Car Pool (19 page)

“Yes, let me,” Shay murmured against her breast.

Anthea answered with a gasp. Tears weren’t far away. She moved harder against Shay’s palm, inviting Shay to enter again.

Later, with a long sigh of pleasure, Anthea dissolved under Shay into a languid, satisfied puddle of fulfillment. “That was very nice.”

“Mmm.” Shay nodded, suddenly sleepy. It was going to be cramped in her narrow bed, but she could manage if Anthea could. She was nearly asleep when Anthea adjusted her position, cushioning Shay’s cheek against one breast.

“It’s not hard to believe,” Shay mumbled.

“Believe what?”

“That you’re made up of the dust of exploded stars.”

“I’m what?”

“Your body, your skin, your mouth — it’s all from the dust of exploded stars.” Shay lazily stroked Anthea’s stomach. “That’s why it’s magic under my fingertips. One beautiful double helix spiral after

another. …” If she said more she didn’t remember it the next morning.

Anthea tried to wish away the pain in her neck. She told herself she was dreaming about it being cramped. But it was too late. She could hear Shay’s steady breathing just below her chin.

She didn’t want to move, but as soon as she told herself she could stay still a little longer, she was of course seized by an overwhelming need to stretch. She tried one leg at a time, but within a few moments Shay was awake.

“Good morning,” Anthea said.

Shay’s answer was an unhappy groan.

Anthea moved slowly away from Shay. Their skin peeled apart. She limped her way to the bathroom, her hip having fallen asleep during the motionless night. She didn’t want to take a shower quite yet, but she did brush her teeth with her finger and some of Shay’s toothpaste. Packing a toothbrush and fresh underwear in her purse would have been a smart idea, but she hadn’t been thinking about anything but going to bed with Shay.

When she left the bathroom she heard noise from the only other room of Shay’s apartment — running water, then the clank of a teakettle being set on a burner. She surveyed the apartment for the first time.

It wasn’t any bigger than a dorm room. The bed was elevated off the floor by virtue of four cinder blocks. They were lucky they hadn’t knocked the bed off the blocks at one of the more energetic climaxes

of the prior night. Anthea shuddered as she recalled Shay’s fingers in her — it had felt so good she hadn’t been able to breathe.

The rest of the wall space was occupied by boxes of books and bound paperwork. She could see a lot of the titles, and most were along the lines of Thermodynamics Theory and Statigraphy and Hydroponics in Southeast Asia. She smiled as she spotted a Star Trek novel half-hidden under the bed with a stack of Joanna Russ titles not far away. Shay’s only chair was layered in cast-off jeans and T-shirts. A pile of library books was heaped near the door. She peeked out of the window. It was early.

When Shay emerged from the microscopic kitchen, Anthea said, “Spend the day with me.”

“Okay,” Shay said easily. “Would you like a T-shirt to wear while we have tea at the table?”

“Not particularly.” Anthea glanced around. “What table?”

Shay laughed. “The same one you ate at last night.”

Anthea blushed and dove back onto the bed. “I’ll wait here.”

They drank tea poured from an antique teapot into small delicate teacups. “My mother’s,” Shay explained in response to Anthea’s admiring stroke of the dragon pattern on the pot. “It went around the world with me and my Dad and so far only one broken cup. I wouldn’t have sold it for anything.”

Anthea sipped the delicate jasmine tea. She felt decidedly gypsy-ish, sitting cross-legged and stark naked. Yesterday morning she had felt shy, but this morning was different. She was comfortable in Shay’s presence, and liked the sensation. As she watched

Shay sip her tea, goose pimples flushed her arms and breasts. It was as if she could feel those fingers inside her again.

“What shall we do today?”

Shay’s question broke the languid spell Shay’s body was casting over Anthea. “Whatever you like. I exist to serve thee.” Anthea accompanied her words with a bow of her head.

“Mmm.” Shay wiggled her eyebrows. “Sounds delightful.”

Anthea sputtered into her tea, then attempted a seductive smile. “Anything you wish.”

“Maybe we’ll never go outside,” Shay said. They set their cups down and Anthea slowly uncrossed her legs as Shay leaned back against the wall at the head of the bed. Anthea moved slowly toward the invitation. “No darkness or covers this time,” Shay said. “I want to watch you.”

Anthea lowered her head slowly and brushed her lips against the firm, smooth skin of Shay’s thighs. She left small patches of moisture behind and was rewarded by a trembling in one thigh and a low sigh from Shay.

Anthea felt a powerful swell of control. She glanced up and saw that Shay was watching her, but her eyes were unfocused. Tenderly, letting Shay enjoy the anticipation, she dipped her tongue into the beckoning triangle between Shay’s legs. She willed herself to taste slowly. Shay’s thighs convulsively tried to snap together, but Anthea held them apart, moving faster now and then deeper, savoring the heady taste. Sweet wetness was flowing over her lips and her cheeks as if she were crushing

a ripe peach to her mouth. She was drunk on nectar and the sound of Shay’s ecstatic, breathless calls.

Shay smiled reassuringly at Anthea as she rang Mrs. Giordano’s bell.

“Are you sure I look okay?” Anthea anxiously brushed her hair back over her shoulders.

Shay thought Anthea looked scrumptious, but if she said so they’d go back downstairs and not come out for another three hours. She was ravenous and needed some food before going back to bed. “You look fine.”

Anthea looked skeptical.

“I brought an extra pair of hands,” Shay told her friend when she opened the door. “Unlike me, she knows how to cook.”

Mrs. Giordano looked from Shay to Anthea and smiled. “Isn’t this lovely, up so early for a date. Come in, come in. I made a nice coffee cake first thing.”

After two large slices of coffee cake, Shay set herself to doing her usual task, laboriously chopping vegetables. She directed Anthea to the coffee grinder. Mrs. Giordano went back to stirring the sauces simmering on the stove top and chatting with Anthea. Well, chatting was a nice word for the interrogation Anthea was being put through. How long had she been working? Did she have a degree? And what had her parents done? Did she have any brothers or sisters? Had she voted in the last election?

Anthea seemed to be taking it in good temper,

but then she was just an all-around nice person. She didn’t stop her cheerful answers even as she bumped Shay away from the cutting board and deprived her of the knife. Shay watched in amazement as Anthea rapidly sliced the carrots Shay had been wrestling with. She diced two onions in a quarter of the time it would have taken Shay — so quickly, there were no onion tears. Even Mrs. Giordano noticed as the knife made a rapid tattoo on the cutting board. Shay felt a surge of pride as Mrs. Giordano invited Anthea to taste one of the sauces. It had taken Shay three weeks to reach the taster stage.

“A dash more lemon,” Anthea said. “At least, I would add more.”

Mrs. Giordano tasted and nodded. “You’re right, it needs a bit more zip.”

They stayed several hours, sampling all the dishes and gobbling down the coffee cake, chopping more vegetables and washing dishes. Anthea didn’t seem to mind at all. She was all smiles when Mrs. Giordano invited her to drop by anytime.

Back in Shay’s apartment Anthea said, “She needs a Cuisinart and an industrial oven.”

“And double the social security income, and a new back,” Shay added. “But she gets by with what she has.”

Anthea murmured in a distracted tone.

“Hey,” Shay said. “You haven’t kissed me for three whole hours.”

Anthea turned to her, all distraction gone. “Step into my parlor,” she said, beckoning as she moved toward the bed.

It was late in the afternoon when Anthea rolled over and said, “When are you going to do that soil sample?”

“What soil… oh. I’d forgotten.” Shay grimaced and sat up. “What made you think of it?” Shay wondered how Anthea could think after the marathon they’d been through.

“Well, you’re going to need some results pretty quickly, aren’t you? Why not hop down to the refinery today and get it?”

Shay blinked. “It’s a little more complicated than driving up to the well.”

Anthea rolled her eyes. “I know we have to stop and get Tyvek suits from somewhere. I’ve got a cooler we can hold the sample in.”

Shay looked at Anthea incredulously. “How did you learn to do a well sample?”

Anthea sat up, looking put out. “For your information, I’m a cost accountant. Procedurally, there’s not very much that happens on that refinery that I don’t know about. That’s how I do my job.”

“I didn’t mean to impugn your honor,” Shay said. She had obviously hit a sore spot. “I had no idea your job required you to get into such detail.”

“I know a little bit about everything,” Anthea said, apparently mollified.

“You should go on Jeopardy. Category: Sampling Devices. Tap water and a plastic wading pool.” She nudged Anthea with her knee.

Anthea made a buzzing sound, then said, “What is a portable nonpotable decontamination site, Alex.”

“That’s correct so you must be kissed.”

“Why, Mr. Trebek,” Anthea said. She seized Shay by the shoulders and kissed her fiercely. “How you do talk.”

“Didn’t you know you were playing for kisses?” Shay’s hand drifted to Anthea’s breast.

“Stop that,” Anthea said. “You’re deliberately trying to distract me. What about that sample?”

Shay sighed. “I’d like to keep reality away for a while longer.”

Anthea smiled softly and trailed her fingers across Shay’s shoulder. “Isn’t this real?”

Shay shook her head. “It’s too good to be real.”

Anthea’s smile faded and she said seriously, “What can I do to make it real?”

Shay gulped. “I’m not ready… to answer that.”

Anthea looked away, chewing her lower lip. “I’m not either. You’re the best friend I’ve had in a while. Can we go on being friends?”

“Just friends?” Shay stroked the side of Anthea’s breast.

Anthea shivered and then smiled with what looked to Shay like false bravado. “How about friends who like to screw the daylights out of each other?”

Shay laughed. “I can live with that definition for now.”

Anthea nodded. “For now,” she echoed softly.

“Well,” Shay said. “Since you are determined, how about we go get that sample?”

“Wouldn’t waiting until dusk be better? We could get on the premises right as they’re turning on the lights. Maybe no one will notice a car in the pipe fields.”

“We should probably pick up a vehicle at the

trailer. When we get the suits. Much later. To tell

you the truth, I need a nap.” Shay settled into the

corner and pulled Anthea against her.

Anthea showed her badge to the guard at the gate … not the regular guy who would have let her go in with a wave. She felt her heart rate go up as she allowed herself to recognize that what they were doing was expressly against company policy. I could get fired for this. Entering the premises when not scheduled to work was a “serious” offense. Shay leaned over so the guard could see her badge too.

“I left some baseball tickets in my desk,” Anthea said. “At least I think so.”

Shay said, “I still say they’re in my desk. We’re going to have to drive all the way out to the field trailers.”

The guard raised the barrier with a toothy smile. “I hope you ladies don’t have to spend your night crawling all over this place.”

Anthea smiled back and drove slowly ahead.

“He didn’t make us sign in,” Shay said in a whisper.

Anthea smirked. “Show enough cleavage and you can go anywhere.” She glanced down at her light cotton shirt left unbuttoned over a low cut tank top she’d pulled even lower.

“Will you pull that back up, please? I honestly didn’t think it would work.”

“You can’t overestimate a man’s ability to underestimate a woman with boobs,” Anthea said. “I

think Marilyn Monroe or Mae West said that. Or Madonna.” Anthea steered them into the empty parking lot right next to the Executive Building.

“Why are we stopping here?”

“Because we’re in sight of the Guard station. We’ll have to go in.” Anthea could feel time ticking away. Would the guard wonder what had kept them? Would he call ahead to other gates asking if they’d left?

She unlocked the main door and Shay followed her inside. Without thinking she summoned the elevator.

“Where are we going?” Shay sounded as impatient as Anthea felt.

“Just killing some time.”

“Oh, yeah?” The elevator doors closed and Shay reached over to trace the rim of Anthea’s tank top. “I can think of a way or two.”

Anthea pushed Shay’s hand away. “Stop that, not here. We’ve got business to attend to.” But she could feel herself smiling. Shay planted a kiss right in Anthea’s cleavage. “Oh, fie,” she whispered. “How can I resist such wiles?”

Shay let her go as the elevator stopped. The doors opened and Anthea pressed for the ground floor.

As the doors closed again, Anthea said, “Now, where were you?”

Anthea had retucked her shirt by the time they returned to the car and she drove with deliberate care out to Shay’s work site. Shay let them in and

rounded up two Tyvek suits and breathers. When Anthea saw the truck they were heading for she said, “At least this time I’m appropriately attired.”

“I must say you’re the hottest thing in a Tyvek suit I’ve ever seen.”

“Stop joking,” Anthea said. “Right about now this seems like a lot more than a fraternity prank.”

“What’s the worst that can happen?” Shay unlocked the truck and Anthea scrambled into the passenger seat.

“Oh, they can fire us. You’re resigned to that and I guess I’d get over it.” Anthea couldn’t believe what she was saying. A few months ago she would have said her job was her whole identity. “But we’re about to remove something that belongs to the company. They could call the cops.” Her mind wrote the headline: LESBIANS CAUGHT STEALING FROM CORPORATE GIANT.