by Rhavensfyre
“Do you mind if we don’t talk about that right now? I would rather enjoy my night with you,” Dani asked politely. She didn’t want to think about the past tonight.
Allyse glanced over at her, concerned at the sudden change in Dani’s voice. She had somehow stumbled on another touchy subject, but this time, Dani hadn’t run away or stopped talking to her. “Sure, no problem. We can talk about something else.”
“Okay.”
“Did you do anything for your birthday?” Allyse asked the mundane question while inside her head she was doing math and freaking out. Just turned twenty-eight! Jesus, what the hell am I doing? Sure, she had known how old Dani was, but somewhere in her head she had fast forwarded that number to almost thirty, as if that made it any better. She was forty, for God’s sake. Who cares? If I was a man no one would give a crap about twelve years. It’s not that big of a deal, so get a grip. Allyse made a face. She always enjoyed a good argument with herself, especially when she became the victim of her own sarcasm.
Dani seemed oblivious to Allyse’s existential crisis, she was busy staring out the window and missed the entire show.
“Not in the beginning. It was just a regular day like always, but it got better.” Dani smiled. She had to give it to Erick this year for managing to do something right. Best birthday present, ever.
“How so?”
“Well, the morning started off pretty much the same as every day, but later that day I met this beautiful woman. It was shocking, the effect she had on me.” Dani looked down and over, surreptitiously watching how Allyse's knuckles turned white on the steering wheel as she spoke.
“Hmm, and where did you meet this woman?” Allyse inquired, being very careful to tiptoe around the pit of jealousy hollowing out her stomach. She couldn’t mean someone else, could she? There was that doctor at the Emergency Room.
“Oh, on the farm of course. She showed up on my porch just before sunset. It was obvious she didn’t really belong on a farm, but that was okay with me.” Dani paused, drawing out what she had to admit was a bit of evilness on her part. Drumming her fingers along her knee, she waited until Allyse looked like she was about to burst before throwing her a bone. “Surprising thing was, for some reason she seemed to like me. She even asked me out on a date.”
“Me?” Allyse squeaked.
“Yes, of course you,” Dani drawled, then watched Allyse go from wide eyed wonder to narrow eyed contemplation.
“That was just plain evil.”
“Me?” Dani exclaimed, throwing her hands up in a warding gesture. “I’m just a simple country girl. Not an evil bone in my body.”
Allyse abandoned any pretense of anger. She might have been the butt of the joke, but it was still funny. Besides, she had other fish to fry. “Erick should have told me about your birthday. I had no idea.”
“Why should he have told you? You didn’t know me and he knows I don’t make a big deal of it.”
“Yes, but you still spent it alone.”
“No, I didn’t,” Dani corrected her. “You showed up. It turned out to be a wonderful night.”
“I am glad you see it that way.” Allyse shot a grin over at her passenger then made a silent promise that surprised her. She wasn’t an impulsive person, but she was a stubborn one that usually got her way. If at all possible, next year she would make sure Dani had a better birthday—one where she wasn’t alone for it, even if she had to throttle Erick to make sure it happened.
She had a lot to think about, including Erick's motivation for sending her out to Dani’s farm in the first place. The two women spent the rest of their drive together in companionable silence. Dani even managed to find a station that suited her tastes long enough to stop fiddling with the buttons, something for which Allyse’s ears were eternally grateful.
***
They pulled up to the restaurant not long after that. The valet opened Allyse’s door for her but Dani climbed out of the passenger side before he could reach her.
“Are you okay with valet?” Allyse hesitated before dropping the keys in the valet’s palm.
“Yep, just make sure she stays safe,” Dani answered Allyse and cautioned the uniformed young man at the same time. Allyse watched as Dani went from friendly to stern to friendly again in a flash. It was mildly disconcerting, that sure grin belaying the warning flash in those dark eyes. Perhaps that was why the young man swallowed nervously, then nodded before jumping into the bright yellow car.
“I hear they have a wonderful wine list,” Allyse said. She had seen Dani in a lot of moods, but being in the city seemed to put her on edge somehow, like she couldn’t completely relax when she was surrounded by the tall buildings and concrete. Had she made a mistake, taking Dani downtown?
“Feel free to have a few glasses, I’ll drive home tonight,” Dani said, casting one last longing glance towards the valet.
“Thank you, I think I just might take you up on that.” Allyse took Dani’s arm and led her towards the restaurant doors and the smiling hostess waiting for them. “Unless you want something tonight?”
“No. I’m good.”
Allyse didn’t have Dani’s full attention. She was busy watching the Mustang rumble away and trying not to have a mini panic attack.
Under its bright yellow exterior the powerful automobile seemed sad, like a caged lion growling as it walked along its enclosure, grumbling about being stuck in a forest of concrete and brick. Dani so knew how that felt. Being in the city made her twitchy…too many people, all of them in a hurry, and every one of them practically screaming to be heard over everyone else. As far as Dani was concerned, all that did was make them sound like crows fighting over carrion. Considering some of the fouler smells she’d run into in the past, visualizing the city as a giant carcass didn’t seem that far off. It was, however, not the direction her thoughts needed to go if she was to enjoy dinner.
The two women were escorted to a private table on the back deck that overlooked the waterfront. Their drink orders were taken before the polite young woman retreated, leaving them to enjoy the quiet ambience. It was a beautiful night, and Dani appreciated not being seated in the noisy interior. In the distance, a few couples were out walking along the waterfront trail, the black water behind them lit with streaks of color from the streetlamps dotting the area. Muted pools of light chased away the shadows but left small areas of darkness, private areas where couples would pause for a moment before continuing on. A few sailboats rocked peacefully in the almost still water, adding another dimension to the mirrored images floating in the harbor.
“After dinner would you like to take a walk around the water front?” Dani asked, inspired by the view to try and relax a little and enjoy herself.
“That sounds lovely,” Allyse murmured, smiling coyly at her dinner companion over her wine glass.
The tension she had noticed earlier had disappeared. Somewhere between the appetizers and the main course, Dani had returned to her old self—relaxed and confident. And why shouldn’t she be? The wine made her ask. They were, by far, the handsomest couple in the restaurant. The fact that there wasn’t a single person there who knew who she was left her feeling carefree and relaxed in a way that she hadn’t felt in a long time. Yes, they were getting a few looks here and there, but they were polite and respectful looks that quickly turned to disinterest. The anonymity thrilled Allyse to no end. She was free to enjoy her dinner and the attention of her companion without worrying about it becoming news.
***
Over dinner, Dani stuck to small talk with an occasional question about New York. Allyse seemed happy to talk about herself, and that released Dani from having to carry the bulk of the conversation. She was perfectly happy being relegated to yes and no answers, the occasional hmm, and a head nod or two between bites. Besides, listening to Allyse talk was a huge turn on. Her smooth, cultured tones were so different from what she had expected from a New Yorker. Erick’s voice held a bit of that cultured tone, and she wondered how much o
f it was picked up from working with Allyse for all those years.
A soft hand on hers brought her distracting thoughts back to the conversation at hand. She smiled an apology at her dinner date, certain that Allyse had asked something while she was lost inside her head.
“Sorry, Allyse.”
“It’s quite alright, it’s late and we’re both a little tired. Maybe we should take that walk now to wake up a bit?” Allyse asked, waving the waiter over to ask for the check.
***
“You know, I still don’t know that much about you,” Allyse stated as they walked out of the restaurant and into the heavy night air. It was always mildly humid along the waterfront, but a slight breeze kept it from being overly cloying tonight.
“Sure you do. I’m sure Erick has told you plenty.” Dani reached out to take Allyse's hand. After several glasses of wine, she seemed a little unsteady on her feet and the brick walkway was uneven in places.
“Well, yes. But I’m sure he missed some things, like your birthday,” Allyse said, managing to sneak that little tidbit in quite neatly.
“That’s true. But…” Dani didn’t get a chance to finish her objection.
“Tell me anything. It doesn’t have to be anything important,” Allyse said, doing her best to sweet-talk her date into revealing something about herself.
“I don’t like talking about myself, Allyse. I never know what to say.”
They walked a few more yards in silence while Allyse digested that tidbit of information. Dani’s cowboy boots made a solid ka-thunk noise with each step, a rhythmic beat that followed each heel strike as she strolled alongside Allyse. The lighter tapping beat of Allyse’s heels sounded like an echo of their heavier counterpart. It was a pleasing noise, somehow, the sound of their feet striking the bricks together as they walked hand in hand.
“Okay, I can accept that for now,” Allyse said, conceding defeat.
“For now?” Dani asked. “Does that mean you aren’t going to give up asking?”
“I am known for my stubborn streak.” She had meant it as a joke, but Dani took it somewhere entirely unexpected. She reached out and touched Allyse’s hair, right where the odd blonde streak lay along her temple.
“I can see that,” Dani said. “You know, when I first met you I thought this was white, and that you were older than I remembered.”
“It’s a family trait,” Allyse stuttered. “I lucked out. My brother has a patch of blonde on the back of his head. He used to wear this awful rat tail in the 80s that looked like he had dipped it in bleach.”
Dani wasn’t about to be distracted by humor. She ran her fingers through the fine hair, then shifted her gaze back to Allyse’s face. “It didn’t matter. I remember seeing you at the funeral. I remember thinking that you were the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen, and I think I hated you a little bit then, standing there next to Erick.”
“I remember you, too,” Allyse whispered. “You looked like a suffering angel, all alone on that hill with no one to share your grief.” She couldn’t stop her words, she was too fuzzy from the wine she had drunk at dinner. That fuzziness turned into a loud hum as a wave of dizziness overtook her, making her stumble. Dani reacted instantly, pulling Allyse into her arms before she fell.
Allyse couldn’t say who moved first or if they moved at the same time, but all of a sudden they were kissing. The sensation of those silken lips on hers, devouring her mouth with abandon and without any thought to the people passing them by sent Allyse’s heart into overdrive, hammering against her chest violently. She didn’t care. She allowed herself this moment, snaking her arms around Dani’s neck for much needed support. The soft curls at the base of Dani’s neck were too enticing to ignore. She traced the silky hairs with her fingertips and her joy soared at this simple pleasure. None of the people walking past them knew who she was, she could be anyone or no one and it didn’t matter. Then she went even farther, daring herself to believe it. She imagined this kiss happening in Central Park. In the middle of Times Square—in front of the world, the universe and the entire insane, crazy mess that was New York. It wouldn’t matter, not if it was Dani kissing me.
A small nip on her lower lip reminded Allyse that she had gotten distracted. She gasped, and Dani took advantage, abandoning her lips for a sensitive spot on her neck that made her shiver.
“You certainly know how to get a girl’s attention.” The kiss had left her breathless and wanting more. “If that’s the thanks I get for taking you out on a date, we’re going out tomorrow, too.”
“That wasn't a thank you. That was because I wanted to. You aren’t ready for how I would say thank you.” The promise that flashed in her eyes was like quicksilver, hot and fluid, and practically stole the oxygen right out of the heavy night air.
“Are you ready to head back now?”
“Yes,” Allyse breathed. At that moment in time, all she wanted in the world was to leave the city and go back to the farm with Dani.
Chapter Fourteen
Dani breathed a sigh of relief the minute she turned onto the freeway and headed out of Baltimore. She glanced over at her silent passenger, intending to thank her for letting her concentrate while navigating the confusing one way streets, but Allyse had fallen asleep. Pitted and ugly, the roads seemed to be perpetually under some type of construction or another to repair the potholes that popped up as quickly as gopher holes out in the pastures at home. It was one of those freeways that begged to be driven fast but took its share of victims if you succumbed to the lure of the tight curves. She wasn’t about to risk her car or the woman curled up in the bucket seat next to her. Not when the concrete berms on either side of the road were decorated with enough tire rubber to turn the cement more black than gray.
Dani reached over and turned the music down so it wouldn’t disturb her passenger and she could think. Allyse De Leon had turned out to be quite the surprise, turning Dani’s world on its ear in a very short span of time. She was so different than her pictures, and totally at odds with how Erick had described her. In the relative quiet and isolation of the Mustang’s cockpit, Dani had plenty of time to reflect on the differences between the Allyse she had met on her porch last week, and the one that seemed to exist in the outside world. Was she getting the real Allyse—the woman who could relax and enjoy herself—or was the one that Erick knew the real thing? Dani didn’t know, and that bothered her. What she did know troubled her even more. When it came to her heart, Allyse was a dangerous woman.
Leaving the city was a relief, but it also left her driving in almost pitch black conditions. The moon had disappeared behind some pretty heavy cloud cover and the few worrisome spits hitting her windshield didn’t bode well for the rest of her drive. It wasn’t enough to use her wipers, but it did encourage her to lay on the gas pedal and keep one eye out for speed traps.
Roughly scrubbing at her face to take the edge off her growing fatigue, Dani ran her fingertips across her lower lip, setting off a residual tingle that was a mere echo of what she felt when Allyse kissed her. And the way Allyse looked at her!
Dani couldn’t afford the distraction but she also couldn’t erase the images in her mind either, they competed with her need to drive between the lines. Dinner might have satiated their more common appetites, but the ravenous look Allyse pierced her with, stripped her awareness down to a coarser hunger, something wild that had somehow managed to avoid taming. Those silvery green eyes had flashed dark and dangerous, like clouds gathering for a storm above a brilliant sea. They churned and roiled with vivid wind tossed color that had captured her with their intensity. At that point, their kiss was inevitable and as it turned out, unstoppable, their lips drawn together by a magnetic force as powerful as the planets being drawn toward the suns pull. It hadn’t been their first kiss, but it had been a first kiss. As sure as she knew the sun would rise in the morning, she knew something intrinsic between them had changed.
***
“Well, crap,” Dani muttered, flipp
ing on her windshield wipers at their fastest setting. About a mile away from home the sky opened up and didn’t just rain on her parade…it pissed on her universe. A solid sheet of water rolled off the Mustang and merged with the road, until she couldn’t tell if she was seeing blacktop or rainwater flashing in her headlamps. The Mustang seemed to hunker down and take it all in stride, but she was still thrilled to arrive at her turnoff where the Saxon Farm signpost was swinging wildly in the storm as if waving a relieved hello. “Glad to see you, too,” she whispered nervously. The weather was working itself up into something ugly and she wanted to get inside where it was safe.
Dani pulled straight up to the house instead of rolling into the garage. The Mustang would survive one night out in the open.
“Allyse, babe? We’re home,” Dani murmured, lightly stroking one smooth cheek with the back of her fingers.
Allyse shifted, unfolding from her cramped position with a groan. “What’s that noise?”
“It’s raining, pretty heavy, too,” Dani answered. “It’s going to be a race to the door. Are you awake enough?”
“I’m awake.” Allyse straightened up in her seat and peered out the window. “Wow. It’s really pouring out there.”
“Yeah. I parked as close as I could but we’re still going to get wet.” Dani frowned. This wasn’t the way she wanted their first date to end. “Wait a second for me. I’ll come around and get you.”
Dani jumped out and came around to the passenger side, crouching against the onslaught of rain beating against her shoulders. When she flung open the door, Allyse cringed away from what felt like a bucket of ice water being tossed in on her. Dani thrust out her hand and Allyse took it blindly, then they ran like hell across the gravel driveway, high heels be damned. By the time they reached the safety of the porch, her fancy silk was wilted, clinging to every curve she had and leaving very little to the imagination. She stood there, hugging herself and shivering, while Dani grumbled at herself for forgetting to turn on the porch light before they left.
