by Cynthia Dane
Leah continued to chew as if she hadn’t heard anything. Finally, she said, “Still a little shaky, I guess, but I’ll be fine. Because I’ve got you.” She flashed a bashful smile at her girlfriend. “You told me three times last night that you love me. So, unless you were lying…”
“Three times? I only remember two.”
“Maybe I made up that third time, but it was more than enough to make me rest easy.”
Sloan’s fork melted through the center of the pancake stack. Strawberries fell to the plate, leaving behind a sweet red trail that reminded her of Leah’s lips when they kissed her. “I should’ve told you sooner.”
“Did you know that you loved me before last night?”
“Well… I mean…”
Leah slowly shook her head. A curly tendril fell from her bun and got in the way of her eating. “As long as you keep loving me going forward, everything will be fine.”
“Why do I have this feeling that I’ll be spending the rest of my life obsessing over proving my feelings for you?”
“I know a great way you can start, too.”
“Oh?”
Leah pointed her fork at Sloan, a serious demeanor claiming her countenance. “Stop smoking. Now.”
Pancakes refused to go down the right pipe. Sloan choked for a minute, and she wasn’t sure if the problem was the shock, or the fact her old lungs hated how much she smoked. “Right now?” Those were the first words out of her mouth when she stopped coughing.
Leah remained unfazed. “Yup. It’s nasty. It’s one thing if my friend with benefits has smoker’s breath when we’re fucking, but if I’m making love to my girlfriend, she better be stink-free. Plus, I want you around for a long, long time. I know you’re rich, but I’m not that hard-up to inherit your fortune.”
Sloan had no idea what to respond to first: the ultimatum that she stop smoking, or the idea that Leah might be her heir one day. “Jesus! Let me adjust to the idea first.”
“Nope. Today’s the last day of you and your cigarettes. That relationship must end. Starting tomorrow, I’m your one and only oral fixation.”
You have no idea what you’d be signing up for. Sloan had tried to quit multiple times, usually after her physicals when her doctors took it upon themselves to lecture her. She failed miserably every time, mostly because the stress of her job and her terrible marriage got to her.
“I can’t stop smoking unless you promise to stick by me until I’ve officially kicked the habit.” Sloan was already groaning. Knowing her, she’d be a bigger, more irritable bitch than she usually was. “Because it will not be pleasant, I’m warning you right now. You’ll want to dump me by the end of the first week.”
“We’ll get you that gum or those patches or whatever. Not like you can’t afford them.”
“You make it sound so simple!”
“You don’t always get to be the one who makes the rules, Ms. Sloan.” Leah sucked a strawberry into her mouth. “Sometimes I have my demands that must be met.”
Sloan cocked her head. “What else do you demand right now?”
Leah grinned. “A whole day with you.”
Maybe it was the sunlight streaming through the windows, or maybe it was the love thundering in Sloan’s heart. Or, maybe, it was freedom she felt after the night before. Leah wasn’t the only one achieving unknown limits every time they made love. Regardless of what made her so amiable, Sloan couldn’t help but match Leah’s smile. “I think that can be arranged.”
They met halfway across the island counter to share their first kiss of a new day. From then on, Sloan always looked forward to those first kisses, no matter how late in the day they came.
Epilogue
The summer sunshine illuminated the bright, inviting interior of Take Cake Baking Boutique, the brand-new business boasting Leah’s confectionary creations. It was the grand opening after a soft launch earlier that week, and already poor Leah was slammed with half of Goose Hollow flooding in to check out her designs, sample the goods in the case, and put in their orders for weddings, birthdays, bat mitzvahs and quinceaneras… Leah only had Gina to rely on as her other half in the baking industry. Maybe she’d hire additional staff later, but for now, her budget allowed one helper. On the other hand, it allowed her to be picky about what orders she accepted and still take most weekends off.
She hoped.
The mass of people lining up and grabbing their cupcakes, donuts, macarons, and danishes, complimented the cute yet mature décor, the bright colors in the case, and the big red hibiscus in Leah’s hair. But it didn’t stop anyone from asking if they could order a hibiscus cake to match the neighborhood’s most celebrated baker.
The flower had been waiting for her when she woke up that morning. Her mother had left it on the dining room table for Leah to find when she stumbled out to get coffee and a bite to eat before heading to the bakery. The only note attached said, “I’ll be in around 11.”
Leah thanked her most recent customers for coming in and glanced at the stylish woman sitting at one of two bistro tables over by the windows. Leah still debated whether to serve any coffee, but she didn’t have an issue with her girlfriend sitting with a Starbucks cup and a donut made especially for her. It was after eleven, and Sloan was there as promised. She also had a ton of work to do, now that she had formally relocated to Portland and was busy creating more business contacts than she had before. Sloan & Co. Industries already had a hefty boost after she walked away with Giles & Sloan’s biggest clients and investors (not including Mr. Wright). Leah had no idea where the new assistant was, but Sean sat on the bench outside. He was one of the only members of Sloan’s original team to make the move with her. Exactly how much does he pay her? Leah never had enough time to figure it out. She was too busy opening her own business. The renovations, the business plans, the marketing…
Technically, she was an independent subsidiary of Sloan & Co., which meant she had access to Sloan’s marketing team. They must’ve been responsible for the influx of first-day fans who cooed over the Minion-shaped cakes in the case.
“Mom!” a little girl cried, jerking Sloan upright in her seat. “Can I get one of the Lego donuts? Please?”
“I think they’re cakes, actually.” The woman knelt in front of the case and pointed to the colorful cake bricks Leah made the night before. “Aren’t they charming?” A sticker on the case implored people to buy and take Instagram photos of anything they liked. The little girl was keen to swallow the red brick whole, however.
Gina took over while Leah filled out an order for the little girl’s upcoming birthday cake. Originally, the girl wanted a Princess Jasmine themed birthday, but Leah’s cute cakes had instantly changed her mind to Lego Mania. Leah asked the girl if she wanted one large colorful block or an assortment of “blocks” her friends could stack at the party. Naturally, the girl wanted that, but her mother suggested it might be too messy. A large red block it would be.
“You’re so slammed!” That came from Melissa, who brought up the rear of the line. Thank God a lull was soon to follow. Must’ve been the lunch hour, which was ironically a slow time around that neighborhood. “This is amazing, Leah! You must be so proud!”
“I’m too tired to be proud.” Leah offered her friend a free sample of cake, but Melissa insisted on buying one of the Minion donuts. She then shrieked to see a small collection of flower-shaped cake pops in the back of the case.
Shortly after Melissa left, Sloan’s new assistant sauntered in with coffee refills. She bypassed her boss and approached Gina and Leah directly. Sloan winked at her girlfriend from her corner of the small bakery.
This day was almost too good to be true. Too bad Leah knew it was only going to get more anxiety-inducing as soon as…
“Hi, Leah.” A man said from the counter. He took off his cap and offered her the same smile she foolishly fell for when she was twelve. “Hope I’m not too early.”
She smiled back at Daryl. “Not early at all. She should be here
any time.”
He awkwardly smiled before ambling to the empty table on the other side of the room. Sloan leaned away from her seat and glared at him before getting up and joining her girlfriend behind the counter.
“He couldn’t dress better than that?” she whispered.
Leah finished washing up and put her hands on her hips. “He works for a construction company. What do you think he’ll look like on his lunch break?” She asked Gina to get him some water and one of the danishes they had reserved for this moment. Daryl expressed genuine surprise when Gina brought everything to him. “It’s fine. Maybe Karlie will take to him better if he looks like a normal person.” That was directed at Sloan, who clacked around the bakery in her Chanel suit and Louis Vuitton heels. “By the way, you can’t be near the work station. Your fake hair is gonna get in the cake batter.” Would it be uncouth to tell her girlfriend to wrap her wig up in a hairnet?
“Is he intimidated by me?” Sloan leaned her hand against the table and continued to glare at Daryl, who patiently waited to meet his daughter for the first time. “Because he shouldn’t be. I wore my nice feminine lady wig today. Who the hell is afraid of a woman with long black hair?”
“Julius Caesar, probably.”
Sloan snorted. That sound heralded Karlie’s arrival.
Leah hurried to the door and greeted her daughter. Karlie gasped at how decimated the case already was – she had stopped by earlier that morning to help her mother set up before going off to meet her friends at the mall.
She now glanced at Daryl in the corner. The recognition was instantaneous.
This meeting had been a long time coming, but Leah still wasn’t prepared for the day when her daughter met her real father. When Karlie expressed genuine interest in meeting Daryl, Leah had been afraid that the girl hadn’t been ready – or that Daryl wouldn’t want to involve that part of his past with his current life. Luckily, his wife knew about the baby he helped create when he was a dumb kid. His younger children hadn’t been told yet, though. The parents wanted to see how this meeting played out first.
Karlie shyly waved at the man who looked more and more like her the closer they came together. Leah broke the ice with brief introductions before leaving them to have a private chat while she remained close.
“Seriously,” Sloan said when Leah returned, “I don’t look intimidating, do I? Because I’m only a little irritated. I thought I put my bitch face away this morning…”
Leah licked her thumb and smoothed down her girlfriend’s stray wig hairs. “I see you’ve reached another hump in your quest to quit smoking.”
“I haven’t had a relapse in two weeks. I don’t know what else you want from me.” Sloan leaned both elbows against the counter. “For God’s sake, how did you find out I relapsed?”
“Because you become incorrigible when you tried quitting again. Besides, it stinks. My father smokes. You think I don’t know what it smells like?”
“God.”
Leah glanced at Karlie and Daryl sharing photos before pulling out her phone and bringing up a photo of her own. “By the way,” she muttered to her girlfriend. “I found something I think we should check out.”
“Tell me more, kitten. Anything to take the topic off my worst vice.”
Leah rolled her eyes. I’m not happy she relapsed, but I understand why she did. Aaron had picked the last moment of their divorce proceedings to leave a raving, drunken message on her phone that threatened to destroy her life and her career. Turned out, Christie Yearwood had finally left his ass after realizing Sloan was taking over 75% of what they had built together. Her lawyer was that good.
“Check this out.” Leah slid her phone toward her girlfriend. “App controlled. You can get me anywhere.”
Sloan held the phone close to her face. “What’s wrong with the remote-controlled one we’ve got?”
“Anywhere, in the world!”
“Are you seriously telling me you want me to turn on your sex toys when I’m in Shanghai?”
“Yes.”
Sloan shrugged. “That’s the answer I was hoping for.” She handed Leah her phone back. “By the way, you’re not going to be too busy for me to buy you dinner tonight, are you?”
Leah thanked the Lord for sending her this lunchtime lull. She sidled up next to her girlfriend with a goofy grin that would’ve embarrassed her daughter had she been looking in that direction. “Me? Too busy for you? Why don’t you fly me to Austin while you’re at?”
“Because I’d rather have you right here in Portland.”
Leah giggled. “Good, because I am kinda tired. It’s been an overwhelming week.” She leaned her head against Sloan’s shoulder. “A very tiring week. I’m really overwhelmed. You have no idea.”
“I don’t, huh?”
Leah clasped both hands around her girlfriend’s arm. “So overwhelming. I think I need some private attention, if you know what I mean.”
“Uh huh.” Sloan couldn’t contain the smirk sneaking from her lips. “Paddle or riding crop, my dear? I can’t remember what level you’re at anymore.”
Don’t tease me like that! Not in front of my daughter! Leah lightly shoved her girlfriend before tracking down Gina in the kitchen.
“You two still playing games out there? Because, gross.”
Leah helped Gina lay one of the cakes out on the work table. “You’re jealous because you don’t have a girlfriend as hot as mine.”
“If anything, I’m jealous I don’t have a million dollars at my disposal. I need to get me a sugar daddy. Or mama. Or something. Don’t care.”
Leah laughed. When she had a free moment, she looked out front again and saw Sloan sitting back down at her table, staring at the meet and greet happening on the other side of the bakery. If nothing else, Leah could count on her to watch over Karlie for the rest of the afternoon, if needed.
It wouldn’t be. Karlie instantly connected with Daryl, and he promised to take her to meet his whole family sometime before she went to college in the fall. Sloan stayed for an hour before rushing off to a meeting and leaving Leah to enjoy the rest of her grand opening. After all, she was the star of her own show now.
“Let’s play a game,” Sloan texted her toward the end of the day. “Guess how much I love you.”
Leah finished cleaning off her work station. Gina sold the last Lego cake. “How much?”
“Look outside.”
Leah walked by her friend at the register and approached the front door. The summer evening was still bright and clear for such a late hour, yet from the shadows came a Mercedes that was only slightly familiar.
Sean hopped out of the driver’s set and opened the back door. Nobody sat there, but he motioned for Leah to get in, anyway.
“What’s this?”
“Get in. See where it takes you.”
So happened that was Leah’s favorite game to play.
The End
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The following is an except from WITH THIS RING a lesbian romance from Cynthia Dane & Hildred Billings, out now!
The once-homeless Jenny Bishop now has it all: a bustling business as a fashion designer, enough money to keep her housed and fed for life, and access to everything she couldn't have as a foster kid. Except... there's one thing missing. A family.
Whether broke or investing millions back into her business, Jenny continues to search for that elusive family she's always dreamed of having. When time gets in the way of traditional dating, she hits up a matchmaker with the hopes that there's one w
oman out there willing to wed a lesbian like her.
Nicole only agrees to marry Jenny to get her money, but what quickly unfolds is a genuine attraction that blindsides formerly-frigid Nicole and blinds Jenny to the logical solutions she desires. How can they think about a logical marriage of convenience when they're too busy jetting off to Hawaii for inspiration and... "inspiration?"
Too bad. Because one of the nastiest women to ever play with a billion dollars is on a mission to destroy their blossoming love. So much for that June wedding and honeymoon in Hawaii!
—
Prologue
The cold bite of the midwinter night slapped Jenny in the face when she was unceremoniously shown out the door.
“You can’t do this!” She struggled against the man and woman yanking on her arms until she had no choice but to stumble across the icy threshold. “This has gotta be illegal!”
“You don’t belong here.” The woman’s voice was colder than the ice befalling the city streets. Streets Jenny was doomed to call home if she couldn’t keep her spot in the women’s shelter. “We don’t accept liars.”
Liars! The only reason Jenny had lied at check-in was because the sign said they didn’t take sinners, and being gay was definitely on the sin list!
So she lied. When they asked her if she did drugs, she admitted that she used to smoke pot, but had been clean for two months. That much was true. It was better to look like an addict in need of repentance than someone who wasn’t willing to let everyone around her pray her gay away. “Do you have homosexual urges? Do you act on them?” got a resounding no at check-in.
The only reason the shelter found out the truth was because of Kelly, Jenny’s old dealer who was desperate enough to weasel her way out of the winter cold snap by outing the only woman she had real dirt on. What was it to Kelly if an old customer froze to death in a parking garage? Bitch hadn’t paid her shit in weeks.