At another table a mother was sitting with her daughter. The little girl looked to be about seven or eight years old. They were also enjoying their time together. The girl was full of animation when she talked. Jenna had no idea what the girl was saying, but the mother enjoyed watching and listening to whatever the girl had to say. Jenna smiled because it seemed like they were living in the moment.
At the counter a teenage boy and girl sat next to each other. It was obvious they were dating. They had walked in with the girl’s arm wrapped around the boy’s waist, and he had his arm around her shoulders. As soon as they sat down they were both busy with their cell phones. The only interaction they had was when they would share something funny they had read and would pass their phones back and forth. Jenna was doubtful they would last as long as the older couple.
Outside the window two women were enjoying their meal on one of the bistro tables set up on the sidewalk. They were both full of smiles. They were sitting side-by-side with their shoulders touching. Sometimes they would whisper back-and-forth, but most of the time they were talking and laughing. They were oblivious to the world around them. Jenna wasn’t sure, but she thought they were a couple the way they would lean into each other and laugh. When they finished, they stood up and shared a long hug before kissing each other on the lips and walking off down the street arm-in-arm.
The sight of the two women together expressing their love out in the open public made Jenna appreciate New England even more. She loved how open-minded and progressive her new town was while still holding onto its New England charm. It also brought her back to the feelings she had for Kris. She had never thought about another woman this way before. Sure, she had enjoyed the beauty of several women before, but it was more like admiring a work of art. Never had she studied another woman’s body, and she had never been so infatuated with another woman as she was with Kris.
Kris was all she could think about, but why and what did it mean? Was the fact that she was in such a liberal place now awakening thoughts and emotions that she had never dared to explore in all the other conservative areas she had lived? Was she always too involved in her studies and work to ever allow herself the time and opportunity to explore her sexuality? Was this just a girl crush, or was it something deeper than that? Was she just interested in Kris as a person, no matter if she was male, female, gay, or straight? Maybe she was bisexual?
If anything, Jenna had always considered herself asexual. She reminisced back to her school days when all the girls had crushes on boys. Jenna couldn’t remember having experienced a crush before. She thought back to her years in school, college, and medical school, but she couldn’t remember anyone making her giggle like a schoolgirl or anyone who made her knees go weak...not anyone until now.
Chapter Seven
Allie opened the door. “Come on in, Kris. You’re not smiling like you were last night. Did something happen?”
Kris slumped down on the couch. “I’m not really sure. Jenna acted strange at breakfast like she didn’t want to be near me.”
“She seemed fine last night. You didn’t try to sneak in her room while she was sleeping, did you?”
“I wish.”
“You’re probably over-analyzing again. You do have a tendency to blow things up out of proportion, you know?” Allie nudged her with her elbow.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Anyway, I came over to invite you and Danni to a get-together we’re having tonight at my house. I want to introduce Jenna to my closest friends.”
“Sure, Danni and I will be there. Don’t worry. I’ll keep an eye on Jenna tonight and see if I can tell what’s up with her. Maybe she just didn’t sleep good last night. Either way, I don’t want you getting your hopes up about her.”
“I know.” Kris stood up. “Now, I just have to call Jay and invite him. I’ll see you tonight.”
***
Kris arrived home to find Jenna’s bedroom door open. Most of Jenna’s things were unpacked and put away neatly. She looked at the wall behind the headboard. That wall was the only thing that separated the two of them at night as they each lie in their own bed. Kris's headboard was on the other side of the wall. Would she ever be able to share more than just a wall with Jenna? How long before she could figuratively tear down Jenna’s wall?
Jenna's voice behind her interrupted her thoughts. She hadn’t heard Jenna come up the stairs and it caused her to jump back a little. The heel of Kris's shoe got caught in the threshold of Jenna’s doorway and she started to fall backwards.
Jenna was right behind her and caught Kris as she fell into her almost knocking both of them over.
“Careful now, you don’t want me to have to play doctor at home too, do you?” Jenna said.
Kris turned around slow, still within Jenna’s safe embrace. They were face-to-face again with their lips only inches apart. Jenna still had a firm grip on her waist. She slid her hands down over top of Jenna’s.
“Why not, I thought I was your favorite patient?” Kris said.
She feared Jenna would sense the sexual overtone and become uncomfortable again, so she put her arms around her and gave her a hug. “Thanks for saving me again, Doc.”
***
Everyone was excited about having a good old-fashioned cookout at Kris's house. Kris supplied the hamburgers. Erin and Liz supplied the hotdogs and buns. Allie and Danni were in charge of the condiments and the drinks. Jay and his wife offered to bring the party games and dessert.
Erin and Liz showed up first. Erin declared herself the grill master and fired up the grill. Allie and Danni arrived not long after Erin and Liz.
“Jay isn’t here yet?” Allie asked Kris.
“No, he sent me a message saying he got tied up at work and won’t be able to make it. Looks like it will be a girl’s night after all.”
Everyone held their beer high in the air and shouted, “Hell yeah.”
Kris waved Jenna over. “Jenna, this is Allie’s girlfriend, Danni.”
Jenna extended her hand. “It’s nice to meet you, Danni.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Jenna. Allie told me you’re the new surgeon at the hospital.”
“It’s only temporary at this point, but I’m keeping my fingers crossed.”
“Good, we could use some new talent there. I work there too. I’m a psychologist.”
“Really? At least I’ll have another familiar face there now. I’ve been so worried about having to leave, I haven’t made much of an effort to make many friends.”
“Well, consider me your new friend. Let’s get together some time, and I’ll give the low down on how the hospital really runs.”
“Thanks, I’d love that.”
Erin shouted from the back corner of the patio. “Come get while it’s hot.”
They sat around the patio table enjoying their meal and sharing stories about each other with a few jokes thrown in here and there.
***
After dinner everyone helped Kris clean up. It was perfect cookout weather. There was a slight chill in the air with the sun now casting long shadows into the dwindling daylight. After cleaning up they decided to move the party indoors.
Liz and Erin shared the love seat, which was fitting since they were the married couple of the group. Danni sat in the plush comfortable chair by the fireplace. Allie sat on the floor in front of Danni. Danni leaned over and kissed the top of Allie’s head and began massaging her shoulders and neck.
Jenna had sat down on the couch towards the middle, which left Kris the only one still standing. She felt like the one left without a seat after playing musical chairs. She knew Allie was right, she did overanalyze everything. Since Jax was on one end of the couch and Jenna was in the middle, she would have to take a seat right beside Jenna.
She had tried to keep her distance from Jenna all day, especially since they had shared another moment a few hours earlier. She was afraid she may not be able to walk away the next time she found herself close to her again.
Jenna patted a spot on the couch beside her. “You can sit next to me. Don’t worry I won’t bite…unless you want me to.”
Everyone laughed, and Kris joined in, but couldn’t help blushing a little. “Allie, have you been telling Jenna about my secrets? You know that stuff is private.” Kris walked over to the couch.
“Only the dirty little secrets, Kris,” Allie quipped back.
Kris sat down on the couch with her back against the armrest with her knees drawn up and her feet touching Jenna’s leg. As she looked around the room, she could only imagine what Jenna must think surrounded by all these women paired off. Everyone was a pair except for her and Jenna, in and of itself, making them a pair.
She had noticed a change in Jenna’s behavior. Jenna was joking around and more relaxed like she had been before the awkwardness started. Kris was glad she had invited everyone because it was helping to ease the tension between them.
“What should we do since Jay was in charge of the dessert and games?” Liz asked.
“I know what we can do,” Danni shouted. “We can play spin the bottle.” Everyone looked at Danni and shook their heads.
Jenna waved her hand in the air. “Sorry to be the fun-sucker here, but I’m a big germaphobe. I have a rule about not eating or drinking after anyone that I wouldn’t kiss. Besides, I’d end up getting my ass kicked by someone’s wife or girlfriend if we played spin the bottle.” Jenna slapped Kris on the knee and pointed. “And, I’ve heard this one likes to bite.”
Once again, Jenna had the room laughing. Of course, the alcohol made everything seem more hilarious than it was.
“Calm down, Jenna, I was joking. How about truth or dare then?” Danni asked.
Kris pointed her finger at Allie. “Uh oh, you’re in trouble now. Time for your dirty little secrets to come out. Can I go first?”
Everyone shouted, “Yes.”
Kris didn’t dare pick Jenna. Instead, she chose Allie. “Okay, Allie, truth or dare?” She stared at Allie with a mischievous grin.
“I’m sure I’ll regret it, but I’ll go with truth.”
“When did you realize you liked girls instead of boys?” Kris decided to go easy on her this time around.
Allie thought for a little bit before answering. “I would have to say when I was four or five. I was always a tomboy. I was more interested in cars than dolls. For as long as I can remember, I’ve always had crushes on girls, never boys. I had a huge crush on my kindergarten teacher, Ms. Jones. She was my first crush. There were some cute girls in my class, but none of them compared to Ms. Jones. I’d pretend that I was having a hard time learning whatever she was trying to teach just to get a little extra personal attention. It got to the point where she became so concerned about my ability to learn, that she called my parents, so I had to back off a little after that and focus on chasing girls my own age.” Allie chuckled. “I bet I could teach Ms. Jones a thing or two now.”
Everyone laughed. Danni bent down and slapped her on the shoulder. “Her loss, my gain. You’re mine now.”
“Okay, my turn,” Allie said. She stood up and pointed her finger at everyone around the room before stopping on Jenna.
Jenna squirmed a little and hid her face behind her hands. What have I gotten myself into? She knew no matter what, she was going to have to take a dare because she was pretty certain she wasn’t ready to answer any questions. How could she answer them when she wasn’t sure of the answer herself?
Allie sat back down. “Truth or dare, Jenna?”
Jenna let her hands slip down from her eyes to her mouth and surveyed the room. All eyes were definitely on her now. She threw her hands up in the air. “I think...I...will...choose…dare.” She bit her lip, pushed her hair back, and stared at Allie like a child waiting to hear their punishment. She grew more anxious waiting to hear what her dare was going to be.
Allie grinned. “Since you’re a doctor, why don’t you give us a lesson about sex? Teach us something that most people don’t know. You can start off basic and work your way up to the more advanced stuff.”
Jenna released the deep breath she had been holding. It could’ve been a lot worse. “Okay, but I need a model, any volunteers? Come on don’t be shy now. We’re all women here.” Still, no one volunteered.
Kris imagined getting a private lesson from Jenna, but she wasn’t interested in getting a lesson in front of everyone.
Jenna stood up from the couch. “I had no idea you girls were so shy. I guess I’ll have to improvise.” Jenna was reserved and more comfortable observing rather than being in the limelight, but for some reason she felt at ease with everyone here. “Give me a few minutes. I’ll be right back.” She ran upstairs to her bedroom.
After a minute or two she returned downstairs. Her hair framed her face almost hiding the sexy smirk on her lips. She had changed her clothes and was now wearing a long white lab coat. Kris noticed underneath the coat Jenna had on scrubs. The sight of her in scrubs and the coat brought Kris back to the first time they had met. It was hard to control herself then, and now Jenna was standing in her living room talking about sex.
“Okay, let’s begin.” Jenna took off her coat and laid it on the chair behind Danni and Allie.
How in the hell can she make scrubs look so damn sexy, Kris wondered.
Jenna took off her scrub top and tossed it into Kris's lap, leaving her in the scrub bottoms and a tank top that lacked meeting each other by about an inch or so leaving her piercing exposed.
“What is that?” Erin asked.
Jenna put her finger up to her lips. “Shhh, I’m not taking questions yet, sorry.”
Kris’s jaw dropped. Whatever awkwardness Jenna had been feeling at breakfast was now gone.
Jenna ran her hand back and forth across the exposed section of her tummy. “Let’s see, what can I teach you ladies that you don’t already know?” All eyes in the room were on Jenna and no one dared to blink. She was starting to like the attention. “During this lesson you’ll learn about the body’s response to sexual attraction. I’m sorry, ladies, but I’ll need a volunteer for this.”
Regardless of how attractive Jenna was or how much they would’ve jumped at the opportunity to be her sex model, no one volunteered.
Jenna walked around the room behind each person stopping every now and then to watch the person in front of her squirm, each one hoping she wouldn’t choose them. Finally, Jenna stopped behind Kris.
Kris tried to remain calm. She wouldn’t pick me. That would be too awkward, and things are already complicated between us.
Jenna bent down until her lips almost brushed Kris's ear. “You’re it,” she whispered. She came around the front of the couch and took Kris's hand. She pulled Kris up to stand beside her. “Since everyone else is already paired up, it’s only fair that I choose you.”
The girls applauded and cheered Kris on. Jenna turned towards her again. “I’m sorry, I should have asked you first, but I assumed you’re single. I haven’t heard you mention anyone before. Are you...single?”
Kris winked at Jenna. “Depends on who’s asking.”
“Okay, smarty pants. I was going to go easy on you, but now you’ve asked for it. Sit down, now.” Jenna put both hands on Kris's shoulders and pushed her down on the couch. “Lie down against the arm of the couch and stretch your legs straight out.”
She walked away and then turned back towards Kris. She made eye contact with her and walked towards her without blinking.
Kris felt a little uneasy. She had no idea what was going to happen next. She tried to maintain eye contact, but it was like Jenna could see through her and was reading her thoughts. Her mouth was dry like it was full of cotton. Her tongue felt like dry sandpaper as she slid it against the back of her teeth. She swallowed hard as her gaze dropped from Jenna’s eyes, down to Jenna’s perfect lips, then down to her perfect breasts, and down to her flat tummy. That’s as far as she got before Jenna stopped across from her. The other arm of the couch was the only
thing separating them now.
Jenna walked around to the front of the couch and stopped beside her. She was eye level with Jenna’s exposed midsection. All she could think about was reaching up and pulling Jenna down on top of her. Before she could fantasize about what her next move would’ve been, Jenna was on top of her straddling her. What in the hell is going on? Jenna was kneeling on the couch with her knees on either side of her hips.
Kris was still puzzled. She knew this was all part of the show for the other girls, but Jenna seemed different. If this was all for the show, Jenna was a good actress. She didn’t know how to react. She had fantasized about this before, but never with an audience watching. Whatever was happening, she was more than happy to go along for the ride.
Jenna bent down to whisper into her ear so the others couldn’t hear. “Let me know if I start to make you feel uncomfortable, and I’ll stop.”
She looked up at Jenna. It’s a little too late for that hon. She wanted to pull Jenna’s face down to hers and kiss her lips. Instead, she gave her a slight nod and forced an awkward smile. How could something that she wanted for so long feel so strange and foreign?
Jenna studied Kris's body language. Kris was breathing fast and she could tell Kris’s heart was racing by watching the jugular in her neck race. She hoped everyone was watching Kris and not her, as she became aware of her own body responding the same way. What had started out as a fun game was turning into something she hadn’t anticipated.
Despite how Kris's body was reacting, Jenna didn’t know where Kris's mind was. She looked like a deer caught in headlights, but she didn’t let her know she was uncomfortable. Jenna had a flashback to when they first met. She remembered how Kris's heart rate and breathing were fast when she checked her vital signs compared to the nurse’s notes. The same lesson she was trying to teach tonight was the same one she had failed to realize weeks before. It was clear to her now Kris had a crush on her, leaving her feeling awkward and uncomfortable. She liked Kris, and Kris liked her, but at this moment she was on top of her. She hoped Kris would say she was uncomfortable and save them both from this situation she had gotten them into. Instead, Kris continued to stare up at her with a puzzled look. She could feel all eyes in the room fixated on them. She didn’t attempt to look at anyone else, but she imagined their expressions matched Kris's.
Jenna's Awakening (Dr. Jenna Harper Series Book 1) Page 4