Full Circle Read online

  “We can handle it. Any chance you’ll move up the ladder and take over Brannon’s position?”

  “At this point, I don’t know if there will be a position to move up to. I do know changes are in the works. All I can do, is do what’s asked of me, knowing my efforts are finally being appreciated.”

  “Good, on the changes.” Mikaela had long thought the company structure lacked efficiency.

  “Between you and me, that’s one of the reasons Bill was brought in. He’s spent the last six months learning the ins and outs.”

  “And now it’s time to act.” She polished off her sandwich. “I sort of have plans tonight. Should I reschedule?”

  “You mean you didn’t wear that red dress for me?”

  “Funny. Casey talked me into going out for happy hour. There’s this place near her office called Pool. Supposed to be a hot spot for lesbians on Wednesday nights.”

  “Go, enjoy. Not too much. There’ll be plenty of work waiting for you in the morning.”

  Mikaela ripped open her bag of chips. “I don’t expect to have that good a time. Maybe a couple of drinks, a little flirting, some pool. Not necessarily in that order.”

  “I think I remember those days. Long ago, before I laid eyes on Harry and knew he was the one.”

  “Do you miss those days?”

  “God, no. Harry and Jason are enough for me.” Talya picked up a photo of her husband and ten-year-old son. He looked like her with his father’s warm brown eyes. “You can have your happy hour. I’ll take my boys.”

  “There’s a lot to be said for that.” Mikaela didn’t see kids in her future, but having someone to still be in love with twelve years down the road sounded good.

  * * *

  “Thanks for this.” Mikaela closed the back door of Casey’s SUV. She’d decided it was smarter to store her extra belongings in Casey’s car rather than lug them around for the evening. The garage where Casey parked her car was an easy block from Pool.

  “Makes sense,” Casey said as they entered the elevator. Mikaela had refused to walk down three flights of stairs in her heels. “Now you only have to worry about that miniscule thing you call a purse.”

  “And don’t I know it.” She fluffed her hair and exited the elevator. “I hope this place is worth my efforts.”

  “We’ll know soon enough.”

  Judging by the steady throng of women entering the place, Mikaela thought Pool was going to live up to its reputation.

  “This is a good sign,” Casey said of the noise spilling out into the street from the opened door.

  “Of good taste in music.” Mikaela swung her hips from side to side in tune with the heavy beat. Once inside, she removed her coat and blinked, adjusting her eyes to the darkness. They bypassed the empty hostess stand and wove their way past the mostly empty tables at the front of a large room to a long, busy bar at the back. The crowd mingling near the bar was mostly female, ranging in age from twenties to sixties, by Mikaela’s guess.

  “Was I right?” Casey asked softly.

  “Oh, yeah,” she replied, letting her gaze linger on a particularly attractive butch, her back against the bar, muscular arms crossed. Mikaela smiled and flipped her hair over her shoulder before looking away. “Midori sour,” she said in response to Casey’s gesture toward the bar. She was in the mood for something light and sweet to match her mood.

  “Couldn’t stay away from me, huh?”

  Mikaela didn’t curse, but she wanted to. She turned and for the second time today found herself faced with her ex. It was petty, but she was pleased her heels gave her an advantage of a couple of inches. If she hadn’t been caught in a haze of irritation she might have admitted that Nina looked good. She had smooth brown skin and big brown eyes that used to make Mikaela feel like she was everything. Then there were the cut muscles, shown off by a tight white T-shirt. The whole package used to work on her, but no more.

  “My luck is gold for running into you like this.” Nina smiled. “You look good.”

  The cocky attitude was such a turnoff now that she wondered why she’d thought it cute. “I’m here, you’re here, but we are not here together. So go find somebody else to bug,” she said with a wave of dismissal.

  “You can’t even talk to me now?”

  “Did you not hear me earlier today?” She held up a hand to stop Nina’s response. “Let me clarify it for you then. We have nothing to talk about. Not now, not ever! Bye-bye.” Once again, Nina grabbed her arm as she tried to walk away. The situation with Nina was getting old and stupid.

  “I can admit I was wrong. Hear me out, I’m only human.”

  Mikaela rolled her eyes at the “human” part. It was a phrase Nina threw out when she didn’t want to accept responsibility for her actions. She could have debated with Nina about the being human part and won that match. In the month after their breakup, she’d done so ad nauseam. But the outcome had always been a resounding “not human.” Bitches from hell would never be classified as human in her world.

  Being no dummy, she kept those thoughts to herself, saying, “Listen, I haven’t wanted to say this, but you weren’t wrong. We were done. We’re still done, so take your hand off my arm and we’ll call it even.”

  “Why are you here exactly?” Casey handed Mikaela her drink and gave Nina a decidedly cool look.

  “Fuck off!”

  “That was fun.” Mikaela downed half of her drink after watching Nina stalk off—toward the exit, thank God. From now on she was going to do a better job of picking women. Maybe dig a little deeper past the yummy butchly exterior to the soul.

  “I hear the pool room is the place to be tonight,” Casey said.

  “Then why are we here?”

  They had to go through a dark narrow hallway and down a flight of stairs to get there. Mikaela quickly discovered that “pool room” was a misnomer. In addition to eight pool tables, there were three booths big enough for large groups, an assortment of plate-sized tables and another bar. The music didn’t attempt to drown out the conversations and laughter coming from the room’s many occupants.

  “I vote we hang at the bar after I put money down for a game.”

  “Where? Do you see the number of people down here? And I thought the other bar was crowded.”

  Casey scanned the bar area and her eyes widened.

  Mikaela scanned the women mingling around the bar, but she didn’t see who might have drawn Casey’s obvious interest. “What?”

  “What ‘what’?”

  “Don’t play me.” She gave Casey a light elbow jab. “Who were you looking at?”

  Casey pulled some bills from the pocket of her tight-fitting jeans. “Nobody.”

  “Fine, don’t—” Mikaela sucked in a breath and all thoughts of looking past yummy exteriors to the soul flew from her head.

  “What?” Casey demanded.

  “Oh God, she’s here.” The words sounded like a sigh.

  “Nina?” Casey asked, frowning.

  “No! Sara. Sara Gordon.” At Casey’s blank look she added, “The goddess of a security guard from work that I told you about. Second stool from the left. Short blondish hair, black leather jacket, broad shoulders. You probably can’t see her now.” She exhaled. “I wonder if she’s here with anyone. Of course she is. Look at her.”

  “Can’t.”

  “You’ll have to take my word. She’s gorgeous and gorgeous women are never alone.”

  “Could be. Can’t hurt to say ‘hey’ and get us another round while you’re over there.” Casey thrust some money at Mikaela, her attention on one of the pool tables. “I think they’re wrapping up,” she said, moving toward the table. “Munchies wouldn’t hurt.”

  “Take my coat and grab a table.”

  “Will do.” Casey retraced her steps, grabbed the coat, then strode off, clearly on a mission.

  Mikaela’s steps faltered as she got close enough to the bar to see Sara shake off a stunning blonde who was thin in a way she would never be. Th
at could only mean she was here with somebody, she thought. But she wouldn’t let that bother her. She was only after a friendly hello, and she’d be rude if she didn’t give Sara the chance to check her out in the red dress. It was her civic duty, and her grandmother would come back to haunt her if she shirked her civic duty.

  She pushed through until she was standing next to Sara’s stool and decided to go for casual but not surprised. “Hey. Thought that was you.” Okay, so maybe she preened a little when Sara’s eyes widened in obvious admiration. Okay, so maybe it was a lot.

  “Hi. Haven’t seen you here before.”

  “First time. Nice place.” Lame, lame, lame. Her vocabulary would pick this time to desert her. “You come here regularly?”

  Sara picked at the paper label on her beer. “I wouldn’t say a lot. I do like the Wednesday prices and the chance to play pool.”

  “Oh? My friend Casey and I are trying to get a game in. You could join us later. That is, if you want to.” A nervous laugh escaped. “No pressure.”

  “You a pool shark?”

  For a second Mikaela let herself believe she was being flirted with. That Sara’s warm smile was more than friendliness. “Me? I haven’t played regularly in a long time.”

  “Meaning you had skills,” Sara pointed out quickly.

  “Okay, got me there. Friend had a table when I was growing up. We spent our high school afternoons playing while waiting for Prince Charming to show up. Wasn’t till college that we realized we should have been out looking for Princess Charming.” She shrugged. “Live and learn, right? Think about my offer.” Thinking she’d said more than enough, Mikaela edged closer to the bar and caught the attention of one of the bartenders.

  * * *

  Sara forced herself not to watch Mikaela walk away. Instead, she argued the wisdom of even considering the offer thrown her way—an offer that to her way of thinking had little to do with the game of pool. The look in Mikaela’s eyes had been all about interest. She’d be a fool to act on that interest, no matter how much of a pleasant distraction it might prove to be. Would be, she corrected. The sparks flying between them would see to that.

  She took a sip of beer and tried not to think of how good Mikaela looked in the red dress, her hair loose and hanging about her shoulders, just begging to be touched. Sara looked around. There were other women equally bed worthy and without the surety she’d have to see them five days a week. That she’d have to be polite to even if they cursed her name or, worse, begged for more than she had to give. It might sound conceited to some, but it had happened too many times for her not to consider it.

  “Buy you a drink?”

  Sara took in the woman’s thickly-lashed bold brown eyes, the sculpted cheek bones, patrician nose and the red lips and didn’t feel even half the pull she’d felt earlier with Mikaela. Beddable, yes, and at the same time, somehow not. She shook her head. “I’m good.”

  The woman flicked back her streaky brown tresses and shrugged good-naturedly. “Oh well. Gotta try.”

  Realizing she’d been fooling herself, Sara left the bar. It was easy to spot Mikaela, seated at one of the tall tables, taking in the action at a nearby pool table. She was chewing on her bottom lip, her brow furrowed, then for some reason she looked Sara’s way and smiled. Sara felt that smile to the tips of her toes, squashing the warning signal screaming danger!

  “Hey, you found me,” Mikaela said.

  “I would have brought a refill, but I don’t know what you’re drinking.”

  Mikaela laughed. “The hard stuff. I switched to Diet Coke with a shot of cherry. With the way Casey plays, I need all my faculties.” She pointed to a nearby table.

  Sara followed the direction Mikaela was pointing and took a moment to admire the stylized playing motions of the lanky redhead, who, from the look on her opponent’s face, was cleaning up. “I can give you pointers along with the Diet Coke.” Sara took a sip of her beer and considered switching to Coke. She too needed all of her faculties, because Mikaela was like a siren’s call—impossible to resist. “What about your friend?”

  “Miller Lite. She’s a heavyweight too. But you don’t have to buy us drinks.”

  “I know. Want is a different thing.”

  “Is it ever. I accept your gracious offer.” Mikaela ran her fingers through her hair, fanning it across her shoulders.

  Sara had a hard time looking away. She wanted to be the one running her fingers through Mikaela’s silky-looking curls. She downed the rest of her beer. It didn’t slow the burn in her stomach, and maybe she didn’t want it to. Tension wasn’t always a bad thing. “Be right back.”

  “Trust me, I’m not going anywhere without getting my pointers. I’m thinking maybe they could help me win.”

  “Why do I get the feeling she likes to win?” Sara muttered as she crossed the room. “And better yet, why do I think that’s sexy?” She shook her head, needing to clear it of doubts. She wasn’t being forced and she wasn’t doing any forcing. They were adults and if they hooked up for a night, so be it. As long as both sides understood the rules, it was all good.

  She was ready to accept whatever happened by the time she made it back with the drinks.

  “Just in time.” Mikaela was standing by the pool table, watching Casey rack the balls. “I should warn you she’s in the zone. The one where she has no mercy, even for her good friend.”

  “I’ve been known to go there myself.” Sara deposited the drinks on the table and wiped her hands on her jeans.

  “Then maybe you should take the first game. I hate to lose.” Mikaela pouted playfully.

  “I’m not falling for your tricks,” Casey warned. “Hi. Casey Atoms.”

  “Sara Gordon.” She shook Casey’s hand. “You’ve got some moves.”

  “I try.”

  Mikaela snorted. “Try? Really? For that I am going first.”

  “Be my guest.”

  It soon became clear to Sara that Mikaela did not need any help. But that didn’t stop her from providing assistance. She took the opportunity to sidle next to Mikaela under the pretense of helping her line up a shot and got a whiff of perfume, making her head spin just a little with want. When the ball went into the pocket, it was almost anticlimactic.

  “Thanks.” Mikaela turned her head and their cheeks almost touched. “You have a nice touch. Can’t help wondering if it applies to…other matters.”

  Mikaela’s breath felt warm against Sara’s cheek. “It does. Or so I’ve been told.”

  The remainder of the game—and Sara thought “game” was a good word for what they were doing—passed in a series of lingering touches and heated gazes. They made a good showing but were no match for Casey’s skills.

  “Anybody else hot?” Mikaela asked, lifting her hair off her neck.

  “With the show the two of you put on, who wouldn’t be?” Casey fanned her face.

  Hearing the murmured assents, Sara became aware of the outside world, blocked out by the duet they’d been performing. She met knowing glances without embarrassment.

  “I’d pay to watch another game.” A short brunette pulled a wallet from baggy jeans. She wasn’t fast enough to duck the swat to the head from the woman standing next to her.

  “Sorry. One’s my limit,” Mikaela declared, letting her hair settle about her shoulders. She shot Sara a glance out of the corner of her eye. “And I’m hoping to have something better to do.”

  Sara’s heart raced along with the catcalls. Hadn’t she known this was what they’d been playing toward? “Your place or mine?” she whispered against Mikaela’s ear.

  “Mine. Probably closer.” Mikaela nipped at Sara’s neck, then laughed at the resultant shiver. “We’ll get there faster.”

  Sara didn’t have to be sold. She couldn’t get out of the place soon enough. The gentle tug of Mikaela’s teeth on sensitive skin had loosened a ball of heat that was now firmly lodged between her thighs. A tremor passed through her as she unlocked her car and opened the passenger
door.

  “One thing first.” Mikaela stepped up to Sara and slid her arms around her waist. “I’ve been dying to do this.” She brushed her lips against Sara’s, once, then twice. “So soft, unlike the rest of you,” she murmured.

  Sara cupped the back of Mikaela’s head and brought their lips back together. When she parted Mikaela’s lips with her tongue, the ball of fire inside her erupted into an inferno. The kiss led to more kisses that were like the sweetest of drugs, heightening the senses and blanking out everything else except need. She slid her hands down Mikaela’s back and pulled her closer until she ran out of air. Her breathing was ragged as she rested her head against the top of Mikaela’s head.

  “Unless you want to be arrested, we should leave.”

  It took a moment for Mikaela’s breathy words to compute. “Yeah” was all Sara could manage. She blew out a sharp breath and waited for the haze of desire to back off. Heat didn’t begin to describe what they had, and she wasn’t sure what would. As she walked around the car, she decided words weren’t necessary in this situation, only feelings.

  Even as she followed Mikaela’s directions, Sara focused her attention on the warm hand drawing lazy circles on her thigh. Circles that kept the flame burning high and her foot heavy on the accelerator. When she took the exit ramp to Boulevard, that wonderful hand moved up her thigh. She held her breath as her clit throbbed, waiting for contact.

  The sound of a horn pushed at the edges of the fog surrounding Sara’s brain. Some part of her realized the light was green and green meant go. Go, when all she wanted was to come.

  “You should probably make that right,” Mikaela said, her voice husky.

  Sara nodded. But when she made a right and then the next left by the drugstore, she wasn’t so frazzled she didn’t notice how close to her apartment they were. She touched her brakes as they came to a stop sign and wondered if this was the smart thing to do.

  “Almost there,” Mikaela said and moved her hand to Sara’s inner thigh and squeezed. “I for one can hardly wait.”

  Doubt flew out of her head so fast, Sara was surprised she didn’t get whiplash. She coasted through the next stop sign and soon they were through the gate and pulling into a parking space across from Mikaela’s place. She remembered to turn off the ignition before she reached for Mikaela. Kissing her slowly, deeply, erased all thoughts from Sara’s mind but the taste, the softness, the need.