by Advocate
"Of course it was. I know how you hate to wait for anything!"
"Christ." Leigh rolled her eyes. This was going to turn into a catfight. She just knew it.
RJ thrust out her hand to the waitress. "I’m RJ Fitzgerald. And you are?"
"Oh, I’m no one important. I’m just a stop along the route. One of many, no doubt."
Leigh narrowed her eyes.
Judith took the time to shake RJ’s hand. "My name’s Judith." She flicked an icy glare at Leigh even though she continued to talk to RJ. "It’s nice to meet you, though, Ms. Fitzgerald. You known Tom Cat long?"
RJ eyebrows crawled up her forehead. "Tom Cat?"
Leigh’s face took on an angry flush. "You know I hate to be called that, Judith," she ground out forcefully. She was losing patience fast. Leigh hadn’t wanted to stop at Rosie’s and would have preferred to avoid the diner and Judith altogether. But they were here now and Judith had no cause to be bent out of shape. "I’ve known RJ for a little over a month," she answered coolly for RJ, knowing it would annoy the waitress.
"Well, then, I’m sure you’re intimately acquainted by now. How long did we know each other first?" She laughed without a trace of humor. "The first time I saw you, you asked me out. Then it was your very next time through that you –"
"That’s enough." Leigh’s voice went cold. "There’s no reason to act this way, Judith. We’re not a couple, and we never have been."
Judith lifted her chin at Leigh’s pronouncement. But she couldn’t deny it.
Leigh lowered her voice. "I’ve been completely honest in all my relationships."
Judith’s eyes snapped angrily at the dig about her former fiancé. "You’re right. And you’re never gonna let me live it down. I guess I’m just not as perfect as you are .... Tom Cat," she added acidly. Judith took a cleansing breath and turned her attention to RJ. "I’m sorry, Ms. Fitzgerald."
"Call me RJ."
She nodded. "RJ. I’m sure you’ll find Tom Cat is an enjoyable ride, just not much for commitment."
RJ cleared her throat. She could feel Leigh’s body stiffen next to hers, and a surge of anger welled up within her. RJ reached out and took Leigh’s hand, giving it a firm squeeze. "I don’t think you need to concern yourself about the commitment between Leigh and me. I’m very clear on the boundaries of our relationship and am more than happy to enjoy the time we have together without pressing for what’ll never be. And so far," her lips curved into an unexpected, devastatingly sexy smile, "I’ve not a single complaint." She gazed fondly at her companion, giving her a ghost of a wink. That’ll show Ms. Attitude a thing or two.
Leigh smiled gratefully at RJ. In a couple of sentences she’d managed to completely shut up Judith. The blonde woman blocked out Judith’s presence all together and quietly asked RJ, "Can we leave now. Please?"
"You betcha, beautiful. It’s my plan to take you somewhere wonderful tonight and show you what it means to love the Irish." The look on RJ’s face clearly told Judith that the conversation was over.
The waitress actually found herself taking a step backwards.
RJ bent down and kissed Leigh on the cheek, allowing her lips to linger until Leigh’s face broke out into a full-fledged smile. "I’m going to go and change my shirt and muddy pants."
Leigh reached into her pocket and tossed a couple of bills on the table as RJ headed for the door. "I’m sorry, Judith." Even after this little scene she couldn’t bring herself to be anything more than mildly angry. Judith was the kind of woman who always needed more than Leigh was willing to give. She smiled weakly. "At least you didn’t punch me in the nose."
Unable to stop herself, Judith smiled back. "It’s not like I didn’t think of it." She sighed sadly, knowing she was going to miss this particular trucker and quite sure she’d never lay eyes on her again. "Good bye, Leigh." Judith turned on her heels and disappeared into the kitchen.
Leigh shook her head. "See ya around, Rooster," she said softly as she walked passed the man and toward what she just knew was going to be a fabulous week.
"See ya ‘round, Leigh," he replied brightly, waving.
When Leigh had exited the diner he jumped up from the booth and shuffled over to her table, plopping down to enjoy her uneaten meal. He’d been scoping it like a vulture waiting for its prey to finally croak for the past ten minutes.
Judith strode out of the kitchen and stopped at the table. "What do you think you’re doing?"
Rooster unrolled the large paper napkin, spilling out a knife and fork into his hand. "What’s it look like? I’m going to eat her dinner. She didn’t even touch it!" he complained, jealously guarding the plate with a beefy arm.
"Trust me, Rooster." Judith couldn’t help but snigger. "Unless you don’t want to leave the throne for the next couple days, you do not want to eat that food."
Rooster yanked his hands off the plate as though he’d been burned. Damn, women were vicious. Tears welled in his eyes. How could she ruin a perfectly innocent burger? Was nothing sacred?
CHAPTER VII
RJ SETTLED BACK into her seat, glancing sideways as her friend took her seat behind the steering wheel and buckled her seat belt. The tall woman looked over at the shoulder strap to her right and sighed. It couldn’t possibly happen twice. And if it’ll keep Leigh from getting into trouble…. Taking a deep breath, she reached over and pulled the belt across her chest. Her eyes fluttered shut as she clicked it into place just as she had seen Leigh do to hers.
RJ exhaled slowly, trying to push past her current anxiety. "So, I hope you’re not too mad at me for that little stunt back there. Your friend was getting on my nerves with the way she was treating you."
Leigh smiled wryly. "Mad?" She laughed. "I don’t think so. Though the look Judith gave you when you said you wouldn’t ‘press’ for what could never be was pure evil. I was surprised you didn’t disintegrate on the spot." Leigh had noticed that RJ had slipped on her seat belt but didn’t want to draw attention to the fact that she’d noticed.
"Yeah, it did get a bit chilly in there." RJ smirked. "Now, I don’t mean any disrespect to you, Leigh Matthews, but I’d really like to know – are there gonna be a lot of women who will want to slap you and hate me when they see us together?"
"Are you asking if I have a girl in every city?" Leigh wiggled pale eyebrows at RJ.
"Girl in every city, dame in every port." RJ gestured aimlessly. "You know what I mean." She wiggling her brows right back. "I just want to know if we’re gonna be in constant danger."
"Nah," Leigh scoffed. "We should be safe." Then she bit her lip. "Mostly."
"Mostly?" RJ thought about that for a second and decided she could live with it. "All right then, I can accept that. You are a beautiful woman; I totally understand why so many women would be after you. But next time could you just warn me ahead of time?"
"No need," Leigh assured her, still grinning at RJ’s compliment. "There’s just a few places in Seattle that we won’t be going. It won’t be a loss, trust me."
There were a few moments of comfortable silence in the cab before Leigh’s brows drew together and she wondered aloud, "Did you mean what you said to Judith? Or was that all just to get her?"
Deciding to invite RJ to spend a week with her had been a spur of the moment decision. When she’d come out of the garage after her shower and found RJ still sitting in the dirt with a sheepish look on her face that Leigh found totally irresistible, the trucker heard the invitation tumble from her lips before she had time to think about it. RJ had said yes so quickly that they really hadn’t discussed it again.
"I meant it." RJ shrugged one shoulder. "I really enjoy your company, Leigh. And I umm … am willing to take anything you’re willing to give, but I won’t be pressuring for more."
Leigh didn’t know what to say. No woman had ever been so gracious or aboveboard in seeking a week of uncomplicated companionship and mind-blowing sex. "Wow." It was exactly the way she felt about RJ. Wasn’t it? "That’s … a relief, RJ."
Eager to change the subject, Leigh brought up their plans for the upcoming week. Or their lack of plans, as happened to be the case. "So tell me, what would you like to do and see in Seattle?" Leigh passed a slow moving car. "I’m assuming you’ve never visited there before?"
"No. I’ve never been there. I’m at your mercy." She gave the blonde an ornery grin. "Do to me what you will."
"Oh, RJ." Leigh burst out laughing. "You do like to live dangerously, don’t you?"
"Is there any other way? In case you haven’t noticed, I’m Irish. Have I mentioned that?" Her smile broadened. "I work hard, I drink hard, if need be, I even fight hard. I’m a lover of beautiful women. Living dangerously is the only way to do it. It comes as naturally as breathing." Though I haven’t done that in a while and I was a tad woozy at first.
* * *
"And that’s when I finally knew I wanted to try the open road for myself. I mean … I think it was the right thing to do, even though I’ve sort of outgrown the reasons why I did it in the first place." And talking to you is making me realize just how much I’ve missed that. The CB is nice. But it’s just not the same. You're such a good listener. Leigh glanced over at RJ, who had been quietly listening to her talk for the last few minutes.
The woman’s mouth was hanging open, and she was sound asleep.
Leigh rolled her eyes. "Why is it that our best conversations take place when you’re paying no attention whatsoever?"
"I’m listening!" RJ suddenly jumped up, her eyes popping wide open. She looked around in utter confusion and began tugging wildly at her seat belt.
"Hey. It’s okay! Shit," Leigh mumbled as she crossed two lanes of traffic and pushed down hard on the brakes, barely resisting the urge to slam the pedal to the floor. Still, she brought the truck to a screeching halt just as RJ began to wildly thrash in her seat. "Calm down! It’s just me! It’s just your seat belt."
RJ turned wild eyes on Leigh. Her heart was thudding painfully in her chest, threatening to burst free. She was trapped and panic overwhelmed her. "Get … me … get me!" She sucked in a ragged breath. "Help me." Tears welled in her eyes and instantly spilled over. "Please."
Leigh felt like she’d been hit in the gut and swallowed hard, redoubling her efforts. "Stop moving …" She continued to wrestle with the belt. "I … can’t." Click. And the seat belt came free.
RJ jumped to her feet, then faltered. Before Leigh could say or do anything, she wrenched the handle on the door and half-jumped, half-fell out of the cab.
"RJ!" Leigh scrambled over her seat and jumped out after RJ.
Leigh lost sight of the auburn-haired woman for a moment in the dusky twilight. But she heard retching into the ditch, which drew her eyes to RJ’s kneeling form. Leigh shoved her hands in her pockets, at a total loss as to what to do. She turned her head to the sound of a car whizzing past them. "Are …" Leigh licked her lips nervously, taking a few steps closer to RJ and brushing away a butterfly that seemed to want to light in her hair. "Are you okay?"
"I’m, I’m sorry." RJ took a slow calming breath as the wild rush of adrenaline began to slow. She realized that she was shaking, and she wrapped her arms around her stomach. "I didn’t mean to doze off on you like that." God.
"I don’t care about that." Leigh took a hesitant step closer. "Wasn’t such a great idea to buckle up, huh?" The question was obviously rhetorical, but the empathy in her voice was unmistakable. Her father had been a Vietnam vet and she remembered vividly the nightmares he had when she was a child that broke her heart.
RJ shook her head and eyed the truck. "Probably not but I didn’t want you to get into trouble with the law." She cleared her throat and spit hard into the weeds. "If you’ll just give me a minute, we can get going again." She took a deep breath and wiped tears from her eyes. "I really am sorry. I feel very silly."
"It’s okay." Leigh took the final step to RJ and put her hand on her shoulder, squeezing gently. "Just ‘cause we’ve had a bumpy start doesn’t mean things are ruined. Heck, my whole life has been a bumpy start." She shrugged self-deprecatingly. "But things still seem to work out in the end, somehow." Leigh’s hand drifted to RJ’s hair, and she gently combed her fingers through it. "Don’t feel bad, okay?"
She smiled at her friend, finding the feeling of her fingers in her hair extremely comforting. "Is that an order, Leigh Matthews?"
"If I say yes, will you obey it?"
"For you, lass?" RJ gave the back of Leigh’s hand a gentle kiss. "I’ll most certainly obey it."
Leigh looked at her hand and fought the urge to wipe it on her jeans. The gesture was romantic as hell. But the fact that RJ had just finished puking did manage to keep her from swooning. "I’ve got a bottle of water in the truck. Why don’t you lie down? We’re only about thirty minutes outside of Jackson."
"Are you sure? I don’t know why I’m so tired." I know perfectly well why I’m so tired. Being alive takes a HUGE amount of energy. "But I don’t want to leave you all alone."
"I won’t be alone," Leigh said easily. She smiled and offered RJ a hand up. "You’ll be right behind me and I’ll wake you up when I find us a motel."
"You know, I really like smart, sexy women who baby me like this. You keep this up, and I’ll just follow you around forever," RJ teased as she pulled herself into the cab.
"Watch out, RJ," Leigh warned in a semi-serious voice as she climbed back into her seat. "I had a cute puppy once who followed me around." She turned the key. "He got hit by a bus."
* * *
The male squirrel sighed dejectedly. The female humans were gone. "Who will we spy on now? Our entire recreation schedule revolves around watching humans and making snarky comments about their pathetic lives."
His mate could only nod. Purgatory was really starting to suck. "We could wreak havoc on that diner. It’s full of unsuspecting humans. And it really wouldn’t take too much to knock over those flimsy garbage cans out back."
"Or," the male’s face brightened, "we could get in touch with ourselves, embrace our inner spiritual squirrel children, and make the world a better place through our own journey of self-discovery, acceptance, and love!"
His mate glared at him. "You’ve been peeping in on Oprah again, haven’t you?"
The male looked ashamed.
"I miss her old shows about shopoholic, hypochondriac, spouse-cheating, kinky-sex-addicted, cross-dressing, born-again, nipple-pierced, infertile, crack-using suburban housewives."
"That guy was great!" A nostalgic look flickering across his fuzzy face. "Those were the days." Why couldn’t people leave well enough alone? But damn if they didn’t know how to produce a theme song! ‘I’m ev-errrry squirr-ellll,’ he mentally sang.
The female shivered as she saw a black, vicious figure slink into the shadows created by the garage. It was a cat. The one the humans called ‘Flea.’ The one who had nearly murdered her beloved squirrel soulmate. There was something she didn’t like about that particular feline. Sure, the fact that she would tear off her head and gorge herself on her mangled flesh if she could didn’t help. But there was something else. Something she couldn’t quit put her finger on …
The male snuggled up to the female for his nap. She was soft and warm and he fell asleep immediately as his mate watched Flea with narrowed, wary eyes.
* * *
It was 9:30 p.m. when Leigh pulled around the back of the Sleepy Night Inn, located just on the outskirts of Jackson, Wyoming. The building looked like a small ski chalet, and she’d stayed there many times on her route when she couldn’t stand to be cooped up in her truck for another second. She smiled inwardly. The rooms of this particular motel were beautiful, each holding one or two king-sized beds, a hot tub, and a private balcony that allowed you to gaze out at the stars and enjoy the peace of your surroundings.
Yawning, Leigh unbuckled her seat belt and pulled the curtain open to the sleeping area of the cab. RJ was curled up on the bed, sound asleep. She wore only a soft, pale yellow t-shirt and white
cotton underpants. The rest of her clothes, ruined by mud, grease and ketchup, lay pooled on the floor.
The trucker grinned and perched on the small bed next to RJ. She ran her fingers gently through the reddish-brown locks, now in total disarray. I didn’t know she snored. But the sound was light and rhythmic and, at least for the moment, Leigh found it more endearing than annoying.
"RJ," she said softly, very aware of how RJ had woken up in a sheer panic earlier that day. She was bound and determined to have things go a little more smoothly this time. "Time to wake up."
RJ stirred but didn’t wake.
"We’re here," Leigh coaxed, giving RJ’s shoulder a gentle rub. Then, purely on impulse she bent down and softly kissed her slightly parted lips. It only took a second for RJ to respond by kissing Leigh back and wrapping her arm around the shorter woman’s waist to hold her in place. The kisses were more tender and friendly than sexual, and Leigh hummed with pleasure at feeling something she had rarely known — contentment.
RJ pulled back slightly, her emerald eyes picking up the reflection of the streetlights outside the truck. "Hi," she said softly.
Leigh swallowed, feeling the intensity of the moment and RJ’s gaze washing over her like a warm bath. She licked her suddenly dry lips. "Hi."
They froze, not even breathing for long seconds, hearing only the pounding of their hearts.
"We’re at the hotel?" RJ finally asked, her voice still a little hoarse from sleep and the unexpected intimacy of Leigh’s stare.
The blonde woman sucked in a breath. "We sure are." She stood up, suddenly feeling very awkward as she broke off eye contact and glanced down at RJ’s clothes. "I … I hope those aren’t all you brought."
RJ’s brows furrowed at Leigh’s hasty escape from the bed. "I’ll be fine. Got another pair of trousers and several more shirts in my duffel."
Leigh nodded, backing up a step. "I’ll wait outside while you get dressed."