Part 16 (1/2)
She laughed and brushed luxuriant blond hair over her shoulder before extending a hand. ”I'm Felicia, by the way. Zi and I are roomies. She did say she and your friend had a good time yesterday afternoon, then parted ways.”
Charmed by the engaging smile, Evie nevertheless didn't want to gossip in detail about her best friend. ”Hana is not the type to be around for breakfast.”
Felicia's eyebrows arched in what could have been exaggerated agreement or skepticism. Evie was going to have to ask Hana for more details of her tryst with Zi, but in private.
Two women crossed the casino to buy chips. Evie had seen them before-the tall brunette was extremely eye-catching. Heads turned as they pa.s.sed.
Felicia whispered, ”Isn't that...?”
Evie shook her head. ”No, but she certainly looks like it in profile. There-see?”
”Oh, you're right. Wow, though. She could play her sister. What a gorgeous body.”
The brunette grinned down at her girlfriend, who gave back a megawatt smile that left Evie feeling envious. Belatedly she realized the dealer was waiting on her, so she scratched the table to get another card. Her luck at cards held when she busted with twenty-four. ”They look happy.”
Felicia gave her an odd look, just long enough for Evie to appreciate the purple-tinged blue eyes. ”You know,” she said slowly, ”if you hang around with someone like Hana, no one's ever going to know you're a romantic at heart.”
Startled, Evie tried not to frown. She was used to being in the shadow Hana cast, but she hadn't realized women might think she was like Hana. She was unlike Hana in a number of ways, some of which she just couldn't admit. She changed the subject. ”How come you look familiar?”
Felicia's smile was a mix of pride and chagrin. ”Do you watch much TV?” She was dealt a five on the first queen, hit again and busted with an eight. The second queen drew a nine, but the dealer revealed twenty and swept up all the chips.
”Not a lot, no.”
”Well, I was on Survivor last season. One of the ones voted off in the middle as Most Likely to Be Forgotten. On the reunion show even Jeff Probst couldn't recall my name.”
”How could anyone forget you?” Lovely eyes, Evie thought, and that smile. Hair that would be wonderful on your stomach, and satiny, long arms.
Felicia shrugged. ”They just do. I'm the girl that cas.h.i.+ers look right past when they ask who's next in line.”
”They're all fools.” Realizing she was about to blush, Evie indicated the blackjack table and said, ”I'm about tapped out for today.”
”Lunch buffet ought to be underway,” Felicia said. She gave Evie a direct look of invitation.
”That sounds great.”
A few short minutes later Evie found herself speculating that Felicia might be vegetarian based on her choices of greens, lots of edamame beans and tofu chunks while pa.s.sing up lightly grilled fish and chicken. She herself couldn't resist the sea ba.s.s with lemon and basil. ”I am already overeating.”
”Why not? Next week we can get back to the grind.”
That Felicia worked out was evident in the muscles in her upper arms and firm shoulders that peeked out past the lace trim on her tank top. She was an attractive woman, Evie had to admit, and she wondered if there was any chance she was as available as her roommate had been for Hana. Not that Evie had that kind of move and confidence, but maybe if they got to know each other, by the end of the week maybe...
They drifted toward a cl.u.s.ter of tables for two some distance from the piano player and were greeted by a server offering to bring them water, coffee or tea, or anything they liked from the bar. They both opted for water and settled in.
”I hope this isn't a boring question, but what was it like being on Survivor?”
Felicia's face crinkled into a smile. ”It was really fun. Frustrating to find out about two hours in I'd been excluded from all the burgeoning alliances. As usual, everyone just looked past me. The best I could hope for was being the expendable fifth wheel. I was cooked by day two and decided to enjoy the experience. If I had to do it over again, I'd take control of my own fate, at least. I lasted as long as I did because I could climb up for coconuts.”
They chatted about wilderness living and their hometowns- Felicia lived in Santa Fe, not far from Zi-then turned briefly to their work. A long day's drive from Denver, Evie thought, not that she was thinking about any future or anything like that, it was just that when you meet someone and think they're attractive the mind does some basic math. After laughing agreement that talking about work really sucked, they drifted to movies and concerts.
”I know it's almost a cliche, but I love the Indigo Girls,” Felicia admitted. ”They don't often come through Santa Fe. You're lucky. They get to Denver nearly every year. They make me feel embraced, you know? The music keeps me close.” She shrugged. ”I don't know how else to describe it.”
”I'm a bit of a Joan Jett kind of girl.” Evie couldn't imagine listening to an entire recording of folk music, not when there was rock and roll.
”No!” Felicia feigned surprise. ”Weren't you in the mosh pit at the Chain Maille concert?”
Evie blushed. ”That was likely me, yeah. What did you think?”
”That sometimes heavy metal is pretentious, but those girls live had me from the first note. Raw d.y.k.e energy-gotta love it.”
Evie's attention was distracted by the couple just to their left and slightly offset so she saw them more directly than Felicia. The very femme woman wore form-fitting shorts and a halter top that covered everything but somehow suggested it could fall off at any moment to reveal two really lovely b.r.e.a.s.t.s. The butch across from her appeared mesmerized by the ice cube the femme was trailing along the curve of her neck. She rolled one shoulder suggestively, and Evie thought she detected the outline of nipple rings.
Felicia had been saying something but, Evie realized belatedly, had paused to see what had Evie distracted. She followed Evie's line of sight just as the femme leaned forward to say, perfectly audibly, ”I'll let you touch me tonight, but you have to wait until then. I'm going to make it very hard for you to wait.”
The butch visibly gulped and at the same time Evie thought fervently, ”Lucky her!”
For a moment she thought she'd said it aloud, but was certain she hadn't. She just as well might have for the knowing look Felicia gave her.
”They seem to have a fun dynamic working for them,” she said in a low voice. ”Is that what you like?”
”Uh, no, not really, I...”
”Are you sure?” Felicia suddenly seemed very cool and appraising, her expression a match to that of the femme at the next table, who was looking at her butch like she was going to eat her whole, one o.r.g.a.s.m at a time. ”Have you explored that?”
”No... I'm kinda butch. It's not...”
”Oh, please.” Felicia rested back in her chair, her color rising. ”Your Neanderthal friend puts out that air too-butches don't get on their backs. But she apparently liked it just fine.”
”Well, yeah. Hana isn't stone. But she's not a... you know.”
”A bottom? And you are?”
”Butches aren't-”
”Why not?”
”Because. They're just not.”
With a flick of her gaze at the couple next to them, Felicia said, ”That one is. And she seems to be really happy.”
”Well, um... Hana always says...”
Felicia gave her a long, steady look. Evie broke into a sweat. She couldn't speak and her heart was pounding so hard she couldn't hear the piano anymore. Finally, Felicia said, ”Drink the water. You're going to need it.”
Evie gulped down the remainder of the gla.s.s. What did Felicia mean? The temperatures outside were hot and they'd all been warned about dehydration, but she didn't think that's what Felicia meant at all. But she couldn't mean ... that.
As she set the gla.s.s down, Felicia leaned forward and whispered, ”If you're good I will let you do more than touch me.”
”d.a.m.n,” Evie exhaled. She felt vulnerable and confused, but her crotch was suddenly so tight she couldn't quite think. ”Don't play with me.”
”Oh, honey, playing with you is exactly what I'm going to do.”