Midas Touch (14 page)

“Damn!” She slammed the phone down.

“I take it she didn’t buy the delay tactic.”

“No. Laura, I don’t think I can do it.”

Laura tied her robe tighter and yawned. “Well, you won’t if you keep thinking like that.”

“You don’t understand. Dee has me practicing these impossible slides and weaving in and out between paint buckets. It’s not like I’ll be riding in an AMA Superbike Competition. The entire thing is ridiculous and it’s too hard.”

Laura spun toward Sandra, her fists settling on her hips.

“Sandra Tate, what is wrong with you? I’ve never known you to be such a whiner. Life is hard. You are facing what most of us face daily. Your architectural ability is a gift granted to only a handful of people. You’ve never had to struggle for every accomplishment.”

“I work hard,” Sandra retorted.

“You work long and stressful hours. I’m not trying to diminish your accomplishments. I’m saying you’ve never known what it’s like to sit down and have the design of a building totally elude you. To look at something and have no idea what to do with it.”

Sandra hesitated. She wanted to lash out at Laura’s accusations, but she knew it was true. Designing had never seemed like work to her. Her abilities were a gift.

Sandra gave Laura a sheepish smile, “What are you so discreetly trying to tell me?”

Laura laughed and pulled Sandra into a hug. “Stop whining.

Go ride Dee’s damn motorcycle or forget about it. Its not worth all of the stress its creating. There’s plenty of other things to worry about.”

“Like what?” Sandra asked pulling away.

“Like what your crazy friend is going to do if she doesn’t have her coffee very, very soon.” Laura headed toward the kitchen.

“Go get showered and dressed. I want you out of my hair today.

I’ve got work to do and you’re going to be a pain-in-the-butt until this thing is over with.”

Sandra started for the bedroom when Laura’s voice stopped her.”Sandra, the motorcycle was supposed to be fun and it s turning into more stress. Maybe this isn’t for you. Perhaps you should try something else, or even a smaller bike. Dee has a cute little yellow scooter for sale.”

Sandra rolled her eyes. “A yellow scooter is not what I had in mind.”

Laura gave her a smug grin. “Well, if that’s all you can handle…” She let the sentence trail with an elaborate shrug.

“I’ll show you what I can handle.”

Sandra spent two hours driving around the city looking at past projects. The morning slipped away quickly and took her anxiety with it. Laura was right. The bike was supposed to be fun.

She had let her need to excel in everything cloud the enjoyment of learning to ride. She was ready to face the obstacle course. If she failed, the world would not come to a halt. She would simply keep trying until she was able to meet Dee’s demands.

She glanced at her watch; three hours remained before she had to meet Dee. She knew what she needed to do. She called her secretary, Betty, with the request.

An hour later, Sandra was headed for the Department of Motor Vehicles where a rental agency was meeting her with a bike. As she pulled into the parking lot of the DMV the rain stopped.

“There you are,” Dee called as Sandra came in. “I thought you had changed your mind.”

Sandra walked up to her and handed her a blank check.

“What’s this?”

“The check that’s going to pay for my Honda Valkyrie.”

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“Even if you manage to complete the obstacle course, you still have to get your license before you can drive it.”

Sandra pulled out a slip of paper and handed it to her. “Passed the test an hour ago.”

Connie stood in the doorway chuckling.

Dee looked at Sandra and smiled. “All right. Let’s see what you can do.” She went out to arrange the cans on the obstacle course that the storm had blown over.

Connie rolled one of the used bikes out and stood waiting.

“You can do it,” she whispered as Sandra pulled on her helmet.

“Remember. Loosen up. Pretend the machine’s a beautiful woman and you’re making love to her for the first time.”

Sandra raised the helmet visor and stared at Connie. “What makes you think I make love to women?” She was unable to keep the smile off her face.

Connie blushed, but grinned back. “I can always tell by the way a woman rides whether she’s gay or not. And darlin’, you got the ride.”

“I’m ready anytime you are,” Dee called from the far end of the lot.

Groaning, Sandra swung her leg over the seat and started the bike. She dropped the visor over her face.

“Make a slow practice run through,” Dee yelled to her. “It’ll give you a chance to get a feel for the wet ground.”

Sandra rolled her shoulders to relax them and tried to block everything but the machine between her legs and the course in front of her. She maneuvered the bike through the course at a slow speed before making a wide circle at the end of the field to pick up speed. Opening the throttle, she roared back onto the course. Obstacles flashed around her as she zoomed between and around them. The engine hummed and she felt the almost physical merging of her mind and body with the bike. They moved as one. The last obstacle whipped by. She slid the bike into a mud-slinging stop before the garage door.

Sandra raised the helmet visor unable to believe she had completed the course at a high speed, without falling. Connie

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became her one-person cheering squad, yelling and pounding Sandra on the back.

Dee was running from the back of the lot. Sandra stepped from the bike and released the stand just as Dee picked her up and whirled her around.

“You did it!” Dee shouted as she set her down and reached into her coat pocket. “Your keys,” she said proudly.

Sandra reached for the keys and held them in her palm, staring at them. “Why were they in your pocket? I thought you already decided I couldn’t do it.”

“No. You decided you couldn’t. They were in my pocket because I figured you’d want to take the lady for a ride,” she said proudly as she pointed.

Sandra turned to find Connie pushing the Valkyrie out.

“When you get back we’ll fill out the paperwork,” Dee said and patted Sandra’s shoulder. “Be back by five. I have a dinner date. I don’t want to be late.”

Sandra climbed on and inserted the key. Suddenly she was terrified. “It’s always a little scary the first time,” Connie said, winking at her. Just remember what I told you.”

“But I’m a terrible lover.”

Connie shook her head. “It’s physically impossible for a woman to be a bad lover if she’s interested in what she’s doing.”

Maybe that was it,
Sandra reasoned as
she rode out and merged with traffic.
Maybe sex just hadn’t interested her in a long time.

Sandra dropped by Laura’s to pick her up. They rode for over an hour before returning to Laura’s cottage.

“Thank you for sharing that with me,” Laura called over the engine’s idle. “Are you coming back tonight?”

Sandra took off her helmet and ran her hands through her hair. “No. I’ve got a lot of things I need to do before I leave, but I’ll be by before I go. I’ll call you tomorrow.” They shared a long hug before Sandra put her helmet on and headed back to the shop.

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Connie had left for the day by the time Dee and Sandra completed the paperwork for the sale of the motorcycle.

“I hope I didn’t make you late for your dinner engagement,”

Sandra said as she stood to leave. She felt a twinge of regret over her lessons ending. She would miss Dee and Connie.

“Actually, I haven’t asked her yet,” Dee replied and stood up.

Sandra glanced at her watch. “It’s getting late. Don’t you think you should?”

“Yeah, you’re probably right. Would you have dinner with me?”“Me!”

“Yeah. I didn’t want to ask you earlier.”

Sandra’s eyebrows rose. “Afraid I’d turn you down if I didn’t make it?”

“No. I knew you would succeed. You wanted it too badly to fail. Nothing was going to stop you.”

“Then why didn’t you ask?”

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Dee cleared her throat and searched her pockets for a piece of candy. “I recognized you the day you came in. I actually met you three or four years ago at a dedication ceremony for the new wing you designed for the children’s hospital. I do volunteer work there two nights a week.” She handed Sandra a piece of candy. “I wanted to ask you out, but I figured someone like you wouldn’t be interested in going to dinner with someone like me.

I didn’t want to mess things up before you got your bike.”

Sandra was torn between hurt and anger. “You thought I wouldn’t go to dinner with you because I have more money than you?”

Dee nodded.

“I won’t go out with you,” Sandra snapped. “But it has nothing to do with money.”

“Then why?” Dee asked, visibly hurt and puzzled.

“I thought you taught me to ride because you cared and we were friends, but you never saw beyond the money.” She stepped toward Dee. “You’re the worse kind of hypocrite. You assumed my money makes me too stuck-up to want to spend time with anyone who had less, when all the time you were wheedling to get the very money you judged me for.”

“You’re so full of shit,” Dee hissed as
she leaned closer to Sandra. “Would you have paid any attention to me if I had strolled into your downtown office? Hell, did you pay any attention to me during the past two weeks? Did you even notice me?”

“Yes, I did!”

They stood facing each other. Sandra was as shocked by her admission as Dee appeared to be. The hair on Sandra’s arms began to rise as though charged with static electricity. Goosebumps raced down her back only to reverse their course and scramble back up to the nape of her neck. Dee’s arms closed around Sandra and pulled her closer. Their lips came together in a frantic need.

“I’m not looking for a relationship,” Sandra managed to mutter around kisses as she pulled Dee’s coat off her shoulders.

“Neither am I,” Dee gasped, shoving the shirt off Sandra’s shoulders.

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Sandra’s body became a center of sensations. Dee’s mouth and hands were everywhere, touching her, bringing an almost unbearable hunger to her. Dee’s kisses worked a path down Sandra’s body as she slipped Sandra’s pants off her hips and eased them to the floor.

Sandra kicked the pants off. Her hands explored Dee’s body with a hunger she had never known. A wave of desire so intense it shook her gave Sandra the courage to move Dee toward the couch where she pushed her down into a sitting position. She straddled Dee’s lap and braced her arms on either side of Dee’s head. She shuddered as Dee brushed her fingertips up the inside of her thighs. Their lips met repeatedly. Their tongues probed.

Each demanding more access.

Sandra groaned as Dee slipped an arm around her waist and pulled her down onto the fingers of her other hand. Sandra used her legs and the pressure from Dee’s arm to push Dee’s fingers deeper. She rode Dee’s hand, as their kiss grew more intense.

Nothing in her previous experience with Carol prepared Sandra for the sensations consuming her.

Unable to remain silent, Sandra threw her head back and screamed Dee’s name as Dee’s hand brought her to climax. She continued to ride Dee’s fingers, enjoying the final ripples of pleasure they offered.

Sandra leaned forward, took one of Dee’s ample breasts in her hands, and teased the hard nipple between her fingertips. “I want to taste you,” she whispered in Dee’s ear. She moved down until her mouth replaced her fingers on the nipple. She took her time, allowing her tongue to discover every small crevice and contour of the nipple.

Dee’s moans filled Sandra with an overwhelming sense of power. Over the years she had stood in countless boardrooms, directed hundreds of employees, raised skyscrapers from weed-choked lots, but nothing had ever given her the sense of power she felt at this moment. She wanted to hear Dee come.

Sliding from Dee’s lap, she pulled Dee’s hips to the edge of the couch and let her lips trail down and across Dee’s stomach.

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Sandra continued her exploration until Dee was begging for release. When Sandra could no longer stand the waiting, she spread Dee’s legs farther, and ran her fingers up Dee’s thighs, letting her thumbs part the swollen lips until her mouth found the object of her quest.

Dee ground her hips, pushing herself into Sandra’s willing mouth.

“Please, Sandra. Please, baby, now.”

In response to Dee’s plea, Sandra plunged her fingers deep into Dee’s wet center.

“Yes,” Dee cried, clamping her hands behind Sandra’s head and crushing her closer.

Surprised by her need to continue touching Dee, Sandra resisted as Dee eased her up to kiss her. “Lie down,” Sandra insisted. “I want more of you.”

Dee gathered Sandra in her arms and pulled her down onto the couch, gazing at her. “You have beautiful eyes,” she whispered, before kissing Sandra with a deep hunger.

“I want you,” Sandra insisted.

“Don’t worry. You’ll get all of me you can handle before we’re through.” She placed a pillow behind Sandra’s head before she turned and lay her body in the opposite direction alongside Sandra. She parted Sandra’s legs and buried her face between them as she rolled onto Sandra and offered herself for Sandra’s pleasure. Sandra allowed herself to sink into the incredible sensations coursing through her as Dee’s mouth devoured her, while her own mouth wallowed in Dee’s juices.

A long while later, Sandra lay contentedly nuzzling Dee’s breasts. “Do you do everything with this kind of passion?” Dee asked.

Sandra placed her head against Dee’s breast. “I’ve never thought of myself as a passionate person.”

“You’re joking.” Dee looked at her, surprised.