Seven
The next few days were a blur of work, seeing Lacey, talking with Lacey, laughing with Lacey, and work. I wasn’t getting a whole lot of sleep, but I couldn’t remember being happier. I’d put in for five days off at the library and Violet Hill and I’d somehow gotten them. Mostly based on the fact that I almost never took vacation days and rarely called in sick. It paid to be a good employee apparently. I also got ahead on my design work, so I wouldn’t have to do that either. I was going to have five days of complete idleness with Lacey and I couldn’t wait.
“So, are you like, together?” Ruthie asked as we took one of our breaks at work. Lacey was finishing up her interviews and taking some boudoir shots today so she wasn’t here, but she’d pretty much been camping out at the café for the past few days. I was going to miss the sight of her in the corner, concentrating and working hard.
“No. We’re just . . . I don’t even know what we are. She’s leaving soon. It’s not even a fling because we haven’t had sex.”
“Do you have to have sex to consider it a fling?” I thought about that.
“I don’t even know anything anymore. I’m just going with the flow I guess.” The flow was good. I loved the flow.
“So what happens when she leaves?” I gave her a look.
“Oh, sorry. I shouldn’t have asked. But it’s nice to think about someone else’s relationship for a few minutes.” I could understand her need for distraction.
“Sorry,” I said.
“Yeah, it’s okay. I’m moving on. I think. Maybe if I say I’m moving on enough times, it will actually happen.” Ouch. She was in a tough spot.
I wanted to say something comforting, but I couldn’t think of what.
“Shit,” she said, looking down at her phone.
“Break’s over.” So it was.
*^*^*
A few days later was the eve of my five days of idleness.
“So. I have an idea. But I’m not sure if you’re up for it, but hear me out,” Lacey said, putting her hands up to stop any protestations I might have. But I didn’t know what she was going to suggest, so how could I protest?
“Hit me with it,” I said. We were back at the photography studio, hanging out with Murder and talking about our worst school pictures.
“I know I’ve already taken some pictures of you, but I was wondering if maybe . . . maybe you’d want to do a boudoir session? Before I go? Free of charge. No pressure.” I opened my mouth to say “hell no,” but then I thought about it. Why not? Who else would I be comfortable enough with to do something like this? If I put it off, then I was going to be eighty and wondering why I’d never done it. And how bad could it be? Really?
“I think I’ll do it.” Her eyes lit up.
“Really? I mean, not just because I’m excited about the prospect of seeing you in lingerie. I like photographing pretty people.” I bet she did. I laughed.
“You’re hilarious. So, do I have to do anything special?” I didn’t have much in the way of lingerie in my drawers.
“Just bring what you feel comfortable and sexy in. And maybe I’ll have a few little things for you to try on.” Oh, that was interesting. The idea of wearing something Lacey picked out for me turned me on. A lot.
“You’re trying to seduce me,” I said. She giggled.
“Am I that obvious?”
“Uh, yes?” Lacey hid her face.
“I’m not trying to seduce you,” she said, her voice muffled.
“You’re always trying to seduce me. Everything you do seduces me.” She lifted her head.
“Really?”
“Uh, yeah. I honestly don’t know how I keep my hands off you most of the time.” It was a serious challenge. But I wanted to keep things toned down. I was still totally confused about what to do with my feelings for her.
“Well, that’s a bit like the pot calling the kettle black,” she said. I stuck my tongue out at her.
“Real mature.” I shrugged.
“Never said I was.”
She rolled her eyes.
“Okay, so I’ll take your picture and I’ll keep my hands to myself and my seducing to a minimum. How’s that? I can be a professional.” I wanted to laugh, but I didn’t.
“I feel like I should make a bet with you about this,” I said.
“No way. I am really trying here.” She pretended to be serious, but failed. So cute.
“Stop being cute, you’re making it worse.”
“You’re seduced by cute?” Lacey raised one eyebrow.
“Always.”
“Oh, then I’ll try not to be cute.” She batted her eyelashes and pouted her lips and I groaned and threw a pillow at her.
“Stop it!”
“I can’t! I’m just too cute! It’s a disease!” I lunged at her and shoved her against the couch.
“If you don’t stop, I’m going to kiss you.” She gasped.
“Oh, no that would be terrible. The absolute worst thing to ever happen to me. Being kissed by Anna Corcoran. Please, no.” We both giggled and I shoved the pillow out of the way so I could get to her.
But at the last second, I pulled back.
“No, I don’t think I’ll kiss you. Because that’s what you want.” She sat up.
“Are you serious?” Now who was frustrated?
“Yup. I’m not going to kiss you.” I moved away from her and pressed my lips together.
“Meanie,” she said, pouting. Damn, now she was back to being adorable again.
“Takes one to know one.” We were both being totally childish, but I didn’t care at all. I loved being silly with Lacey. It was so nice to be silly with someone.
“Fine, fine,” she said. “I don’t want to kiss you either.”
“Liar.”
She sighed.
“Whatever.”
*^*^*
The morning of my first day of idleness, I woke at my usual time. Of course. But I had a full day with Lacey planned and I was eager to get to it. First up: breakfast.
“I thought you said you were terrible at cooking?” Lacey said when I showed up with a waffle iron and ingredients for waffles.
“I am, but waffles are the one thing I make really well. It’s a gift.” I set the waffle iron on the table next to her coffeemaker and got to work mixing the ingredients. I’d also brought whipped cream and blueberries that I’d pilfered from Violet Hill. What they didn’t know wouldn’t hurt them. Plus, Daisy had been watching the whole time I’d been stealing them from the walk-in and hadn’t said a word.
“A gift, huh?” she said, coming up beside me and sliding her hand down my back. I leaned into her and she kissed me on the cheek.
“A gift,” I said, turning so I could meet her lips. She still took my breath away when she kissed me. Every single time. I didn’t know when or if I’d ever find someone who kissed me like that ever again.
“You’re such a good kisser,” she said when she pulled back.
“Am I?” I wasn’t aware that I had any particular talent at it. I mean, I’d never had any complaints, but I’d never won any awards for it either.
“Mmmm, yes. You make me forget about everything.” She made a little groan of frustration and stepped away from me.
“So, I got you some stuff for your shoot. And I can do your hair and makeup if you want. Or if you want to go natural, we can do that too.” I wasn’t sure. I kind of liked the idea of getting all dolled up, but I wasn’t really like that normally. Not that I didn’t wear makeup, but I tended to keep it on the light side. My hair was dramatic enough already.
“Can we do maybe a little bit?” I asked.
“Of course. This is all you. This is all for you. Whatever you want to do that’s what we’ll do.” I liked the sound of that.
“Can I see what you bought?” I wasn’t sure if I wanted to. This photo shoot was already going to be tough.
Lacey went and got a bag from under the bed.
“So I got a little bit of everything.” She dumped it out on the bed. Oh. She really had gotten everything. There were plain cotton tanks with briefs, lacy bralettes, a sport’s bra, a pair of lacy boxer shorts, a barely-there thong and one other thing. A corset.
“I estimated on the sizes,” she said sheepishly. She’d estimated perfectly.
“They all look good,” I said, running my hands along the pink lace bralette. It had matching panties and was so pretty and delicate. I’d never owned anything like that. I’d always worried the lace would just get torn in the wash.
“You like?” she asked, coming to stand beside me.
“I do. Very much. You didn’t have to do this.” I turned and found her face so close. Her eyes were more gold today. Almost like topaz.
“I wanted to. I wanted to buy something pretty for you to wear.”
I brushed my hand against her cheek.
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” I paused with our lips just a whisper away from each other.
“Do you think I could maybe see you in something like this,” I asked, brushing my fingers along the lace set again. Lacey blushed like a sunset.
“I don’t know. I’m so self-conscious about my body.” I kissed her nose.
“It’s okay. Just an idea. But no pressure. You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to, gorgeous.” I put my arms around her and squeezed.
“You’re the best,” Lacey said.
“No, I’m not. I’m terrible.” We both laughed.
“So, anyway,” she said, breaking the hug. “I thought you could pick what you wanted and discard the rest.” I picked up the lace bralette and matching panties and one of the cotton tanks.
“I don’t really think I’m a corset girl. I don’t fancy my ribs being smushed.” I shuddered.
“Yeah, I don’t blame you there. Okay, I’ll take the rest of these back if you don’t want them.” Lacey gathered up the rest of the items and put them back under the bed.
“So, I can get the studio tomorrow for a few hours, if you’re ready to do it.” Oh, wow. That was quick. I was kind of hoping I’d have a few more days to mentally prepare, but whatever. I could do this. I wasn’t going to be naked, for fuck’s sake.
“Sure, sounds good. Do I need to do anything special?” Lacey ran her hand through my hair.
“Just bring your gorgeous self and anything you’d like to wear. I have some jewelry in the studio already if you want to wear some. And some hair accessories, although, I think a simple shoot would be best for you. Is there any music you’d like?” Oh, I hadn’t thought of that. There was a lot to this thing.
“Um, whatever. I’m not picky.” Now I had a full day to stress and hope that she didn’t notice the cellulite on my ass, or the stretch marks on my thighs or that weird little scar I had on my belly from when I fell off my bike.
I mean, I wasn’t obsessed with my flaws, but photo shoots tended to kind of bring that stuff out in the open. I hoped that I looked okay.
“You’re going to be gorgeous,” she said, wrapping some of my hair around her fingers and tugging gently.
“I hope so.”
*^*^*
There was one thing I needed to do before the shoot. Re-dye my hair. Lacey offered to help and I didn’t think she knew what she was in for.
“Gloves,” I said. “Gloves, gloves, gloves. Unless you want purple hands.” She laughed and said maybe she did. We did the dyeing job in her bathroom and it was hilarious and we had a few mishaps and my mind drifted into “what if we did this all the time?” What if Lacey was my hair-dye helper for more than this one time? I really wished my brain would stop running with this stuff. It made it harder to think about her saying goodbye in a week. Not that I was counting the hours I had left or anything . . .
“And now we wait,” I said as she set the timer and hid the white towels that were now splotched with purple. The inn was totally going to find those and bill her.
“I’ll reimburse you,” I said.
“Don’t worry about it.” She kissed my cheek and put on some music and started doing a goofy dance to keep me entertained. I started laughing so hard that I couldn’t stop and tears streamed down my face.
“Stop it, I’m going to die,” I wheezed as she moon-walked around the bathroom with a goofy smile on her face. My lungs were dying.
“Stop what? This?” She turned and did a dorky little butt wiggle.
“Yes, that! Stop. I can’t breathe.” Lacey started to laugh as I wiped my eyes. The timer went off and she took me over to the sink to wash out the color.
“If this was blue, it would look like Smurf blood.” I snorted and nearly banged my head on the sink.
“You have to stop being so funny or I’m going to injure myself.” She rinsed the color out and then wrapped my head in a towel.
“This is the most fun I’ve had in a bathroom in a long time,” she said and I started giggling again. She’d hit my funny bone and now I couldn’t seem to stop.
“Ugh, I didn’t mean that the way it sounded!” she wailed, but all was lost. We both had a laughing fit until we were rolling around on the floor and gasping.
“I can’t remember the last time I had this much fun with anyone,” she said, reaching out and taking my hand.
“Same,” I said, turning my head to meet her eyes. We were laying on a bathroom floor, but it didn’t matter. My hair was wrapped in a towel, but it didn’t matter. I was right where I wanted to be. With Lacey Cole.
“I really like you, Anna,” she said in a hushed voice.
“I really like you, Lacey.” She took a deep breath.
“That’s kind of a problem.”
Yes, it was.
“You’re leaving in a week,” I said. It was actually six days, not that I was counting.
“I know. But I’ve already pushed leaving by a week. What’s another?” But what would two more weeks do? She’d still be leaving, she’d just be prolonging it and making it worse. Perhaps it was better to end things now. Then my heart would only be a little broken.
I’d recover. Probably.
“I don’t know what to do here,” she said.
“I know. It’s a rock and a hard place.” She groaned and looked at the ceiling.
“If I go, I could come back. I could always come back.” She could, that was true. But what was I supposed to do? Just sit and wait for her? That wasn’t fair to either of us.
“I don’t know,” I said.
“Me either.”
All we could do was enjoy the next few days and see what happened. Six days could change everything.