Magnetic (18 page)

Layne looked down at the bottle of water and went back to Detroit.

“Are you thirsty?”

“Yes, thank you,” Stacy said as she took the bottle of water and drank. Her bare skin glistened under a sheen of sweat, and Layne admired the way muscle stood out beneath the skin of her abdomen. She’d never been with someone so strong, someone who never seemed to tire, so dominant. Stacy offered her the water, then set it on the bedside table when Layne shook her head. Stacy gathered Layne in her arms. The kisses were slow and sensual, rekindling a fire that Layne had thought spent. Layne’s hand trailed down Stacy’s body over a velvety hip. She wanted more, wanted to taste. She fisted her hand in Stacy’s hair and gently pulled her head back, kissing her neck, her shoulder, feeling her arousal rise when Stacy moaned.

“Roll onto your back. It’s my turn.”

Stacy sucked in a breath through her teeth when Layne took a nipple into her mouth. “Yes,” she whispered breathlessly.

“This is on the house, it’s the least I can do,” that same voice said, and even though it wasn’t filled with the passion of Layne’s memories, it still sent chills down her spine. Stacy glanced at her customers, then rested both hands on the bar. “Are you and Ronnie okay?”

Layne nodded. “We are.”

Stacy smiled. “I hoped I’d see you again, but this wasn’t my idea.” Stacy licked her lips and sighed. “I haven’t stopped thinking about you.”

Layne looked away. “I know…I mean, I know what you mean.” She made a face and waved a hand, waiting her for brain to start functioning properly. “I think about things, too.”

Stacy lowered her voice, her eyes looked hopeful and sincere. “Maybe you’ll come back?”

“Maybe so.”

*******

Layne yawned as she watched her fellow passengers pass in an endless stream toward coach. With the exception of Alana, her team was already in Seattle, probably getting dressed to go into the offices of Slade’s Manufacturing to sit and listen to the customer service reps as they worked with their own clients. Layne and Alana would listen to their assessments, then confer with management on new policy and procedures. Then classes would begin.

Normally, Layne was eager to begin this phase, but as she sat there watching strangers go by, she wondered if Stacy was still sleeping, and some part of her wished she could be curled up next to her.

Alana, carefully coiffed and dressed to impress, walked on board and took the seat next to Layne. “I just made it,” she said as she stuffed her briefcase under the seat in front of her and kicked at it with one high heel. “I had a not-so-pleasant meeting with New Orleans’s finest.”

“Another ticket? What is this three now?”

“Oh, Ms. Stone, that reminds me of how long we’ve worked together.” Alana looked up as a man stuffed his carryon into the compartment above the seat across the aisle. “One of those tickets has already gone off my record, so I have only two now.” She turned back to Layne and tossed her head toward the gray trousers. “Nice ass, don’t you think?”

Layne rolled her eyes. “You’re incorrigible.”

Alana set her elbow on the rest between them and placed her chin in her palm. “I feel so close to you right now,” she said with a mischievous grin. “We finally have something in common.”

“We’re both stuck on this plane at five thirty in the morning?”

“You know,” Alana began as she picked a stray piece of hair from Layne’s shoulder, “we never really talk about you. We discuss what I’m up to or who I’m into, but all you do is listen, then voice your displeasure. So tell me, how’s your love life?”

“We,” Layne gestured between them, “don’t discuss my personal life because I’m supposed to be your boss. Technically, we’re more like colleagues because David deals with you when you get into trouble, and I get blamed when you do and reprimanded when I try to stop it. I know you know what happened with Stacy, but trust me, we’re better off avoiding the topic.”

“Stacy moped around after she came home from vacation,” Alana went on like she hadn’t heard a word Layne said, “but yesterday, she seemed to have a little life in her. She actually ate dinner, and that’s something I watch closely.” Alana smiled but didn’t make eye contact with Layne. “I remember visiting her in California when Anna was still alive, and Stacy had gotten downright paunchy. They both had, but that’s what love and happiness does. It makes you gain weight.” Alana’s expression turned serious. “I went to see her again when she decided to move, and I didn’t recognize my own cousin when she opened the door. She was practically emaciated, and their apartment was empty except for a sofa that Stacy had been sleeping on. She was pitiful.”

Alana straightened in her seat as the plane took off. Her eyes held a faraway look when she turned to Layne. “I don’t ever want to see her that way again. She adopted some of my ways, and for a while, it worked for her, but she’s not the type to play the field forever. And now she’s met someone, and for whatever reason, there’s something about you that calls to her.”

Layne looked out the window empathizing with the calling that Alana spoke of, but the circumstances that surrounded her and Stacy weren’t even close to ideal. Common sense told her to leave it alone, but what she felt defied reason, and that was not something Layne was accustomed to.

“Have you ever noticed that you tend to associate with the same type of women? I’ve learned enough about Ronnie over the past month to realize she’s a lot like me. Even though you claim to despise the things I do, you still listen. I think you have a strong sense of propriety, Layne, but there’s a side of you that can relate to keeping your heart at arm’s length. I think you want love, but you’re as afraid of the cost as I am, as Ronnie is.”

“Ronnie said virtually the same thing,” Layne said thoughtfully as she continued to watch New Orleans fade from view.

“You’ve lost a little of your edge. I think that’s what David saw and mistook for burnout, but I think toward the end of your relationship with Olivia, you woke up. Is Stacy mistaken, or is there something between the two of you?”

Layne chewed the inside of her cheek before she said, “There’s something.”

Alana laid a hand on Layne’s arm and waited for Layne to meet her gaze. “You have two weeks to debate whether you want to find out what that is or not. If you decide you do understand that, this could turn out really well because Stacy is totally devoted when she’s in love. She’ll bend over backward to make you happy. But if you aren’t honest with her and lead her to believe that you care when you don’t, no job, no security team, or locked doors will keep me from pummeling you.” Alana leaned in so close that their noses were almost touching. “There’s one person in this world that I love with all my heart, and it’s Stacy, so think hard.”

Layne searched Alana’s face for any hint of mirth and found her to be uncharacteristically dead serious. “I will,” she said hoarsely.

Alana’s smile returned. “If you’re going to nap, I want your iPod.”

Chapter 20

The tiger was distracted. Slade’s staff and Layne’s seemed to be moving at light speed all around her. No matter how many cups of coffee she downed, Layne could not hit her stride. Her laptop seemed to be in the same funk, slow and sluggish as though something was working constantly in the background and sucking up all the power.

Alana had to pull Layne aside several times to remind her of things she was forgetting. She dreaded David’s arrival because Layne knew he’d pick up on it in a heartbeat, and she doubted that he’d send her on another vacation. Her next stop would be demotion.

Sleep had forsaken her, and that was part of the problem. To rectify that, Layne swam laps in the hotel pool to exhaust herself. But her mind swam just as fast. She no longer had to look at Stacy, but she was still there, and curiosity had been replaced by longing.

Layne rolled and began doing the backstroke in the hotel pool. She had accepted her materialism wholeheartedly and knew she wanted to change, but she and Stacy were so far removed and lived on opposite sides of the spectrum. Layne was a fighter, a climber with strong ambition. She identified with the tangible, things she could touch, manipulate. She loved to work, to accomplish, loved to feel the adrenaline rush that came with a challenge. Stacy, on the other hand, had a calm stillness about her, could stare at a campfire or a sunset only concerned with the color and depth she saw there. Work appeared to be only a means of survival.

She thought about Jenny then and the way she described seeing Molly for the first time. They’d not spoken a word, and Jenny had known that Molly was for her. Until recently, Layne had always thought the two were so stubborn and resistant to change that they’d simply fought their way into love instead of falling. She’d also believed that no one really was ever enveloped so helplessly in love’s spell that she could not make her own choices. The formula was simple the way Layne saw it. Two people met, were attracted, got to know each other, and chose to love.

With Stacy, however, the formula seemed not to apply. Layne barely knew her but felt in some whimsical way that their planets had aligned perfectly, and some cosmic force had decided that despite whatever obstacles presented themselves, the two were meant to be. Layne’s mind warred against those feelings vehemently. Logic and reason made it all sound preposterous and made Layne feel like a teen who was going through an agonizing case of puberty without the pimples.

*******

“Have you eaten?” Alana asked Layne as she joined her in the conference room the next morning while they prepped for the first class.

“Yes, have you decided to monitor my diet, too, since you can’t Stacy’s?”

Alana narrowed her eyes and glared at Layne over the top of her reading glasses. “Take this,” she said as she put a pill next to Layne’s coffee cup.

Layne eyed it suspiciously. “What is it?”

“Excedrin. It packs a healthy dose of caffeine, and drink all of that coffee, you look like a zombie. Are you sick?”

“No, I’m thinking like you told me to. I can’t sleep because I’m thinking. I can’t work because of it,” Layne snapped and swallowed down the pill.

Alana looked genuinely pleased and smiled.

“What? Are you happy that I’m falling apart?”

“No.” Alana shook her head. “But you are falling.”

“Don’t start,” Layne said with a wave of her hand. “David will be here today, and I have to be focused.” She grabbed her purse and emptied the contents on the table. Three small bottles labeled
Cold Fusion
fell out. “Can I drink one of these with the Excedrin?”

Alana picked up one of the bottles and stared at the label. “Not unless you want your hair to stand on end right before you have a heart attack.”

Layne too stared at the label for a second and threw it back into her purse. “Maybe later.”

*******

“…what we’ll be talking about today, most of you have already heard before,” Layne said as she walked back and forth in front of the room. Heads were moving as if they were watching a tennis game. “We’re all told to cut back on sugar, carbs, caffeine,” she said with a chuckle. “All of it sounds really good, but committing to such a diet is where most of us fail. But if you’ll take to heart the information we’re going to go over and commit to implementing the principles, each one of you will have success, and so will Slade’s Manufacturing.” Layne grabbed the remote, intending to turn on the projector, but did it too fast. It shot from her grasp and sailed onto the table in front of a man who until that moment had been dozing.

“Ha! That was an accident,” Layne said as she reclaimed the remote. “Better stay on your toes, though. I have a whole arsenal of projectiles.” She went through her presentation so quickly that those who were attempting to take notes gave up. “Am I going too fast?” Heads bobbed emphatically. “Okay, why don’t we take a break? Everyone, be back in thirty seconds.” She laughed at her own joke, though no one else did. “Fifteen minutes.”

Alana walked to the front of the room and smiled at a few stragglers who passed. “A moment please, Layne?” They walked into the empty conference room next door, and Alana handed Layne a tissue. “Blot your face. You’re sweating like a dockside hooker on dollar night.”