Miss Magnolia's eye turned to her. "And what does your gentleman say?"
"Diego likes me the way I am."
Miss Magnolia grinned. "He wants you to stay this way."
Lavender shook her head. "He doesn't mind either way."
At least, that was the idea she'd gotten.
Ariel nodded. "Probably because he's bisexual."
Was Diego bi? Why hadn't he told her? If it was some ghastly, hidden thing, how did Ariel know?
"That can't be it." Alana leaned forward in her chair. "If all it took to get a boyfriend was finding a bisexual man, we'd all have had boyfriends ages ago."
Did Diego only love her because he was attracted to both men and women?
Caiside poured herself another drink. "My clients are all straight. They date women and marry women and have sex with women."
"And with you."
Alana's fists clinched and she marched up to Miss Magnolia. "Are you saying I'm less than a woman because of some dangly bits? That the boy who likes me only likes me because of those bits? Well, you're wrong, because he broke things off when he first heard, and we are only going out because he saw Lavender in her nightclothes and was convinced that she was a real girl, despite her bits."
She crossed her arms.
Did Diego see Lavender as completely female? She couldn't bear to be with him, no matter how sexy and feminine he made her feel, if he saw her as part male. Did he take finding out her secret so well because he saw her as only half a woman?
Lavender's eyes prickled and her throat hurt. She wasn't going to cry. Not here, not now. She downed her drink and went to the mini bar where she took time filling her glass. She added a dash of vodka to calm her nerves and extra flavors to disguise the feel of alcohol in her mouth and throat.
Ariel leaned against the bar. "I didn't know she had it in her."
She nodded to Alana going toe-to-toe with Miss Magnolia, as Miss Magnolia insisted that no man could ever really love women like them, and Alana insisting that she was just as real as any other woman, and if a man couldn't love her, that was his problem. There were more fish than him in the sea.
Lavender turned. Alana had the right of it, but Lavender wasn't going to take her side in anything at the moment.
"He really did ask you to marry him?"
Lavender looked up. Ariel stirred her glass slowly. She glanced up and back down. Lavender nodded. "He wants me to move in with him."
"He still does?"
He did, but Lavender wasn't so sure she wanted to live with him. She was scared of all those things that Miss Magnolia pointed out endlessly.
Miss Magnolia broke off her tirade. "What's this?"
Alana crossed her arms. "Lavender found a man that loves her and wants to marry her, so you're wrong."
How much alcohol had quiet Alana drunk to be so vocal? Had she had any before she stole Lavender's precious things? Lavender would never forgive her. And how could Lavender live here with people she couldn't trust, especially if her best friend Vish moved on without her?
The doorbell rang. Miss Magnolia puffed up her chest. "I don't want to be interrupted. Lavender, dear…"
Caiside handed her yet another drink as Ariel slipped out of the room.
"Lavender, dear, don't get your hopes up too far. He's a nice boy and I know better than you that nice boys never stick around. You'd be better off being someone's mistress like Vishva. She knows she'll never get a happily ever after. Young men like yours tempt us into thinking that all is possible, before yanking the rug out from under us." She held up a hand. "He'll mean well. He'll have the best of intentions, but his parents won't like you, and he'll be embarrassed for you to meet his friends, and you'll end up with a broken heart. Mark my words."
But Diego wanted her to meet his mother and she'd already met his friends.
Ariel came in the parlor, preceded by dozens of flowers that left a spicy scent in the air. She set the vase on the minibar. "Lavender, these are for you."
Lavender's heart skipped a beat. They were only apart for a few hours and he'd thought of her. Ariel handed her the card. Diego spoke of secrets and surprises and happiness once they were together again, but he was vague enough that she willingly handed the card to Miss Magnolia. Miss Magnolia frowned. "What does that mean?"
Caiside peeked around Miss Magnolia's arm. "It means they will have sex."
She took the note and passed it to Alana. "You think?"
Lavender didn't want Alana reading her note. Alana passed it to Ariel. "Yeah. Is he picking you up tonight?"
As if Lavender was going to make small talk with Alana. "I should pack."
She was already packed, but this made a good excuse.
"But what did he mean about secrets?"
Ariel rolled her eyes. "You might as well ask her what he is going to surprise her with. She doesn't know. Did you thank him?"
Lavender sent, I count the minutes until our bodies are intertwined.
Ariel laughed. "Now he's too hard to walk."
He’d better not be. She had to be near him, even if he was going to break her heart.
*~*~*
Diego took a deep breath. Patrick had laughed at Diego's reaction to Lavender's text, but Diego didn't think Patrick would have acted any differently. He texted Lavender to say he'd arrived, like she'd asked, and got out of his car. The door opened as he climbed the steps. Lavender passed him a bag and carried the other to the car.
Diego opened the trunk. "Some reason we're sneaking off?"
Lavender glanced back at the house. "Miss Magnolia wants to know what the secrets and surprises are."
Diego pulled Lavender close. He missed her body against his. "They wouldn't be secrets and surprises if I told anyone."
She gave him a peck on the lips and stepped away. He'd need to take her somewhere else to get his way with her. He opened her door and closed it after she got in, then waved to one of her friends. He got in himself. "So did you talk about what you needed to talk about?"
"Miss Magnolia and Alana got drunk and had a screaming match."
He paused at the intersection and put his hand on hers. "That doesn't sound like fun."
She ran her hand up his arm. "Take me somewhere quiet."
He took her to the lookout point. The city was beautiful at night, but the girl in the car with him was prettier still. He watched her watch the city. Too bad his vacation wasn't two weeks long. "When you come up at Christmas, I'll show you the sights."
"Will I come up at Christmas?"
"I would love for you to come up and spend several weeks with me. As a trial run for moving in."
"I'm moving in?"
He held her hand. "I want you to fall so in love with me that you can't imagine living anywhere else."
She turned to him. "Why?"
"Because," he kissed her fingers, "that's how I feel about you."
"Why?"
He ran his finger down her jaw. "Why do I love you? Because you're the prettiest woman on earth. Because I'm happy just to be next to you. Because you are funny, smart, and the best lover I’ve ever had."
She looked at their linked hands. "Am I?"
"Yes."
She licked her lips. "Are you… Ariel said, and she must have gotten it from the boy she likes. She said that you were bi."
Diego laughed at himself. He'd forgotten to tell her. "Yeah, I am. I have been for as long as I can remember. I've never made a secret of it. It didn't come up."
She turned her head away. Diego had never found a glove box that interesting. He petted her hand. "Being bisexual, to me, means that I don't cut out half the population when looking for someone to spend my life with. I date pretty girls and handsome guys, but only one person at a time. I'm not going to cheat on you."
"I didn't think that."
She wouldn't have been the first if she had. He kissed her fingers. "Then what can I do to reassure you that I love only you? You, Lavender, are the one I want to spend my life with, the o
ne I want to grow old beside, the one I want to go to bed with and wake up next to."
The faintest of smiles brushed her lips.
"I love you." He needed her to understand that. "I love you with every fiber of my being."
She turned to him and straightened her shoulders. "But why? What makes you love me so much?"
He really hated these conversations. He'd had a number of them in the past, and they always ended badly. He needed Lavender to fall in love with him for his own sanity. Knowing his perfect person existed was different than knowing where she was and that she'd never love him back. He took a deep breath. "My first impression?"
"Yes."
"I was attracted by your confidence and ease, the way you went from queen of the world to shy kitten was intriguing, and you seemed to like me back, which was a definite turn-on."
"Not because…" She waved over her lap.
"I didn't know about that."
"But you must have guessed something."
"Lavender, my love, you are one hundred percent woman."
"But…"
He scooted over until he was at the edge of his seat. He needed to hold her, to touch her. "I know you didn't want me talking about people I'd been with before…"
"But…"
"I like my women curvy, like you, only other women aren't like you. Your breasts are perfection." He ran his thumb down one of hers and rubbed her nipple through the too-thin fabric. "I can't say I dated only women with breasts like yours, because no other breasts in the world come close."
"You think?" She bit her lower lip.
He leaned forward and kissed her. He slid to her side of the car and knelt, the best he could, between her legs. "Beautiful, you are a woman. I only see you as a woman and I love you as a woman."
He rested his face against her chest and ran a hand up her belly. She gasped and wrapped her arms over his shoulders. "You really like them?"
He did. He hummed his enthusiasm. He pushed up the bottom of her shirt and got the pesky fabric out of the way. Luckily, this bra opened in the front. He sucked a nipple and reach down to check that he wasn't the only one enjoying himself. She hadn't worn her too-tight underthings, so he could feel her pleasure. He slipped his hand up her skirts and got a proper grip on her hardness.
She begged and moaned and finally shouted as she dug her fingers into his shoulders. Then he kissed her, the most perfect woman in the world.
*~*~*
Lavender loved his body against hers, how he knew just how to give her the most pleasure, and that he wasn't scared or horrified by her bits. But that last thought made her worry. "How can you say I'm 'all woman' after you just did that?"
Diego laid his head in her lap. "I love your body, every inch of it, but would you be any less a woman if you didn't have access to hormones? Were you less female as a child? As a baby?"
"Diego." Tears prickled her eyes and this time, she didn't try to stop them. He knew her. He understood her. "If I fall in love with anyone, it's going to be with you."
He grinned. "I will win your heart."
She pulled him up, so she could kiss him properly and slid a hand into his shorts. He gasped and leaned on her shoulder while he guided her through her first hand job. She'd learn.
And she'd learn how to make him feel as happy as he made her.
Chapter Twenty-One
Diego pulled up in front of Mrs. Raleigh's house and put his hand on Lavender's thigh to keep her from getting out. "I bought you something."
She looked at him sideways. "Haven't you spent enough on me?"
"Never." He took the envelope out of the glove box and handed her the papers inside. "I got you a legal name change form. I'll pay the fee."
She looked at the papers like she'd never seen anything like them before, but they were just standard fill-in-the-blank type forms. What was the problem? She wanted to be Lavender legally, didn't she?
When he opened her door, she was holding the papers against her chest. Maybe they hadn't been such a poor gift after all.
He took both her bags out of the trunk. She bit her lower lip, and didn't seem like she was seeing what was in front of her. He touched her elbow. "Let's go in."
She straightened her shoulders and put the papers in her purse. She flashed him a smile, but her eyes gleamed. "So I don't have to explain."
Maybe he should have shown her the papers after they got to his room, but if she'd shouted with joy, no one in the house could have heard from the car.
Mrs. Raleigh welcomed them in and offered them food. Lavender accepted a diet pop, so they weren't heading straight to the bedroom. He longed to discuss his gift, but if she wanted to make small talk with another woman, he wasn't going to get in her way.
He put the bags in his room and sat down beside Lavender. She and Mrs. Raleigh were discussing some sort of fashion trend that hadn't yet made it to Oregon. Mrs. Raleigh hoped it would die an early death. "I was quite pleased to see that the girl Travis is interested in doesn't wear clothes like that. Not that my approval would make any difference to him, but it was still a weight off my mind."
Diego picked up a cookie. "Have you met her?"
Mrs. Raleigh shook her head. "I saw a picture of her on his phone." She put her hand over her heart. "Yes, I spy, but he's only seventeen."
Diego's mother hadn't spied; she had just insisted on meeting each and every person he dated. Several people had broken up with him so that they wouldn't have to meet her. She was notorious among his exes.
"Do you know her name? Because…" Lavender held out her phone. "The girl on the left?"
Mrs. Raleigh scrutinized the picture. "Maybe. She's so small and pretty. He's going to break her heart. As much as I love him, I know him and he's too selfish to be in a relationship right now. Is she a friend of yours?"
"We live in the same building."
Mrs. Raleigh nodded. "Well, if she's a nice as you are, she's too good for Travis."
Diego would have to agree after spending two evenings in his company. Saturday night, Travis made plans without asking Diego's opinion of his choices, and Wednesday, he'd insulted Lavender and every woman like her because he'd been embarrassed at school. Travis wasn't the type of guy Diego wanted dating his sister.
"Thank you." Lavender put her phone away.
She leaned against Diego. He wrapped his arms around her. Would she be this comfortable when she visited his family? Mrs. Raleigh pulled out a book on tweaking with clothing. Lavender's eyes lit up. Diego made room for Mrs. Raleigh to sit beside them. She said Lavender was to tell her if she wasn't interested, but that she had no daughters, her sons didn't care about clothes, and Jessica, as much as Mrs. Raleigh loved her, was not a crafty person. Lavender turned pages, exclaimed, and judged the projects, while Mrs. Raleigh gave her own opinions. One book led to another, and then a third.
The phone rang. Mrs. Raleigh had to pick Travis up and take him to Austin's house. She sighed. "I really liked this. Don't wait for Diego to come back to visit me."
Lavender smiled. Diego was glad she got along with Patrick's mother. Too bad his mother wasn't so easygoing.
*~*~*
Lavender cuddled against Diego. They were alone for the moment in Diego's friend's mother's house. She wanted his hands on her. They could even make out on the couch, if she was certain they'd notice when the lady of the house returned.
She turned in his arms and kissed him. His response wasn't as enthusiastic as she'd expected. Maybe he didn't want to risk being caught. She pulled back, but he tugged her close again and she forgot about the world outside him arms. He wound her up nice and high, then just held her close. "Any more, and we'll need the bedroom."
She ran her hand down his side. "What's stopping you?"
He laughed and kissed her. "I don't know. I like you very well in my bed, but I enjoy you other places as well."
"Like the viewpoint and the beach?" She'd enjoy him there, too.
"And shopping, and talking to Mrs. Raleigh, a
nd watching movies at Patrick's. I like you for more than sex."
Good. "Thank you."
"That's why I got you the forms to change your name."
She leaned back to look at him better. What did legally changing her name have to do with anything?
"I want…" He took a deep breath. "You are the queen of my world. I don't want you to be embarrassed to show your ID card when you travel to see me."
"You want me to change my name for selfish reasons?"
He sat up and pulled her onto his lap. "My goal is to marry you. Tiny steps are still steps."
She leaned back against him. "I can't marry you, you know. That M isn't going to change."
He kissed her ear. "So, we aren't technically married under the law. No one else will know that it's just a domestic partnership. We can have a big church wedding, anyway."
He dreamed a big dream. "Do you want a church wedding?"
"My mother will. Even if I married a man, she'd expect flower girls, candles, lace, and a big feast. Our wedding colors can be purple, lilac, and white."
Diego had a way of lifting her up, just to drop her again.
"You know I can't afford that." She couldn't afford more than her day-to-day expenses.
"Mom will pay for it. She'll even let you make some of the decisions. If your heart is set on something, bring it up early, or tell me, so I can. She doesn't try to steamroll people. It just happens."
He wasn't painting a very pretty picture of his mother.
"But if you don't care, leave that part up to her. She's good at organizing stuff, knows everyone, and she likes to help."
This was a waste of time, dreaming about getting married. It would never happen.
"Let's fill out the forms." He handed over her purse.
"Why?"
"Humor me."
That wasn't a satisfactory answer. She got out the envelope. He opened it up, laid the forms on the coffee table, and plucked a pen from the cup by the telephone. "Birth name."
"Why?"
"Please. The M is easy enough to ignore if the picture and the name match. I know a woman who didn't realize that her driver's license had an M, not an F, until her fiancé pointed it out after she'd been driving for fifteen years."
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