Harper flushed, which delighted Lauren who teased her mercilessly until Harper pointed out the redness of Lauren"s own neck and cheeks. They finished the fabulous meal and then strolled around the lighted garden, to help with the stuffed feeling. Max waited in the parking lot, because Harper had arranged to have his services all night. She could have rented a limo, but that seemed a little over the top. Besides, she trusted Max. He had become sort of a surrogate grandfather, the way he looked out for Harper.
It was a forty-minute drive from the restaurant to the Blue Nights club, in Durham. Harper had her arm around Lauren and they cuddled and kissed while Max played soft music on the radio. He seemed to sense that his dialogue was not needed. Harper called Chita when they were close to arriving. They left their overcoats and purses with Max. Harper only needed an I.D., a little cash and a credit card in the club, which she put in her pocket along with Lauren"s I.D. Chita was waiting outside when Harper and Lauren walked up.
"Oh s.h.i.t, you guys are smokin"," Chita said, as she checked them out.
Lauren kissed Chita on the cheek, and then hooted, "Let"s party."
They entered the bar. It was already hopping. There were men and women of all kinds, dressed from casual to elegant. There was no doubt Lauren and Harper were stunning together, considering the looks and comments Harper heard, while following Chita to the table she had reserved for them.
Harper leaned over Lauren"s shoulder, as she followed her through the crowd, "I guess you"re used to that."
"Used to what?" Lauren shouted over the music.
"People looking at you," Harper shouted back.
"Don"t be silly, they"re checking out the new meat, I"m old news around here," Lauren said, as they took their seats.
"Oh, you"ve been here a lot?" Harper already knew she came here because of what Chita said.
"Well, we used to come here, before we stopped going out to clubs." Lauren realized Harper might not be comfortable with that, because she added, "I"m glad you brought me here. I really want to dance with you."
Harper relaxed, even though she hadn"t known she was so tense. "Okay, but remember I"m a country girl and the two step is my specialty."
"I seem to recall quite an exhibition of your dancing skills a week ago."
"Yes, but J.R. was leading, so don"t expect too much," Harper grinned and led Lauren out on the dance floor for the first of many dances.
It was warm in the club so Harper removed her jacket. Harper had worked hard on her body and it showed, in her athletic lean build. She was trim and cut tight. The muscle structure of her arms showed that she had hardly any body fat. The tank top clung to her torso so tightly, the ridges of her abdominal muscles showed through it. Harper"s body was the kind women dream of.
Lauren appreciated Harper"s body. It was apparent in the way Lauren couldn"t seem to keep her hands off of Harper. They were rarely more than two inches apart on the dance floor. They took breaks for drinks and air, but for the most part, they danced all night long.
While they were dancing to a slow song, Lauren said, into Harper"s neck, "You are the s.e.xiest thing in the room and I am so lucky that you"re here with me."
Harper pulled Lauren closer and kissed her hard, with the pa.s.sion of all the emotions she was feeling. She had fallen in love. She couldn"t help it. Lauren was proving to be all Harper had ever dreamed of and more. She never thought she would give her heart so freely to anyone. She was exhilarated and full of fear, at the same time.
From somewhere deep inside Harper"s soul, and without her permission, she heard herself whisper into Lauren"s ear, "Please don"t break my heart."
Lauren stopped dancing and looked up into Harper"s eyes, "I have every intention of loving you for the rest of my life."
"Are you sure? It"s so soon aft...,"
Lauren cut her off by placing a finger on Harper"s lips. They were still in the middle of the dance floor, but all time had stopped for Harper. She could only see and hear Lauren when she said, "Harper Lynch, I"ve known since the day we went to the flea market. I"ve fallen in love with you and I a.s.sure you, I"ve thought about this carefully and I know what I"m saying."
Harper was unable to speak. She only looked into Lauren"s eyes, as if trying to see the truth buried in them.
Lauren hit her on the arm, "Well, say something!"
Harper cracked a wicked grin, "Does this mean you don"t want to just date me anymore, because I was really enjoying your idea of a date."
They rode home in the back of Max"s taxi, Harper holding Lauren while they both fell asleep. Harper woke up when she heard the gravel crunch of the driveway under the taxi wheels. She paid Max a healthy sum and thanked him for his hospitality. He winked at her and motioned for her to follow Lauren, who was almost in the house.
The nap had refreshed them and Harper"s Armani suit jacket hit the floor, in the foyer. She tugged at Lauren"s dress and finally managed to get the dress over her head. Frantically undressing each other they made it to the rug in the Great Room where Harper hit the remote on the CD player and the gas logs in the fireplace. They made love on the floor in front of the fire for hours, retiring sometime in the early morning to the bed.
Just before she closed her eyes Harper whispered, "I love you, too."
Sat.u.r.day, they slept in until nine. Lauren rolled over to face Harper. Harper didn"t see her do this. She felt her; because she still had her eyes closed and was thinking how grateful she was for the doggie door. Lauren began to kiss her on her neck and sang softly, "You"re the reason G.o.d made Oklahoma."
Harper opened her eyes, smiling. Lauren was awake and sparkling. Harper reached over and bonked her on the head lightly.
"What was that for?" Lauren asked, laughing.
"I was. .h.i.tting the snooze," Harper said, with her eyes closed again.
"Wake up, I want to run." Lauren tickled Harper until she opened her eyes.
"Okay, but I didn"t know you ran. I get up every morning and run while you sleep. You never asked to go."
"That"s because you exhausted me the night before, and I do remember one morning when you didn"t run and an incident in the shower," Lauren teased.
"Let"s do that again instead," Harper said, pulling Lauren closer and reaching for her breast.
"Stop that," Lauren reacted with a grin, while she held Harper"s fingers away from her nipple. "I used to run every day until about a month ago when all the s.h.i.t started going down with Shelby. Remember I told you some of the girls and I used to meet every Tuesday and Thursday at Chita"s health spa." She pulled the covers off of them and stood up in the bed bouncing Harper, giggling like a schoolgirl. "Come on, I want to show you the trails, they connect from here to Chapman"s Mill. It"s a beautiful run. Jasper wants to go to."
Jasper saw the game of get Mom up, as something he needed to join in on. He jumped on the bed and bounced up and down with Lauren, barking at Harper. Harper was defeated. She got up; they dressed, ate power bars and loaded Jasper, in his vest stuffed with water bottles and power bars, into the Hummer for the short ride to the trailhead in Kerrville. Lauren had been right. It was a beautiful run. Lauren couldn"t keep up with Harper and Jasper, so the two of them slowed down to her pace. She promised to get back up to speed and even try to run at Harper"s pace within a couple of weeks. She was amazed at how much her body had changed in just one month. She asked Harper to help her on the weight machine, too, so she could build her upper body.
"I want... to look like... you did in... that tank top... last night," Lauren gasped out, between breaths.
"Okay, but that means you can"t lie around in the bed when I get up," Harper said, much more in control of her breathing.
"Well, then... if you"re... going to... f.u.c.k my brains... out every night..., we"re going... to have to... go to bed... earlier."
Harper laughed, "I definitely don"t see an end coming to that soon, so we"ll go to bed earlier."
They finished the run and then went by the Webber Street Market, a co-op offering local meats and produce among other things, where Lauren grabbed some fresh vegetables. They had pie and coffee for brunch. Jasper enjoyed a few bites of pie, too. After walking around the market for a while, they went home, showered and changed to go to J.R."s game. The game didn"t start until three, but he wanted them to come early.
They dressed casually, but s.e.xy so J.R. could show them off. It was a special request he texted this morning. Lauren and Harper had laughed at the message. It was going to be hard for these testosterone-overloaded athletes to tell these two gorgeous women were not only gay, but f.u.c.king each other. It would never cross their minds. They were counting on this, because they enjoyed the game J.R. was playing with his teammates. He had not only one, but two hot chicks in the stands.
Harper thought Lauren would look good in a paper sack. She was especially cute in her white tank top and pink striped over shirt. Her jeans were worn, in just the right places, and accentuated her superior a.s.s. Lauren couldn"t hide her beauty even when she dressed down, but it wasn"t a "wow" kind of beauty, it was a "cute as a b.u.t.ton" kind of beauty, that made people want to know her. Harper saw that at the market. People were enamored with Lauren, men and women. Harper was so proud that Lauren was hers.
Lauren swung her bangs out of her eyes and caught the image of Harper in the mirror, watching her, as she brushed her hair. She turned around, approaching Harper who was sitting on the overstuffed chair in the corner. Lauren placed her hands on Harper"s shoulders and moved in close, so that Harper was looking up at her. Harper wrapped her arms around Lauren"s waist.
"Harper Lee Lynch, if you keep looking at me like that, we will not make it to the game on time."
"I"ll try to stop, but your a.s.s looks so good in those jeans, it"s going to be hard."
"Well try. I don"t want to disappoint J.R.," and with that she turned and walked out of the room, shaking her a.s.s just for Harper"s benefit.
Harper called out, "Tease!"
They successfully got out of the house without any delays and arrived at the stadium, in time for batting practice. They found their seats just behind the home team dug out. J.R. had arranged for them to sit with other families and girlfriends of players. It was apparent to Harper that the women in the stands a.s.sumed they were baseball wh.o.r.es who slept with players. Once Harper explained that she and J.R. had dated in Oklahoma the wives accepted them into the fold. J.R. called them down to the fence.
"Hey, you two look great. Thanks for coming," he said, thrilled for them to be there. I don"t know if I"ll get to play or not. I"ll be in the bull pen."
"Do you think we came to watch you? We came to watch all the other guys in tight white pants," Harper teased.
"I don"t know about that, but they"re sure checking you girls out. Hey, you wanna have a beer after the game?" J.R. sounded hopeful. "Some of the guys are going out, they"re girlfriends and wives are coming, too. I just thought you could come for a little while."
"You"re not going to make me pose, as your girlfriend?" Harper said, teasing him some more.
"No, but I"d thought I"d ask your hot friend here, if she would?" J.R. wasn"t to be gotten the best of.
Lauren simply smiled and said, "I"m taken."
They all laughed and J.R. returned to stretching. Lauren said she didn"t mind having a beer after the game and Harper knew her two beer limit would shorten the evening anyway. They ate hot dogs and junk food and cheered for the Bats, to no avail. The parent club waxed them as they should have, and J.R. didn"t get in the game, but they had a great time and promised the wives they would come back again.
After the game, Harper and Lauren joined J.R. at the restaurant, located beyond the left field wall, next to the ballpark. The restaurant had an outdoor deck that was heated in the winter and cooled in the summer. J.R. had a blast introducing Harper and Lauren to his boys. The boys practically drooled and Harper and Lauren played along, flirting and hanging on J.R. Lauren ran her hand across Harper"s a.s.s, which sent chills down Harper"s spine. She looked at Lauren with a "don"t do that look," because the boys might be drooling for totally different reasons, if she kept it up. Lauren tried to feign innocence.
After two beers they called it quits, kissed J.R. on the cheek and left him at the bar, pleased with their performance. He had no idea how hard it was for Harper, not to say to his boys, "Go ahead look, but she"s all mine."
There was a new emotion growing in Harper. The one that wanted to shout from the rooftops she"s mine. Luckily Chapman"s Mill is a very liberal, accepting town. It"s still in the south, but Harper had no fear of losing her job, when people found out about Lauren at work. Unfortunately, most of those people would also know that Lauren was formerly Shelby"s partner for six years. There would be a bit of a scandal, until a new rumor came along. Harper didn"t care. She wanted everyone to know that Lauren belonged to her. They would soon find out, at the Bio-Med Dinner she had to attend Monday night.
s.h.i.t, she forgot to ask Lauren if she would go with her. She had considered that Lauren might say no, because of Shelby, but it didn"t hurt to ask. They had just arrived at Lauren"s studio when Harper thought to ask about the dinner.
"Lauren, would you consider going to the Bio-Med Dinner with me, Monday night? I wouldn"t go, but they want to officially award the grant to me."
"I know. It"s on my calendar. I went every year with Shelby."
"Lauren, I know you don"t want to hurt Shelby, but I"d really like you to be there. We can leave early, right after the award ceremony."
"It"s not that I don"t want to hurt Shelby. I don"t want us to be the scandal of the evening."
"Look, we"ll put on our glamour clothes and high heels and pretend there is no one there, but us. People are going to talk about us. We can do it now and get it over with, so they can move on to the next big topic and we"ll become old news." Harper added quickly, "Shelby will have a guest too, probably. Maybe her date will be more scandalous than mine."
Lauren smiled, "Do you really want me to go?"
Harper put on her best puppy-dog face, "Yes, I"d be bored to tears without you."
"Okay, but you make sure we"re not seated with or near Shelby," Lauren said seriously. "I don"t want a scene."
"There won"t be. She"s too professional for that."
Lauren shook her head, "You"ve only known her a month. She can be nasty if she wants to be."
"Look, if she was going to drag this in to work, she would have already done it. I haven"t heard a peep about the split from anyone. I don"t think anybody knows."
"Well, this will be a h.e.l.l of a way for them to find out, don"t you think?" Lauren was still concerned.
"I"m not trying to embarra.s.s Shelby. I just want you with me. But, I"ll understand if you think it"s a bad idea," Harper answered.
Lauren thought about it for a minute, "I know I"m going to regret this, but yes, I will go with you."
Harper kissed her and they got out of the car. They had come to pick up Lauren"s Tahoe and some clothes because Lauren had to go to her mother and father"s for Easter Sunday dinner tomorrow. Harper had to go take her Grandmother to church and lunch, afterward. Harper was amazed at what Lauren had done in a week, while she was at the lab. Lauren had been painting on a huge canvas leaning against a wall near the office.
It was full of the bright colors missing from Lauren"s recent paintings. She was using more of the colors she had used in college. Lauren"s work hung all around Harper, so it was easy to trace her emotions during different time periods in her life. The canvas on the wall had bright reds and greens, with a variety of gold and blues, in wide heavy brush strokes, splashed across its front. The image took no recognizable form, but was quite interesting, as it was.
Lauren saw Harper looking at the painting, "it"s just a start. I"m not sure what it will turn out to be. It"s something I can"t quite see yet."
"It"s so colorful, it makes me feel warm," Harper said, still looking at the painting. "It contrasts so vividly with these over here." Harper pointed at the painting of the sad blue woman.
Lauren moved in behind her and put her hands around Harper"s waist. "I have warmer things to think about now."
Harper spun in Lauren"s arms. She bent her head to Lauren"s and kissed her sweetly. Lauren pulled out of her arms, "I have something for you."
She started toward the bedroom area, Harper started to follow. Lauren put her hand up, "No, wait right there."
Harper was a little disappointed, but mostly curious, as to what Lauren had for her. Lauren reappeared holding a framed painting, the image turned away from Harper, so she couldn"t see. When she revealed the painting, Harper was thrilled. Lauren was holding the painting of Jasper that she had been working on. Lauren painted Jasper from the side, standing in the gra.s.s, with trees in the background. His head was turned toward the viewer with that goofy grin and his baseball hanging out of his mouth. It was beautiful and captured Jasper"s personality perfectly.
Harper hugged Lauren, "Oh my G.o.d, it"s so beautiful. Thank you. Thank you so much."
Lauren winked at Harper, "You"re welcome. Now, let"s go hang it up at your house and cuddle on the couch."
Harper was already headed for the Hummer, painting in hand, "If you"re waitin" on me, you"re backin" up."
Chapter Eighteen.
Lauren and Harper parted early Sunday morning, Harper off to Wilson and Lauren off to see her parents. Lauren"s parents lived on Pineview Drive over-looking the Chapman"s Mill Country Club ponds, in a very pretentious two point five million dollar monstrosity. Lauren admitted she enjoyed the money her parents and grandparents had bestowed on her, but it was the pompousness of the people her parents interacted with that made her sick.
"And the worst part about today is I have to tell my mother why Shelby isn"t with me," Lauren said, over breakfast.
"Shelby went with you to your parents?" Harper asked.
Lauren sipped her coffee, "Shelby doesn"t have any family here. They all live far away and Shelby pretty much cut them off when her parents reacted badly to her being gay."
"And your parents are okay with you being a lesbian?"
"Oh, not at first, but it became popular to have a lesbian daughter so my mother came around. Dad is so into himself, he doesn"t really care," Lauren continued. "I don"t know how she"ll take the lesbian divorce."
"Wait till you tell her about the new cowgirl from Oklahoma," Harper said, kissing Lauren goodbye and rushing off. She had much further to go than Lauren and had to leave before her.
Grandma was in good spirits and health. Harper sat through church and lunch afterward, counting the minutes until she could go back home. She loved her grandmother, but she was unable to shake the need to be back in Lauren"s presence. She rushed through the visit as quickly as possible and actually beat Lauren back to the house. Lauren came home about thirty minutes after Harper. She changed clothes and joined Harper downstairs.