by Radclyffe
“Believe it or not, Bri and Caroline have been together almost six years and as far as I can tell, they’ve still got the non-stop hungries for each other. Bri’s an officer in town, too. Caroline’s an artist, studying in New York City.”
“Well I’ll say one thing for this place,” Nita said. “You’ve got drop-dead gorgeous cops of all species.”
“Mmm,” Tory said, watching Reese. “We do.” She glanced at Nita. “You’ve got cops in your family, right?”
“Everywhere you look,” Nita said flatly.
Tory regarded her curiously. “Did they pressure you to carry on the family tradition?”
“You couldn’t exactly call it pressure. I don’t think anyone ever considered that I wouldn’t. It was pretty much a given. My grandfather, my uncles and aunts, my older siblings—they’re all cops. One renegade sister is a firefighter, but close enough.” She wrapped her arms around her middle and stared down toward the harbor, remembering the astonishment on her father’s face when she had announced at seventeen that she wanted to go to medical school. She had thought he would be proud. Looking back, she didn’t know why she’d expected that. She had never been as tough as her brothers and sisters, not in the obvious ways, at least. Knowing that she couldn’t measure up to her physically competitive brothers and sisters, she had worked tirelessly to excel in the only way she could. She had been first in her class year after year, but it never seemed to be enough. No matter how good she was academically, she didn’t measure up. “One of my brothers went to a two-year college before entering the academy, but all my other siblings went straight on the job after high school. I was the odd one out.”
“Breaking with tradition that deep is hard.” Tory couldn’t help but think about Reese, raised by her father to follow in his footsteps in the marines. Reese had done everything her father expected. She had been willing to sacrifice anything, including her life, for her duty, but all that paled in his eyes when he learned she was a lesbian. Tory shook her head. “Sometimes the people who love us are our toughest critics.”
“I’ve gotten used to the fact that I’m a disappointment to them.” Nita wished it were only her choice of careers that set her apart from her family and wondered why she was thinking about those mistakes now. She’d been very careful in the last year not to repeat them. As she glanced around, she realized it was probably just the family atmosphere of the gathering that had her thinking of the past. Even when she went home for obligatory visits, she never felt as welcome as she did here, among strangers. Surprised that the realization could still hurt, she scanned the crowd for a diversion to take her mind off her unwelcome reminiscences. The distraction she found was the last one she wanted.
Deo Camara sat on the deck railing opposite her, arms braced on either side of her splayed legs, head thrown back as she laughed at something a pretty young blonde in a cropped T-shirt and hip-hugger shorts whispered in her ear. The sight of the blonde’s hand curled around Deo’s thigh and the seductive way she leaned into Deo aggravated Nita, and that awareness didn’t help her mood. She turned away and refocused on Tory. “I admire you for being brave enough to have children. I’m not sure I am.”
“I hope when Regina gets older that I have the strength to let her live her life however she needs to.” Tory sighed. “Even if I don’t always understand her choices.”
“I think the fact that you even think about it means that you will.”
“Well, I’ll have lots of help.” Tory pointed across the deck to where Reggie slumped sleepily in Cath’s lap. “I think the birthday girl needs a nap. I should go collect her.”
“Thanks for the invitation,” Nita said as Tory moved away.
“Consider it a standing order,” Tory called over her shoulder.
Nita watched the partygoers for a while longer, fixing faces to names, relieved that Deo had disappeared. When she felt she had stayed long enough to be polite, she gathered her half-empty bottle of beer and paper plate to take inside. As she turned toward the house, she nearly bumped into Deo.
“Sorry,” Nita said, instantly noting that Deo had removed her work shirt. Her tight, sleeveless white undershirt left nothing to the imagination. Her shoulders were muscular, as were her arms, and her breasts were just full enough to tent the shirt in a very enticing manner. Nita felt an involuntary tug of appreciation in the depths of her belly and immediately squashed it.
“You look ready for a fresh beer. That one’s got to be warm.” Deo held out a bottle of the brand Nita was drinking.
Observant. And smooth. Nita recognized the confident, almost cocky look in Deo’s eyes. And a player. It stood to reason that someone as gorgeous as this one would be used to having women fall at her feet. Well, not this time.
“Thanks, but I’m on call. One’s my limit.”
Deo cocked her head and narrowed her eyes appraisingly while regarding Nita’s beer bottle. “Looks like you’ve only had half. Might as well enjoy something fresh.”
“I’m fine, but I’m sure someone else would appreciate what you have to offer.” Nita barely managed not to add, Like the sexy little blonde who was hanging on you earlier. God why did she care? But she knew why and had been avoiding the knowledge all afternoon. Deo had the same breathtaking good looks, the same edgy sensuality—God, even the same way of looking at a woman that said You’re so special—as Sylvia had had. Angry that she could still be susceptible to such empty charms, and disgusted with herself for allowing thoughts of Sylvia to surface after she’d worked so hard to obliterate them, Nita snapped, “Don’t waste it. There will be plenty of takers around.”
“That’s okay, I brought it for you.” Deo had no idea why she was having this conversation. She’d been watching Nita for the last hour. The woman stood out in a crowd without even trying. She was beautiful, sure, but it was more than that. She was alone and obviously preferred it that way. She smiled warmly when people spoke to her, but she never touched anyone and she rarely laughed. And when people moved away, she closed in on herself again. She was beautiful and untouchable and Deo wondered what it would take to penetrate that isolation. Why she even gave it a thought, she didn’t know, other than she knew something about being alone. Still, she persisted in trying to charm the aloof doctor into responding. “I’m not interested in offering it to someone else.”
“You should be,” Nita said, sidestepping to make her way around the obstacle Deo presented. “Because I’m not interested.”
“You might change your mind.”
Nita stopped and squared off with Deo. “No. I won’t.”
“You don’t know me.”
“I think I do.”
“You’re wrong,” Deo bit out, unable to curb her temper. What the hell was it about this woman? She never cared what anyone thought of her, hadn’t cared for years. She certainly never wanted the women she indifferently dated and casually bedded to know anything more than the careless façade she showed them.
“If I am mistaken, then I guess that will just be my loss. Excuse me.” Nita skirted around Deo and disappeared into the house.
For the second time that day, Deo was left staring after a stranger she wanted to know.
Chapter Three
“Strike out?” Allie Tremont’s soft Southern accent was as slow and languid as her movements as she sidled up to Deo.
“Never even made it to the plate,” Deo muttered, watching Nita disappear into the house.
“That’s got to be rare.” Allie plucked the beer from Deo’s hand. “You mind?”
“Go ahead. It’s not spoken for.”
“Well, it is now.” Allie circled her lips around the mouth of the bottle and pulled on the beer, her eyes fixed on Deo’s. She licked a bit of froth from her lips, her eyes closing slowly for an instant. “Nice.”
Grinning, Deo regarded the young dark-eyed brunette, enjoying the flirtation and appreciating a game that she understood. She knew Allie, she knew all the cops in Provincetown, although she and Allie had nev
er really crossed paths socially before. She remembered seeing Allie with a hot looking older redhead right after Allie had moved to town the year before, but she couldn’t recall seeing her with anyone in particular recently. Not on a regular basis, at any rate. Deo figured Allie was six or seven years younger than her, but plenty old enough to know the rules. “Not working today, Officer?”
“Off shift.” Allie settled her hip against Deo’s. “I’m free and clear until tomorrow at seven a.m. How about yourself?”
“I’m always free and clear.”
Allie laughed. “I heard that about you. At least you don’t pretend otherwise.”
Deo shrugged. “Why should I? All that does is make for trouble.”
“Was there an invitation that went along with that beer?”
“Not exactly,” Deo said, surprising herself when she thought about approaching Nita. Ordinarily, when she hit on a woman at a party it was because she was looking for company. For an afternoon, or an evening. That hadn’t been what was in her mind with Nita. Sure, she wanted to kiss her. In fact, she could imagine kissing her until the sun went down and came up again, but she hadn’t planned on taking her to bed. And not just because Nita just didn’t seem the type for a fast hook-up. The automatic way Nita discounted her, as if she already knew all there was to know about her, made Deo want to prove her wrong. Mentally, Deo laughed at her own premature plans. Christ, she couldn’t even get the woman to give her the time of day. Forget about kisses or anything else. With a start, she realized that Allie was staring at her curiously, obviously waiting for her to say more. Time to get in the game. “Are you looking for an invitation?”
Allie’s wide, luscious lips slid into a sensuous smile. “I wouldn’t say no.”
Deo glanced over her shoulder to the harbor. The sun was going down, and the angled shafts of sunlight fractured across the water in an impossible array of orange and pink and purple. Why waste the chance to spend time with a woman who was interested. She caught Allie’s hand and grabbed her work shirt off the railing. “Walk on the beach?”
“Mmm. For starters.” Allie stroked Deo’s arm. “Just hang on one minute—I caught a ride over with Bri. Let me tell her not to wait for me.”
“Anyone I need to worry about coming after me tomorrow?” Deo asked when Allie returned. She didn’t poach in anyone else’s waters. She didn’t have to, and besides that, the town was too small to risk inciting that kind of bad blood.
“Nope. Not a one.” Allie forced a note of nonchalance into her voice as she threaded her arm around Deo’s waist and slipped her fingers beneath the waistband of Deo’s khakis just above her hip bone. Deo’s body felt exactly as she expected it to, lean and hard. She had a fleeting image of those tight hips moving between her thighs, and she welcomed the rush of heat that settled in her belly and trickled down her legs. There hadn’t been anyone serious, in bed or out, for a long time. After Ashley had left her ten months before, claiming that Allie wasn’t old enough or experienced enough to make a commitment, she had burnt out her anger at her older lover by sleeping with enough women to prove that Ashley was probably right. Then, one day she woke up and didn’t want to do it anymore. What had started out feeling really good, even great, for a few moments, made her sad in the morning.
“Broken heart?” Deo asked quietly.
“What?” Quickly, Allie laughed, covering her shock that Deo had almost read her mind. That wasn’t what she expected from someone with Deo Camara’s reputation. A great looking, love ’em and leave ’em playgirl like Camara wasn’t usually interested in what a woman thought, only what line was needed to get her into bed.
“There are only two reasons I can think of for you being single,” Deo said. “Either you haven’t met her yet, or you have—and she did something stupid.”
“What makes you think I didn’t do something stupid?” Allie grabbed both Deo’s hands in hers and started walking backwards down the sandy path to the beach, swinging their joined arms between them. She rounded a bend and the house disappeared. “Or maybe I’m single because I want to be.”
“Maybe.” Deo shrugged. “I am.” She stopped abruptly and pulled Allie toward her, causing Allie to stumble slightly and fall into her arms. Grasping her around the waist to steady her, she kissed her lightly. “But you were thinking of someone back there, and it made you sad.”
“And there’s nobody you ever think about who makes you sad?” Allie teased, settling her body into the curve of Deo’s. She curled her arms around Deo’s shoulders and enjoyed the heat kindled by the press of Deo’s breasts against hers. She didn’t want to talk about Ashley, and for the first time in a long time, she wanted to be touched.
“No,” Deo said quickly, covering Allie’s mouth with hers, searching for the passion that obliterated everything else. Not the way you mean, anyhow.
*
Nita sat on the steps leading from the deck to the path that snaked through the scrub and dunes to the beach. She had grown up by the ocean, but she never tired of watching the sun set over the water. Even the brief glimpse she had of Deo and a sultry young woman disappearing hand-in-hand couldn’t obliterate her pleasure. In fact, she was happy that she had seen the last of Deo Camara and refused to analyze the brief flicker of disappointment she’d felt upon seeing her leave the party with an attractive woman.
“I didn’t get a chance to thank you properly for taking care of Joey,” Pia said, settling next to Nita on the wooden stairs.
“You’re welcome,” Nita said, “although it’s not necessary. I’m just glad his injury wasn’t worse.”
“God, so am I.” Pia sipped red wine from a plastic cup. “Sometimes I’m amazed that one of them doesn’t get hurt more often, but most of the time I try not to think about it.”
“I take it that Joey isn’t your only sibling in construction?”
“You figure right.” Pia smiled. “All of my family started out as fishermen or shipbuilders, a few generations back. My father and one of my brothers still fish, but over the years, shipbuilding dwindled away. The rest of the family naturally gravitated into construction.”
“Family businesses,” Nita said almost to herself.
“Yep. I’m the oddball, I guess.”
Nita wrapped her arms around one bent leg and rested her chin on her knee. Pensively, she asked, “How do they handle that?”
“Things were a bit tense when I lived in Boston, but now that I’ve moved home—well, not home home—but back in town…I’m a little too old to live with my parents,” Pia laughed, “we’ve pretty much fallen back into our old dynamic. It’s good.”
“Everyone else stayed? Your siblings?”
Pia nodded. “Amazingly enough, yes. Even the ones that went away to college came back. I guess this place is in our blood.”
“I can certainly see why. It’s beautiful. In fact, I’m buying a house myself.” Nita paused. “Torres. I don’t suppose you’re related to the real estate—”
“My mother.” Pia grinned at Nita’s surprised expression. “She’s not Portuguese, obviously. She came here on vacation one summer when she was just eighteen, met my father, and fell in love. Six kids later, the rest is history.”
“Do your siblings all resemble you?”
“Every one.”
“Amazing genes. I couldn’t believe how much you and your brother look like your cousin when I saw you all together this afternoon.”
“My father and Deo’s mother are twins.” Pia studied her wine. “I was sort of a gangly teenager, but Deo has always been gorgeous.”
Nita laughed, consciously not thinking about Pia’s gorgeous cousin. “Well you certainly caught up.”
“Thanks.” Pia grinned. “So, a house, huh? Where?”
“I bought a sea captain’s house in the West End.”
“The big old rambling place with the widow’s walk? That’s a great place, although it’s been empty for quite a while.”
“I know it needs some work, but I fell in
love with it.”
“When do you settle?”
“Just a couple of days. No one has lived in it for so long we had a quick closing.” Nita smiled self-consciously. “I can’t wait to get started renovating the place.”
“Well, be sure to ask my mother about construction regulations. The township is very strict about what you can do to those historic places. You should probably start getting bids now.”
“Thanks. I will.” Nita stood and stretched. “Joey is going to need a wound check tomorrow. If things are looking good, you can start some gentle rehab with him in a day or two.”
“I’ll come by when he has his appointment with you. Okay?”
“That’s great. I think I’m ready to call it a night. We’ve still got another day left of the holiday weekend, and if it’s anything like today was, the clinic’s going to be busy tomorrow.” Nita glanced down toward the beach. The entire time they had been talking, she’d half expected to see Deo return. She was glad she hadn’t. “Well, good night.”
“See you tomorrow,” Pia called.
*
“Everything okay?” Reese inquired, leaning against the door in Reggie’s bedroom. The last bit of the fading sunset filtered through the white curtains, and as Tory bent over the crib, she looked timelessly beautiful framed in the golden glow. So beautiful that Reese ached. She had imagined this scene a thousand times in the weeks that she’d been away. When everything around her had been senseless chaos, when the sky turned to fire and death rained down from the heavens and exploded from the earth, she had clung to the only thing that kept her sane. She had been shocked when her determination to fulfill the mission she had trained for all her life failed to sustain her and when only the memory of her wife and child kept her going. Leading her marines into battle and in some cases to their deaths while secretly questioning her purpose had shaken the foundation of her world. She had built her life on her belief in her duty and responsibility, and she had come home doubting both. She had come home no longer certain of who she was.