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The wedding was over. Tracy and Kevin had gone off on their honeymoon; the reception had wound down, and the rest of the guests had trickled back to their rooms to sleep. Even Mom and Pete had gone up, Pete accompanying one of Tracy’s bridesmaids and Mom still giving orders about the clean-up.
But Myka wasn’t tired, still on East Coast time and used to staying up late working besides, so she was lending a hand gathering trash and folding up the chairs. It was relaxing, mindless work, and it kept her hands busy and distracted her from feeling sorry for herself. From thinking about how radiantly happy Tracy had looked, and how lonely her apartment would feel when she returned to D.C.
Unfortunately, the crew Mom had hired was efficient, and fairly quickly all the dishes had been trundled off by the caterers, all the linens had been gathered by the cleaning service, all the furniture had been claimed by the rental company, and the ground floor had emptied out, leaving Myka alone with the innkeeper, a rather lovely woman named Leena.
Myka was intimately familiar with the etiquette of hotels, the ways that employees and guests looked past each other until there was a need to be filled, but she wasn’t sure if that translated to a picturesque bed and breakfast out in the middle of nowhere in South Dakota. So when Leena came up to her on veranda with a bottle of champagne and two glasses she startled.
“You looked like you could use some more of this.”
Leena’s fingers brushed hers as she handed over a glass, and Myka’s voice was high as she said “Thanks.”
Leena poured the champagne with a steady hand, then stepped back to settle into the porch swing just behind where Myka was leaning on the railing and looking out over the yard. Myka dithered for a moment, wondering if she was supposed to ignore her or make small talk, then turned around. Leena was sitting at the far end of the swing from where Myka was standing, staring off into the distance. It was definitely the attitude of someone who expected to be ignored, and Myka knew she had made the wrong choice. She took a gulp from her glass, flustered.
She nearly choked. “Oh my god, this is awful!”
Myka’s voice was loud in the hushed night and she blushed fiercely. She opened her mouth to apologize, but Leena was already turning to her, face breaking into a teasing grin. “I know. I tried to tell your sister that the champagne that came with the wedding package was undrinkable, but she didn’t believe me.”
Leena’s smile was really pretty. Myka found herself shifting from foot to foot and tucking a stray curl behind her ear as she returned it. The movement caught Leena’s attention, and she patted the swing bench next to her.
“Your feet must ache. Come sit down.”
Leena was still smiling, expression inviting, so Myka, emboldened, sat down in the middle of the bench, where their legs would almost touch. Leena’s smile brightened at that and she held Myka’s eyes for a long moment.
They both looked away at the same time, and this time Leena took a swallow of her champagne, grimacing as it hit her throat. Even that expression looked good on her, lips pursing and nose crinkling adorably.
They sat in silence for a few minutes, then Leena spoke. “So you live in Washington D.C.?”
“Yeah.”
“What’s that like? I’ve never been anywhere farther than Sioux Falls.”
Myka blinked, trying to figure out where to start. “It’s. . . it’s crowded, and smaller than you’d think, and it’s always hotter and more humid than it should be.”
Leena turned back to look at her and tilted her head to the side. “You don’t sound like you like it very much.”
“It’s where my job is, and I work a lot, but I don’t. . . it’s not quite home, you know?”
“So where’s home?”
That was the question, wasn’t it? “I don’t know anymore.” She should say ‘Colorado Springs,’ but Myka had spent the last two days surrounded by family, and she couldn’t bring herself to lie. So she changed the subject. “So are you from here?”
Leena smiled gently like she knew what Myka was doing. “Yeah. This place was my grandmother’s, and my family’s kept it going for almost fifty years.”
“That’s nice.”
Leena took a deep breath. “Yeah. I didn’t always want to be here – I would have gone away to college if my mom hadn’t gotten sick – but now I like being a part of my family’s history this way.”
Myka bit her lip against a wave of jealousy that she really had no right to feel when she had gotten as far away as possible from Dad’s bookstore.
Silence fell between them again. Myka toyed with the stem of her glass, but when she nearly dropped it she set it down next to her feet. She kept her hands still for a few moments, but then couldn’t help but start fiddling with the skirt of her dress. Leena, by contrast, was very still next to her, one hand wrapped around her own glass and the other curled loosely in her lap. She looked far away.
Myka cast around for something to say to draw Leena back out. “There are a lot more stars out here than back in D.C.” If only her best idea hadn’t been so inane.
But Leena smiled again, glancing at Myka out of the corner of her eye. “It is a beautiful sky.”
“I always wanted to learn the constellations. I used to have a telescope, and a bunch of astronomy books, and the sky in Colorado was as clear as it is here, but I could never pick out the patterns.”
And then Leena was pressed up against Myka’s side, warm compared to the night air. She was pointing to a spot near the horizon. “That’s scorpius. See those two bright stars close together? Those are its eyes. Then you can trace down its body. . .”
Leena was wearing some sort of light floral scent, probably gardenias, and her blouse moved silkily against Myka’s bare shoulder. Myka would probably never have to see this woman again, to be hurt or embarrassed if this went badly.
So she turned her head quickly, before she could lose her nerve, and pressed her lips to the side of Leena’s mouth.
Myka could just make out the surprised widening of Leena’s eyes, then Leena was pushing her away.
Her voice was hushed. “What about your partner?”
It took Myka a moment to work out what she was asking. “My partner. . . oh! Pete! No, Pete’s my work partner, not my sex partner!”
And then Leena was laughing again, and turning to wrap her arms around Myka’s neck, and pulling her down into a heated kiss. Myka kissed back, running her hands up and down Leena’s sides, then slipping them underneath her blouse to touch warm skin.
It was awkward, both of their arms tangling and held too tight by the press of their bodies. Myka pulled back for a moment, her hair already coming loose from the up-do. “Straddle me.”
Leena hissed a “Yes” even as she was doing as Myka asked, kneeling up on the bench and swinging her leg over Myka’s hips, setting their bench swaying. They were closer in height this way, and Leena went back to ravaging Myka’s mouth and running her hands through Myka’s hair even as Myka buried her hands under the waistband of Leena’s pants to dig into the flesh of her backside. She was so soft everywhere Myka touched, and Myka pressed her fingers deep into Leena’s hips, her thighs, wanting but not quite daring to leave a mark.
Leena moaned and pushed herself down and back against Myka’s hands, her pants-clad legs sliding over the satin of Myka’s dress. Myka could feel the arousal pooling deep in her core, slicking her panties. They made out on the swing for what seemed like hours, then Leena slowly pulled back.
“Shall we go somewhere a bit more comfortable?”
Myka grinned back at her as she stood, then let Leena pull her into a stand. “As long as that somewhere has a bed!”