Page 105

“Hey, Vanessa! Isn’t this a cool house? Hey, Megan!”

“Please tell me you haven’t been drinking whatever it is you’re making just before we go to work?”

“Relax, I only had a sip; just to sample that it was coming out right. I’m making these for Ang and Desiree. I think it’s safe to say they’ll be shitfaced before lunch. And for Sienna. Oh, this is Sienna, by the way! Sienna…Vanessa, my boss and Megan, her girlfriend.”

Vanessa and Megan shared a look. Megan was smirking, a twinkle in her eyes, seemingly amused at Chloë’s mistake. Vanessa was relieved. She also decided she wouldn’t correct Chloë, even though she remembered telling Chloë that her and Megan were just having a fling.

Sienna shook Megan’s hand first and complimented her on the Audrey Hepburn-style sunhat Megan was wearing. Then she shook Vanessa’s hand. There wasn’t a repeat of the earlier ogling and her smile and attitude seemed genuine, so Vanessa thought maybe the look from before had been just a one-off kind of thing.

“I don’t have to work today, so can I get one?” Megan asked, nudging Vanessa playfully.

“Fuck yeah!” Chloë said. “There’s more than enough.”

“Oh God, are you going to be shitfaced before lunch, too?” Vanessa asked.

“Uh, hello! This is my birthday celebration weekend!” Megan teased.

“Yes, Chloë told me about that,” Sienna said. “Happy birthday!”

“Thank you. I hope Chloë shared the recipe of what’s in the blender because it looks amazing.”

Vanessa started moving towards the stairs.

“We’ll catch you later” she called back to the young women. “Chloë? No more sampling!”

Upstairs, she and Megan found their room. Vanessa rolled her eyes mentally at the cliché nautical décor. So obvious and safe. But it had a king-size bed, a private bathroom and a balcony which overlooked the beach. The roar of the ocean was so loud it was as if Vanessa had stepped into some kind of tranquility room in a luxury spa.

“Don’t worry,” Megan said now that they were alone, “I won’t get shitfaced.”

Vanessa, having left her suitcase by the bed, took hold of Megan’s hips.

“Good, because I don’t take advantage of wasted women. Besides, I don’t want our beach house weekend to start off with me having to keep your hair out of the toilet while you puke your guts out.”

“I promise I’ll limit myself to only one of Chloë’s concoctions. Although, that woman seems like she knows how to mix a pretty mean drink.”

“Yeah, Chloë is pretty dangerous when you get her around bottles of booze. She turns into a mad scientist. So, what will you do while I’m gone?” Vanessa asked.

Megan shrugged.

“Hang out with the others a bit, especially once Abby gets here. Maybe do some drawing or some reading.” She pulled Vanessa a little closer. “I think I’ll also fantasize about how you were such a boss downstairs with Chloë. Yum!”

Vanessa then became aware of Megan’s fingers unbuttoning her jeans. Vanessa grabbed Megan’s hand to stop her.

“I don’t have time!” Vanessa said, chuckling. “I need to leave soon and I’d rather not be a complete and total sticky mess down there when I do.”

Megan pouted adorably but acquiesced.

“I guess you’re right,” she said with a sigh. “Let’s go chill with the others a bit before you go.”

Chapter 34

Abby arrived just as Vanessa and Chloë were leaving. She brought lunch, in the form of bags full of groceries that were intended for preparing to make a meal for everyone. She also came with the new woman she’d been seeing, Kat. Like Abby, Kat was butch, with an almost military buzzcut and a physique that made Megan think of a linebacker. But all Megan cared about was that Kat was as friendly as anybody she’d ever met and that she was really good at making Abby laugh.

Megan spent some time with them in the kitchen before deciding to let them get on with their cooking. She poured herself another one of Chloë’s cocktails, forgetting her promise to Vanessa earlier to just have one, and went back out to the second-floor deck, expecting to find Angela and Desiree still in the pool, but finding only Sienna there instead.

“They went to their room,” Sienna told Megan, floating on her back in the water. “Something tells me it wasn’t to take a nap,” she added with a grin. “You coming in?”

Megan did have one of the bikinis she brought for the weekend on, having changed into it after Vanessa left. She had even sent a selfie of her wearing it to Vanessa, being sure to have one of the top’s spaghetti straps provocatively falling off her shoulder in the photo.