Be My Queen (2 page)

Her phone buzzed. She'd missed three texts. The girls asked where she was. Someone knocked at the stall door. Ariel. Lavender let her in.

Ariel's purse was huge. She kept everything she might ever need in it, including a knife, rope, scissors, and a change of clothes. She also had a lighter and cigarettes, although she didn't smoke. They were as good as money, Ariel always said, and had saved her hide a time or two.

Lavender pulled her underwear down her hips, held up her skirt, and closed her eyes. She hated the feel of tape on her skin and that thing right there on her belly. Also, how was she supposed to use the bathroom?

"You have to think of him."

Lavender opened her eyes. "What? Why?"

"So it won't hurt… later." When Lavender got hard again.

Someone came into the bathroom. Lavender couldn't do this. She should just go home.

"Hurry up," Vish said. "We're all going to the park when you're done."

"He's still here?"

"Of course, Flower. He's waiting for you."

"Good girl," Ariel whispered.

The tape would be murder getting off. But maybe, just maybe, Diego wouldn't notice the misshapen lump.

"All set." Ariel stood. She opened the door and slid out. Lavender followed a moment later. They didn't need any weird rumors spread about them.

They got to the sinks just in time. Those stuck-up girls were back. Lavender and her friends washed their hands thoroughly, then spruced up their makeup. The stuck-up girls sighed, rolled their eyes, and talked about rude people.

They were talking about themselves.

When more girls came in the bathroom, Lavender got an extra paper towel to open the door and tossed it in the lobby garbage.

Diego stood and looked straight at her. Her insides roiled. Maybe she'd eaten something bad. Or not eaten enough.

He took her hand as if he had every right to. She couldn't make herself pull away. He smiled at her. Her body rebelled. She hated this thing, this body. Diego would hate it, too.

If he knew.

Diego tucked Lavender's hand around his arm. The street lights bounced off the low clouds, making them glow. This had never been his favorite sky, but tonight, standing by Lavender, it was.

She was tall for a girl, but no taller than Diego's mom. Her shoulders were broad, but no wider than Diego's cousin's. Her shirt billowed out and her skirt hung from her hips, so he couldn't tell her exact body shape. He'd enjoy the discovery. No matter what she was hiding, her breasts were just the right size to make her proportional in every way. He longed to taste one.

Or both.

Preferably soon.

But that would come, if it ever did, once they knew each other better.

He led her to a bench. This flirting had an extra bonus. He'd learn more about her
and
find out if her voice really sounded rich and husky, like Lauren Bacall, his favorite actress. She hadn't spoken enough for him to be sure.

"I'm down here visiting my friend."

Lavender looked at the boys as they horsed around on the play equipment, showing off for Lavender's friends.

"That blond over there…" Diego pointed at Travis. Travis's friend Austin stood by the girls, chatting away. That, in Diego's experience, was the better way to get the girl or guy. "He's my friend's brother. I drove all night to see Patrick and now I have to hang out with teenagers."

She sat up straighter. "I'm nineteen."

She was legal. Nice to know. She had no blemishes and an adult's poise, and her skin was smooth as silk, but her features were slightly soft. Of course, some women didn't look complete until they were forty. Diego would have put her between sixteen and her mid-twenties with the younger she was, the better actress. She looked comfortable in her body, but he wouldn't know until she let him touch her.

Diego laid his arm along the back of the bench. "Being with you is worth all the hassle."

She raised her eyebrows at him, but met his gaze, an improvement on everything since she ran from the table.

"Patrick and I are both programmers. We were in the same year and majored in the same thing, so we took a lot of classes together. We roomed together junior year and we've been best buds ever since."

Diego had needed a new roommate after his spectacular breakup with his old one. Dating a roommate was a horrible idea.

Lavender cocked her head. "You're humming again."

"Bad mistakes, I've made a few. I've fumbled and misstepped. And I've come through."

She turned her head away.

Diego touched her hair. "You don't like my singing."

"I don't get you."

"I don't need to be got. You already have me."

Now, he just needed to convince her of that.

*~*~*

Lavender leaned against the back of the bench and Diego's arm. He was a siren tempting her; she couldn't stand against it. She was going crazy. He'd discover her secret and leave.

But he was leaving anyway. He lived somewhere else.

Maybe he could only break her heart, if she let him. If she could keep herself from falling for his honeyed words, she could enjoy having a guy interested in her.

She turned to look up at him. He was gazing at her. Her body seized and her brain stopped working. Diego smiled and looked away. What had she done wrong? But then his hand slid down her side and settled at her waist. It was a warm weight, both comfortable and disturbing.

He smelled good, not like the heavy musk most of the guys around here wore. He leaned closer to her and told her about his job writing code for an advertising agency. Of course, Diego was white-collar. She was the daughter of a migrant worker who was never home. They didn't match at all.

Diego rubbed her fingers. Her whole body blazed. This wasn't fair. She glared at him. He lowered his face to her. He was going to kiss her. How dare he! They didn't even know each other.

His breath brushed her skin. She could imagine the feeling of his lips on hers, her first real kiss. He leaned back. Was she not good enough to kiss? Not worth the effort?

He touched her cheek. "You aren't ready yet."

Would she ever be more ready than she was right now? She turned her head and brushed her lips against his fingers. She ached to straddle him right here on the park bench and rub their bodies together as she delved into his mouth.

Of course, she never would.

"Are you in college?"

As if she had the money for school. She barely afforded her shots. And she had no desire to show off her real ID with its dreadful
M
.

But she nodded. Diego would be gone before the little lie mattered. She had a much bigger thing to hide.

"What are you taking?"

She stood. "Let's go somewhere."

"Anywhere with you." He got to his feet and took her hand. "Travis, see you tomorrow."

He passed her right hand to his right and wrapped his left arm around her waist. "Where are we going?"

The boys shouted lewd things, as if Lavender was going to put out after only knowing Diego for an hour. As if she was going to put out at all. Vish and the others gave her shouts of encouragement and sent her texts, but she wouldn't read them where Diego might see.

Diego had a nice car. A very nice car. This wasn't a car a girl like her rode around in. He held the passenger door open. She could either get in or make a scene. She got in. This car looked new, or at least well-taken-care-of. Diego put on his seat belt. "This isn't my car."

Then why was he driving it?

"My dad told me to rent one to save wear and tear on my own car, and if this one breaks down, I can just turn it in for a different model." Diego pulled into traffic. "Dad said to pick a car I might want to buy—I'm still driving Mom's old car—but I thought, why not drive a car I could never afford?"

So, he wasn't some rich guy. Not that that mattered. Distance would keep them apart more than money. "Aren't you worried it'll be stolen?"

"Sure, but if my car was stolen, it would be a lot worse for me."

She gave him a sidelong glance as he merged onto the freeway, so maybe he didn't notice. He was handsome even in profile: very manly, but gentle.

"I'll be careful with it. Where're we going?"

Lavender directed him to a beach. The sun was down, but the parking lot wasn't empty. The rising moon was nearly full. It broke from behind a cloud and its light shone off the water and sand. Lavender loved the ocean. She'd always longed to walk along the beach hand in hand with a handsome guy. Tonight was her chance.

And the change of scenery might keep him from asking more awkward questions.

*~*~*

Diego hadn't brought anything to get wet in, but he did have a beach blanket. Lavender slid out of her sandals. She had beautiful feet, too.

He removed his socks and shoes, and rolled up his pants. He should have worn shorts. The air still had to be seventy. He put his jacket and shoes in the trunk, grabbed the blanket, and asked if she wanted her shoes in the trunk too. She didn't.

They held hands as they walked across the sand. The top stuff was warmer than the sand underneath. They had to walk around a group of people. Diego had never seen so many people at once until this visit. The freeways were clogged, the parking lots were full, and the malls were like Christmas Eve every day. He'd always assumed Portland had a lot of people.

He'd been wrong.

They walked to the water's edge and let the tide cover their feet. The ocean water was warm here. They should return during the day, but the beach would be more crowded.

"Do you ever get used to the crowds?"

Lavender looked around like she had no idea what he meant. Fifty or so people ran or laid or played around. Forty-five more than there would be this late in the day on an Oregon beach.

Or course, the water at home was freezing even during the summer.

Lavender shrugged. "I hardly notice anymore."

So, she was from somewhere else.

"Do you like it here?"

"L.A.?" Lavender's gazed at the ocean. "I guess."

So, she hadn't chosen to move here.

"Do you think you'd like Portland?"

She looked at him, her lips together, and turned to the ocean again.

Not encouraging.

"It's green up there."

She nodded. "All the rain."

"It doesn't rain much during the summer, just enough to keep everything green. Portland has one of the largest in-city parks in the country, and also the smallest park in the world."

Lavender smiled. "The smallest?"

"This big." Diego spread his hands apart.

Lavender laughed. "You're pulling my leg."

Diego shook his head. "I'll show you when you come up to see me."

"I'm coming to see you?"

He hoped so. He'd dated a lot of people, looking for the spark that would last forever. Most sparks were just wishful thinking. Give it a try and see. He'd been open to failure for a chance at success, which was good, because the most he'd ever found were the small sparks of dying embers or the bright and hot sparklers which burned out quickly. With Lavender, the fire was small but growing. She could be the one: the one he grew old with. He had to take this chance.

"You're humming again."

"Do you want to go where we've never went to before?" Diego sang.

"That isn't the same song at all." She stamped her foot. She was adorable.

He found a clear piece of sand above the tide line and spread the blanket then, fell to his knees and held up a hand. "Kiss me, lady, one more time."

"But you haven't kissed me at all." She grinned.

"I can fix that."

Her lips were soft and warm. He tasted every bit of them as he caressed her neck, arms, and back. The first time he got near her breast she stiffened, so he gave her neck a thorough kissing. She didn't mind his hand under the back of her shirt. He slid his hand to the front again and traced the bottom of her bra cup. Underwire. Most were nowadays, except for the girls who weren't well-endowed. Lavender's maker had been generous.

Her breasts were firm and her nipples so big and hard that he could feel them through the padding. She gasped when he rubbed her, a good gasp, followed by her tongue in his mouth for the first time, so he left his hand where it was and brought up the other.

Diego missed breasts. He'd been single for nearly six months, and before that, he'd dated a guy, so Lavender was a feast after famine: a feast of the choicest meats and the best fruits and the tastiest desserts.

For the moment, she was his. He only had to find a way for this moment to last forever.

Lavender let Diego's hands roam as long as they stayed above her waist. Her body tingled under his caresses. Ariel's tape job was holding, for now. Diego kissed down her chest as far as her neckline would let him, then lifted her shirt. She should tell him to stop. She should have never let him touch her in the first place. He might discover her secret and leave her at the beach. At least she'd kept her shoes.

But she didn't want him to stop. She ached to feel his big hands and warm tongue on every part of her. He kissed the top of her breast. This warm, not-quite-comfortable feeling would almost be worth risking her secret over. How would having him inside her feel?

That would never happen.

He bit her nipple. She gasped. Her bra had too many layers of fabric. She needed his mouth on her skin.

He sat up and sighed. "That's all I can take if I have to drive."

Then he slid her shirt into place. He wasn't going to keep going? He got her this high and hot and he was going to leave her here?

Had he figured out about her bits somehow and was just being nice about it? Ariel said the nice ones were the worst. She'd rather be yelled at than have the guy get sheepish over her parts. But Lavender wasn't sure she agreed. If she could get home with her dignity, she'd be all right.

Diego pulled her to her feet. Where was the car? Would he be a gentleman and drive her home? If not, she had enough for a bus ticket.

Diego shook out the blanket, tossed it over his shoulder, and took her hand. "Should we see a movie tomorrow?"