Homecoming (31 page)

“Great.” She pushed past Jill and headed for the kitchen.

Jill watched her go, almost drooling as her magnificent ass flexed beneath her silky shorts. Maybe they didn’t have to be such sticklers for self-imposed rules…

She followed Lizzie into the kitchen and watched her move around, clearly annoyed, as she started to make coffee—noisily. They hadn’t had many disagreements, so they didn’t have a fighting style yet. One thing she knew was that she’d never again tolerate a woman lecturing her like Becca did. She didn’t mind an argument, but only her mother was allowed to lecture her. And that was only because you couldn’t change mothers.

Once the coffee-maker was working, Lizzie crossed her arms over her chest and leaned against the counter. “Why are you being so hard-headed about this?”

Jill was going to approach her, but Lizzie’s body language didn’t welcome that. So she jumped onto the counter and let her legs dangle off the edge. In a flash, David was at her side. She used to shoo him, but she’d finally learned that you could only train a cat to stay off the counter when you were actively watching it.

“I don’t think it’s fair to call it being hard-headed,” Jill said. “I told you it was important to me that you spoke to your parents before we went any further.” She held up a finger. “One request. Is that really asking too much?”

A dark scowl settled on Lizzie’s face. “Now you’re trying to make it sound like I’m being unreasonable.”

“No, I’m not, because I don’t think you are.” Jill slid off the counter and went over to stand in front of Lizzie. “Put your arms around me,” she urged.

After rolling her eyes dramatically, Lizzie did. They stood, looking into each other’s eyes for a minute. “I want two things. One, to make sure you’ve given this a lot of thought and have faced any hurdles your family throws up. Two, I want to make love to you. A lot.” She smiled, feeling a warmth in her chest when Lizzie’s smile matched hers. “I mean in how much I want to, and how often I want to. I just want step one to come before step two.” She leaned over, put her face up against Lizzie’s sweet-smelling neck and nuzzled against it. “Is that really asking too much?”

“No,” Lizzie admitted, starting to giggle when Jill began to kiss all along her neck and delightfully bare shoulders. She finally pushed her away, a little breathless. “I just like impulsive gestures. I like feeling that you can’t resist me, even when you know you should.”

Jill lifted her hand to tenderly arrange Lizzie’s auburn locks, thinking, as she worked, that this was one area where Lizzie acted like a thirty-year-old. But that was fine. Touching, actually. It would suck if she’d already had all of the impetuousness beaten out of her.

“I can be romantic. And impulsive. I just need to get past this first barrier. Can you be patient?”

“You’re worth the wait,” she conceded. Then she laughed a little. “At least you say you are.”

The coffee was ready, and Jill went to pull out cups. “You want some, right?”

“Uhm, yeah.” She opened the refrigerator, then closed it. “I guess so.”

“For someone who hangs out at a coffee shop, you don’t seem to like it much.”

“Yeah, I don’t. But I like the space, and I like their free wi-fi, so I buy some just to pay for renting a place on their floor for an hour or two.”

“I…uhm…noticed something when I was at your apartment.” Their eyes met. “Would you like me to have some soda in the refrigerator?”

“Would you?” Her eyes lit up like a delighted kid. “Pepsi, please.”

“That’s a disgusting habit, but I’ll enable it because I…” She almost said she loved her!
Jesus!

Lizzie took the mug and added a ridiculous amount of milk, then scooped two heaping teaspoons of sugar into the mess. Jill watched her, then said, “Pepsi might have fewer calories and less sugar. I’ll make sure to have some around.”

“And cookies,” she said, her voice taking on an excited tone. “Anything mint. And I really like potato chips with my lunch. No flavoring. None of that barbecue bullshit or vinegar or anything weird. Just plain.”

Jill leaned on the counter, loving to listen to her babble away. “Anything else?”

“No, that’ll do it. What can I have in my apartment for you?”

She seemed so sincere. It would have been churlish to say Jill hoped never to sleep in that fire-trap. But she tried to be polite. “I can’t think of a thing. As long as you’re there, I’ll be happy.”

“Oh, now you’re being all superior.” Lizzie wrapped her in a tight hug and tried to pick her up, managing to get her feet at least an inch off the ground. “Making it sound like I need soda and chips and cookies to be happy, but you’re above that kind of thing.” She dropped her. “You’re heavier than you look.”

“All muscle,” she lied. “Wanna do something to get our blood flowing?”

“Sure.” She poked at the box. “What’s for breakfast?”

“My favorite Danish.” Jill opened the box and laughed. “Wrong! Prune and apricot. The rats!”

Lizzie picked one up and started to eat around it, going in a neat circle. When she reached the center, she tossed it back into the box. “Not bad at all.” She picked up another and held it to Jill’s lips, twirling it as she ate. “You’re fun to play with. Don’t you think play is important?”

“Vitally,” she said, meaning it. “Let’s polish off the rest of these sad things and go do just that.”

“I need to be in the water,” Lizzie said.

“Done deal. I do too.”

***

They didn’t have to drive far to get to a rental place near the lake. Jill went in while Lizzie was still slathering herself in sunblock. When she came out of the shop she held two lightweight vests and a pair of paddles. “What’s sup?” she said, laughing at her own joke. “It’s a stand up paddle board. Get it? S-U-P.”

“Supb,” Lizzie logically retorted. “Otherwise it’s just stand up paddle, which isn’t really the same thing.” She planted a kiss on Jill’s lips. “But I’ll allow it because you looked cute when you said it.”

“Have you done this before?” They went over to where the boards stood, all lined up neatly.

“Nope. But I’m game.” She stood next to a huge one. “How tall is this? Thirty feet?”

“Just eleven. Ideally, I think we’d do better on a slightly smaller one, but they’ve only got the big boys left.”

“I’m giving up big boys, but I’ll make an exception.” She put her hands on the board and tried to lift it, but the top started to go past vertical. Jill stopped it right before it toppled over on her.

“Hold on there, sparky. Carry it a little closer to your body.”

“I got it,” she groused, hefting it over to the tiny beach.

Jill followed behind, then put hers down on the sand. “All we’ve got to do is balance, bend our knees and paddle with our legs and torso.”

“Sounds like dance, except for the paddling part. Very little paddling in dance.”

“I think I’ll just wear my suit. How about you?”

“Yeah. That’ll work. Good thing I keep my beach stuff in my car, huh?” She whipped off Jill’s baggy shorts and T-shirt she’d borrowed, then took all of their clothes and their flip-flops and tossed them back into the car.

They shoved the boards into the water, then sat astride them and paddled along for a moment until they were in deep water. “Ready? You should be great at this, since it’s all about balance.” Jill got to her hands and knees, then shakily stood, holding her arms out for balance. “So far, so good.”

“How many times have you done this?”

“Once. Counting today.”

“What? I thought you did this all the time!”

“Maybe I will,” she said, smiling goofily. “But I’ve got to see if I like it.”

Lizzie pushed herself up to her feet, then gracefully stood, with not even a wobble. “Not bad, if I do say so myself.”

“Now we just paddle.” Jill bent her knees and tried to get her whole body into the stroke. She almost toppled over, but righted herself by holding her paddle in the air like a tightrope walker. “Whoa! I hope you took lifesaving!”

“I’d definitely save you,” Lizzie declared. “You’re precious.”

Lizzie was able to bend deep and get her whole core into the stroke. She glided past Jill on the surprisingly smooth lake, stuck a hand down by her butt and waved, making her look like she had a duck’s tail.

“I’ll catch you!” She was a little taller, a little stronger and a little stockier. Surely those attributes would let her storm past the elegantly gliding Lizzie.

Jill mashed down on her paddle, with her balance still a little wonky. As they got farther away from the shore, a nice wind picked up and gently pushed them along. Slowly, Jill got her footing and her balance followed along. Then she was able to make some progress. Lizzie saw her coming, and started taking long, powerful strokes that let her skim across the cold water, really making Jill work to keep up.

Her arms were turning to noodles after they’d been paddling hard for fifteen minutes, but Lizzie slowed down first. She folded herself into a yoga position and sat down on her board. “Who’s toast?” she asked, holding up a hand.

“I am!” It was harder for her to sit, but she got down without going headfirst into the drink. “But this is fun, right?”

“Absolutely right.” Lizzie lifted her paddle and sent a gentle splash of sixty-eight degree water onto Jill’s legs.

A bigger splash came right back at her, and in two seconds they were furiously hurling water at each other, cursing when a splash caught them in the face.

“I’m gonna kick your ass,” Lizzie declared when a tsunami of icy water hit her. She took a wide stroke and propelled most of it onto Jill, who shivered in the downpour.

“I give! Damn! I’m not sure we should be together. We might kill each other!”

“Nah. I’m not usually very competitive. And once you realize I’m superior in every way, you’ll give up and worship me.” A frown settled onto her face as she turned to look at both shores. “Are we closer to New York than Vermont?”

“Uhm…yep. I guess we’d better head back.”

“How long did you rent these for?”

“Until closing. We’ve got plenty of time. I bet a half hour hasn’t passed.”

“Think we can make it to New York and back?”

“Mmm. I think it’s possible,” she allowed. “But we’ll be demolished if we do.”

“We’re well over halfway there,” Lizzie reasoned. “Why not give it a try?”

Jill wouldn’t have done it if she’d been alone, but Lizzie made her actually want to do things that were past her comfort level. “What the hell? We can rest on the New York side for an hour or two and then head back.”

They got to their feet and started paddling again, ultimately getting a good rhythm going. They easily skimmed along, reaching the other shore while they still had some gas in their tanks.

When they slid up onto the sand, Jill had a moment where she almost tumbled, but she righted herself again. “Whoo. I’m going to land on my noggin at some point, but this is a lot of fun. You’re on the water, but it’s not as freezing as actually being in it—unless you’re being pelted by water, that is. And you can see everything. I like the perspective better than a kayak.”

“But you can carry more in a kayak.” Lizzie tugged on the long strap on the waterproof case she’d slung over a shoulder. “All I’ve got is my phone and a couple of candy bars.”

“One of which I bet you’re going to share.” Jill sat down on the sand, letting the warm August sun take the chill from her feet.

“Okay. But only because you look so cute in that red suit.” She sat right next to Jill, opened the waterproof bag and held two candy bars in the air. “You get first choice.”

“Mmm, good quality chocolate.” She leaned against Lizzie, enjoying the delicious caramel-filled milk chocolate, the sun, and Lizzie’s presence. “I’m having a damned nice day. I’m kinda glad we came home last night.”

“Me too. But I’m really not looking forward to going back to Sugar Hill next week.”

Jill let out a sigh. “I’d guess not. Hey, your mom talked about a boyfriend you’ve never mentioned. Alex? Alan?”

“Adam. My first boyfriend. Serious boyfriend,” she amended. “We were together until I decided I had to give the ladies another chance.”

“Ouch,” Jill said, wincing at the thought of having the same thing happen to her. “That must’ve been a blow to his ego.”

Blithely, Lizzie tossed her hair over a shoulder, seemingly unsympathetic. “I didn’t tell him the truth. We were going to college, and I convinced him we should spread our wings a little.”

“That’s all you said?”

“Uh-huh. My desire to be with women had nothing to do with him, so there was no reason to get into it.”

That hit her like a punch to the gut. “Do I have to worry about the secret life of Lizzie Davis?”

Lizzie turned to face her dead on. Her expression was so open, so frank. Her hand went to Jill’s leg as she tenderly rubbed it. “I’ve learned my lesson. I hide nothing from you, Jill. Nothing at all.”

Swallowing her relief, Jill spent a moment just gazing into Lizzie’s clear, open eyes. “I believe you. I promise I’ll try to be as forthcoming as you’ve been. It’s important.”

“I’ll tell you anything you want to know,” Lizzie promised.

“Tell me about the people you’ve dated. I’m not sure what I want to know, but I’m awfully interested.”

Lizzie gave her a slow, sweet smile. “I’ll give you a synopsis.” Turning serious, she sat up a little straighter. “I’ve always tried to be in relationships. Men or women. Doesn’t matter. I’m looking for permanence. For something solid to built my life around.” Leaning close, she placed her lips to Jill’s, then moved forward, increasing the pressure. As they broke apart, she spoke quietly. “We’re going to build a life together from the ground up. Sturdy. Safe. Permanent.”

“Damn, that sounds nice,” Jill whispered, breathing in Lizzie’s alluring scent.

“It will be. Promise.” She brushed the hair from Jill’s face, whisking away the strays that had fallen from her ponytail. “I’m interested in you too. Fascinated,” she added, looking it. “Want to tell me about the bevy of beauties who chased you all over Burlington?”

“Nothing too exciting. I dated guys in high school, switched to women when I got to UVM, and never turned back.”