Northern Proposals

by Julia P. Lynde

  "Is this safe?" I asked her, leaning over the railing to talk to her.

  She was treading water a few feet from the boat. "Sure. Why not?"

  "What if you have a cramp or something? I don't know how to start the boat to come get you."

  "Don't worry, Jade," she said. "I won't drown on you."

  "You say that now, but then Mr. Jaws comes along and eats you."

  "At least I wouldn't drown."

  I laughed.

  "You have work to do. I'm going to swim off some energy. I promise I won't drown."

  After that, I kept a half an eye on her. I decided that if she got in trouble, I could swim to her with a life jacket. She was a better swimmer than I was, but I could swim.

  She'd given me all the numbers I needed from her. I plugged them in where they needed to be then started to write the summary. I looked up when the boat rocked slightly. Jessica was climbing back on board. She stood up, water sluicing from her body, and I tried not to stare. She caught me looking at her and smiled. I quickly looked back at the laptop.

  "Don't be shy," she said huskily. "The gay juice from last night hasn't worn off yet."

  I looked up at her. "There's something I need to tell you, but I don't want you to, I don't know. React to it. No teasing, no getting more friendly."

  She wrapped a towel around herself, then sat on one of the cushions, keeping a healthy distance between my laptop and her dripping, wet hair. "I can't promise no reaction," she said. "But I won't tease or do anything to upset you."

  I looked away for a moment. "This is embarrassing, and I shouldn't tell you. But I'm really confused about it." I paused. "Can I trust you?"

  "Yes. I won't hurt you."

  I believed her. "Last night, when I was giving you that backrub, and you were making those noises. It seemed like I was really pleasing you."

  "You were."

  "And. Um."

  "You got wet."

  I immediately began blushing. "Soaking. I almost changed my panties, but knew you would figure out why."

  She laughed.

  "No teasing!"

  "No teasing," she agreed. "Just joy. Is joy okay?"

  "I'm not done," I told her.

  She settled back down and put on a sober expression.

  "Those two kisses were the best two kisses I've ever had."

  Her smile grew to epic proportions.

  "When you blindfolded me and tied my hands-"

  "Yes?"

  "My heart was pounding a hundred miles an hour."

  "I know. I felt it. I couldn't tell if it was excitement or fear."

  "Excitement." I paused, looking away, playing with my hair, pulling a lock of it across my mouth and sucking on it. I realized what I was doing and spit it out, then looked back at Jessica. "Am I a kinky lesbian now?"

  She smiled. "Honey, I don't know. The silk is nothing though. Tame. Maybe not tame by your standards, and maybe kinky by your standards, but by people who are actually kinky, it's nothing."

  I thought about it some more.

  "I would have asked you to keep going last night if I were sure I'd feel the same way on Monday. But it would be cruel to lead you on if I'm just confused."

  She looked at me for a while. "Thank you for telling me," she said finally. "I know it took a lot of bravery."

  "No, it didn't," I denied. "It took trust."

  Her eyes widened and then she said very quietly. "Thank you. That means even more to me."

  "So, no teasing."

  "I don't agree to that. Lots of teasing! Just not about this."

  I laughed. "That's fair. And no more kisses before dinner."

  She frowned then smiled. "Did you just tell me I can kiss you after dinner?"

  "Maybe. I don't know."

  "Tease."

  "You said I could tease, sexy butt," I told her.

  "Oh, you think I have a sexy butt?" Jessica turned her head around in an attempt to admire her bikini-clad bottom.

  "Uh huh. I was admiring it last night."

  "Were you?"

  I nodded. "You also have amazing shoulders and arms."

  "Thank you for noticing. You have a fabulous figure, too."

  "It's different from yours. I am so short. And much less athletic."

  "Maybe, but you are not flabby." She paused. "You need to finish what you're doing so we can swim together."

  I nodded and bent my head back to the laptop, tapping away at the keyboard. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Jessica retrieve a diet soda from the cooler then step to the nose of the boat. She spread her towel down on the deck then lay down, using a second towel as a pillow.

  A couple of jet skis drove past. I didn't pay much mind to them, but they circled the boat more closely than I thought was polite. I closed my laptop and slipped it into its bag in case they splashed us. They circled twice then idled closer before each rider killed his engine.

  "Hey, ladies," one of the guys said. "Nice day."

  Jessica glanced at them and looked briefly over at me. "Good morning, boys," she said. I nodded at them. "Nice jet skis."

  "Thanks. You two look kind of lonely," the second jet ski driver said.

  I looked them over. I didn't see anything I wanted to deal with, and I wondered what Jessica would do. I was the guest here and happy to let her handle it.

  "Not really," Jessica said. "We have a busy weekend planned."

  "Plans can change," the second one said.

  "Not these plans. You guys have a nice day," Jessica said. "It was sweet of you to stop by. You can bet if the motor doesn't start later, we'll flag you down for a tow back to our cabin."

  "Aw, we can stick around, keep you company."

  "That's nice of you to offer, but my friend has a huge proposal for work she needs to finish or we'll both get fired on Monday. We're taking turns working on it. It's her turn." She paused. "But if we finish early, we might see you in town."

  "Come on, Matt," the first rider said. "You ladies have a nice day. Maybe we'll see you later when you're not too busy. Good luck with the thing for work."

  "I'm Matt," the second one said. I decided he was the stupid, pushy one. "This is Mike."

  "It's nice to meet you," Jessica said. She didn't offer our names, which was a relief to me. I didn't welcome their intrusion and didn't want to share anything about us. I was happy Jessica appeared to feel the same way.

  Mike started the engine on his jet ski and began slowly driving away. Matt looked like he was going to cause trouble but then followed his friend. Once they were clear, Jessica looked at me and sighed. "There's always one."

  "Why didn't you just tell them we're lesbians?"

  "The sort of guys who need to be told 'no thank you' that bluntly tend to be the sort of guys who don't respond well."

  "Thank you for handling it." I looked away, thinking. "Have you ever figured out why guys do that?"

  "Get that pushy? It's a numbers game to them. It works often enough to keep them trying."

  I smiled at her. "Am I a numbers game to you?"

  She looked at me. "I can't tell if you're serious," she said after a moment.

  "How many straight girls have you invited to Marcy's cabin?" I asked her innocently.

  She cocked her head before responding. "Just the sexy ones who might put out."

  I laughed. "Don't get cocky."

  "If they come back, you'll want to cover your laptop. I don't trust the pushy one. I can imagine him intentionally splashing your machine."

  I nodded and retrieved my laptop from its bag. That was why I had put it away in the first place. Jessica settled back down to catch more sun while I worked on the proposal.

  It took another hour to finish. At one point Jessica got up and moved to the controls for the boat. "We're drifting to shore. I'm going to move us back out to the middle." She started the boat up and motored for just a minute before shutting it off again. The renewed silence was blissful. The boat drifted for a moment, the water sliding against the
hulls, making small, peaceful slapping noises.

  When I was finished with the proposal, I asked Jessica if she would look it over. She got up and came back to sit next to me. I suddenly realized she was wearing practically nothing. I couldn't tell if she noticed she was pressed against me, but I certainly noticed. I wondered if she was doing it on purpose.

  She rotated the laptop towards her and began scanning it. She fixed a couple of typing mistakes. When she was done, she said, "It looks good." She asked a few questions and I realized the proposal should answer them. She watched as I updated it.

  "Done."

  "Done," she agreed. "Put it away. There is a safe locker there for it." She nudged the bottom of the steering console. I put my laptop in its bag and then in the safe locker. Jessica locked it using the key from the ignition then stashed the key in a little hidey-hole.

  "Swim?" she asked.

  "Swim." I agreed. I started shedding clothes. Matt and Mike drove by on their jet skis again, but they were a respectful distance from us and left us alone. Other boats had driven past us while we were out here, but no one had come close.

  I watched Jessica dive into the water, surfacing some distance from the boat. I followed her.

  She had been right, the water was clear and cold, and I felt an especially cold layer several feet below the surface. I swam underwater straight to Jessica, coming to the surface immediately in front of her. We treaded water, looking at each other. She paddled closer, then I felt her legs wrap around me.

  "Hey!"

  "Hey," she said in a more sultry tone.

  "What are you doing?"

  "Catching you." She used her legs to pull us closer together. We were both treading water. Her legs around my waist were pulling me down a little, but not too much. "This might be the only way you let me wrap my legs around you." She grinned.

  She let me go, and I was a little disappointed, but relieved at the same time. Then she reached out and tapped me. "Tag. You're it." She immediately disappeared below the surface of the water.

  I laughed at the childish game and waited for her to surface. I heard splashing behind me, and when I turned around, she was between me and the boat. I set off after her. She squeaked playfully and began to paddle backwards. When I got to about three feet from her, she disappeared under the water again.

  I ducked my face in the water and watched her, following her on the surface. She headed straight for the boat, and I saw her disappear underneath it. I ducked under the water and followed her. She had come up between the two hulls.

  I came up behind her and wrapped my legs around her, almost pulling her under. She reached up and grabbed a support beam on the boat before turning around to face me.

  "You caught me."

  "I did," I said. I pulled myself closer, tightening my legs around her. She held both of us out of the water with her left hand on the boat and used her right to reach around and pull me closer. "I can't believe you started a game of tag."

  "People forget how much fun it is to play," she said. "They think we're supposed to outgrow fun or something." She smiled. "Are you having fun?"

  "Yes," I said, my voice low.

  I pulled closer, intending to kiss her. Then her expression changed. "Oh hell. Hold your breath." She took a breath and pushed off the boat, plunging us both under the water. I barely managed to catch a breath before we were both under.

  She immediately swam away from me, coming back up on the outside of the boat and quickly climbing out of the water.

  I followed her. When I broke the surface, I knew what had spooked her. The jet skis were back. "Get in the boat," she said quietly.

  Matt and Mike motored up to us on their jet skis. Jessica was watching them warily.

  I climbed up onto the little platform then stepped onto the boat. Jessica handed me a towel, which I wrapped around myself, using it to brush the hair out of my face.

  "We couldn't see you," Mike said, shutting down his jet ski again.

  "We were swimming," Jessica said. "We were probably on the other side of the boat. Guys, it makes me nervous to swim with you coming so close on the jet skis."

  "We wouldn't hit you," Matt said.

  "Hit on us, perhaps," I said quietly. Jessica looked at me sharply then focused back on the guys.

  "I swim under water a lot," Jessica said. "You might not see me. And to be honest, I don't know you or whether you have common sense. I had a friend get hit by one of those while swimming. Screwed her up pretty good."

  "If you're done working," Matt said. "We could party."

  I watched Jessica sigh. She turned to me. "When did I invite you to come with me?"

  "Yesterday afternoon," I replied.

  "You watched me get dumped over the phone."

  "Yeah. Kind of rude."

  She turned back to the guys. "I got dumped. Yesterday. I am not remotely interested in diving into a relationship with one of you right now. I'd really just like to recuperate from a broken heart for a week or two. Can you guys cut us some slack? We really just want a girls' weekend. No guys. Right now guys are not on my A list."

  Matt immediately turned to me. "What are you doing this afternoon?"

  "Helping my friend mend her broken heart," I said. I turned to Jessica. "You know, if you hadn't gotten so jealous all the time, maybe the two of you would still be together."

  "It's not my fault I don't like my dates looking at other women."

  "But did you have to key his car over it?" I asked her.

  "I let you talk me out of the sugar in the gas tank, but I still think I should have done it."

  "You were on a rampage. I can't believe you called his parents and said he was gay."

  "He shouldn't have flirted with that waitress."

  "True," I said. "I agree with you. But with boobs like she has, you could hardly blame him."

  "Um. Ladies. We'll be going now. You have a nice day," Mike said. He was grinning at us. I think he knew we were putting on an act. But Matt was suddenly looking a whole lot less interested. They started their jet skis and sped off again. They left us alone after that.

  We looked at each other and burst out laughing. "Good thinking," Jessica told me.

  "I was just happy you ran with it right away."

  "Mike figured out we were acting."

  "Yeah, but Matt was the problem, not Mike. Mike seems like he might be a nice guy."

  "Yeah, maybe," she said. "But you're with me this weekend."

  I laughed. "Mike might be a nice guy, but he keeps poor company. I'm happy to help you mend your broken heart."

  Jessica looked at the jet skis speeding away and sighed. "They broke the mood."

  "I'd like to email the proposal to myself at work, just in case, then maybe we could have lunch and go for that hike?"

  Shopping for a Cabin

  Jessica made lunch for us. She made us each a brat and a hamburger and grilled some asparagus. We each ended up eating half our food and tossed the rest in the refrigerator. We cleaned up a little and changed into hiking clothes before heading into the woods across the road.

  There were trails. Jessica knew a loop that she said would take an hour and a half. We walked side-by-side and talked. She was carrying a little camera and took a lot of photos. It felt like most of them were of me.

  The attention was very flattering. Every time she pointed the camera at me, I became self-conscious. I finally told her that.

  "Jade," she said. "You're beautiful, and I am having a lovely time with you."

  "My hair is a mess and I'm wearing no make up," I complained.

  She stepped closer and my heart rate immediately went up. "Jade, you're beautiful. Yeah, you have the wild look thing going on with your wind-tossed hair, but it's a part of your personality. It's part of what makes you complicated. It's part of why I'm happier here with you than I would have been with Susan. There is no way she would have gone walking in these woods with me. She is prettier than you are, but that's all she is. She's pretty
. She's not as smart as you and she certainly isn't as complex as you are. This is part of you, and I love it."

  "Telling me your ex- is prettier than me isn't how you get a kiss," I told her. I was trying to tease and lighten the mood, but Jessica turned away.

  "Hey," I said more quietly, grabbing her arm and pulling her back to me. "I was teasing."

  "Well, you're right, I probably shouldn't have said that."

  "Actually," I said. "I like you more for having said it. It's flattering that you care about more than my looks."

  She caressed my cheek, brushing an errant hair out of my face.

  "I'll try to stop being self-conscious about the photos if you let me take some of you," I told her.

  "If I point the camera at you, it's because I'm trying to catch you the way I see you," she said. "I'm not looking for a pose. I'm trying to catch the way your eyes light up, or ant intriguing expression. If you can ignore it, I'm going to get some amazing photos."

  "I'll try. Give me the camera."

  She handed the camera to me. I took her hand and nudged us along the path again. I got her talking about her parents and grandparents, and for the next fifteen minutes I got a lot of pictures of her. I wasn't sure if any of them were good, but she completely ignored the camera. By the time I was ready to give it back to her, I understood what she had meant. It was a lot more fun taking photos of someone who ignored the camera. Sure, they weren't going to go into a fashion magazine, but they were going to be far more interesting.

  I relinquished the camera to her. It was hard, but whenever she pointed it at me after that, I ignored it and continued to do whatever it was I had been doing. I found some wild flowers. Jessica said they were lady slippers, our state flower. The flowers were white and looked like little slippers, just an inch or so long. She took photos of me looking at the flowers and the flowers themselves. She seemed pleased by the results. The trail went around a pond with ducks swimming around. We stopped and watched them for a while.

  "Did I cramp your style with the guys before?" Jessica asked me. "If I'd been straight, would you have wanted to encourage them?"

  "No," I told her. "I was feeling vulnerable about it, and I don't like pushy guys."