While they danced, Lola’s hands continued to wander, and she occasionally traced light kisses on Quinn’s jaw or neck. Quinn was almost desperate for her to kiss her, but again, she didn’t make the first move, or any move beyond what Quinn had initiated.
When Quinn first laid eyes on Lola, all dark sex appeal and confident bravado, she would have pegged her as the brash, forward type. She didn’t expect Lola to be quite so…“polite” wasn’t the right word. Cautious? Restrained? Whatever it was, it was making Quinn crazy. She wasn’t usually the aggressor, but Lola was forcing her hand. It was as if Lola needed her to make the first move every time. If Quinn was being honest, it was pretty hot being in control of this powerful woman. She liked showing Lola where and how much she wanted to be touched.
Quinn spun around in Lola’s arms so she was facing her again and laced her arms around her neck. She felt Lola pull her tight and thrilled at the way their bodies fit together despite the difference in height. The sudden reappearance of Lola’s thigh between her legs made her gasp. Quinn pulled roughly on the back of Lola’s head, dragging her down for the kiss she’d wanted since they first started dancing.
Lola’s lips were a whisper away when Lola’s thigh, still between Quinn’s leg, began vibrating. Quinn jumped back in surprise. Lola’s eyes snapped open and she yanked the phone out of her pocket, clearly annoyed, but not before pulling Quinn in close.
She looked at the caller ID and murmured in Quinn’s ear, “I really have to take this. Come with me?”
“I’m not having sex with you in the bathroom,” Quinn said.
When Lola laughed, her eyes danced and lit up her entire face. “You’re safe with me,” she said. “But I have to take this call.”
She pulled Quinn off the dance floor and toward the back of the club, in the direction of the bathrooms. They stopped just outside the doors, tucked in a corner of the long hallway. Lola leaned against the wall, pulled Quinn close to her, and answered the call.
“Max, you had better be on fire, or Dubs has you tied up in a compromising position in the conference room and you’re scared Holt is gonna be the one to find you tomorrow. Everything else could’ve waited until tomorrow.”
Quinn had been more interested in resuming the exploration of Lola’s body she’d begun on the dance floor, maybe even finding a way to steal a kiss while she was otherwise occupied, but now she was intrigued by the phone conversation. Max and Holt could be men or women, but from the sound of the other person on the phone, she was guessing Max was a woman. She had no idea what a “dubs” was.
Lola saw her watching and shrugged an apology. “I’m busy, Max. All of this can wait. I don’t start until tomorrow. Now, I’m going to put Quinn on the phone and you’re going to apologize to her for interrupting our dance.”
Before Quinn could protest, Lola handed her the phone. She put it to her ear and started to say “hello.” Max was still talking to Lola.
“Lola, who’s Quinn? And since when do you dance? Lola? Lola?”
“Um, hello?” Quinn said.
While Quinn was distracted by the phone, Lola pulled her closer and traced the neckline of her shirt first with gentle kisses, then with her tongue. When she got to just below her ear, she bit down lightly. Quinn’s senses were so overwhelmed with the pleasure of Lola’s touch she wasn’t sure she was still holding the phone until Max’s voice cut through.
“Hi. You must be Quinn. Lola said, I’m supposed to apologize to you.”
Quinn didn’t know what to say, and didn’t really want to stay on the phone. She had more important places to focus her attention. “Apology accepted.” She knew she sounded a little breathless. She thought a small moan might have escaped.
Max might have been laughing. “Okay, well that’s my cue to end this call. Nice chatting with you. Quinn, be careful with her.”
The warning didn’t feel like a threat, or Max trying to steer her away from a bad experience. If anything, it sounded like a plea. She didn’t have the capacity to think about it any further.
The call ended and Quinn shoved the phone in Lola’s back pants pocket letting her hands wander over Lola’s ass.
“Sorry ’bout that,” Lola said.
She resumed kissing along Quinn’s jawline.
“Make it up to me.” Quinn tilted her head, exposing her neck to Lola’s exploration.
Lola stilled and pulled slowly away from Quinn, or as far away as she could since she was still pressed against the wall. She spread her legs slightly and lowered her arms so they hung by her sides, palms out. “Anything you want.”
Quinn felt like Lola had just touched a match to her center and started a raging inferno. She fisted her hands in Lola’s hair roughly and pressed her lips to Lola’s. The kiss wasn’t gentle and Lola returned it hungrily. Quinn didn’t know if they kissed for a second or a lifetime. All she could feel was Lola.
It took much longer than it should have for Quinn to realize they were no longer alone in their cutout. It wasn’t until Jessica spoke that she really became aware of her presence.
“There you are, Quinn. I’ve been look—get your hands off her.”
Quinn felt Lola try to pull away, but since Quinn still had her pushed up against the wall, she didn’t have anywhere to go. Quinn was slow to give up the kiss. Jessica had no claim to her and didn’t get to direct her actions. Lola wasn’t doing anything Quinn didn’t want. Badly.
Apparently, Jessica didn’t see it that way. She grabbed Quinn by the shoulder and tried to pull her away from Lola.
Quinn felt Lola’s posture change. She still looked relaxed, but she didn’t feel relaxed. She felt like a panther ready to strike. Quinn couldn’t help it. She found this overt display of pent up power even more of a turn-on than the submissive role Lola had been playing all night.
“I said, get your hands off her,” Jessica said, more forcefully this time.
Quinn moved closer to Lola, into her embrace, and placed a gentle kiss on her pulse point. Lola wrapped her arms around Quinn protectively.
For a moment, Quinn considered letting Lola deal with Jessica so they could resume kissing. Knight in shining armor wasn’t working for Quinn at all. Especially since she didn’t need rescuing and Jessica had interrupted the hottest kiss she’d ever had. But Jessica seemed a little drunk, and she was her friend, even if she was acting like an ass and she didn’t know Lola or what she would do if all that power were released.
“Her hands were invited, Jessica,” Quinn said.
“And I don’t believe yours were,” Lola said, her voice menacing, a clear warning.
Jessica jumped back. Lola looked like she wanted to smile, but she refrained. Quinn wanted to kiss her again.
“I warned you what would happen,” Jessica said.
She’s not going to give this one up. “That I would have a woman pinned up against the wall by the end of the night, kissing her, and in total control of the situation?” Quinn said. “Pretty sure you didn’t mention that.”
Jessica looked like she was seeing them for the first time. Quinn guessed it wasn’t exactly the positioning she was imagining in her mind’s eye.
“I haven’t been mistreating your friend,” Lola said. She looked to Quinn. “Has anything happened that you didn’t want?”
“You know it hasn’t,” Quinn said. She kissed Lola again. “But this did kind of kill our buzz, didn’t it?” Quinn glared at Jessica.
“Someone as beautiful as you is a walking buzz,” Lola said. “But it’s late, and your attack Chihuahua is good to make sure you get home safe. Are you safe with her?” When Quinn nodded, Lola pulled her close again and kissed her deeply. “Thank you for a great night.”
Before Quinn could argue, or Jessica could object to the insult, Lola was gone.
Quinn whipped around, ready to eviscerate Jessica. She didn’t need to. She already looked appropriately hangdog.
“Are you going to be speaking to me on Monday?”
“That depends,�
� Quinn said. “Are you still going to be acting like a nineteen fifties misogynistic asshat?”
“I’m really sorry,” Jessica said. “It’s not an excuse, but I invited you out, and I guess I got a little carried away making sure you had a good time. My friends have been giving me shit about how hot you are and why I didn’t bring you out with us sooner, and I was worried they were going to be jerks to you. Looks like I’m the only jerk here. Who was that woman, by the way? She was…I don’t even know. Words fail me.”
Quinn didn’t want to forgive Jessica just yet, but it was hard when faced with her obvious guilt. And who wanted to be mad at Jessica when she could be thinking about the last few hours she’d spent with Lola?
“Her name is Lola. That’s about all I know about her, except she made even my toenails tingle when she kissed me.”
“Did you get the human vibrator’s number?”
“No,” Quinn said, not letting on how disappointed she was. “I think she’s only in town for a short time anyway.” Quinn was suddenly tired and not interested in standing and chatting in the back hall of the club with Jessica. “Let’s get out of here.”
Chapter Seven
Lola stared down at the keyboard and back up at the screen in front of her, willing the computer to magically do what she was silently asking. It seemed to work when Max did it. Max’s step-by-step instructions through her earpiece might as well have been in Swahili. She wished she’d paid more attention one of the hundred or so times Max had tried to teach her a few things about technology.
She’d just finished her graveyard shift at her new custodial job at the College of LA. It was the end of her first week. The sun had risen about an hour before and the campus was waking up, but Lola didn’t know if she should be eating breakfast or dinner. The flipping of night and day, and subsequent sleep disruption, was hard to adjust to, but other than that, she was settling in. If you count finding and kissing the hottest woman on the planet “settling in.” Too bad her overly protective friend had shown up. Or maybe it was a good thing. Lola was left with only good memories of the night with the woman at the club before things went sideways, like they always seemed to whenever Lola and women crossed paths.
She hadn’t asked about Kevin Garvey yet, but she would soon. Locating him seemed a far easier task than tackling the technological monstrosity in front of her now. Max and Holt wanted her to log in with her newly assigned CLA credentials and access her email. Max had sent her pictures of George to open that had been altered in some way that she didn’t understand. Once she opened them Max would be able to access the CLA servers. Or that’s what she understood of the conversation. If only Lola could log in to the damn computer before the students started wandering in for the day.
“Do you see the box where it says username?” Max asked. “That’s where you put in the username they gave you. Under that should be password. I’ll read it out to you when you’re ready.”
“I hate these things,” Lola said.
“Excuse me. You can’t be in here.”
Lola jumped. She was facing the door, but hadn’t seen or heard the woman walk in. She’d been too focused on the computer. She quickly rewound the past minute, trying to remember if it was obvious she was talking to Max.
“I’m sorry. I was just trying to log on to the computer. I’m new.” She kept it simple. And truthful.
“This is a private computer lab I use for my research. There are—Oh.”
The woman came fully inside and Lola was rendered speechless by her previous dance partner, Quinn. She looked, if possible, even more beautiful now. Her strawberry blond hair was in disarray as if she’d just woken up, and her black pencil skirt and untucked green silk shirt were wrinkled as if slept in. She looked put together and comfortable enough in her clothes that Lola figured she was every bit as professional and brilliant as she looked. But the slightly rumpled appearance made her seem approachable and real. It was an appealing combination. Lola thought back to their dance and felt heat explode in her belly and work its way down until every nerve was at attention.
“Hello again.” Lola stood, very aware of her custodian coveralls showing all the signs of her night’s labor.
“Guess we skipped over the part where we work together,” Quinn said. “I like the parts we didn’t skip better.”
Lola knew this was the part where social propriety dictated she should respond instead of standing there like an idiot, staring and grinning. But how was she supposed to do that, exactly? She’d guessed at the club that Quinn was way out of her league, and now the proof was right in front of her, and yet…Too bad she’d sworn off women after Tiffany, especially women who might be involved in a case. Quinn worked at CLA, making her off limits. Quinn short-circuited just about every system. Say something, you moron. And stop thinking about kissing her.
“I don’t think we’re exactly coworkers,” Lola said. She indicated her janitorial supplies parked outside the door and then motioned to Quinn and her professional attire.
“You work here, don’t you?” Quinn asked. “Or should I be calling security?” She was clearly teasing and not the least bit concerned with Lola’s custodial credentials.
“Your floors, toilets, and wastebaskets have been lovingly tended all night. I’m sorry to be using your computers. I was trying to check my email. I can find another place on campus before I head home.”
Max practically exploded with protests in her ear. Lola was a little worried Quinn would hear her, but she felt pretty confident she knew what she was doing.
“You can use the computer in my office. These computers have a lot of crazy research software on them. No one is allowed to do anything except what I tell them when they use them. They’re a little extreme for email checking.”
“I got that you like to be in control,” Lola said. She thought she saw Quinn blush before she motioned for Lola to follow and hurried off down the hall. Lola was tempted to cut her earpiece connection to Max so she could spend some time truly alone with Quinn, but she needed Max to give her the username and password. Besides, spending time alone with women had always gotten her in trouble in the past. The fact that she’d been thinking about Quinn since they’d danced was almost a guarantee she was a murderer or in the habit of stealing the batteries from paraplegics’ television remotes.
Lola followed Quinn into a suite of offices she’d cleaned earlier. As they entered, Quinn’s friend from the club jumped up from behind one of the desks.
“Little Chihuahua,” Lola said with as much cheer as she could muster. She wasn’t all that thrilled to see the woman. “Are you Quinn’s guard dog?”
The woman ignored her and looked to Quinn quizzically.
“This is Jessica Serrano. I don’t think you two were ever introduced. Jessica, this is Lola…I don’t actually know your last name.”
Max suddenly made her presence known again chirping about not revealing her true identity since she was undercover. No shit.
“Badger,” Lola said.
“Like the animal?” Jessica said. “And you make fun of me?”
“Yes, like the animal. Also means to harass or annoy,” Lola said under her breath.
“Very funny,” Max said.
“Since we’re sharing,” Lola said, looking pointedly at Quinn.
“Golden,” Quinn said, appearing shy.
“Yes, you are.” Lola liked that her comment seemed to fluster Quinn just a little bit.
Quinn helped Lola log on to her office computer. When Lola had been cleaning in this office suite earlier, Quinn’s office door had been closed with a “do not disturb” sign, though at the time she’d had no idea who the office belonged to. Lola wondered how many nights Quinn slept on the couch that was nearly surrounded by books. She could picture Quinn stretched out there, her hair falling around her face like a halo. Did she not have anywhere else to go at night? No one waiting for her?
Lola discreetly took in Quinn’s high cheekbones and flawless skin. Her green
silk tank top hugged her breasts and shadowed her torso so alluringly Lola wanted to run her hands down her sides, the way she had when they’d danced. If Lola was waiting at home for Quinn, she wouldn’t be okay with her sleeping on this couch even once.
She shook her head to clear those thoughts. What the hell? Quinn was hot, yes. That was a clearly established fact. It didn’t mean Lola needed to go planning a life with her. She was in LA to prove she could do her job and not lose her head. Whatever she was doing right now wasn’t a great start.
“You should be all set,” Quinn said. “I’ve got class in fifteen minutes, but you can take as long as you need.”
“Oh, I just wanted to check my email. I got some new pictures of my nephew. Just the ticket after a long night of work.” Lola was looking forward to the pictures of George. She missed the little guy.
“Ooh. Can I see them? How old is he? What’s his name?”
Lola grinned at Quinn’s enthusiasm. “Of course. He’s just over a year. His name is George.” Lola almost added “the second” but stopped herself. She loved that Holt and Isabelle had named their son after her brother, who’d been killed many years ago now, but it hadn’t yet stopped hurting when she heard someone talk about little George, or turned around when someone called his name and she saw it wasn’t her brother. But now she had an adorable walking, almost talking, namesake to lessen the pain associated with the loss.
With Max’s help through the comms, Lola pulled up the pictures of George from her email. There were three of them. As soon as they opened, Lola got confirmation from Max that her program was blasting off, or initializing, or deploying, or whatever it was that secret programs hidden in pictures did. As soon as she got the all clear, Lola subtly scratched her ear and turned off the comms. She didn’t want Max to be part of her time with Quinn any longer, potential criminal mastermind or not.
Data Capture Page 6
