Accidental Love (33 page)

"Well, they're fine. Let's go see what Jack and the boys are doing."

"They're still playing pool. I just came out to make sure everything was picked up and in the dishwasher." She followed her younger sister into the game room, turning at the last moment to take one last quick glance at Rose.

**********************

It was just after six when Susan's car pulled out of the driveway. Ronnie set the dishwasher, then joined Rose in the living room. "So, movies or television tonight?" she asked as she sank into the couch cushion.

"Oh, either one is fine with me, but haven't we seen all your movies already?"

"Well, there's always HBO or pay per view. I think that new Whoopi Goldberg movie is on tonight." Ronnie looked around but didn't see what she was looking for. "Where's the TV

Guide?"

"Oh, over here." Rose picked it up off the end table and passed it over. As she handed it over, she noticed the light beige polish on Ronnie's perfectly manicured nails. "Oh, that's a pretty color." She took the larger hand in her own to get a better look.

"You know, I bet this color would look nice on you too." She ran her thumb over the ridges on Rose's nails and an idea came to her. "Looks like you could use an emery board."

The blonde withdrew her hand and smiled. "Yeah, I guess I haven't paid much attention to them lately."

"Why don't we do them tonight?" Ronnie offered. "I've got tons of polish in almost any shade you can imagine." At Rose's hesitation, she added "Come on, I've got to do mine anyway. It's the quick drying kind. It'll be fun, just like a slumber party." Ronnie gave a little pout coupled with puppy dog eyes, and was immeasurably pleased when the young woman smiled and nodded.

"Great. I'll get everything and you can head into the bedroom. The light's better in there anyway."

A short while later found them on the bed, Rose propped up against the headboard and her companion sitting cross-legged next to her. Surrounding them were cotton balls, emery boards, a bottle of polish remover, and several bottles of the quick drying nail polish. Ronnie took the smaller hand in hers and began to shape the flat ends of the neglected nails. "Okay, so lets do some girl talk."

"Okay," Rose said with a smile. "Let's see, what haven't we talked about yet." She used her free hand to tap her finger against her chin. "We haven't talked about sex."

"Something you don't know?" Ronnie quirked. "I understand there are books out there…"

"Oh, you…" Rose gave a playful swat. "That's not what I meant and you know it." They exchanged friendly smiles while the file moved on to another nail. "I mean why does someone like you not have a husband and kids running around? You can't tell me you don't have offers."

"Oh, I get offers all the time, I just ignore them. Other hand please." Ronnie turned the emery board over and resumed her task. "Most of them are just opportunists looking for a boost up with my money."

"And the others?"

"The others are just not what I'm interested in. Maybe I'll settle down someday but not right now." She released the hand she was holding and waved at the pile of bottles. "So which color?" She reached in and picked out a light pink. "I think this would look good. Bright red would be too dark with your skin tone."

"Sure, go ahead." Rose held her hand out dutifully. Ronnie scooted closer and handed her the open bottle to hold.

"So what about you?" Ronnie asked while drawing the small brush along the length of the nail.

"I haven't dated much. Nowadays most men expect the woman to help pay when they go out and you know I couldn't afford that." She looked down at the half-finished nail. "Oh, that is pretty."

"Told you you'd like it," the older woman said. "And not all men expect the woman to help pay."

"The ones I know do, or else they expect something else. I've had to wrestle my way out of cars more than once."

Ronnie chuckled. "I think that's a rite of passage. You're not a woman unless you've had to beat off Horny Harry at least once. It's really amazing how many of them think with the wrong head." She turned Rose's hand to get to the thumb. "It's not worth my time to deal with it."

"Did you ever get caught?"

"Caught what? Doing it?" The older woman shook her head. "Other hand. You?" The answering blush peaked her curiosity. "What happened?" She capped the polish and leaned forward expectantly.

"God, this is embarrassing. How did we get on this topic anyway?"

"You suggested it," Ronnie replied, wiggling her eyebrows.

"Oh yeah." Still smiling, Rose looked down at her lap. "I was sixteen and living with Delores. I went out on a date with this guy from school. He was dropping me off and we were in his car parked in her driveway." She blushed at the memory. "I never heard her come out."

"You were otherwise occupied?" Ronnie couldn't help smiling at her friend's discomfort. "That must have been awful."

Rose nodded. "We weren't exactly doing
that
but we were pretty close. And it was awful. She grounded me for the rest of the school year and I had extra chores from then on."

"Jeez, I hope your next date went better." Ronnie opened the bottle of polish and resumed her task.

"He wouldn't go out with me again after the way she yelled at him. She called his parents too. I was humiliated. He wouldn't even talk to me at school because he got into so much trouble too."

"We all have our embarrassing moments," Ronnie said gently, giving the hand within hers a squeeze.

"Your turn. Tell me about Chris." The brush stopped mid-nail and the older woman's face looked like she swallowed the wrong way.

"Um, Chris?" Her voice squeaked and she had to clear it. "Who told you about Chris?"

"Susan said Chris hurt you very badly. What did he do?"

Ronnie felt her heart pick up speed and licked her lips nervously. "What did Susan tell you?"

"Just that Chris hurt you badly. She didn't say anything more. I'm sorry, if you don't want to…"

"No, it's all right," she returned her attention to the hand she was holding.
How much do I tell
her?
She looked up at the gentle face, trying to gauge her reaction. "Um…I met Chris while I was at Stanford."

"How long did you two go out?"

"We were together for about three and half months. I was young and in love and I guess…Chris wasn't."

"What did he do?"

"Betrayed me." There was a touch of the long ago hurt in her voice. "After I broke it off, Chris called my parents and asked for money." She mentally cursed herself for letting Rose believe that her ex-lover was a man but still found she couldn't bring herself to utter the hidden truth.

"Threatened to take our relationship public."

"Oh that's terrible!" Rose gasped. "No wonder you don't date much."

"Much?" Ronnie gave a short laugh. "I haven't seriously dated anyone in years. I have an escort service I use for formal affairs."

"Not worth the hassle, eh?"

"Absolutely not worth it," the dark-haired woman said emphatically. "Okay, you're done." She released the smaller hand, deliberately drawing her forefinger along the length of Rose's as they separated. "This is the quick drying stuff. Give it a minute, then you'll be all set. So I got to pick your color, you pick mine."

Green eyes perused the various shades before deciding on one. "Now you are someone who can wear the deep reds. I think this would look nice on you." She held up a dark shade called Heart.

"You know that red blouse you wore last week? This shade would be perfect with that." She focused on the strong hands resting in Ronnie's lap. "You have strong hands. Not bony at all. Must be all that working out." Deciding her nails were dry enough, Rose took the older woman's hand in hers.

Gotta have some way to release my tension
, Ronnie thought to herself. Sharing a bed did not allow her the privacy she usually had late at night to relieve herself in another way. She tried hard not to think about how nice it felt to hold hands with Rose, even if they were both being careful not to smudge the freshly painted nails. The warmth, the softness…with a start she realized the young woman was speaking to her. "I'm sorry, what?"

"Nothing, I was just teasing."

"What did you say?"

"I asked if you worked out so much because you were frustrated." Rose blushed at her attempt at a bold joke. "Because you're down in that gym so often."

Ronnie chuckled. "If that was the case, I'd be down there all the time. Of course there are other ways to take care of that problem," she said, deciding that she liked the pretty color rising to the young woman's cheeks.

"Uh, yes there are," Rose agreed, looking down. She finished the nail she was working on in silence. It wasn't common for her to discuss sex with anyone and she felt like a teenager, curious and embarrassed at the same time. "Do you do that?" she practically whispered as she brought the brush to the next fingernail.

"Everyone does that, Rose."

"Yeah, I'm sure they do, I just didn't think…I mean I can't imagine…" The image of Ronnie touching herself formed in her mind for an instant before she forced it away. "I don't mean that I imagine you…well…you know…I mean…" She stammered to a stop, having now fully embarrassed herself. "Oh God, this topic was my idea?" She laughed and shook her head. "I guess I should have picked something I had a little more experience in."

"You're cute when you blush, you know." Ronnie gave a big smile and jerked her head back at the mock pass at her nose with the polish brush. "Obviously we've both had bad luck when it came to romance."

"You know that doesn't mean you won't ever find love again." She began working on the last nail. "You're a very special woman, Ronnie. Any man would be lucky to have you…oops." She reached over and grabbed a cotton ball to wipe away the errant swipe of polish from the thumb.

"Yeah, well maybe someday I'll find someone, but I'm not worried about it." She held her hand up and smiled. "You did a good job, Rose. They look great."

"Thanks, you did too." She held up her own hand for comparison. "Hey, look how much smaller my hand is compared to yours." She pressed their palms together and giggled at the difference.

"So what do you want to do now?" Ronnie asked, not making any move to withdraw her hand. She didn't want it to end--not yet. "The night is still young. I know, how about we braid each other's hair?"

"Oh, that sounds like fun," Rose happily agreed. "I love your hair. I bet you'd look really cute in one of those French braids."

"Whatever you want to do. I trust you not to make me look like Heidi the Swiss Miss Girl."

"Ohh." The fair-haired woman gave a fake pout. "But you'd look so cute."

"And just what do you think I'd make you look like if you did that?" Ronnie chuckled. "Do you want me to do your hair first?"

"No, I wanna do yours first. You have nice hair. Besides, you have to give those nails another minute or two to dry." The older woman obliged, turning around so her back was to Rose. Blue eyes fluttered shut at the feel of gentle fingers sinking into her hair. The soft, melodic voice drifted in. "So thick and long. I don't know how you manage not to spend hours brushing it."

"I talented," Ronnie said with a grin. "And I have a damn good hair dryer," she added.

"It's very pretty," Rose whispered, pulling her fingers through the sable strands. "When the light shines on it, some parts seem almost jet black while others seem lighter, like a chestnut."

"It does get a little lighter in the summer. I figure it's from all the chlorine in the pool."

"Mmm." Rose began to twist the hair into a braid. "I bet you were happy to have the pool last summer. Albany was absolutely scorching."

"Does yours get lighter? I bet it does."

"Yeah, it becomes so pale that it's almost saffron." Small fingers continued to twist the dark hair, careful to keep the braid straight. They kept up the chit-chat but Rose's concentration was on what her hands were doing, not what they were talking about. When she reached the end and tied it off, her fingers automatically landed on the broad shoulders before her. She experimented by squeezing gently and was rewarded with a deep groan. "Sounds like you could use a massage."

"I'd love one," Ronnie replied, leaning into the pressure. "You've got a great touch."

"Thank you." She slipped her fingers and thumbs under the neck of the T-shirt and began kneading the muscles hidden under warm flesh. Rose moved as far as the opening would let her giving a gentle tug on the shirt.

"You don't have to do that."

"I know, I want to." She gave another tug. "It's not like there's anyone else here to do it, and besides, if I can't give my best friend a backrub, who can?" She moved her hands out of the way as the light gray shirt was removed.

"That's nice," Ronnie murmured.

"What's nice?"

"Best friend." She turned to meet soft green eyes. "That goes both ways, you know. I've never had anyone I could talk to like you." On impulse she pulled Rose into a hug.

At first the young woman was startled but then she relaxed against the warmth of the bare skin. With her face buried in the crook of Ronnie's neck, she inhaled the mixture of perfume, soap, and the older woman's own scent. As the embrace continued, she became cognizant of where her forearm rested against the swell of bared breasts. She had never touched another woman's breasts before and found herself curiously focused on the new sensation. They were soft, warm…for a brief instant she had the urge to cup one in her hand, to feel its weight, but Ronnie's body shook with a chuckle and the spell was broken. "What?"

"I said I know I'm soft but you can't sleep there," the dark-haired woman teased.

"Oh, I'm sorry, it's just…I um…" Rose's face colored and her mind refused to offer up any excuses.

"You felt like you were drifting off and I figured your pillows were better than my boob." Ronnie turned away again and sighed as the backrub resumed.

"Oh, I don't know about that," Rose replied, moving her fingers down the length of her friend's spine. "Looks like you have plenty to make a pillow out of." She surprised herself with her boldness and quickly tried to laugh it off. "Not that I'm particularly lacking in that department myself." Her eyes fell upon a small triangle of skin darker than the rest just below Ronnie's shoulder blade. "Did you know you have a birthmark right here?" She poked the area in question.