At first Emma was shocked. But then she figured it would be just like a woman like Regina Mills to want to prove anything by locking lips and expect anyone to blindly comply, no questions asked. The woman was the proverbial sex on legs. Well, she would find out that she didn't enjoy kissing people anyway. This was destined to be the shortest kiss on record.

She met her gaze and smiled. "Like I said, bring it on."

The way the lawyer returned her smile had her thinking that maybe, just maybe, she'd made a mistake. And when she walked past her into her shop, she had a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach that told her it was definitely the case.

Damn, Regina thought as she gazed at Emma's mouth. She was going to enjoy every minute, every second that she devoured it. She'd bet it was as sinfully delicious and sweet as those treats she'd brought to her office.

As she continued to stare at her, unadulterated lust rushed through her veins. Need propelled her from where she was standing across the room from her. She gently clasped the back of her head and pulled her closer, her lips mere inches from Emma's. "I intend to kiss you witless," Regina whispered huskily.

Emma jutted her chin and narrowed her gaze at her. "You can try."

Regina smiled, liking the other woman's spunk. She hoped like hell that she put all that haughtiness into their kiss. "This is going to be the best kiss you ever experience, sweetheart," she whispered in a throaty voice.

Releasing a frustrated sigh, Emma opened her mouth to tell the arrogant woman a thing or two, but with lightening speed Regina seized the opportunity and planted her mouth firmly on hers, silencing whatever she was about to say.

Regina groaned deep in her throat. Her hot tongue captured the blonde's and savoured it. Emma had never been kissed that way before; never in her wildest imagination had she envisioned something like this happening to her.

The brunette devoured her mouth like a craving she had to have, doing passionate, provocative and illicit things to it. The woman was skilled and without a doubt experienced. She knew just what to do to make those purring sounds suddenly erupt from deep within Emma's throat. She felt intense fire licking its way through her veins, her insides were simmering in heat. She was mesmerized to the point of no return. She felt delirious, and when an involuntary shudder raced through her, she suddenly realized something, she was kissing her back. The thought overwhelmed her, overloaded her senses and sent intense heat rippling though her body.

If this didn't beat all madness, she didn't know what did. They had just met that day. She was a Mills. She didn't like her. She needed to breathe.

As if she'd read her thoughts, Regina slowly released her mouth. As Emma stared at her she couldn't believe they had shared something so powerful, provoking and intimate. A part of her wondered what one should say after such an encounter. But at the moment she couldn't say anything. The only thing she could think about was the way her mouth felt and how much she enjoyed kissing the brunette.

"You should know that I only ended the kiss so we could breathe." Regina whispered, reaching up and sliding her fingers through Emma's blonde hair. "We might be different, but like I said earlier, Miss Swan, we do attract."

The huskiness of her words sent shivers all through Emma and her skin was beginning to feel hot all over again. She could feel her blood sizzling. Regina took a step back and a warm smile tilted the corner of her lips.

"Goodluck on opening day tomorrow," she said softly.

Emma watched as she turned and walked out of the shop, closing the door behind her.

SQ SQ SQ SQ SQ SQ SQ SQ SQ SQ SQ SQ SQ SQ SQ SQ SQ SQ SQ SQ

"I'm looking forward to working for you, Miss Swan"

It had been a busy grand opening day. The huge crowd had come and gone and they were now able to relax and take a breather. Emma smiled at the younger woman and replied, "I'm looking forward to working with you, too, Ashley. I'm really grateful that you could help me out. And please call me Emma, I'd feel much better."

Emma had been quiet busy after Swans Sweet Craving officially opened at eight o'clock that morning. But no matter how busy she'd gotten, she couldn't forget the kiss she had shared with Regina last night. It had been amazing. She had been a real plus to her business. Most of the people who had dropped by to make a purchase had mentioned that Regina claimed her products were to die for. She hated admitting it but she owed her a degree of gratitude as well, although the last thing she wanted was to owe a Mills anything.

"I think it was nice of Regina to send you customers."

Emma stopped placing merchandise in the display case and turned a curious gaze to Ashley. "You know Regina?"

The young woman chuckled. "Of course I do. I know all the Mills'. Everyone around here does."

Emma nodded, remembering that she'd found in her research that people who lived in Storybrooke hardly ever left. "She was raised as an only child but a couple years ago her half-sister appeared out of nowhere. Turns out her mother had a daughter before she got married to Mr. Henry senior and gave her away so people wouldn't find out."

Emma raised a brow, finding all Ashley was telling her intriguing. "So I guess that means you know her parents as well."

Ashley smiled warmly . "Yes. But unfortunately its just her mother now. Mr. Henry passed away a few years back. He was a wonderful man. Her mother, not so much."

Emma leaned against the counter. "Really? I understand she used to run the law firm before Regina took over?"

Ashley's face grew serious as she turned her attention to the other blonde. "Yes. Some really messed up stuff went down. Some guy came to town accusing Cora Mills of murder. Being the powerful family the Mills' are and the fine lawyer Regina is, she put up quiet the legal battle and her mother was exonerated but some evidence connecting Cora to other crimes kept coming up so in order to save the firm, Regina had to take over from her. After that, the guy just disappeared and they never heard from him. Maybe he was lying"

"He wouldn't lie about such a thing!"

At Emma's strong defence of August Fisher, Ashley eyed her curiously before saying, "I remember the guy had a sister he'd left behind in Boston. He kept saying that was who he wanted justice for. She lifted a curious brow. "Is there any chance August Fisher is a relative of yours?"

Emma nodded, knowing there was no way she could lie to the young woman or she just didn't want to. "Yes, he was my brother."

Ashley's eyes widened, "Was?"

Emma nodded, "He died."

"Oh, I'm so sorry. Does Regina know?"

Emma shook her head. "No, and I don't intend to tell her until I can prove that my brother wasn't a liar."

"You mean prove that her mother was indeed guilty? How do you plan to do that?"

Emma shrugged. "I'm going to start digging around in my spare time. Something really terrible happened in the past and my brother died because he tried to prove it"
Ashley nodded. "You might wanna ask Mr. Gold from the pawn shop. He's been in this town forever. He basically owns all of it and if anyone knows Cora Mills, it would be him."

Emma lifted a brow. "Really?"

"Yeah, somewhere along the way they had a falling out so I'd say He'd be the perfect person to answer your questions."
Emma nodded. She remembered meeting the said man briefly at his shop the day before and there had been something about him...

"What can you tell me about Regina?"

Ashley sighed deeply. "She's a good woman who has unfortunately had to deal with alot of terrible things. She had her heartbroken years ago by a man she'd met in college. Rumour is they met at Yale University where Regina studied law. Everyone said that they had been so in love, they were almost inseparable. But when she got pregnant he dropped her like a hot potato. She never dated anyone else seriously since then. She dedicated her time to raising her son, Henry. She might be a bit strict with him but she's a good mother."

The two women fell silent for a few minutes then Ashley spoke again. "Can I give you a little advice if you don't mind?"

Emma nodded. "Sure."

"Don't wait too long to tell Regina the truth about your connection to August. She's a woman who has spent her life putting up walls around herself and today, I saw a side of her she doesn't show often by sending over some customers for you. It will be better if she hears it from you than from someone else, and if you start asking questions that's bound to happen."

A short while later, with only ten minutes to closing time, Emma was alone in her shop. She knew she had earned some pretty great profits for the first day. She sighed as she made her way over to the display case to pack up what was left from the day's merchandise. She had made prior arrangements with the children's hospital to donate any stuff left from that day.

She couldn't help recalling what Ashley had told her about Regina and the guy she'd fallen in love with in college. Although she hadn't wanted to feel bad for her, she had. The worst thing for someone to do is to kick you when you're already down and scared and the guy had done just that. She hoped that over the years she had realized that she was better off without him.

She heard the tinkling of the bell at the front door, and turned, thinking it was the courier from the hospital. Her breath caught in her throat when she saw it was Regina. Taking a deep breath she counted to three then opened the door.

"Hello, Miss Swan"

All day Regina had had her on her mind, and a part of her needed to see her, to see if what had happened between them the day before had been having the same effect it was having on her. And seeing her now let her know that it had. She was as beautiful as she had remembered, everything about her was as much of a turn-on as she'd recalled. When she continued to look at her without saying anything, she said, "I thought you probably didn't have time to eat lunch so I brought you dinner."

She watched her nervously nibble on her bottom lip. "Thanks, but you didn't have to do that. I had planned to go to Granny's myself"

She frowned. "It's no bother. I was on my way home anyway." She crossed the room and handed her the bag. "You may want to get started on this while it's still warm."

Emma took the bag from her and placed it on the counter. Regina was the last person she wanted to deal with right now. Seeing her here, in her shop, sent flashes of the kiss they'd shared through her mind. A part of her wanted to be angry at the brunette for making her feel the way she did, but it was hard for her to continue to be mad at a woman who went out of her way to be nice to her.

She heard the tinkling of the bell on the door and turned around as a woman walked in.

"Hello, I'm Clara Ortega," the woman said. "I'm here to pick up your donation for the children's hospital." She glanced over at Regina and offered her a polite smile. "Hello, Miss Mills."

"How are you, Clara?"

"I can't complain."

Emma couldn't help wondering if what Ashley had said was true, that everyone here knew Regina or if she knew everyone. "I hope the children enjoy these," she said handling the woman the sealed box.

The woman grinned warmly. "I'm sure they will. Thanks for this delicious contribution." Moments later she was gone.

"That was thoughtful of you," Regina said as she glanced out the window and watched Clara pull off.

Emma shrugged. "It's no big deal. I operated on the cautious side today and baked more than I needed. I don't want to sell anything that isn't fresh tomorrow so I thought I'd donate what was left to the children's hospital and speaking of today, I want to thank you."

Regina grinned. "You already have."

Emma shook her head. "I'm not talking about dinner," she said. "I'm talking about all the referrals. A number of people who came in mentioned you had sent them and I appreciate the business."

She leaned against the counter. "I'm sure I wasn't the only one. I ran into Belle at Granny's at lunchtime and all she and Ruby were talking about was your fudge and how delicious it tasted. So they're responsible for increasing your business, too."

Emma raised a brow, "Belle and Ruby?"

"Mrs. Gold and Granny's granddaughter." Regina replied.

Emma nodded. "I'll thank them as well when I see them." She walked over to the door after checking her watch. "It's closing time."

Regina checked her watch. "So it is."

When Regina didn't make any attempt to leave, Emma put up the closed sign and locked the door. She also pulled down the shade to the display window, and the moment she did the interior of the shop got somewhat dark and way too intimate. "Will you get the lights, Regina?"

"In a moment." She replied throatily.

Emma watched as the brunette crossed the room, stopping directly in front of her.

"Do you know what I thought about a lot today, Miss Swan?"

She didn't respond right away and she refused to meet her gaze. "No, what did you think about?"

Regina reached out and touched her chin, forcing her eyes to meet hers. "The kiss we shared last night."

A part of Emma wanted to shout for the other woman to get over it, but how could she expect her to when she hadn't? She had thought about it a lot today as well.

"What happened was a mistake. We barely know each other, Regina. We just met yesterday. Things are moving too fast."

"You're right," she said gently. "So this is what I'd like to propose."

Emma lifted a brow. "What?"

"That we take the time to get to know each other."

"Why?" she asked, trying to understand. "Why should we do that?" The last thing she wanted was to become seriously romantically involved with anyone. She had a lot on her plate starting up her business. And all of her spare time was devoted to starting her investigation. The first person she intended to talk to was Mr. Gold. He was the one person who she hoped could help prove her brother's accusations and Cora Mills' guilt.

"I think the answer is obvious," Regina said, interrupting her thoughts. "You don't like me. That bothers me because I don't understand why. Whenever I get within ten feet of you, I can feel your guard going up. I'm also bothered by the fact that I'm very attracted to you and I don't like being this drawn to anyone especially to a stranger I barely even know. I didn't get much work done today just thinking about you."

"Then I suggest that you try shifting your attention elsewhere." Emma said.

"I doubt if that will work. I want you."

Emma went numb. She'd never met anyone who expressed their interest in her so blatantly.

"I hope my directness didn't shock you." Regina said.

She met her gaze. Yes, it had shocked her. Her heart was flip-flopping in her chest, not to mention the heat that had settled in the pit of her stomach.

"You're an attractive woman, Regina and people must line up just for a chance to be with you so I'm sure you date," she decided to say.

Regina smiled but it didn't really reach her eyes. "You'd be surprised at how untrue that is" When Emma opened her mouth to continue, Regina pressed two fingers across her lips. "I'm not asking you to marry me, Emma. I just want us to get to know each other. You're new in town and I'd like to show you around, introduce you to people, and spend time with you."

"What happens when you eventually want more than that? Because you will"

"Will I?"

"Yes." Panic gripped Emma. Never before had a woman made her lose all sense of logic. Regina Mills was powerful, dangerous and all female, and those three things had her worried.

Regina knew to tell her that she was wrong, that she wouldn't eventually want more, wouldn't be an outright lie but she didn't. Because who knew, she had never gone after someone like she was after her. There was just something about Emma Swan that made it impossible for her to stay away. She glanced over at the bag sitting on her counter. "Go ahead and enjoy your food." Then, without missing a beat, she asked, "How about a dinner tomorrow night?"

She blinked then stared into her eyes. She was smoothly changing the subject and they both knew it. "Dinner tomorrow night?"

"Yes, dinner," she whispered, and the husky sensuous tone of her voice vibrated Emma's nerve endings. "I'll pick you up around seven."

Her senses told her the last thing she needed to do was to begin dating a Mills, but she might have some of the answers she needed. She couldn't overlook that fact.

"Dinner sounds nice. I'll be ready at seven." She then reached for the doorknob. "Now you can leave."

She pushed a wayward curl back from her face, inhaled and waited. Regina's gaze was locked on hers, arousing her, making her nipples harden against her blouse. She wondered if the brunette was aware of her body's response to her. Her scent made her want to nuzzle her face into her neck and...

She closed her eyes, refusing to go there. When she slowly opened her eyes, Regina was there, her lips mere inches from hers. She inhaled sharply. The stir of sensual need suddenly overwhelmed her.

"You feel it like I do, Emma," she whispered. "Don't ask me why it's happening because I don't know, but it's as if this place, this time, these moments between us were meant to be and we don't have any control over anything."

Emma tipped her head back, refusing to look at things that way. But when Regina raised her fingertips to her lips, she instinctively parted them. She was right. It was as if neither of them had control over the moment. She didn't want to get romantically involved with her

but a need to kiss her again was sending sensual charges all through her body. And from the way she was looking at her, she could tell she felt them too.

Emma struggled to push down this passionate side she hadn't been aware she had. She was a novice when it came to the kind of deep-in-the-gut sensations that had her lips quivering.

"Please let me kiss you, Emma."

With the sound of her voice, husky and sexy, Regina didn't have to ask twice and the blonde tilted her lips up to her. The moment their mouths connected, she swallowed a groan and let Regina's tongue do all kinds of naughty things, pushing her pulse into overdrive and causing tingles to erupt inside her stomach. This kiss was based on more than mutual attraction and gratification. There were elements taking over that scared her to death. The woman was a fantastic kisser and Emma knew she would be a great lover...but she didn't intend to sleep with her. Ever.

If only she meant it.

She pulled back. She needed to leave. Now. "Goodbye, Regina."

Regina smiled. "Goodbye. I'll see you tomorrow night at seven."

Are they taking it too fast? Let me know what you think. Thanks for all your love and support. Also don't forget to check out Getting To Know You. Mwah!