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“I just need a minute. Give me a minute.”

On that, Grace stormed into the bathroom and slammed the door shut behind her. Hard enough to give the walls a good rattle. Olivia winced. She released a careful breath.So,that went well…

chapter 18

Grace held onto the sink with both hands and slowly counted to ten in her head. And again. One, two, three...Breathe.Four, five, six…Blood in the snow.Strange how she struggled to remember other things, yet could always recall that one detail so vividly. Maybe it was because the drops of blood had been in such stark contrast with the purity of the snow. Brilliant white and vibrant red. Beautiful. And a deadly sign too. Her throat constricted. Her chest tightened. She felt like choking.Dammit. Breathe!She did and splashed ice-cold water over her face. That helped. Then she sat on the floor and focused on clearing her head completely. She was good at that. Meditation had been a lifesaver at one point in her life. Slowly, her peace returned. And even more importantly, her control. After a couple more minutes, a discreet knock on the door made her look up.

“Grace? Look, I’ll leave you alone if you want, but first, tell me you’re okay in there. Please.”

Catching real concern in Olivia’s voice, Grace scrambled to stand up and she opened the door. “Hey.”

“Hey…” Olivia studied her face intently for a few seconds before flashing a relieved smile. “You’re okay.”

“Yes.” Grace nodded. “All good now.”

When Olivia reached for her, it felt like the most natural thing in the world. When she pulled her into a warm embrace, Grace let it happen. And not just that, but she allowed herself to be held. There was a huge difference between simply accepting a hug politely, remotely, and sinking deep into a woman’s arms. Grace gave herself permission to do that now. Today they had been caught in a storm, side-tracked, delayed… A quote from Stephen King popped into her head.“I guess when you turn off the main road, you have to be prepared to see some funny houses.”

Not that Grace expected demon clowns to come knocking on the door any time soon; the two guys out there had been enough of a horror show. But the evening still struck her as a significant detour off her own track. An annoying disruption, or a gift, depending on which way she chose to look at it. For sure, it was a chance to spend alone time with a woman she found more attractive and enticing with every minute that she was in her company. Not her type, certainly… However, this had very little to do with usual lesbian stereotypes. Butch looked good on Olivia Bianchi. Outstanding. Grace’s kind just happened to be the ones she paid for, women who delivered what she asked for without requiring a lick of personal involvement in return. No emotions. No feelings. No complications.Easy.And Grace was always in control of these interactions. She decided what happened, when, where, and how. But today, decisions had not been hers to make. A well-timed storm, a convenient location... Only one remaining room at the only motel in town. One bed. And no escape. Not that Grace wanted to. And though the thought was startling, and made her head spin, she perhaps would not mind Olivia Bianchi being in charge of some of the decisions for a while. Like delivering a hug that made her want to close her eyes, and rest there for a long time.

“Here,” Olivia said after a while. “For you.”

“Thanks.” Grace took the bottle of water she offered. They sat at the end of the bed, side by side. Close. “Sorry about this, Olivia.”

“This?”

“Drama,” Grace shrugged.

“Ah.” Olivia seemed amused at her choice of words. “You don’t give yourself much slack, do you?”

Grace simply ignored that. “How are you feeling?”

“Much better now that I can see you are too.” Olivia clasped her free hand in hers and laced their fingers together. Again, so natural and easy. “Hey, Grace?”

“Yes?”

“Thank you.”

“What for?”

“Getting us out of a nasty situation tonight.”

Grace heard herself sharing stuff she never did. The words just came out of her mouth. “There was another time like this, you know? Many years ago, when I failed to do that.”

She glanced at her and found Olivia smiling back with eyes full of warmth and understanding. “I thought it might be something like that, yes.”

“How?”

“Your reaction… I didn’t think it was because you felt bad about breaking that guy’s finger.”

“No. And I didn’t break it, actually. Just pulled the joint out of alignment. Dislocated it.”

“Oh?” Olivia frowned in quick wonder. “I thought it must have snapped in several places from the way he screamed and carried on.” The frown eased into a more contemptuous chuckle. “Wimp.”

“Yeah.” It was defiantly sexy, the way she said that.

“I must admit I was a little scared, though. You know?”

“At least you didn’t look it. So, good for you. They would have fed on it otherwise. Like beasts.”