by Jae
An impish grin curved Lana’s lips. “That was half of the fun. Didn’t you ever do anything like that when you were a kid?”
“No. But I like this little adventure.”
“Me too.” Lana squeezed her arm.
People passed them continually, going in the opposite direction, so they had to walk pressed close together, almost as if they were cuddling.
Of course, Claire acknowledged, they could have let go and walked single file, but neither seemed inclined to lose contact. With the setting sun, temperatures were going down, so Claire was grateful for the warmth emanating from Lana.
Yeah, sure. The warmth. That’s the only reason you’re enjoying having her so close. Right.
The steel beneath their feet slowly became a concrete walkway that started to gently curve to the left, with grass and wildflowers growing on both sides. On their left, a long teak bench followed the curve of the High Line, while rusty train tracks ran in the grass on their right as a reminder of what the park had once been. Every now and then, they passed a sculpture or a mural painted on the side of a building.
When they reached the point where the walkway turned west more sharply, they slowed. This was where they would have to return to street level and head east to get back to the hotel.
Claire wasn’t in a hurry to have their time on the High Line come to an end, and apparently, neither was Lana. As if by an unspoken agreement, they stopped on the side of the walkway and leaned on the railing elbow to elbow.
To the west, the rays of the setting sun turned the Hudson River into a bronze band, while a shadowed line of Midtown skyscrapers rose on the other side. What a magical moment!
“You cold?” Lana whispered.
“No,” Claire answered, her voice just as low. Why are we whispering?
“You were shivering.”
“Was I?”
Lana nodded.
“I’m not cold.” She wasn’t. Lana’s body heat against her side was keeping her warm. Even if she had been cold, she would have wanted to stay here for a while longer.
“Good.” Lana directed her attention to something below them. “Oh.”
Claire followed her gaze.
On what looked like an empty parking lot, an outdoor roller-skate rink had been set up beneath the High Line. Orange-and-white plastic barricades formed an oval, in which people skated around in circles. Top-forty music drifted up.
Claire half turned and watched Lana as she watched the roller skaters.
The look on her face was one of longing and bittersweet memories. It reminded Claire of the way some of her clients looked when they talked about the half-forgotten happy days of their marriage.
She peeked from her wristwatch to the slowly fading light. We really should be going. You have to be at your best tomorrow.
But despite that mental admonishment, she couldn’t ignore the look on Lana’s face. Gently, she touched Lana’s shoulder. “If you want to take a quick spin…”
Lana stared at the skating rink below but shook her head. “It’s getting late, and I promised to have you in bed by ten.”
“And I’ll be. Once around the rink won’t take long.”
Now Lana was the one hesitating to start a new adventure. “I haven’t been on skates since…since my accident,” she said quietly.
“Could you re-injure your leg?” Claire glanced down to where Lana’s scar peeked out from her jean shorts.
“Nah. It should be fine, as long as I don’t try any crazy tricks.”
“Then come on. Let’s rent you some skates, and I’ll root for you from the sidelines.” Claire tugged on Lana’s arm to get her to move toward a set of metal stairs leading down to street level.
But Lana dragged her heels. “Oh no. If I’m doing this, I’m only doing it with you.”
“Me?” Claire squeaked. “No way! I’d end up breaking something and showing up for the meeting with Ms. Huge tomorrow with a bulky cast or two!”
“Nonsense. We’ll take it nice and easy.” Now Lana was the one who dragged her toward the stairs.
With every step down, the sinking feeling in Claire’s stomach increased. Images of what could happen if she entrusted her fate to those spinning rubber wheels tumbled through her mind. But if she refused to at least try it, Lana wouldn’t put on skates either, and Claire sensed that she really wanted to. This might be an important part of the healing process for her, and if Claire had to get on those wheels from hell to help her with that, she would do it.
They got in line at the booth that rented out skates. Claire pulled two twenty-dollar bills from her wallet. “Let’s get protective pads too.”
Lana was wise enough not to protest. “Want a skate mate too?”
“Uh, aren’t you my skate mate?” Claire asked.
Lana’s laughter filled the space between them. “Yes, but I meant one of those things.” She pointed at the rink, where a little kid was hanging on to a plastic support thingy that looked like a walker on wheels.
An adult hanging on to that thing would look ridiculous. “No, thanks. I’ll just grab you instead. Uh…” Heat shot up her neck. “I mean, I’ll hang on to you when I feel like I’m starting to fall.”
Lana laughed again. “Relax. I know what you mean. Feel free to grab me any time.”
That offer brought even more heat to Claire’s cheeks. God, Lana was a hopeless flirt, and teasing Claire seemed to be her new favorite hobby.
They rented skates and protective gear and left their shoes in a locker. Lana had put on her old-school roller skates and the pads in no time, but Claire fiddled with the unfamiliar laces and straps. Halfway through, she realized she should have put on the pads first, before lacing up her skates. Now she had to balance on those eight little wheels while struggling with the protective gear.
Lana chuckled at her predicament. “Let me help you.” She took the pads from Claire and went down on one knee.
Was it the ring they had left in the hotel room that made Claire think of a proposal?
She held on to Lana’s shoulder so she wouldn’t lose her balance on the roller skates.
Gently, Lana slid the elastic strap around Claire’s leg. Her fingers brushed the inside of Claire’s thigh as she fastened the strap. A bolt of desire spiked through Claire, making her suck in a breath.
Lana looked up, and their gazes met.
The air between them seemed to heat up, and Claire nearly forgot what they had been doing.
Roller-skating. You’re here to roller-skate, not to gaze adoringly into each other’s eyes. Leave that for tomorrow. Claire wrenched her gaze away and stood stock-still while Lana fastened the other knee pad, then the elbow pads, and finally helped her strap on the wrist guards.
Claire felt like a knight in armor—a knight who had no idea how to control the mount she found herself on. The few yards to the rink seemed like an insurmountable distance. “Are you sure you wouldn’t rather do this alone? I don’t want to spoil your fun.”
“You won’t,” Lana said firmly. “Hang on to me.”
Claire latched on to her arm and tried to hobble over to the rink’s entrance on the stoppers at the tip of her roller skates.
Lana laughed. “Oh no. The toe stops are for stopping, not for walking.” She demonstrated a stop by dragging one rubber stop over the asphalt behind her. “Here’s how you skate: you bend your knees a little, push off with your left leg, put the left skate back down, then push off with the right.”
She demonstrated, skating away from her, then coming back. To Claire’s untrained eye, she didn’t look rusty at all.
“Now you.” Lana offered Claire her hand.
She took it and held on tightly as she counted to three and then pushed off carefully.
Lana skated next to her, stabilizing her whenever she wobbled. “Don’t stiffen up. Even if you fal
l, it won’t hurt. Usually, the fear of falling is much worse than falling itself.”
That sounded like something from her book. Claire chuckled.
“What?” Lana asked.
“Just thinking that I never knew skating and psychology were so much alike.”
“Ah.” Lana laughed. “But skating is much sexier than psychology because you have to move your hips rhythmically.”
Again, she seemed to delight in making Claire blush—and Claire’s cheeks promptly obliged.
The first two rounds around the small rink felt like boarding a plane and entrusting her fate to someone else. But slowly, under Lana’s patient guidance, Claire gained more confidence and stopped feeling as if she were on the verge of breaking her neck any second.
“Yeah, exactly like that,” Lana called. “Want me to let go?”
Having Lana by her side, holding her hand, felt so much safer, even though she probably wouldn’t be able to catch her if she fell. But she knew Lana was likely longing to try out her skills and to regain the part of herself that she’d nearly lost in the accident, so Claire slowly eased her grip. “Okay.”
Lana squeezed her fingers and then let go but stayed by her side.
They skated along the barricade, with Claire on the outside so she wouldn’t have to take such sharp turns.
“You don’t have to stay with me,” Claire said. Compared to some of the other skaters, they were crawling along, and she knew Lana had to be eager to skate at a faster pace.
“You sure?”
“Yes.”
Lana hesitated but when Claire gave her an encouraging nod, she set off. She shot down the rink, turned in a tight spin, and raced back toward Claire. She wove between two other skaters as if she’d been born with those things on her feet. A broad smile split her face the entire time.
Claire knew she should pay attention to where she was going, but she couldn’t look away from Lana. An answering smile spread over her face as she watched her. I’m so glad I—
A slight bump in the asphalt threw her off balance. Before she could grasp what was happening, she landed on her ass.
Lana was next to her before she’d even fully slid to a stop. She dropped to one knee pad. “Are you okay?” Her hands flew over Claire as if making sure there were no broken bones.
But Claire felt no pain—quite the opposite. Lana’s hands on her legs and bare arms set off tingles all along her body. “Um, I’m fine. Just didn’t see that bump in the asphalt.” Because I was busy watching you. She didn’t add that, of course. “Maybe it’s time to quit.”
“Oh, no. You should know that you need to get back on the horse, Dr. Renshaw.” Lana pulled her up. “Come on. Let’s do one last round together.”
Claire’s knees felt wobbly, but she wasn’t sure if it was from the adrenaline rush of falling or from Lana’s soft touches. She tried to ignore it as they skated side by side.
They approached the gap between the barricades that led to the lockers, and Lana took the turn first. She skated ahead of Claire and then came to a stop.
Oh shit. Claire wanted to copy her and use the toe stop to slow down but didn’t dare put her foot behind her, afraid that it would unbalance her. “Lana! I can’t stop!”
Lana whirled around. She barely had time to brace herself and hold out both hands before Claire crashed into her.
Her momentum carried them back several yards, but somehow, Lana managed to keep them both upright. They slid to a stop together, arms wrapped tightly around each other, legs tangled, bodies pressed together.
Claire gasped for breath. Her heart raced, but it wasn’t just fear that made her pulse pound. Lana’s closeness made her as dizzy as if she had done a series of pirouettes on her skates.
Her gaze strayed down to Lana’s lips, which were only an inch or two from her own.
The music faded away, and all she heard and saw and felt was Lana—her warm breath on her face, her body against her own, her hands on her back.
“Claire,” Lana whispered.
Then lights flared—not sparks of pleasure, Claire’s dazed brain realized after a second, but spotlights that had been set up around the rink to illuminate it as twilight set in.
Claire jerked back. “Uh, we really should head back.”
“Yeah.” Lana let go and moved back so abruptly that Claire nearly fell a second time.
She caught herself, but her emotional balance wasn’t as easy to regain. Stupid, stupid, stupid. She’d almost violated the conditions of their contract—on the evening before one of the most important days of her life, when she needed to keep her head together most.
What the heck is wrong with you? Giving in to a spontaneous urge was not like her. At the lockers, she pulled the roller skates off with so much force that her socks came off with them.
It had to be this crazy, out-of-control day, which had started with buying an engagement ring and then sharing parts of her manuscript with Lana. Just get back to the hotel and go to sleep. Tomorrow you’ll meet with Ms. Huge and everything will go back to normal.
But first, she would have to make it through the night sharing a bed with Lana. Oh God. What had she gotten herself into?
Lana lifted her face into the warm spray and squeezed her eyes shut. The hot water did nothing to ease the tension in her muscles, and neither did it wash away the images playing through her mind on auto-repeat or the impressions of Claire’s body against hers that seemed to linger on her skin.
What the hell was that? Had they really been about to kiss?
When she had signed that crazy contract two months ago, she hadn’t wasted a thought on how to deal with any feelings of attraction she might develop. Back then, Claire had seemed like a cool, uptight shrink who looked down on her. Never could she have imagined roller-skating with her—or ending up in her arms, about to kiss her.
But now it had happened…well, almost happened. How would they deal with it? Was Claire waiting for her to come out of the bathroom so they could talk about it? But what was there to say?
They had stopped before anything could happen. And wasn’t it normal to be attracted to a beautiful woman when you spent so much time with her, especially when you spent half of that time pretending to be in love? It didn’t mean much, other than that her libido was finally over Katrina.
She wouldn’t allow things to go any further, and judging from Claire’s rigid posture and her silence on the way back to the hotel, she had come to the same conclusion. With the important meeting and a stressful interview tomorrow, Claire’s emotions were probably all over the place, and she clearly wasn’t over Abby either.
One more reason to stay away from her. Having her heart broken once by a woman on the rebound was more than enough.
With determination, Lana shut off the water, reached for her towel, and dried off. She hadn’t packed anything special to sleep in since she hadn’t expected to share a room with Claire.
So what? You’d have worn a negligee and sexy lingerie if you’d known? Please!
She shook her head at herself and put on a pair of panties and her baggy sleep shirt. For a moment, she eyed the complimentary bathrobe the hotel provided. Oh come on. Claire had seen her in her sleepwear several times at home, and besides, it wasn’t as if she’d want to jump Lana’s bones as soon as she saw a bit of skin.
But somehow, she felt exposed. She took her time brushing her teeth, not in any hurry to leave the bathroom.
Claire had taken quite some time too. One glance at the counter revealed what had taken her so long: she had straightened the stuff that Lana had spread all over as soon as she had unpacked. Now her makeup, lotion, toothpaste, and hair moisturizer were neatly lined up next to the sink—a sure sign of how stressed Claire was.
Finally, Lana couldn’t delay it any longer. She opened the bathroom door and peeked out.
Nothi
ng moved.
The only sound was that of the air conditioning, which Lana had put on full blast when they had entered the hotel room earlier.
Quietly, Lana stepped out of the bathroom.
Claire was already in bed, facing away from Lana, toward the window. Was she asleep?
Lana tiptoed around to Claire’s side of the room so she could see her better.
Claire had switched off the lamp on her bedside table, but the illumination from the Empire State Building bathed her features in soft light. Her eyes were closed, and her face relaxed in deep sleep. Her normally controlled features looked so vulnerable that a wave of protectiveness welled up in Lana.
Wow. She’s really sleeping? Lana doubted that she would be able to fall asleep after what had almost happened earlier. But maybe it hadn’t affected Claire as much. Or was she faking sleep so she wouldn’t have to talk to her?
Lana watched the slow rise and fall of her chest.
No. Claire was asleep. All the tension of the day and the flight had probably exhausted her. She had the covers drawn up to her chin, but one leg was sticking out, and the hem of her buttery-yellow silk nightshirt had hiked up.
Lana tiptoed closer and pulled the covers over the smooth skin of Claire’s leg—not because she’d otherwise be tempted or anything, but because she knew that Claire got cold easily. More than once, she had complained about Lana setting the AC to temperatures that would chill a polar bear.
Claire sighed in her sleep as if sensing her presence.
Bullshit. She’s just relaxing now that her leg is no longer freezing off.
She watched her face for a few seconds longer, then tore herself away. On the way to her side of the bed, she turned up the AC.
Quietly, she pulled back the covers and climbed into the bed, careful not to brush against Claire or to jostle the mattress in the process. She stiffly lay at the edge of the bed and stared at the ceiling.
God, she really hated all this unresolved tension after the great day they’d had. Should she wake Claire so they could talk about it and clear the air between them?
No. Tomorrow was Claire’s big day. She needed every bit of sleep she could get.