by Alexa Woods
school, but yeah. I was always pretty good at drawing, and it turned out
when I applied myself, I could understand concepts beyond basic math. It
was a shocker for me.” She laughed easily
June snuck a peek at Arabella. She was still looking forward, her eyes
dark, burning coals. She was gorgeous, and so at ease with herself now. She
was so, so different. All that beauty was lethal now that she was also nice,
and her toxic personality didn’t poison it.
Her hand dove into her hair again, rifling back the strands away from her
face. June nearly groaned when she noticed Arabella’s chest rise and fall
with the movement, her breasts creamy, the orbs overflowing her bikini top.
Arabella turned fully, her hands grasping at her hair, plaiting the thick
strands and spinning them into an effortless braid. “I want to say that I’m
sorry I never figured out who I was in high school, and I took that out on a
lot of people, especially you. Truly, I was the worst. I’m surprised you
didn’t axe me that first day. I would have.”
“I thought you might try to cause problems for me if I did that. Go to
some media outlet and let them know what an ogre was running a company
that was touted as doing good things.”
One brow arched, but not angrily. It looked more playful than surprised.
“That’s the only reason?”
“Maybe.”
“Well, I’m glad you gave me a chance. I did more drawings than what I
showed in that meeting. Like this.” She bent forward and reached for the
dry sand, swirling her fingers around in it to create patterns and shapes that
looked nothing like shoes.
June’s heart began to thunder hard again when she breathed in Arabella’s
sweet honey suckle scent. She was sure that’s what it was. Something no
one else would wear, but something that suited her perfectly It reminded her
too much of the caragana bushes outside her grandma’s old house.
When Arabella looked up, her eyes were burning, brimming with
excitement. She had her bottom lip caught between her teeth in
concentration. June knew she should duck her head because what she was
feeling was probably showing on her face.
It was hard to admit it, but she knew what it was. Lust. A strange sort of
longing. Maybe even wistfulness. She froze, hoping Arabella couldn’t read
her face in the dark, but Arabella’s eyes shot straight to June’s lips, turning
her stomach into a storm of butterfly wings. She felt…God, she felt a little
bit desperate. She ached in all the wrong places. Her nipples were beaded
tightly, the only mercy being that her t-shirt was big and baggy and hid
them from view. Her breasts felt heavy and swollen.
She knew that if Arabella reached for her, she wouldn’t shy away. Her
body was on fire, burning with the strangest desire. Not that she was a
stranger to what it felt like to want someone, but Arabella of all people? She
was a stranger to not being able to control what she felt and who she felt it
for. She’d always thought that when people said they had no control, or they
were attracted to the wrong person, that it was nonsense.
June shifted ever so slightly, trying to relieve the pressure building in her
thighs, but all she succeeded in doing was rubbing the damp seam of her
shorts across her aching clit. She nearly gasped, but bit down on the sound
at the last second.
Arabella stared at June with eyes that were heavy lidded. June wasn’t
sure who moved first, who reached for who, but suddenly the distance
between them was closed and Arabella’s hand was on her cheek and her
hand was on Arabella’s shoulder. Her face was tipped up, and she arched
her body slightly forward, falling into Arabella as she angled forward,
thrusting herself against her, their bodies crushing against each other as
their mouths met.
June was rocked back at the blazing, scorching kiss. Knocked completely
off her axis. But that didn’t stop her from shoving her hand into Arabella’s
blonde mane and pulling her closer so that their chests were rammed up
against each other. Her heart beat out a rapid pounding that was so brutal it
felt like it could actually break through her ribs.
She finally calmed down enough to allow herself to succumb to the
sensations, to enjoy the kiss, and enjoy it she did. She loved the feel of
Arabella’s lips against her own. They were so soft, so full, so hungry. There
was no doubt that Arabella was a good kisser. She didn’t so much lead as
she danced, sucking softly on June’s lower lip, sending a shower of sparks
cascading through her bloodstream.
Arabella whimpered softly against June’s lips and when June went to
echo the sound, she parted her lips and Arabella’s tongue traced the seam of
her bottom lip eagerly before June buried her fingers deeper in Arabella’s
hair and angled her face, sweeping her own tongue over Arabella’s, and into
her mouth. She tasted like bubble gum and mint. The flavor burst over
June’s tongue, making her head spin and her heart drum even more
furiously.
The pounding between her legs increased in tempo as well, and she rose
up on her knees, parting her legs eagerly for Arabella’s knee, soft, warm,
and very naked, to slip between them. She was about to grind down eagerly
to relieve some of the pressure building in her core when her name was
spoken. Not soft and sweetly from Arabella.
It was shrill. Clipped. Abrupt. Shocked. “June!”
She broke the kiss and stumbled back, losing her balance. She’d been
leaning forward, into Arabella and now she was pitching back. She landed
on the sand on her bottom, unhurt, but confused.
“Oh, my God, what were you just doing?” Summer was there. Summer,
with her eyes wide and a disgruntled look that was something close to
disgust on her face. Shock too, but the ugly expression overrode that.
Summer pointed at Arabella, who looked incredibly nervous and
embarrassed. “How could you have possibly forgotten that she’s the worst?
Just. The. Worst. Like, literally, there was no one who was worse than she
was.”
“That was a long time ago,” June groaned.
The kiss wasn’t premeditated. It just happened and the rightness of it
caught her completely off guard. She wasn’t about to explain any of that to
Summer at the moment. Not when she was in the thick of her righteous
indignation.
“Okay, I deserved that,” Arabella said quietly. She was staring up at
Summer the way someone stares up at the sky trying to figure out if one
hell of a storm is about to descend on them and unleash holy hell.
“No, that’s not fair,” June protested. “It was a long time ago. Summer,
come on.”
“No, I’m not coming on!” Summer hissed. “You come on! Have you two
been…all this time?”
“No!” June scrambled off the ground. “It just happened. There was
nothing going on before.” She couldn’t look at Arabella. “There isn’t
anything going on. We work together, and I’m not against work
relationships, but I’m the boss and that wouldn’t loo
k right.” She finally
dared to turn and look at Arabella, afraid she’d see the hurt she’d just
wrought unleashed on her face, but instead, Arabella was just sitting there,
her expression wiped clean. June reasoned that just because she couldn’t
read it didn’t mean there wasn’t something going on. “Summer…” June
reached out, but Summer shook her head.
“No. Don’t do that. Don’t try to ‘Summer’ me right now.”
“I’m not trying to ‘Summer’ you. I just need to say that what happened
before was before. Arabella apologized and that’s it. I don’t want to think
about it or talk about it anymore. She doesn’t deserve to have it held against
her for her whole life.”
“No, but a good part of it would do,” Summer rejoined snidely.
“That’s hardly fair. We’re adults. Forgiveness is a thing.”
Summer looked furious. She fisted her hands on her hips menacingly.
“Oh, we might be adults, but this is straight up bullshit. She’s playing you.
Suckering you in for some big takedown.”
“I’m not—” Arabella insisted, but Summer wasn’t nearly finished.
She shook her finger in Arabella’s direction. “Okay, so she might not be
doing that exactly, but she could still hurt you. You think I haven’t seen you
get hurt enough by her? She was totally unapologetic and unremorseful ten
years ago. It’s easy for her just to waltz in and be all sorry. She needs
money. You think she’s not cozying up to you as a way out of her current
predicament? That’s what snakes do. They get into bed with you and then
they go for the jugular.”
“Holy God,” Arabella said. “That sounds more like a vampire, and I’m
not a vampire. I’m also not a snake and I never lied about my family’s
situation, but I really wish I had if you’re going to go throwing it in my
face.”
June was torn between trying to understand Summer’s anger and trying
to defend Arabella. It wasn’t fair to either of them. The only thing she could
point out was what she considered to be rational, so that they could all just
go to bed. It was obviously too late. Regrettable decisions and horrible
things were being said without the aid of alcohol. A good sleep was
obviously in order.
“Summer…” June sighed. “I get your point. You’re worried about me.
Still, that doesn’t mean you can say hurtful things like that. You invited
Arabella on this trip, so you can’t hold that against her now. What happened
between us just happened.”
“She’s not even into girls!” Summer protested, stamping her foot on the
sand.
“Actually…” June and Arabella said at the same time.
They looked at each other, sharing a look that lingered just long enough
for Summer to catch it. It was the kind of look June often shared with her
bestie and Summer got that. She got that she’d been left out of something
big. Something monumental. She didn’t like that either. Instead of getting
mad, her eyes welled with tears, and she stared June down.
“Whatever. You’re a big girl. You can take care of yourself, I’m sure.”
Her eyes tracked to Arabella, and she didn’t bother to hide her despair, the
still lingering hostility, and the fact that she trusted Arabella about as far as
she could throw her, which obviously wasn’t very far at all. “You’re an
adult too. I hope this isn’t a nice person act when you’re still a mean girl at
heart. I don’t trust you and I’ll be watching. You hurt June at all and, well,
expect to meet nasty Summer!”
Summer stormed off, eating up the grass in long, stomping strides. It was
easy to see just how pissed off she was, but June knew she was also worried
and disappointed and that’s how she showed it. She was probably also very
stung at the inside secret she thought Arabella and June were sharing
together. Not that there really was one. She really wished she’d told
Summer about the talk she’d had with Arabella the night before. Was it too
late? Could she tell her now? Would she listen?
“I should talk to her,” Arabella said. She meant it. June didn’t think that
Arabella had some diabolical plot up her sleeve or anything. Apparently,
she trusted Arabella enough to kiss her. She’d have to examine that later.
June sighed and started walking as soon as Arabella stood and passed her.
“I think maybe she just needs some time. Maybe in the morning would be
better?”
“Right. We probably shouldn’t wake up the whole cabin.”
“No. Probably not.”
“But if she’s that pissed, you might need to watch her. She might decide
to do something diabolical when you’re not looking. Like fart on your
pillow or something.”
June smothered a laugh. She shouldn’t be laughing right now. It felt
wrong. Arabella was serious about it too, which made her want to laugh
even more, which felt like another level of wrong. She was suddenly shy
and was glad when Arabella led the way to the cabin. She stopped on the
porch steps.
“I’m going to try to talk to her in the morning, okay?”
She could only guess if it was okay or not. It had been a good while since
Summer had been mad like she was now, hurt too. Add to that the shock
value of what she’d seen, and June wasn’t sure how the morning would go,
or if it would go at all. Maybe they’d all have a very stormy early morning
ride back home. She’d taken the morning off and allowed Arabella to do the
same so that they could stay the whole weekend, but they were still heading
back early so they could be there after lunch.
She really hoped Arabella succeeded in whatever she had to say, and that
Summer would have an open mind, but with their history, she wasn’t
holding her breath.
But then, she had kissed Arabella. She once would have thought that
kissing a dirty, nasty, epically gross public toilet seat was more to her taste.
So maybe stranger things had happened.
They had happened.
When had a nice weekend away gotten so messy and complicated? Right,
when Summer invited Arabella to join them. But June couldn’t blame
Summer for that kiss one bit. That kiss was entirely on her.
Which meant that after Arabella borrowed Summer for a talk, June really
needed to figure out what she was going to say. To both of them.
Chapter 10
Arabella
Back at work, days after the craziest weekend of her life, Arabella settled
into what she was coming to learn was a regular rhythm. Not that it was
boring. New Shooz 2uz was probably the least boring place she had ever
worked. She always had something to do. Everyone who worked there was
so dang brilliant and inspiring.
As a bonus, it wasn’t uncommon for someone to bring their dog to work
just to say hi and give the office a dose of puppy cuddles, kisses, and cheer.
It also wasn’t that uncommon for people to bring in their kids if something
went wrong with a sitter or if they had a few hours between their partner
getting home to be able to provide childcare. Since everyone had an office,
it wasn’t
a big deal.
Which was a big deal in itself.
Arabella had never worked at a place quite like it.
Case in point, when she went to deliver her ideas about the new shoe line
for kids that they were thinking about putting into the works, along with her
market research, spread sheets, and detailed other reports, she found Beth in
her office bouncing a toddler on her knee. The baby, an adorable little girl
with a shock of red hair pulled into a tiny ponytail on top her head with a
pink bow, flushed cheeks, and approximately three teeth, gummed a fist and
grinned at Arabella when she walked in.
“Oh!” Arabella said, surprised and charmed all at once. “I didn’t
realize…sorry. If this is a busy time, I can come back in a bit.”
“No, no, that’s fine.” Beth motioned to her desktop. “You can leave
everything there. I’ll take a look at it just as soon as Shannon, my daughter,
comes back for this one.”
“She’s adorable.” Arabella set the folder on Beth’s desktop, well away
from the baby, who reached for it with chubby hands shiny with drool.
“How old?”
“Seven months. My daughter had a thing at Amelia, her oldest daughter’s
school today. A parent teacher thing. She was supposed to have a sitter, but
they canceled on her last minute. She couldn’t blow off the interview, so I
guess it was important. Amelia is six, but she can’t seem to stay out of
trouble. It’s because she’s too smart. She gives those teachers the run
around and no adult likes to be shown up by a six-year-old kid.”
Arabella laughed. “I can imagine. I hope it’s not too terrible for her. Your
daughter, or Amelia.”
“Let’s hope so.” Beth bounced the baby on her knee. “This is Sky.”
Arabella waved. “Hello, Sky. What a pretty name for a pretty girl.” She
noted the baby’s huge blue eyes. “A name that definitely fits.”
Sky grinned and cooed, waving her hands frantically. Beth sighed. “I
keep telling Shannon that she should change schools for Amelia. School is
hard enough without having to worry about teachers trying to bully her.”
“Is she trying to do that?” Arabella wasn’t entirely surprised. Teachers
were just human. She’d had more than her fair share that openly hated on
kids, but that was mostly in high school, where attitudes were generally