The Price of Fame - KJ1

by Lynn Ames

  “Oh, sweetheart, believe me, I was plenty interested, but I didn’t want to get your hopes up in case I couldn’t get the time off or couldn’t make the plan work. I’m sorry if I led you to think anything different. Nothing could have been further from the truth.”

  “You don’t need to apologize to me, love, it wasn’t you; it’s just that disappointment has always been a fact of life for me. Reacting to you based on my past experiences isn’t fair. I’m the one who owes you an apology: you deserve so much more credit than I’ve been giving you.”

  “Jay, look at me.” She waited until the green eyes locked on hers. “I will never fault you for reactions that are second nature to you. All I ask is for the chance to re-train your mind until there are no doubts left to erase and no insecurities to overcome, until you can trust in me, trust in us. Can I have that? Can we have that?”

  “You are so much more than I deserve. How can it be that of all the women in the world you could have, you want to be with me?”

  “Because of all the women in the world, you are the one who owns me, body and soul and the only one I’ll ever want or need. I love you, Jay, with all my heart.”

  “I love you, too, Kate.” Jay waited a beat, then bumped her companion with a hip. “Criminally good in bed, eh?”

  “Oh yeah.”

  Together they turned back toward the villa, content just to be in each other’s company.

  Wednesday dawned bright and clear, sunlight splashing across the bed where a sole occupant lay sprawled. Jay reached out, expecting to find her lover, but instead connecting with the soft cotton sheet.

  Frowning, she picked her head up; no human teddy bear. Disappointed, 178

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  she listened for sounds coming from the bathroom. Hearing none, she turned her attention to the kitchen, where she was rewarded with the smell of freshly brewing coffee. She followed her nose and discovered the caffeine, but still no sign of her missing partner.

  A quick check of the entire villa confirmed that Kate was AWOL.

  Still naked, Jay walked to the sliding glass doors that opened onto the balcony and looked out at the beach. Straining her eyes, she spied a single figure running gracefully along the surf, long strides eating up the vast expanse of sand, head up, hair flying in the breeze. She smiled reflexively; the sight of her lover caught unaware as she was, outlined against the rising sun, took her breath away.

  Several minutes later, dressed in a pair of very short running shorts and a cut-off short-sleeved shirt, Jay stood with her toes in the sand at the water’s edge, a cup of coffee in one hand and a bottle of water in the other. As she watched, the solitary runner came into view, her features resolving themselves as she got closer.

  The second Kate spied the stationary beachcomber, her smile widened into a full-fledged grin. “Good morning, love,” she greeted her lover, sweeping her into her arms, kissing her lightly on the lips before setting her back on her feet.

  “Hi.”

  “What are you doing out of bed?”

  “I missed my snuggle partner.”

  “Sorry about that. I didn’t want to wake you; you were sleeping so peacefully. I get restless sometimes in the morning and it was so beautiful out, I thought I’d come out and take a quick run. I didn’t think you’d miss me.”

  “Honey,” Jay chuckled, “I miss you when you go to the bathroom.

  And I always have a cure for morning restlessness.” She waggled her eyebrows suggestively.

  “Oh you do, do you? Well, I’ll have to remember that, although I also seem to recall that you’re not a morning person.”

  “For that, I’d make myself into a morning person.” She slipped her arm through Kate’s as they made their way up the beach to the villa. “I thought you might need this,” she said, handing her partner the water bottle.

  “Thanks, as a matter of fact, I could use some. Now all I need is a shower and I’ll be good as new.”

  “Well you’d better be quick about it, because I have plans for you.”

  “Oh yeah?”

  “Mmm-hmm.” Jay proceeded to describe in great detail exactly what she had in mind. After all, they were on vacation.

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  They lay side by side on a beach blanket, soaking up the sun as it dried their salty skin. Snorkeling gear and fins sat dripping nearby, a testament to their first foray into the lush underwater world of the warm Caribbean waters. It had been a lot of fun, swimming together along a nearby reef, pointing out to each other all of the colorful tropical fish as they motored along their way. They had spotted clownfish and angelfish, lobsters and kissing fish and some species whose names neither one of them knew.

  Now they rested quietly, each lost in her thoughts on the peaceful stretch of beach they had claimed for their own. Kate was remembering the earlier part of the morning. Given the proper motivation she had managed to get showered in record time, returning to the bedroom to find her lover waiting for her impatiently. Jay had made good on everything she had promised and more, and it was a wonder that Kate was able to move at all afterward. She smiled; having Jay as a lover would never be boring, that was for certain.

  “What are you smiling about, Stretch?”

  “Mmm, just thinking about making love with a very beautiful woman this morning. You’re going to spoil me, you know. I’ll be ruined for life.”

  “I’m counting on it,” Jay responded. “Wait until you see what I have planned for dessert tonight.”

  Kate groaned, but her grin gave her away. “Still interested in going for a sail?”

  “Yeah,” her lover replied enthusiastically.

  “Okay. How about we dry out a little more, then I’ll go make the arrangements while you go find the ingredients for a picnic lunch at sea.”

  “Ooh, that sounds great. You’ve got a deal.”

  The fifteen-foot Javelin skimmed along the water, the anchorwoman at the helm and Jay hanging backward over the side as the boat heeled almost halfway out of the water. “Prepare to come about,” Kate yelled to be heard over the rush of the wind. She waited until her mate nodded before yelling, “Coming about!”

  At the command, Jay ducked under the boom and came up on the other side of the boat, where she assumed the same position she had on the starboard side. It went on like this for nearly an hour until they came in sight of a tiny island off the port side. Kate maneuvered them into the wind, dropping the sails as her lover threw the anchor overboard. They were about twenty-five feet from shore and blocked from the bulk of the wind by the trees.

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  “Hungry?”

  “Am I ever not hungry?” Jay asked, slapping Kate lightly in the stomach.

  “I guess that was a stupid question. Let me rephrase it: are you ready to eat lunch? This seems like a nice spot.”

  “It’s perfect, and I’m more than ready for food, as always.” Jay dragged the mini-cooler she had purchased with their supplies from under the hull and opened it. She brought out a tablecloth, a hunk of cheese, some French bread, a couple of mangoes, and a half-split of champagne with plastic glasses, along with some water, and closed the cooler, which would double as their table. “Will this do?”

  “Looks great to me. Want me to do the honors?” Kate asked as she pointed to the champagne.

  “Please.”

  She popped the cork smoothly and poured two glasses, handing one to her partner. “To a fantastic vacation with the most extraordinary woman in the world.”

  “I’ll drink to that,” Jay agreed, interlocking arms with her lover as they drank from their glasses.

  They settled side by side on a bench, sharing cheese on bread, licking each other’s fingers to ensure that they hadn’t left any crumbs behind. In between the bites of food, they traded kisses and nibbles.

  “I didn’t know you knew how to sail, Stretch. Yet another one of your many secret skills, I suppose.”

  Kate
chuckled. “I told you, love, I have no secrets from you, only things we have yet to discover about each other. I grew up on the Atlantic Ocean, it was natural to learn to sail. I learned when I was about ten to skipper boats just like this one. It feels like coming home.”

  “Yes, I suppose it would. Who taught you to sail?”

  “Friends of the family. They would take me out in all kinds of conditions just to make sure I knew how to handle myself out there in the elements. It was great training and good for my confidence; it taught me how to think quickly, be decisive, and react under pressure. All things that have served me well.”

  “Mmm.” Jay wanted to ask more, wanted to know all about Kate’s family, but as her lover had never seemed inclined to talk about them, she was reluctant. She hadn’t needed to know for the cover story since the focus had been on the journalist’s career, and though she knew she could have asked in that context, she hadn’t wanted to satisfy her curiosity while hiding behind a professional pretext.

  Wondering when another opportunity might present itself and fearing that it wouldn’t, Jay decided to broach the subject delicately. “Your parents didn’t sail?”

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  Kate’s posture stiffened imperceptibly—imperceptibly, that is, to anyone who didn’t know her body as her lover did. “No. They never went out with me.”

  “We’ve never really talked about your family. I’m sorry, if it’s a sore subject, we can drop it.”

  “No, no, that’s okay, love. Nothing is off limits to you; ask away. I don’t want there to be anything but honesty and full disclosure between us.” The blue eyes darkened in memory. “My mother was a strong woman; she was an artist and an advocate for those less fortunate than we were. She volunteered in the court system for abused spouses and fought single-mindedly for the things she believed in; a great athlete, too. She’s the one who taught me how to play tennis.” Kate smiled at the recollection. “She was tough, but very smart and passionate about social causes and the difference between right and wrong; there wasn’t much gray with her, everything was black or it was white.”

  “It sounds like you loved and admired her very much.” Jay reached out and touched the back of her lover’s hand. “But you talk about her in the past tense.”

  “Yes.” Tears sprang unexpectedly to Kate’s eyes. “Both my parents were killed by a drunk driver when I was 18.”

  “Oh, sweetheart, I’m so, so sorry; I didn’t know.” Jay moved the few inches and wrapped her arms around her partner, offering comfort for a pain that would never end.

  “My father had always wanted a Corvette. He finally found a mint condition 1968, maroon with tan leather interior and a stick shift. He was in Heaven; I called it his mid-life crisis car. He and my mother were driving home from a party late one night on the Hutchinson River Parkway when a drunk slammed into them from behind, knocking them headfirst into a tree at 85 miles per hour. They didn’t stand a chance.”

  “Love, I don’t know what to say.”

  “It’s okay, at least they didn’t suffer; they were both pronounced dead at the scene. Their best friends, who were also lawyers and the executors of their estate, called me at school. It was December 22, three days before Christmas my freshman year. They took care of the details of selling the house and all of that kind of stuff, and set up a trust for me.

  There was plenty of money for me to finish college and live comfortably afterward, but...”

  “But you’d give it all back just to have them alive, wouldn’t you?”

  “Yeah, I would. I never had any brothers or sisters, so it’s just been me ever since.”

  “Seems like we’ve both become orphans, in a way.”

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  “There are two kinds of families, Jay. Those you are born into, and those you create. To me you are my family now, and nothing could make me happier.”

  “Me too, love. Me too.”

  They sat for a while, holding each other silently and enjoying the peaceful solitude of the water and the nearby uninhabited island. As the wind began to pick up a bit and the sun crawled across the sky, Kate roused them from their reveries and headed them back toward the resort.

  The candles flickered in the breeze, creating interesting shadows across the faces of the lovers as they enjoyed a romantic dinner for two on the outdoor patio at a local restaurant on the water. They were so wrapped up in each other that they barely took notice of the other restaurant patrons around them, some of whom stared at them in open disgust.

  “Can you believe they just sit there like that, holding hands as if it were normal? What is this world coming to, anyway? Somebody ought to do something about that sort of thing. Earl, go over and talk to them.”

  “I’m not goin’ anywhere. I’m gonna sit here and eat my meal and mind my own business, and I suggest you do the same.”

  “Hmmph. Well, I tell you, they’re ruining my appetite.”

  “Yeah, I can tell,” Earl said uninterestedly, as he noted his wife’s mostly empty plate.

  Kate, whose ears were finely tuned and very sensitive, heard the entire exchange, but chose to ignore it and concentrate instead on the beautiful woman sitting across from her.

  “What are you smiling about, Stretch?”

  “I’m just trying to remember what I did before I had you in my life.

  Right about now, if it wasn’t a work night, Fred and I would be sitting in the library reading a good book and munching on stuffed animals.” At the raised eyebrow, she clarified, “Of course, the book is for Fred and the stuffed animals are mine.”

  “Of course.” The emerald eyes twinkled.

  “You’ve brought so much into my life, Jay. I’m so thankful to have you.”

  “Right back at ya, sweetheart. Right about now I’d be sitting on the sofa with a magazine and a bag of popcorn, critiquing the competition’s writing style. Shallow, but somehow satisfying.”

  Kate laughed. “Aren’t we just a couple of live wires. Can I interest you in dessert, perhaps?”

  Jay smiled evilly. “Only if you’re on the menu.”

  “I dunno, have you read the menu? Do you know your choices?”

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  “I know that I would choose the same thing every time, I don’t even need to see what’s available.”

  “In that case, may I escort you home, Princess?”

  Unable to resist the temptation on the way out, Kate stopped at Earl’s table, pulling Jay to a halt with her, not letting go of her hand. She put on her most charming smile, oozing charisma, and in her best southern accent drawled, “Excuse me, but we couldn’t help but notice what a lovely couple you make. How long have y’all been married, if you don’t mind my askin’?”

  “Forty-two years,” the wife replied, puffing herself up like a peacock.

  “Well, I do declare. Jam’son, did y’all hear that? I just hope that someday we can be just like you...so in love after so many years. In’t that right, sugah?”

  “Why yes, honeybunch,” Jay played along, not at all sure what was going on, but having great fun just the same.

  “By the way,” Kate lowered her voice conspiratorially, snaring the old woman with her gaze and resting her free hand on her arm, “I just luuv your outfit. Liz Claiborne, if I’m not mistaken; one of my personal favorites. It looks just perfect on you, honey.”

  “Thank you very much.”

  “Well, we’d best be goin’ now and leave these nice folks alone, right, Jam’son?”

  “Right, peaches. It was so nice to meet y’all. Have a great night.”

  When they had walked away, the old woman swatted Earl on the arm.

  “Well, wasn’t that nice. I had no idea those kind of people had such good taste; they know a good marriage and proper clothing when they see it.”

  Earl didn’t answer; his eyes were still following the two gorgeous women’s progress as they disappeared from the restauran
t.

  Once outside, Jay turned to her lover, her eyes gleaming. “Okay, want to tell me what that was all about, sugah?”

  “Just having a little fun, that’s all,” she smiled warmly at her partner.

  “Because...why?”

  “The old bat took exception to our public display of affection, and I thought I’d play with her a little. Thanks for going along with me, that was great sport.”

  “How did you know she was wearing Liz Claiborne, a lucky guess?”

  “Nope. Her tag was hanging out in back.”

  “You are so bad.”

  “You’re about to find out how bad,” she purred in her sexiest register.

  Jay, her skin already tingling in anticipation, could only whimper.

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  Kate brushed her fingers lightly over her lover’s bare buttocks and back, reveling in the feel of silky soft skin and the scent that was so uniquely Jay. She had been overwhelmed with a desire the previous night to show the other woman exactly what she felt for her. She had started with slow caresses and deep kisses, added some strategically placed nibbles and bites, and luxuriated in the thrill of her lover’s rising excitement. She had stilled Jay’s wandering hands, wanting her instead to focus exclusively on her pleasure.

  “Tell me what you want, sweetheart, all of it. I want to make everything you’ve ever fantasized about, everything you’ve ever dreamed, come true.”

  “You already have,” Jay breathed, and that was the truth.

  “Is this what you want?” Kate asked, running her tongue up the inside of one thigh, lightly kissing the engorged tissues, briefly sucking her lover into her mouth and then letting her go.

  “Argh. God, Kate, that feels so good.”

  “Or would you prefer this?” She smoothed long fingers over downy soft skin and into blonde curls, barely dipping into the wetness, swirling her fingers around once and retreating.

  “Ahh. Oh, love.”

  “Tell me what you want, sweetheart, and it’s all yours.” She looked into emerald eyes gone coal black with need.

  “Please, take me now, I need you so much; I want you so much. I can’t stand it.” Jay could barely grind the words out.