“Is it?” Jac took the file and tucked it beneath her arm without glancing at it. Obviously she found Eve’s personal life more riveting than something so trivial as solving a murder. “You said she found you in the park that morning?”
Eve sighed. “I’m trying to decide why the police are suddenly questioning me about this.”
“Because I care about you,” Jac said. “And I want to know. What was this Selene doing in Golden Gate Park so early in the morning?”
“Same thing I was, I guess.” Eve’s mood was quickly deflating. “Jesus, Jac. Can’t you just be glad that I’m happy and move on?”
Looking only mildly chagrined, Jac put a hand on Eve’s shoulder and squeezed. “Nothing would please me more than to see you happy. You know that. I’m just—”
“A cop.”
Jac chuckled. “Yes. And someone who loves you.”
“Yeah, well…” Eve rolled her chair backward and stood, wanting to be at eye level with Jac. It made it easier to assert herself. “I appreciate that. But this is kind of a new thing, so I’d prefer to keep it to myself for a while.”
“I get it,” Jac said. “Sorry.”
Now Jac appeared fully chagrined. Eve softened. “It’s okay. I get it, too.”
“Cool.” Jac eased into a wide smile, the one that had always reduced Eve to jelly when they were together. “So, I actually intended to ask you if you wanted to join me for dinner tonight. I figured I could make your favorite. Chicken fajitas?”
“I go on a date and suddenly you want to cook dinner for me?” Eve chuckled to cover her uncertainty about Jac’s motives. She hadn’t been to Jac’s place for dinner since the breakup. Her timing was suspicious, to say the least. “Is that what’s happening here?”
“I was planning to ask you to dinner before I found out you went out with someone,” Jac said. “You just laid that one on me, remember?”
“Why now? Broken up for almost a year and all of a sudden you want to get cozy again?”
Jac gave her a pained frown. “Look, I know we’ve had some rough times. But what happened to you in the park…it really got me thinking. About how much you mean to me. How lost I’d be if something happened to you.” Reaching for her hand, Jac entangled their fingers and tugged Eve closer. “I’m just asking you to dinner, Eve. That’s all. I want to spend time with you.” Jac’s brown eyes were wide and sincere, but they no longer drew Eve in. “Shit, we used to be best friends. And I know I screwed everything up, but…that doesn’t mean I don’t still need you in my life.”
Anger flared in Eve’s stomach, spreading through her body like wildfire, then burning out just as quickly. For months she’d struggled over their breakup, and now Jac wanted to rekindle something? She didn’t believe for a second that Jac was only after friendship. The look in Jac’s eyes was familiar. Eve hadn’t seen it since they first became lovers, and it threw her for a loop. Now that she was finally over Jac, she was worth desiring again? For the thrill of the hunt?
“Actually, I’ve got another date tonight.” Eve tried to sound casual, but knew she’d just dropped a bombshell. “But thanks anyway.”
Jac blinked. “Really? Two nights in a row?” She wasn’t even trying to hide her lack of enthusiasm. “Wow.”
“I’m sure you’ve seen women two nights in a row,” Eve said. “Maybe not the same woman, granted.”
Jac tensed, then forcibly relaxed. “I don’t expect you to believe me, but I have changed, Eve. I made a mistake. And I’ve learned my lesson.” Stepping away from Eve, she pulled the case file from under her arm and tapped it on the desktop. “All I’ve got left to do now is prove it to you.”
Wayne chose that moment to return from lunch. As he opened the lab door and hurried inside, not pausing even when he saw her and Jac locked in a meaningful stare, Eve was glad for his occasional social ineptitude. This wasn’t the first time he’d saved her from a conversation she’d rather not have.
“Hello, peeps.” Wayne flashed Eve an enthusiastic Spock greeting gesture with his hand. “What are we talking about?”
“Nerdy science stuff,” Jac said easily. “But I was just leaving.”
“Perfect.” Wayne pointed at his microscope on the counter. “Because I have something you’ve got to check out, Dr. Thomas. The biggest maggots you’ve ever seen. Dug them out of some necrotic flesh.”
“Okay.” Jac exhaled and put a hand on her stomach. “Things just got a little too real for me in here.” Waving at Eve, she rushed to the door. “I’ll see you later, Eve.” Glancing at Wayne, she said, “You…well, thanks for that.”
“Bye.” He waved cheerily until Jac shut the door behind her. Then he rolled his eyes, glancing at Eve. “I hope I didn’t misread that you wanted her gone.”
Eve laughed. “So you don’t really have giant maggots for me?”
“Unfortunately, no,” he said. “I do have some necrotic flesh, though.”
Eve patted him on the back. “You’re a good friend, Dr. Black. Truly.”
Wayne ducked his head, obviously pleased by the praise. “Yeah, well. Us geeks have to stick together. Right?”
“That is in the handbook. At least the last time I checked.” Eve went back to her desk and sat down. Now that Jac was gone, she was determined to recapture the good mood Selene had given her. At the thought of her, Eve’s tummy fluttered pleasantly, and she stared dreamily at the wall.
“You almost ready for our eleven o’clock autopsy?” Wayne said, not bothering to hide his excitement. He probably enjoyed the hands-on portion of his job a little too much, but Eve understood. It was better than paperwork.
“I am.” For the first time since the attack, she faced the prospect of confronting a dead human being with scientific curiosity instead of mild dread. Selene had given her that gift, a return to normalcy. And she’d also given Eve something so much better than normal. Something decidedly not normal: the possibility of soul-twisting, reason-defying, head-over-heels love.
Eve hoped she could offer Selene something even a fraction as compelling in return. At least she had the whole evening to try.
*
After her second all-night lovemaking session in as many days, Eve sat at her kitchen table watching the sunrise through the window and wondering how she had gotten so lucky. Dressed in only a loose-collared button-up shirt and black panties, Selene stood at the stove with a spatula in hand, every inch of her sex personified. Eve couldn’t stop sneaking peeks at Selene’s bare legs, remembering how they’d felt wrapped around her only thirty minutes earlier. She was tired, hungry, even sore, but above all, she was gloriously content.
“Do you know that I’ve had more sex in the past forty-eight hours than the entire rest of my life?” Selene glanced over her shoulder, taking her eyes off their pancakes for the first time since she’d poured them. “Seriously. It’s fantastic.”
Humming, Eve tilted her head and gazed longingly at the very tops of Selene’s muscular thighs. Eve wouldn’t believe such an incredible statement from most women as beautiful as Selene. But she knew Selene was wholly sincere. “We agree, then. The sex is fantastic.”
“The sex is just the tip of the iceberg.” Selene transferred a pancake from the skillet to a plate, then set her spatula on the counter. She sauntered over to Eve’s chair, hips rolling in the most sensuous display of movement Eve had ever seen. “You are fantastic.” Kneeling beside Eve’s chair, Selene gave her a slow, wet kiss. “And I think I’m falling for you.”
Eve’s heart thudded. Not because she didn’t feel the same way, not even because she hadn’t already guessed how Selene felt. If she’d been uncertain yesterday at work, the past eighteen hours had erased all doubt. She was just reacting to the simple shock of hearing the words spoken aloud and, more than that, believing them.
“Me, too,” Eve whispered, closing the distance between them to steal another kiss. She thumbed open the top two buttons of Selene’s shirt and slipped her hand inside. She grazed Selene’s erect nippl
e, and suddenly pancakes were the last things on her mind.
“We can reheat them,” Selene said, once again on exactly the same wavelength. They always seemed to be in synch, which made being together easy in a way it had never been with Jac.
Eve moaned into their kisses. “We’re going to kill ourselves. Starvation, dehydration…where will it end?”
“Satisfaction.” Selene hissed as Eve pinched her nipple. “A small price to pay, I think. For this.”
Eve opened her mouth to answer, but stopped when someone knocked on her door. Pulling back from Selene, she was instantly wary. She hadn’t buzzed anyone in. Nobody ever visited her so early. For the first time since their walk to the coffee shop the other morning, Eve felt afraid of the man from the park. It wasn’t logical that he would knock, but that didn’t stop her flight instinct from kicking in.
Selene seemed to pick up on her unease. “Not expecting anyone?”
“No.” Eve stood and forced herself to walk to the door. “Definitely not.” Someone probably just had the wrong apartment. She put her eye to the peephole, shocked, relieved, and a little angry to see Jac. Opening the door slightly, Eve stepped into the hallway and frowned. “What are you doing here?”
“Good morning to you, too, darling.” Jac held up a familiar blue box. “Bagels. Cream cheese. What do you say?”
“I say I’ve already got breakfast plans,” Eve said, even as Jac was edging past her into the apartment. “Hey!”
Jac stopped only a few steps inside her living room. Feeling as though her worlds were colliding, Eve turned and swallowed at the sight of Jac and Selene sizing one another up.
Selene smiled warmly. “Hello,” she said, crossing the room and offering her hand. “I’m Selene.”
“Jac.” Taking Selene’s hand, Jac raised an eyebrow and unsubtly scanned Selene’s bare legs. “I apologize. I didn’t realize Eve had company.”
“It’s quite all right,” Selene said. “Would you like to stay for pancakes?”
Trying to hide her alarm, Eve grabbed Jac’s arm and tugged her toward the door. “Actually, Jac has to leave.”
Jac shrugged away from Eve’s hand. “That’s a fascinating accent, Selene. Unusual. Where are you from?”
Though Selene’s friendly expression never faltered, Eve sensed her discomfort. “I was born in Italy, but I’ve lived many different places. Mostly in Europe. I’ve been in the States for three years now.”
“Europe,” Jac said softly. “Ah.”
Eve recognized Jac’s tone. She thought she was on to something, though Eve had no idea what that might be. All she knew was that Jac was turning an excellent morning into something unbearably awkward. “Really, Jac. You should go.”
“Well, it was nice meeting you.” Jac gave Selene a wide, charming grin every bit as fake as the sentiment. “You two enjoy your breakfast.”
“Nice meeting you, too, Jac.”
Jac raised an eyebrow. “I’m Eve’s ex, by the way.”
“Yes, I got that,” Selene murmured. “Sorry you have to run.”
Unable to stand any more, Eve dug her fingernails into Jac’s arm and dragged her to the door. Opening it, she pushed her into the hallway, then shut the door behind them. “What the hell are you doing?” Eve said once she was certain Selene couldn’t hear.
“Damn, girl.” Jac pulled her arm away, rubbing at the faint marks. “You’re surprisingly grumpy for someone who obviously had another very good night.”
“My night is none of your business,” Eve said in a tight voice. “It stopped being your business the moment you chose to fuck other women.”
Irritation flashed over Jac’s face. “Look, I don’t know how many times I can apologize, or tell you I’ve changed. But this, right now, has nothing to do with that. I had no idea you’d have company. I just wanted to bring you bagels. As your friend.”
Eve forced herself to calm down. She really didn’t want to fight with Jac. The adrenaline from her surge of fear at the sound of Jac knocking had fueled her anger, and now she just wanted to let it go. Move on. “I appreciate the gesture, Jac. But I told you I had a date last night.”
“Second date?” Jac gentled her voice. “I don’t care what I said in the lab yesterday, I didn’t honestly expect her to be serving you breakfast.”
“Yes, well…” Eve cleared her throat, knowing how out of character this all was for her. It was no wonder Jac was surprised. It had taken them three months to transition from friendship to intimacy. The idea of Eve sleeping with a woman so quickly would seem inconceivable. Before two days ago, it had been. “She’s special.”
“I could see that.” Still holding the box of bagels, Jac leaned against the wall, striking what she probably hoped was a casual pose. “Beautiful, isn’t she?”
Something about Jac’s tone rankled Eve. “She is.”
“So what do you know about her? Really?”
“Excuse me?” Eve folded her arms over her chest. “Are you actually pretending that our relationship is any of your business?”
“Your relationship?” Jac shook her head. “Oh, Eve.”
“Don’t,” Eve said coldly. Condescension was the last straw. “You want to be my friend, Jac? You’re on very thin ice right now.”
Jac’s eyes softened. “I’m sorry, Evie. I understand how this must seem. You start seeing this woman and all of a sudden here I am.”
“Here you are,” Eve said. “Yeah, that pretty much sums it up.”
“Honestly…” Jac glanced at the apartment door, then moved close. “Something’s off about her. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but…really, what’s her background?”
Eve stiffened. She might have known Selene for less than a week, been her lover for only forty-eight hours, but in that time she’d learned everything she needed to know about Selene. Maybe not the intimate details of her life, but the important stuff. Selene was a good person, and when Eve was with her, she was part of something greater than herself.
Above all else, Selene made her happy.
“Leave.” Eve put her hand on her doorknob. “How dare you?”
“I’m not trying to be an asshole. I’m trying to be your friend.”
“You want to be my friend? Go away. Let me finish my goddamn pancakes with the woman who’s made me feel better about myself in the past two days than you ever did.” Feeling terrible for enjoying the pain Jac wasn’t able to hide at that statement, Eve focused on the ugly hallway carpet and wished for her peaceful morning back. “Just let me have this, okay? Please.”
“Okay,” Jac said. She took a step backward, looking stricken. “I just don’t want you to get hurt.”
Eve didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “Not every woman’s going to hurt me, Jac. Not like you did.”
Blinking rapidly, Jac turned and headed for the staircase. Eve watched her go, already regretting what she’d said. As much as she hated Jac’s jealousy, she actually didn’t doubt that Jac still cared for her very much. And that at least some of her concern did come from a place of love. But their time together was over, and that had been Jac’s choice. Disrupting the order of things just as Eve had found Selene seemed unnecessarily cruel.
Eve exhaled, then opened her apartment door and walked back inside. Selene sat at the kitchen table with her legs crossed, staring at the door. When she saw Eve, Selene immediately stood, worry etched across her face.
“She upset you,” Selene said. “Are you okay?”
Eve crossed the room and fell into Selene’s arms. “I’m so sorry.”
“Why?”
“For Jac.”
Chuckling, Selene nuzzled Eve’s neck. “Darling, she was fine. She just cares about you, no?”
“Barging in here, questioning you about your accent. Acting suspicious.” Eve frowned even as she consoled herself by running her hands over Selene’s curves. “She’s such a cop.”
Selene went still. “Suspicious of what?”
“Probably why such a hot wom
an’s interested in me.” Eve shrugged to hide the uncertainty Jac had caused. “I don’t know. All of a sudden she’s jealous or something.”
Selene tightened her arms around Eve’s middle, but said nothing. Sighing, Eve drew back and met Selene’s eyes.
“I realize how this must seem. But things are settled between Jac and me, I promise. At least as far as I’m concerned.” Hating the vague discomfort on Selene’s face, Eve vowed not to let Jac pull anything like this again. She would never forgive Jac if she managed to scare Selene away. “I’m not interested in whatever game she’s playing.”
“I’m not worried about that,” Selene said softly, and despite the lingering unease Eve could feel emanating from her, Eve believed her. “I just don’t like knowing that she’s upset you.”
“I’ve spent the past year getting over a lot of hurt that she caused.” As much as Eve hated to talk about Jac with Selene, she deserved to know what she was getting into. Clearly their history would creep into her relationship with Selene whether she wanted it to or not. “She cheated on me. A lot, I think. I know I was never exactly what she wanted in bed, so…” Eve blushed and stared down at the floor. “She made me feel like I wasn’t enough for her, but now that I find someone who seems to want what I have to offer…”
“She’s jealous.”
“I guess so.” Eve didn’t know what to make of Jac’s behavior. Did Jac really want her back? Or did she just not want to see her move on? “It’s pissing me off.”
“Sounds like she realizes she was a fool to break your heart.” Selene touched Eve’s cheek with the back of her hand. “Though I can’t say I’m sorry she blew her chance.”
Eve frowned. “I hate this. The last thing I wanted was to expose you to ex-girlfriend drama. At least this early on.” Wincing at what her hasty words implied, Eve said, “Not to be presumptuous. About the lifespan of this thing, I mean.”
Selene’s obvious pleasure at her words drew Eve in, made her feel surrounded by love. “You’re not being presumptuous. And as far as ex drama…I’m a big girl. I can handle it.” Her lips found Eve’s neck again. “Nothing will scare me away from you. I promise.”
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