Doublecrossed (2 page)

“I haven’t either.” She pulled away and sat up. “Now, let’s get back to business.” She was sitting back on her heels, her legs spread wide. Her hair was mussed just enough to be rakishly attractive, and Callie felt herself getting wet just looking at her. “I liked having her bite me, but I’d never do that to anyone but you. Too risky.” She tried to force Callie’s legs apart. “Don’t be afraid. I might not do it tonight. It’s the threat that makes it hot.”

She knew Marina would never press her advantage, but Callie didn’t want to refuse outright. Instead, she grasped Marina by the shoulders and pulled her down onto her body. “Don’t do it. Tell me about it.” She nibbled on her ear until Marina squirmed. “Make me hot. Tell me every detail.”

Marina settled down and let her weight rest on her lover. She started to kiss Callie’s face and ears and neck, getting down to her breasts before she began to tell the tale. “She had me pinned so tight that I almost couldn’t breathe. I don’t normally like being at someone’s mercy, but having her bite me a couple of times felt fantastic. Really fantastic.”

“More,” Callie breathed. “Tell me more.”

“It felt so wrong,” Marina said, her eyes shining with desire. “Just something you know you shouldn’t be doing. You know how hot that is.”

“Mmm, I do.” They were grinding against each other, their bodies warm and tingling with anticipation.

She kissed Callie gently on the mouth. “Don’t worry about me bringing anything home. I care about you. I love you.” She kissed her again, slowly and softly. “I only love you.” Another gentle kiss.

Their faces were an inch from each other and Callie gazed into Marina’s expressive eyes. “I missed you.”

“Do you love me more than any other woman?”

“Yes. No question. How about you?”

“I do. You’re the only woman I love, baby. When I’m with you I’m happy.” She put her hand over her heart and gazed at Callie with tenderness and affection. “I’m home.”

*

Marina was up and out of the house before Callie was thinking in complete sentences. She was on her second cup of coffee when her phone rang. Seeing it was her best friend made her smile. “Where have you been? I haven’t talked to you in days.”

“It’s been like two days and you texted me twenty times yesterday. Thanks for that, by the way. I was bored to tears.”

“Don’t you know you’re supposed to be available when Marina’s out of town? Can’t you schedule your hours better?”

“Wish I could, but my boss doesn’t ask about Marina’s schedule when he sets mine. He just makes sure I work the worst hours so I can make as little in tips as possible.”

“Hey, are things really that bad? You could always move here, Terri. There are more bars and restaurants than you can count.”

“No, things aren’t that bad. I’m just complaining. Besides, I could never leave Phoenix. At least in the winter,” she said, chuckling. “Ask me in August and I might be more flexible. So, did Marina finally get home last night?”

“Yeah. Like an hour after I texted you last. But she was in a surprisingly good mood. We had a great night.”

“Oh, Callie got some. Good for you.”

“Callie gets plenty. And we have fun in other ways, you know.”

“Can’t say that I do. Other than sex, I still can’t figure out why you’re together.”

“Hey! It was your party that brought us together.”

“Unh-uh. You brought her. She wasn’t my friend.”

Slightly stung at her tone, Callie said, “That was harsh.”

“Oh, damn.” Terri took in a breath. “I didn’t mean it like that. I’m just bitchy today. Don’t take me seriously when I’m in this kinda mood.”

“I know you’re not crazy about her, but it hurts my feelings when you make it clear how much you dislike her.”

“I’m sorry. Really, Cal. I am.”

Callie exhaled slowly, reminding herself that Terri didn’t know Marina well enough to have a well-thought-out opinion of her. “It’s okay. I still love you.”

“I hope you always will, ’cause I’ll always love you. And I don’t dislike Marina. I’ve just never thought she was the right woman for you.”

“I know that. But I think I’m in just a teeny bit better position than you are to pick my girlfriends. Remember, you’re the one who convinced me to give women a try. If not for you, I’d probably be married and working on churning out a couple of kids.”

“You were on the ledge. I barely blew on you and you fell into Marina’s lap. If it was always that easy to convince girls to be gay, I’d have a lot more girlfriends.”

Callie laughed at how accurate her friend’s analysis was. “You get your share.”

“I’d prefer a nice, steady girlfriend, and I’m not going to settle for another pretty face with an empty head.”

“Jess’s head wasn’t empty. It was…sparsely furnished, but not empty.”

“You’re being kind, and I’ll never complain about that. I’ve got to get going now. I just wanted to hear a friendly voice before I have to get ready for work.”

“This early?”

“Yeah. I’m working lunch today and tomorrow. Call me if you’re bored.”

“We’re going out tonight, but I might have time tomorrow night.”

“No rush. Whenever. Where you going tonight?”

“Out for cocktails with some friends of Marina’s.”

“Cocktails, huh? Does that mean a fifteen dollar drink?”

“Usually. Ugh. I have to make one drink last all night.” Callie let out a grunt. “Don’t remind me of how I’m running through my money.”

“You don’t have to go.”

“I want to be with her. I enjoy her company.”

“Really?”

“Yes, really. Why is that so hard to believe?”

“She’s never…well, you don’t talk about doing much together. I know I’ve only been with her a few times, but she’s not very friendly and she’s not…oh, shit. Ignore me.”

“I don’t want to ignore you. I just don’t think I can make you understand why I like her. I know she doesn’t show her best side all of the time, but she’s private and kinda guarded with people she doesn’t know well. Around her friends she’s very outgoing.”

“Are you outgoing around her friends? Or do you act bored by them like Marina does?”

“We’re in a relationship, Terri. I try to make her happy, and getting along with her friends is part of the deal.”

Terri was silent for a moment and Callie heard her unasked question. Why doesn’t Marina do that for you?

“I’ve gotta go. Think of me when Marina’s doing you like mad.”

Callie laughed. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but when Marina’s doing me, I wouldn’t notice if the apartment was on fire.”

Two weeks later, Marina was rushing to get ready for an evening flight to Boston. She’d just gotten in the shower when Callie heard a phone ring and recognized it as her own. Puzzled, sure she’d left it in her office, she followed the distinctive sound of a xylophone to the foyer. Her head tilted in confusion. Why was her phone in Marina’s coat pocket?

She reached inside and pulled out the device just in time for it to stop. Staring at it perplexed, she started towards the bathroom to ask Marina why she’d taken it. After just a few steps, a text message showed in the window. “I can’t wait to see you. I’ve been counting the days.”

Now even more confused, she stared at the message for a moment. Why was the name Angela Kirkland so familiar? Then it hit her—Angela worked for Marina’s company in the Boston office, the office Marina was traveling to.

She turned the phone over in her hand, checking to verify it was her own. It was the default screen saver, not the photo she’d loaded. But Marina didn’t have this brand of phone. In fact, she made fun of the phone and the company, called her a fan-girl who bought everything that fell from the corporate tree. Callie clicked on the contacts button and saw just a few—all friends of Marina.

So this had to be a phone Marina bought. That didn’t make sense, but nothing else added up. Suddenly, a cold, dark tendril of suspicion coursed through her body. Something—a force outside herself—compelled her to act. She wouldn’t have believed anyone who claimed she’d have the nerve or the desire to do what she did next. Fingers shaking, stomach turning, she texted back. “Me too.”

Her pulse was hammering so loudly it seemed to envelop her. It took just seconds for the response, but they were dramatically long seconds.

“I’ve been dreaming of all of the things I’m going to do to you.”

Automatically, Callie wrote back. “Me too. Gotta go.” There was no need to look when the last message came in. It didn’t matter what it said. There was nothing Angela Kirkland could say that would stop the shaking, the rage, or the sorrow. She wasn’t aware of her body, didn’t notice when it slid down the wall and left her slumped against it like a discarded doll.

It could have been seconds or minutes, but Marina started to roll her suitcase down the hall, calling, “Callie? I’m taking off.”

When she reached the foyer, she gasped and let her suitcase fall to the floor as she lunged for Callie. “What’s wrong?” She was clearly panicked, and her hands slid along Callie’s arms and legs, trying to ascertain how she’d hurt herself. “Can you hear me?” she asked, her voice tight with fear.

Unable to speak or even to focus, Callie extended the phone in Marina’s direction. Nonplussed, Marina took it and started to toss it aside. But Callie’s thin voice said, “Look at it.”

Confusedly, Marina did, switching her attention between the phone and her lover. But as soon as she read the messages all neatly lined up in one window, she shifted her weight and plopped onto her ass, almost mirroring Callie’s pose.

“Ah, damn,” she muttered. “I know what this looks like, baby, but that’s not what it is.”

For some reason, it occurred to Callie that Marina’s faint Dallas accent got thicker when she was trying to get out of a jam. She idly wondered if that was intentional or if this was the way she spoke when she was unguarded.

“Come on, Callie, talk to me.”

“Why?” She finally felt like she was at least tenuously connected to her surroundings. “Why? Why hurt me like this? Why?”

“It just happened. I didn’t want it to, but Angela came by my room one night when we were at a conference and she…” She took in a breath. “I don’t want to make her sound like an asshole, but I felt like I had to go along.”

Callie couldn’t think of a response.

“I know it sounds bad, but I didn’t want to have sex with her. I never like to mix sex and business.” She grasped Callie by the shoulders and squeezed her tightly. “I should have told you when it happened, but I felt…stupid. I did it because I didn’t want her to vote against me when my promotion comes up.”

Callie looked at her. How had they ever been intimate? “Is that supposed to make it all right?”

“No. I know what I did was wrong, I know that. But I was ashamed to admit it. I know I shouldn’t have done it and I should have been an adult and admitted it. Then I wouldn’t be in this ridiculous position.”

Another long stare didn’t make Marina seem any more familiar. Maybe this person had wandered into the wrong apartment. She was definitely speaking an indecipherable language. Confusion filled her mind. But it was her turn to talk. “I don’t know.”

“You don’t know what, baby? Tell me.” Marina was nearly pleading now, her accent so pronounced she might have just jumped off her horse to come in and sit on the floor.

“I just don’t know.” She slid down a little further. It took too much energy to stay upright.

“I know I made a mistake, but it wasn’t…” Marina ran a hand though Callie’s thick red hair, pushing it from her eyes. “I swear I’ve been one hundred percent committed to our agreement—except for this one time. And this wasn’t really cheating. It wasn’t like that. I didn’t want it; I didn’t like it. I was just doing what I thought I had to do. But I was wrong. I should have quit. I’m so sorry I didn’t.”

“Fine.” She would’ve agreed to anything to get her to leave.

“I’ve got to go, baby. Come on. Please!” Marina got to her feet and grasped Callie by the arms. She tried to pull her into an upright position, but was barely successful. “Sweetheart, I can’t leave you like this. Come on. Please, stand up.”

Realization slowly dawned that she had to give in to these insistent demands to be left alone. Slowly, she got her feet under her and allowed herself to be pulled upright.

“Are you all right?”

“Sure.” She craved solitude in a way she could almost taste. “Goodbye.”

“Aww, you know I can’t walk out on you when you’re acting like this. God damn.”

“Go.” If she could sound like herself, Marina would leave. Easily. “It’s fine.”

“Are you sure?” Marina’s head was bobbing up and down as if willing her to agree.

“It’s fine.”

“Okay.” Marina took a quick look at her watch. “I’ll call you as soon as I can.” She hugged her tightly, whispering. “I’m so sorry.”

“It’s fine.” Her voice was automatic, computer generated. “Bye.”

“I’ll call.” Marina took one last look, grabbed her coat and gloves, picked up the handle of her suitcase and eased out of the door. The sound of her running footsteps echoed down the hall.