that hair, the hair I wanted to run my fingers through, cascaded around her shoulders and stopped right where her breasts began. I told her my name was Lila, and she told me her name was Ashley. She analyzed data for a big drug company during the week, but spent her weekends skating or teaching other people how to skate.
"I'm here every Saturday. If the rink is open, I'm here," she said. Her hand was still on my shoulder, and I wanted it to stay there. "I don't have any students today. I'm about done. Would you like to get a hot chocolate?"
I nodded. I was starting to feel that slightly uncomfortable squishiness that I got between my legs whenever I met an attractive girl. I was so happy that I was wearing a thick sweater. If my nipples were hard, and they probably were, the sweater would hide them. I kept reminding myself that I was not here to make a dating connection, but it was just hot chocolate. Nothing would happen. I would keep my pants on and just imagine what was under her skating dress.
I didn't have to see or touch her naked flesh. I was on a dating break. Skating only this winter, and we would just talk about skating over a hot drink. We clearly had lots in common, and maybe she really could get me to do...