by Sandy Lowe
Haven frowned and scrubbed at her arms like she had the willies. “No, I don’t have a dog, it’s a figure of speech. Laugh away, just come kill it, please?”
Kris grinned and grabbed her work boot from beside the door. “Lead the way, damsel in distress.” She followed Haven back to her place and looked at her quizzically when she stepped aside at the front door.
“I’m not going in until it’s dead. I’ll just have to swap houses with you if you can’t find it.”
Kris rolled her eyes. “Where was it?”
“Over the kitchen doorway. Just waiting to drop down and devour me whole.”
I know the feeling. Watching her absurdly attractive neighbor come and go over the past two weeks had started giving her wickedly good dreams. Kris went in and looked over the door. No spider. She glanced around the floor and went into the kitchen. “Jesus Christ!” She jumped backward, hitting her head on a kitchen cupboard. A white spider, easily three inches in diameter, ran across the top of her shoe and scuttled under the cupboard ledge.
“See? That’s it. Don’t bother, I’ll burn the house down and claim insurance. I’ll move somewhere too cold for spiders.” Haven stood just inside the front door, craning to look at Kris without actually getting any closer.
“That’s a bit extreme, I think. Where are your glasses?”
“In the cupboard behind you. Why? You’re not seriously going to release it outside, are you? I’ll die of anxiety just waiting for it to come back in and take revenge.”
Are princesses in towers this dramatic? “I can’t get my boot wedged in there, so I need to get it into something so I can take it out of here.” Kris grabbed a glass without taking her eyes off the spider, worried it would find a crack and disappear. Then they probably would have to burn the house down. She got down on all fours, reminding herself she was about a trillion times bigger than it, and it probably thought she was ugly too. She managed to slip the glass under it and quickly spin it so it dropped to the bottom with a surprisingly heavy thud. She pressed a plate over the top and headed outside. Haven practically crawled over her couch to get out of the way.
Kris went to the drain next to the curb and shook the spider out of the glass and down into the abyss. “Back to the hell from which you came.”
Haven sat on her front steps and Kris sat beside her. “You can keep that plate and glass. Or throw them away. I’ll never use them again.”
Kris laughed. “It really was enormous. I’ve never seen one like that.”
“Me neither, and I hope I never will again.” Haven grinned at her sheepishly. “Thanks for doing that. It’s such a cliché, me running next door because of a spider.”
“I’m a big fan of clichés. Sometimes there’s nothing better.”
A convertible BMW pulled into Haven’s driveway, the kind of car that made a lot of sense in Southern California. Kris watched as four extremely hot, very lesbian-looking women got out and headed their way.
Haven smiled at them and waved them over. “Hey, guys. This is my neighbor, Kris. Go on in, I’ll be there in a minute.”
The women said hello and filed past, and Kris looked at Haven, who just smiled and stood up. “Well, I’d better get to work. Thanks again.”
“Anytime. Just let me know when there’s another spider-dragon to slay.”
Haven gave her a small, suggestive smile. “I have a feeling there will be others.”
Kris went back to her place and tried to concentrate on putting her bed together. What kind of work necessitates five insanely hot women in a house? Various ideas came to her, none of which she’d actually vocalize. If Reed had been there, she’d have asked outright, but Kris wasn’t so forthcoming. She finally got the bed together and put on her favorite light blue Egyptian cotton sheets with the matching blue and white checked bedspread. Reed said it was too girly, but Kris loved the calm it radiated.
“Hey!”
The screen slammed shut and she heard Reed’s heavy steps in the kitchen.
“I brought pizza and beer. It’s no fun going out without you, so if the mountain won’t come to Mohammed…”
Kris grabbed a fresh black tank top and headed to the kitchen. Reed looked her over as she pulled it on over her sports bra.
“Damn, dude. If you were my type, I’d be all over you. As it is, please don’t ever show anyone those abs while I’m around because you’ll make me look like a bloated marshmallow.”
Kris shrugged and grabbed a piece of pizza while Reed opened their beers. “If you’d go to the gym with me, you wouldn’t have to worry about it.” She ran her hand through her hair and realized it was touching her collar. She couldn’t remember when she’d last had it cut, and now it was going to drive her crazy, the way it always did when it got too long. She blew a strand out of her eyes.
“I didn’t say I don’t like being a bloated marshmallow. I just don’t need people seeing it right away.”
They settled on the couch and Kris put on some cheesy action film Reed handed her. During a lull in the story, Reed said, “Hey, how’s it going with the hot neighbor? Any movement?”
“Nah. It’s not like I’ve had a lot of time. Between work and unpacking, I haven’t been around a lot. I saved her from a spider earlier today, though, and you should have seen the women who are over there now.”
Reed hit the pause button. “Tell me.”
Just as Kris was about to try and describe Haven’s friends, they heard laughter. Reed jumped up and went to the window. She looked over her shoulder at Kris. “Seriously.”
“Right?” Kris joined her at the window and they watched as Haven gave all four women a hug and a kiss. One of them, a tall, short-haired woman, gave her a lingering kiss before Haven pushed her away, laughing.
“Damn. Girlfriend?” Reed leaned on the windowsill.
They watched as the woman then turned away and headed to the BMW with the others. They waved to Haven as they drove off.
“Who knows?” Kris sighed. “But apparently she’s out of my league, too.”
Reed flopped back into the overstuffed chair. “You’re so clueless. I think that’s one of the things women love about you. You’re employed and you have a car. For a lot of women, that’s enough.”
Kris laughed and hit play, ending the conversation. She had a feeling Haven wasn’t just any woman. If, and when, the time came to ask her out, she wanted to be ready.
*
You can do this. Don’t be a weenie. Kris wiped her palms on her jeans for the umpteenth time. Finally, she knocked. It had been well over a month, and she couldn’t get the girl next door out of her head. She convinced herself that if she got to know her, she’d know they weren’t compatible and she could stop daydreaming about her. Every time Haven smiled at her, every little conversation they had, every time she heard her laugh, it made her want to know more, and she wondered if she was putting Haven on some libido-coated pedestal. Incredibly hot women came and went from her place all the time, and Kris wanted to know what that was about. Between her attraction and her curiosity, she was becoming obsessed. It was time to deal with it.
“Hey, Kris.”
Kris swallowed against the knot of anxiety in her throat. “Hey, Haven. I was wondering, would you like to have dinner with me?”
Haven leaned against the door frame, her arms crossed. “Are you asking me on a date?”
“Yes. Unless you say no, in which case I was just going to offer you leftovers as a neighbor.”
Haven turned and grabbed a lightweight coat hanging next to the door, as well as her keys. “I’m starving. Where are we going?”
Kris’s stomach dropped. “Now? I mean, sure, yeah, okay. Now is good. I could eat.” She nearly tripped as they headed to her truck. “Thai?”
“I love Thai.”
They settled into the truck, and Kris headed toward her favorite restaurant. She glanced over at Haven, who was tapping her fingers to the music. She looked amazing, in boyfriend-cut jeans rolled at the ankles, cu
te little Vans, and a flowy white tank top that was just see-through enough to show the outline of her lacy bra. Kris felt her clit twitch and returned her attention to the road. They pulled into the parking lot a few minutes later. She felt every moment of the awkward silence between them, even though Haven looked slightly amused.
They were seated next to a softly falling water feature, and Kris appreciated the way the light highlighted Haven’s beautiful eyes.
They picked up their menus, and Haven said, “I was beginning to think you weren’t ever going to ask me out. In fact, I was beginning to think maybe Reed was your type after all.”
Kris nearly choked on her water. “Good God, no. Reed and I have been friends since high school. Even if she was my type, and she’s not, I know her too well to ever go there.”
Haven set her menu down and leaned forward slightly. “So what is your type?”
Kris licked her lips, wondering why the water wasn’t helping her sudden case of dry mouth. “You. I mean, I like femme women. Soft, afraid of monster spiders, lacy underwear.”
“How do you know I’m soft, or that I like lacy underwear?”
Kris glanced down at Haven’s top and then flushed, mortified. When Haven started laughing, she relaxed and could breathe again.
“You’re really easy to mess with.” Haven reached across the table and put her hand over Kris’s. “I like the way you look at me.”
The waiter came and took their order, and Kris tried to steady herself. It’s another human. You talk to them all the time. But the moment she looked at Haven, that thought fled and was instantly replaced with the nerves of a teenager on a first date.
“Tell me about your name?” Small talk is good. Start there.
Haven looked slightly surprised, but nodded. “My mother came from a really tough background. Bad parents, poor, all the rest of it. When she got pregnant with me, it gave her a reason to get out and try to make it on her own. She didn’t want to raise me where she’d grown up. She always said I was her safe haven, and as long as we were together, she knew she’d be okay.”
Kris took a moment to process that, and felt her eyes well up a little. “Wow. That’s really beautiful. Are you still close?”
Haven shook her head slightly. “Cancer. Five years ago. I miss her every day.”
“Damn. I’m so sorry.” Kris felt awful for asking, and wished she could pull Haven close and hug the sadness from her expression.
“It’s okay, really. Tell me about yourself?”
And so it went, with more small talk about families and where they’d grown up, what states they’d lived in and what countries they’d visited. “I’m a physicist at the university. Mostly research no one else understands or cares about.” Kris smiled to show she wasn’t bitter about it. “What do you do?”
Haven stared at her for a long moment, as though debating what to say. “Are you sure you want to know?”
Kris laughed. “Well, when you put it that way, I have to know. Are you CIA?”
“Not exactly.” Haven took a long sip of her Thai iced tea, her gaze never leaving Kris’s face. “Would you consider yourself liberal?”
“Well, yeah. I guess.”
Haven grinned mischievously. “Then maybe one day I’ll tell you.”
Kris looked at her disbelievingly. “Seriously?”
“Seriously. A girl has to have her secrets, after all. I can’t tell you everything on the first date, can I? You’d decide I was boring and not ask me out again.” She looked away and shrugged.
Kris reached over and took her hand, stroking it gently with her thumb. Although Haven was acting like she was kidding, Kris sensed a genuine vulnerability beneath her lighthearted surface. “I’m happy to spend a hell of a lot of time getting to know you. No worries there.”
Haven’s smile made Kris’s stomach flip, and she’d never been so glad she’d asked a woman on a date.
*
Kris kept replaying their kiss when the date had ended. Sultry, hot, and full of promise, it had left her weak-kneed and desperate for more, but she’d simply smiled and said good night. It felt weird, dropping off a date and then walking next door to her own place. But then, she kind of liked seeing the lights go on, and then later, off, at Haven’s place. Unable to sleep thanks to visions of Haven in her lacy underwear, her thick brown hair spread out on her pillow, Kris figured she might as well get up and read for a while. She made herself a cup of green tea and glanced over at Haven’s house. A faint glow from the far end of Haven’s backyard caught her eye, and she frowned. Her own backyard was a mess of overgrown bushes and a falling-down shed, which she’d deal with when she had the time. She’d never really looked at Haven’s backyard. She looked out the front window and noticed the convertible BMW in the driveway. Her heart sank when she remembered the hot kiss Haven had shared with the driver of that vehicle. So much for that.
Suddenly warm, she threw open a window and was surprised to hear faint laughter from what sounded like several women. She has friends over at one in the morning on a Wednesday? Her curiosity getting the better of her, she slipped on sweats and sneakers and headed next door. There were no lights on in the house, but she could hear the voices more clearly now, coming from the backyard. She flipped open the side gate and crept along the fence, a strange combination of foolishness and anticipation running through her. She came to an opening in a thicket of trees. She made her way from tree to tree until she was close enough to make out the voices.
“Good. Claire, if you could just move slightly to the left…perfect. Terry, arch your neck back a bit more, let’s get some light on your collarbone.” Haven’s voice was authoritative but gentle.
Kris peeked around the tree and felt the blood rush from her head to regions farther south. A tiny little cabin-like structure was all lit up. In front of it, a naked woman lay sprawled on a picnic bench while another stood between her spread legs, her face pushed against the woman’s center. The women from the BMW. And standing just far enough away were Haven and several other people who seemed to comprise a production crew, complete with cameras and sound. Haven alternated between watching a screen in front of her and the women on the bench. Kris’s attention, however, was riveted on the woman writhing on the picnic bench. She felt the slickness on her own thighs as her body responded automatically to the sounds of the woman’s pleasure. Haven’s occasional instructions were quiet but firm, and definitely added to Kris’s growing need. The woman thrashed as she came, and when she settled into a satiated pose, Haven called, “Cut. Great job, everyone. Let’s move inside and get the scene between Andi and Dana in front of the fire.”
The crew started moving their gear and the women headed inside. Kris was trying to figure out how to get near a window, and was ignoring the Peeping Tom warning pounding in her head, when she stepped back and broke a branch under her foot. She froze and watched as Haven spun around to search the dark trees around her.
“Go on in. I’ll be right there,” she said to her camerawoman.
Shit shit shit. Kris wondered if she could make it back to the gate without being seen, but without the tree cover, there was no way. Think, jackass. Suddenly, Haven stood in front of her with her hands on her hips. Too late. Shit.
“Did you come to offer me leftovers?” Haven’s tone was light, but her eyes were serious.
“I heard voices and wanted to make sure everything was okay.” Well, that was lame.
“And is it? Okay?” Haven’s expression was searching.
“Are you asking me if I’m okay with you being a…a…pornographer?”
Haven tilted her head. “Yes. That’s what I’m asking you. All women, all consensual, all lesbians.”
“I think you’re actually every erotic dream I’ve ever had, come true.”
Haven’s shoulders visibly relaxed and she grinned. “While I like the sound of that and want to hear more, I have people waiting on me. Can we talk more tomorrow?”
Kris leaned forward and kissed he
r lightly, drawing it out but hoping she put more than just lust into it. “I’m home all day. Just shout.”
Haven walked backward toward the cabin. “I’m not a morning person, so I’ll see you after lunch.”
She disappeared inside the house, and Kris made her way back to her place. The girl next door films lesbian porn in her backyard. Wait until I tell Reed.
*
She let Haven in late the next day and quickly made her a cup of coffee, she looked so tired. “Long night?”
“Shooting at night makes for some great scenes, but it’s not easy on the body clock.”
“I can imagine.”
The silence was heavy and awkward, and Haven simply looked at her, clearly waiting for her to start.
“So…porn, huh? What made you go into that?”
Haven shrugged. “I got a master’s degree in human sexuality. At the same time, I noticed a gap in the market. Everyone complained about lesbian porn containing only super-femme women with long nails. So I decided to change that and make movies for women that reflected more of who they are and what they like.” She sipped her coffee, looking contemplative. “And I like sex.”
Kris’s clit twitched in response. “Those sound like damn good reasons.”
“I’m not ashamed of what I do. But I’ve found that when you tell people, they seem to instantly assume you’re up for grabs, and they treat you with less respect.” Haven set her cup down and took a deep breath before looking at Kris seriously. “So I guess I need to know where you stand.”
Kris thought about it for a moment. “I was hoping you were up for grabs before I knew what you did for a living.” She smiled to show she was joking and was glad Haven laughed. “Seriously, though. I think it’s cool you’re doing something you love for reasons you believe in. I like you, a lot. I think you’re sweet, funny, sexy and I want to know a lot more about you. And frankly, I’m really glad to know you like sex. I’m a big fan, too.”
Haven moved around the counter to stand within inches of Kris. “Yeah? Well, keep up the compliments and maybe we’ll see who likes it more.”
