“You mean she wasn’t just a nice body in your bed for a night?”

Dane looked at Caroline, surprised once more by her old friend’s ability to understand her.

“I guess so.”

“So, what did you do with her?” Caroline asked, aware that Dane hadn’t talked about anyone in particular for a long time. She had always hoped that Dane would get serious about someone again, but it had never seemed to happen. Dane kept her feelings deeply hidden, even from Caroline.

“Nothing,” Dane said.

“Nothing?”

Dane smiled ruefully. “Well, I brought her home, of course.”

“Of course!”

“Cut it out!” Dane said. “I’m not that much of a stud, you know. It’s not like I have a different woman in my bed every night!”

Caroline nodded. “I know. But, you don’t do too badly. So, then what happened?”

“She left. And I came here to see you and Baron.”

Caroline looked into Dane’s blue eyes with surprise. “This was last night?”

Dane nodded. “Uh-huh.”

“Well, come on, woman—tell me! What’s she like?”

“I don’t know, just a woman.”

“Just a woman! There is no such thing. Is she young, old, tall, short, fat, thin, butch, femme, right, left—”

Dane grinned. “She’s gorgeous, actually. Black hair, gray eyes and a great body. Rides a motorcycle, likes leather, and she has a brain.”

“Sounds nice.”

“Yes.”

“So—?”

“So what?” Dane asked, pretending not to understand.

“So what are you doing about it? Do you have her number? Are you going to call her?”

Dane was silent for a moment.

“No, I don’t have her number. And no, I’m not going to call her.”

“Why the hell not?” Caroline asked impatiently.

“Because I don’t feel like it!” Dane replied shortly as she stood up and stretched. Baron got up immediately and looked up at her expectantly.

“I think I’ll take Baron through his paces,” Dane said as she walked away. “He’s been taking it easy too long.”

“And you’ve been hiding too long,” Caroline muttered at Dane’s retreating figure.

CHAPTER FIVE

KYLE CLOSED THE door gently behind her and surveyed the room before her. Benches lined the walls, piled high with half-finished pieces and dismantled forms. Paint cans and brushes were neatly stacked in one corner and a central worktable lay buried under current projects. A fine layer of wood dust covered everything, and particles big enough to touch floated lightly on the still air.

She slipped on her coveralls and tuned the radio to the station she was looking for, the one that played all the ‘oldies’. As was often her habit when she had something on her mind, she sought refuge in work. She began hand sanding the top of a table, her thoughts drifting. Scenes from the bar kaleidoscoped in her mind, and she was back in the smoke-filled room, music and bodies swirling around her. Dane’s face appeared before her, imperious in her aloofness, just a hint of a smile lifting the corner of her mouth. Kyle stepped into her arms again, and they danced. The moment flickered by too quickly as they took the cold ride on her cycle through the dark early morning streets. The strangeness of their silent entrance into Dane’s house and the delicate balance of their love exchange stirred unfamiliar emotions. She was excited and yet uncertain. How was she to reclaim that moment of intense union with a woman she barely knew? Somehow, she sensed she would not see Dane again, and that thought saddened her.

Rarely had she been so moved by someone physically, only to have it end so quickly. Usually her sexual involvements were superficial, engaging little of her emotionally. She never missed the deeper aspects of a relationship—she had friends for that. But with Dane, it had not been the kind of sexual encounter she was used to. By the very nature of their exchange, she had been changed. By allowing Dane to restrain her, and then to control her, Kyle had granted Dane a degree of trust she never shared with casual lovers. Why she had done it didn’t matter — the fact was that she had done it, and she had been touched in some way so fundamental to her being that she felt empty now in the ordinary light of day. She wondered if she would ever be content again without that kind of intensity. She feared Dane had released a hunger that could easily consume her.

She sighed and lightly dusted the top of the table. The swirling grain appeared and rewarded her labors. When she applied a light oil, the wood took on a dark warmth before her eyes. She set the piece aside to dry and began on another. She worked steadily for a long time, lulled by the old romantic tunes that filled the air. When she finally straightened up, she grimaced at the cramp in her lower back.

“Too much activity,” she thought to herself, remembering the night before. “Still, it was worth it.”

The phone rang and startled her back into the present.

“Hello?” she said, resting one hip up on the counter.

“Hi! Where are you?” a familiar voice said.

“In the shop.”

“Oh no, my friend. Not on a beautiful Saturday afternoon. The wine is chilled, the sun is coming around to the deck, and I have been deserted. When can you be here?”

“Where’s Roger?”

“Roger who?”

Kyle laughed. “The handsome man you live with.”

“Oh, him. He has some terribly important something or other to do at the hospital. I’ve written him off for the day. So are you coming over, or what?”

“Well, I’m right in the middle of finishing that table.”

“It doesn’t have to be done until next weekend.”

Kyle sighed. “I know, but…”

“Kyle!”

“Oh, all right. I’ll be there in an hour.”

“Thirty minutes.”

Kyle laughed. “I’m leaving now.” She hung up the receiver, off pulled her coveralls, and headed for the door.

Twenty miles south of Kyle’s coastal community, Anne pulled the jeep out onto the highway and reached for Caroline’s hand. “I’m glad you’re home.”

Caroline squeezed Anne’s fingers lightly and smiled over at her.

“So am I, babe. I missed you.”

Anne deftly negotiated the heavy expressway traffic, smiling softly.

“Oh yeah?”

“Yes—your sparkling conversation, your great dinners, your wonderful backrubs, and—”

Anne looked over at her lover. “And?”

“And your tender services.”

“Let’s talk about that some more!” Anne said lightly, as she drove off the exit toward their apartment.

“I’ve got a better idea, Caroline replied.

“What?”

Caroline smiled. “Let’s not talk at all.”

Anne nodded as she pulled into a parking space and switched off the ignition. Once in the apartment, Anne went directly to the kitchen and opened the bottle of champagne she had placed there that morning. The shower was running in the other room as she filled a plate with cheese, crackers and fruit. She arranged iced glasses on a tray and folded linen napkins into small brass rings, completing the arrangement with small candles.

She carried the tray to the bedside table in their room and sat down on the edge of the bed to remove her boots. Caroline walked in with a towel draped around her and smiled at the top of her lover’s curl-covered head.

“Leave your jeans on.”

Anne looked up, her face flushed. She stood and unbuttoned her shirt, stripping it off to expose her small firm breasts. Caroline came to stand before her, turned her back, and handed Anne her towel. Anne slowly dried Caroline’s back, gently rubbing the nubbly cotton down the soft curves of her thighs. When she was done, she folded the towel neatly and placed it on a chair.

Caroline stretched out on the satin comforter covering their bed and reached for one of the glasses of champagne. She sipped slowly, her gaze traveling appreciatively over Anne’s body.

“Why don’t you pull the drapes,” Caroline said softly. “And light the candles.”

Finished, Anne looked at her questioningly.

“Would you like some of this very nice champagne?”

Anne nodded, not moving.

“You’ll have to earn it first.”

Anne gently climbed onto the bed and stretched out between Caroline’s parted legs, resting her face softly against the inner curve of Caroline’s thigh.

Caroline laced her fingers through the wispy curls on top of Anne’s head and guided Anne’s face toward her. As Anne began to kiss her lightly, Caroline closed her eyes and took another sip of the cool, bubbly liquid. Yes, it was very good to be home.

Kyle turned her motorcycle up the tree-lined drive leading to a wood structure nestled at the top of the knoll. The house commanded a view of the ocean far below, while blending imperceptibly into the hillside where it stood. Kyle walked around the side of the house to the deck in the rear. Mounting the steps to the raised platform, she smiled at the fashionably dressed woman stretched out in a recliner in the sun.

“Hi, Nance,” she said as she climbed to the top step.

“Hi yourself,” her friend said, shading her eyes with one well-manicured hand. “Could you pour me some more wine?”

Kyle grinned. “Sure.” The wine bottle stood chilling in a gold-plated bucket, and an empty glass of expensive crystal stood beside it on the tray. She refilled the half-empty glass by Nancy’s chair and then poured a second for herself.

They reclined in silence for a while until the small trim woman beside her sat up with a sigh.

“So, where were you last night?”

Kyle looked up in surprise. “What do you mean?”

“I called at eight this morning—I know you never sleep late. And no one answered. Therefore, you must have been out somewhere last night.”

“How do you know I didn’t get up early and go out this morning?”

“Kyle!” her pretty companion said, pretending to pout.