He found a short-term lot close to the United terminal and quickly ran to the building, his anxiety palpable. She'll think you're out of your mind if you act as excited to see her as you really are, he chided himself. Women don't like to be smothered. Especially young women. You think you would have learned that lesson from Jamie.
The flight was on time, and he consciously forced himself not to crowd around the gate to greet her. He was sitting in a chair, acting as though he was reading "The Economist" when she approached. "Senator Evans," she said, her voice cordial and respectful.
He almost stood and kissed her, then remembered that he was now a public figure and might be recognized at any time. Mentally slapping himself, he raised his voice in case anyone was eavesdropping and said, "Kayla. Good to see you again."
"Always a pleasure, Senator," the redhead smiled. "Ready to get to work?"
"I am," he agreed. "Shall we?" He shouldered her laptop, leaving her to organize her claim checks for her baggage. As soon as they had retrieved the three large bags, he asked a skycap to bring the bags to the curb and went to get the car. They pulled out into the heavy Sunday night traffic, the young woman sitting quietly until they were near the airport exit.
"Pull over," she said, her voice calm but determined.
He raised an eyebrow, but did as she asked, pulling into a no parking zone for what he assumed would be a quick stop. "What is i…" he began, but before he had completed his thought she had maneuvered herself against him, pinning him to the door. Her mouth crushed against his, her tongue slipping past his open lips as her body squirmed against him.
"I missed you," she murmured, her head lifting briefly before she dove back in.
Her touch felt so good…his body ached with longing, needing to feel her skin against his. "I missed you, too," he sighed, squeezing her tightly. "Let's go to the hotel."
"I can't wait." She slid back into her seat after giving him a look so filled with desire that it nearly made him numb.
He shook his head roughly, trying to focus. "Remind me to order a limo next time, will you, Kayla?" he asked wearily as they shared a smile. "I don't think I'm in any shape to drive right now."
On Monday evening, Ryan was sitting on the steps outside the gym buckling up her roller blades when Jordan sidled up. "Hey."
Looking up, the dark-haired woman replied in a similar fashion, waiting a beat to ask, "What's up?"
"Not much. Got any dinner plans?" The tall blonde looked like she felt a little awkward, but she obviously had some goal in mind.
"Not really. You?"
Jordan blinked and pursed her lips as she said, "Oh. I thought you'd be going home…"
Now Ryan let out the laugh she'd been holding in. "Come on. We've always got room for one more hungry mouth. Let me call Jamie."
It took a little longer than normal to arrive home, since only one of the pair wore blades, but Jordan did a good job of running alongside, even after an enervating practice. When they arrived, Jordan plucked at her shirt and asked, "Can I borrow a T-shirt? Mine somehow got drenched on our leisurely walk."
"Sure. You know where they are by now, don't ya?"
"Yep. Be right back."
Jordan took the stairs two at a time, managing to find herself in front of Mia's room even though it was further down the hall than Ryan's. Knocking lightly on the open door, she popped her head in as Mia looked up from the book she was reading. "Hi. Ryan invited me for dinner. Are you going to be eating with us?"
Mia graced her with one of her best smiles, hopped off the bed and walked to the door. "Yep. I was just going to go down. You look healthy today," noticing her friend's red cheeks. "Hey, you're dripping wet! Did that Ryan make you run all the way over here?" Mia now wore a fierce scowl as she said, "Don't let her push you around, Jordan. She's going to make you catch a cold running around like this. Do you want a T-shirt? How about some sweats?"
"Do you have a shirt that's big enough?" she asked, looking hopeful, even though she knew where an entire drawer full of extra-large shirts was just waiting for her.
"I think I can fix you up." She rummaged through her chest of drawers, finally pulling out one that she wore as a sleep shirt. "This one goes almost to my knees. It should work."
She handed it to the lanky woman, expecting her to put it on, but Jordan looked around and asked, "Bathroom?"
After pointing in the proper direction, Mia shook her head and said to herself, She's a tough one to figure out. I don't know anybody that's afraid to change shirts in front of me-especially an athlete. Don't they get dressed in front of each other?
After dinner, Ryan went upstairs to study while Jamie staked out her usual position in the library. Jordan and Mia took off for a walk, so the house was quiet when the phone rang at about nine o'clock.
"Hello?" Ryan said absently, trying to figure out a chemistry problem that had been vexing her for 20 minutes.
"Ryan?" the deep, rather formal male voice asked.
"Yeah."
"It's Jim Evans," he said, immediately making her heart pick up its beat.
"Hello," she said. "Would you like me to get Jamie for you?"
"Yes, in a minute, Ryan, but first I wanted to congratulate you on how well you played this weekend."
"How well I…played," she said slowly, thinking that his private detective must still be on his payroll.
"Yes. I subscribe to the Cal Bears report, and I specified that I want information about women's volleyball and golf. I get a report after every game. Very good work against BYU, Ryan. You should be proud of yourself."
"Thanks, Jim. Thanks a lot," she said, pulling the phone away from her mouth to make sure she wasn't hallucinating. "Shall I get Jamie now?"
"Yes, please. Thank you, Ryan," he said, his tone friendly and very casual.
As Ryan ran down the stairs she muttered to herself, "This guy has not presented the same face two times in a row. Will the real Jim Evans please stand up?"
When Jamie came up to retire, Ryan was undressed and sitting in bed, working on her correspondence. She was wearing a cute little grin that grew in intensity as she finished up the e-mail she was writing. "What's up?" Jamie asked, slipping into bed and trying to read the screen. "You look like the cat that ate the canary."
"I uh…was just telling Aisling a funny story," she said. "I forgot to tell you this, but I think someone made a pass at me at the game on Friday night."
"What?" Jamie shouted. "You tell your cousin before you tell me?"
"It was no big deal, Hon," Ryan assured her. "I'm not really even sure that it was a pass," she added with a little glimmer of a twinkle in her eyes.
"What do you mean you're not sure? You've had enough passes thrown your way to know when someone is doing it."
"Well, it was hard to tell because they didn't speak and I couldn't see their eyes."
"What?" Jamie repeated. "What in the hell are you talking about? Were they under the stands or something?"
"No. They were right next to me and kind of grabbed my butt every chance they got."
"Why do you say 'they'?" Jamie asked.
"Well, I'm not sure what sex they are," Ryan replied innocently, batting her deep blue eyes.
"Ryan, spill it or I'll tickle you until you cry!" she threatened as she began to do just that.
Through her laughter Ryan finally cried, "Okay, okay! The female Oski Bear kept putting her paw on my butt!"
"Oh Jesus, even the school mascots are hot for you?"
"Not the male, Jamie, just the female," she proclaimed self-righteously through her giggles. "Even a bear can tell that I'm a lesbian!"
"You just wait until the next home game," Jamie threatened ominously. "She's so gonna wish she had kept her paws to herself. It's hunting season, Baby, and I'm loaded for bear!"
Getting up to brush her teeth Jamie commented, "Daddy pointed out something when I spoke to him that I think we should consider."
"What's that?"
"He thinks that
I should take some money out of my trust…kind of as an experiment."
"Huh?"
"Well, I think he has a good point," the blonde said. "I'm worried about taking everything that I'm entitled to-mainly because it's so much money and I'm too busy to decide how to invest it. But as he pointed out, I'll never get comfortable until I do it. If you don't object, I might take out a portion of the distribution I'm entitled to and spread it between a couple of different money managers. That will let me try a few people out to see what kind of relationship develops."
"Honey, I have no right to object…"
"Yes you do, Ryan," the blonde said firmly. "It's our money."
"Okay," Ryan smiled. "I give you my explicit permission to do anything you wish with our money. How's that?"
"Sneaky, very sneaky," she chuckled. "I'm going to call Mom and ask her for some recommendations." She grinned at Ryan and informed her, "Daddy didn't even try to make a suggestion on who I should use. Weird, huh?"
"I think we should have his DNA tested," Ryan decided. "He's clearly not the same guy."
Ryan walked down the hallway the next morning, absently packing her school supplies into her backpack. As she turned to descend the stairs she saw her roommate pinned in the corner of the love seat, Jordan looming over her. The taller woman was kneeling on the cushion to improve her angle, Mia's face captured between both of her hands. She was working on Mia's mouth with a determined intensity that looked like it was on the verge of getting out of hand. Mia, however, looked more than happy with this state of affairs. Her hands were laced through Jordan's silky hair, pulling the willing blonde to her as firmly as possible.
Great…just great. We need a back entrance to this place, since Mia seems to tend towards exhibitionism! She took another quick look, nodding her approval at her friend's technique. Whoa! You're doing great for a beginner, Jordan. Go get her, buddy!
She had to walk right past them, since she was not going to give up her breakfast just to save them some embarrassment. As she passed by she ran her hand over both heads, giving each a little pat just to let them know she was there. Jordan pulled away, yelping a little as Mia's tenacious grip nearly ripped the hair from her head. "Shit! Is it that late already?" She rolled away from Mia, putting her feet on the floor and scrubbing her hands over her face. Turning to Mia, her brow furrowed, she asked, "How did it get to be so late?"
"It's actually early," Ryan reminded her, "and if I'm not mistaken, you have an early class. You gonna skip?" she asked over her shoulder as she went into the kitchen to get something to eat.
"Shit!" She got to her feet and shook like a wet dog, the sensations that had erupted from kissing Mia so passionately still pulsing through her body. Looking down at a rather limp-looking woman she said, "I have to make this class." She tugged at the hem of the tee she wore and quirked her mouth into a shy grin. "Need your shirt back?"
"Not until you wash it," Mia smiled. She got to her feet and wrapped Jordan in a gentle hug. "That way I can be sure you'll come back."
Ryan came back out into the living room, looked at Jordan and asked, "Shall I wait for you?"
"I'm ready," she said. "Can we stop and get me a gallon of coffee on the way?"
"Yeah," Ryan smiled. "I'll even buy if you'll shake a leg." She went out to the porch to put her blades on and give the pair a moment alone.
Jordan smiled down at Mia and fluffed her hair gently with her fingertips. "I've messed your hair up," she teased.
Mia reached up and did the same to her friend, smiling at her as she loosened a large tangle that her frantic clutching had created in the smooth blonde tresses. "You can't tell much with mine, but yours could use a good combing."
Ryan rapped sharply on the door, and Jordan leaned down for what was becoming her signature goodbye kiss. She once again touched Mia's chin with her fingertips, leaned over and gazed into her eyes until Mia felt her knees grow weak. Then, when the smaller woman was about to grab Jordan and kiss her until her eyes crossed, the taller woman allowed her eyes to flutter closed as she leaned in even closer, took in a deep breath and brushed her lips against Mia's with the barest hint of pressure. "Bye," she said softly, her lips so close that Mia could feel the moisture from her warm breath.
"Bye," Mia sighed in return, wishing that she could wrestle the blonde to the floor and ravish her without mercy.
Then she was gone, leaving Mia to collapse onto the love seat and bang her fists against the cushion in frustration.
"Anyone I know?" Jamie asked from the top of the stairs.
"Ryan," she grumbled, giving the cushion another sharp blow. "She picks the worst damn times to show up!"
"Huh? What are you talking about, and for that matter, what are you doing up?"
"I was really making progress with Jordan," she sighed, dropping her head to the cushion as she stared vacantly at the ceiling. "For the first time it felt like she was the aggressor…know what I mean?"
"Uhh…yeah. I'm familiar with aggression," Jamie said, thinking that Ryan could teach a graduate level course in how to be dominant sexually.
"Well, we'd only been kissing a couple of minutes-as usual-when Ryan comes down and takes Jordan away! That's three times in a row! Why does she have to have Jordan with her all of the time? She's mine!"
"Uh…Mia," Jamie said. "Jordan couldn't pull Ryan away from me if she didn't want her to. Are you sure this is Ryan's fault?"
She gave the cushion another punch and admitted, "No. It's Jordan. I don't know what's wrong, James. I've never had to work this hard to even get a kiss! She seems to have no interest in going any further, and I've gotta tell you, that's not what I'm used to!"
"I should think not!" Jamie laughed. "You have a reputation to uphold!"
"Funny," Mia said, not even a flicker of a smile crossing her face. "She's just so shy! I gave her a T-shirt last night, and she went into the bathroom to put it on!"
"Mia," Jamie said seriously. "Jordan's not shy. Jesus, she's practically a nudist!"
"You've seen her naked?"
"Oh, yeah," she admitted. Waggling her eyebrows she added, "It was worth a paid admission, to tell you the truth. She's got a body to die for!"
"Great! Everybody but me gets to see her naked!" Looking at Jamie curiously she reminded her, "She even wore a suit in the sauna the other night."
"Not the next day," Jamie informed her. "We worked out, and she was stripping on her way down to the sauna. I swear she was stark naked by the time we got there. She seems really unconcerned with nudity, Mia."
"With you! Not with me! What in the hell is going on here, Jamie? Does she like me or not?"
"She acts like she likes you," Jamie said. "Ryan said she invited herself for dinner, and it was obvious that it was just so she could see you."
"Then why doesn't she call me? She hasn't invited me to a game or for a cup of coffee or anything. Do you think she's ashamed to be seen with me?"
"No! You're adorable, Mia, anybody would be proud to be seen with you. How can you even say that?"
Mia looked a little embarrassed and said, "This is really getting to me, James. My equilibrium is screwed up."
Jamie sat down next to her and patted her leg. "I wish I could help more, but if Ryan knows anything, she won't tell. I guess you just have to wait and see what happens."
"Great. Just great," Mia sulked, giving the poor loveseat one more jab.
They had been trying to find an open date to spend an evening with Brendan and Maggie, and Ryan hurried home on Tuesday, thinking that they'd be rushed to have everything ready by the time her brother arrived.
To her surprise, Jamie nearly had dinner ready when Ryan entered, and the taller woman gave a brief thought to how difficult it would be to have a social life if she lived alone, given the demands that volleyball put on her. She truly loved being able to entertain and build a family life, and she knew that she would not be doing either if not for the dedicated efforts of her partner.
"I love being in love
with you," she said in greeting when she wrapped her arms around her lover, who was stirring a delicious-smelling concoction on the stove.
"Well, that's a nice greeting," Jamie decided, turning her head to kiss the only surface she could reach-the hollow between Ryan's collar bones. "What made you say it?"
"Oh, I don't know," Ryan said, sticking her finger in the pan and taking a taste. "Mmm…delicious." She went over and sat down on a stool near the counter. "There's a difference between loving you and loving how it feels to love you. I was just thinking about the latter."
"I'm glad that both are true. Now run upstairs and put on some real clothes, and then set the table, will you?"
"Yep. Boy, I know I'm an adult when I have to put on real clothes for my brother," she mumbled to herself as she left the kitchen.
The foursome was sitting around the dining table, waiting for their entrees to digest a bit before they could even think of dessert. Brendan was more voluble than Jamie had ever heard him, chattering away continuously-mostly boasting about some particularly cute trait that Maggie possessed. Ryan was a little more quiet than usual, mostly because her brother was filling up the room for a change. She had been observing Maggie at every opportunity, and Jamie could tell that her partner approved of the woman. When Ryan was relaxed with someone, she wasn't usually interested in directing the conversation-she was content to participate only when she had something meaningful to say, and that's exactly how she acted tonight.
"So Brendan says you're from a large Irish Catholic family also," Jamie commented. "Was it hard for you to leave them?"
"Yes," she said thoughtfully. "In a way it was devastating for me, Jamie, but there must be a little independent streak in me from way back. I had been groomed to attend Notre Dame from the time I was in diapers. My father and two of his brothers went there, as well as one of my older brothers and a sister. But when the time came, I shocked them all by choosing Georgetown." She laughed gently and related, "You would have thought I had chosen Brigham Young! They couldn't get over it! But I wanted to make my own way…I didn't want to be just another Reardon trooping past the golden dome."
Intentions - SF9 Page 9
