Chapter 6

Layla left through the wall, waiting beside the door until Carmen trotted toward her. “Mission accomplished?”

Layla pointed at the redheaded figure walking toward the side street. “She seems in a positively good mood, too.”

“Then I’ll see you at Fiorenzo at eight!”

At Layla’s nod, she waved a greeting, then jogged away.

Layla decided to work only until noon. She needed to get home, and she did need to go dress shopping. She hadn’t misled Carmen about that. So she hunted a few final romance seekers, then returned her uniform.

The receptionist looked up. There was a sparkle in her eyes. “Miss Haddad! It seems you had an exceptionally good season. Thank you for your support.”

On the pristine desk, there was a bagel menu sitting beside the ledger. There appeared to be a handwritten phone number on it. Layla grinned. “Thank you,” she said, then left the building and headed to her bus stop.

The dress she’d found was deep blue. It showed enough of her boobs to be sexy without being trashy. The hemline was lacy and uneven. She’d decided she needed new heels, too, so when she arrived at the restaurant she’d added a few inches to her height. The dangly topaz earrings she wore were ones she’d had for a couple of years. They’d been a gift from an ex.

When she introduced herself to the hostess, she immediately called over the maitre d’, who led her to Carmen, whose eyes widened when she saw her. Not that she was any less of a surprise to Layla. She’d obviously spent time with her stylist. Her hair was glossy and elegantly pinned. The only sign of its wild nature were the curly strands clearly deliberately teased out around her face.

Her black dress sparkled, and her cleavage was more tightly bound than Layla’s, but attractively eyecatching. She wore small silvery hoops in her ears.

The maitre d’ finally left, after promising her excellent service, that the sommelier would be with them momentarily, and that Signor Fabbri fully intended to visit with his niece and her partner.

“Partner?” Layla hissed, not allowing the warm feeling to show on her face.

“I had to tell Uncle Enzo something,” Carmen said. “It’s one of the biggest nights for the restaurant. I wasn’t going to say, ‘I’m inviting this girl who hates me, so we can scream at each other in your fancy restaurant’, was I? And speaking of deception, look at you! You promised me no eye candy. Now you’re trying to trick me. If you were anyone else, I think I’d enjoy the view.”

“Lack of choice,” Layla lied. “Since I was so late looking for a dress, everything I could find had ostentatious boobage. I just looked for the least attractive one.”

“Then you failed,” said Carmen. “Why should that surprise me? You look amazing.”

The two girls glared at each other for a moment, then shared a grin. Before they found an opportunity to complain about that, the sommelier turned up. He offered his suggestion, which would, of course, be on the house for Signor Fabbri’s niece.

No sooner had the wine steward moved on, than the regular waiter appeared. Then it was the sommelier’s turn again, this time accompanied by Uncle Enzo and the recommended Barolo. It wasn’t until the first course arrived that they had a moment to themselves.

Layla was in the middle of taking a long sip of wine when Carmen, who’d been studying her, spoke. “You know that red wine is a proven aphrodisiac?”

Layla avoided spluttering the wine back into the glass. “Really?”

“It’s true. It increases blood flow.”

“Is that why you bought wine on the first night I stayed over?”

“Maybe I just wanted to keep it in the house for the next girl I bring home,” Carmen said.

“Well, that was a failure, since we’ve already drunk it,” said Layla. “And I know I didn’t need an aphrodisiac.”

“Got that right,” said Carmen. “It may be the only thing you do well, but I’m tempted to keep you around for the sex.”

“And how do you plan to do that?”

“More red wine?” suggested Carmen.

“It might be enough,” Layla agreed. She reached to get the bottle to top up their glasses, but an observant waiter had seen her movement and plucked the bottle from the table first, refilling their glasses before stepping back.

“Damn, I’m not used to places like this,” Layla said.

“I know, right?” Carmen grinned. “So, do you know about the Day of the Dead?”

“I know what it is,” Layla replied. “Mexican Halloween.”

“Yeah, but there’s an event here. October. Never advertised. Fun, but creepy. Are you interested?”

“I might be. I should be back from my travels by then,” said Layla.

“I’ll introduce you,” Carmen said. “I’ve been part of it for two years now. It’s a different Franchise. No bigotry, and pays well.”

“I’ll take you up on that,” Layla said.

The wine had been emptied, a dessert shared – to Uncle Enzo’s distress, but neither girl wanted to arrive home bloated – and each of them had finished a glass of liqueur. Layla was a little woozy, but upright. She’d taken Carmen’s hand in the restaurant, to avoid awkward stumbling, of course, and hadn’t released it while they waited for their ride.

“Don’t listen to me,” Layla said.

“Don’t listen to me,” she repeated. “I don’t want you to hear what I have to say, but I have to say it. Keep it, you know, unprocessed. Or something. But I think that was the best Valentine’s date of my life. I don’t want to stop sparring with you, but that’s the thing. I don’t want to stop.”

“If we’re still fighting by next V-Day, we should get married,” Carmen said. “Fighting is what married people do, right?”

“You’re drunk,” said Layla. “I’d never marry a jerkface.”

“You’re drunk,” argued Carmen. “And of course you will. You’ll argue about it until I get the ring on your finger, but you will.”

“You think you’ll be the one to propose?” asked Layla.

“Probably, because you’re too dumb to realize the opportunity we have.”

“Maybe I’m smart enough to see through your opportunities,” Layla said. “Maybe I’ll just marry you for sex.”

“And that’s why I’m keeping you around,” crowed Carmen. “See, you argued yourself right back into my bed.”

“Did I?” Layla’s mind was too foggy to be sure of the details of their earlier exchange. “Maybe you’re not always wrong.”

Over the past couple of weeks, both women had come to appreciate taking things slowly. Dressed for a date as they were, taking their time undressing each other seemed natural and especially exciting, while being frustrating for both. Carmen took extra care removing Layla’s dress, shoes, stockings and thong, kissing her passionately before allowing Layla to undress her, her actions equally leisurely, finally freeing her lover’s hair from its framework.

Carmen pushed Layla onto the bed, then lowered herself to all fours over her. She moved around, kissing Layla’s cheeks, ears, neck, and progressing down her body. She kissed each of her breasts, but didn’t spend additional time there, her navel, her thighs, down her arms, stopping to suckle the pulse points at her wrists. Layla’s arousal was through the roof.

She was frustrated at Carmen’s pace, but it seemed that each ounce of frustration brought a pound of desire, and the payoff was worth the pain.

Carmen aligned her face with Layla, her breasts dangling over Layla’s rounded mounds. She had the most delicious breasts, and when she lowered herself so that her nipples began to caress her lover’s, Layla found new tendrils of arousal unfolding within her. She moaned, then lifted her face to meet Carmen’s lips. Their kiss was tender, though Layla was eager for more. She began to flick the tips of Carmen’s breasts with her fingers, making her nipples dance against her own, and causing the woman to deepen their kiss.

Then her lover was lying down, on her, not above her. Her thigh was between Layla’s legs, against her sex, and her hands explored her waist and the sides of her breasts. Layla’s own hands found Carmen’s ass, squeezing and pushing the girl down against her, then moving her against Layla’s body in a slow up and down motion.

Carmen’s kiss was growing more intense, and Layla could feel her breathing quicken. Now Layla was the one trying to control the pace. Her partner had spent so long slowly teasing her body into awareness that she was losing her patience, but Layla wanted this to be good for her, too. So she held her back, as Carmen began to groan into her mouth.

After a time, Carmen ended the kiss, laying her head on Layla’s shoulder as each woman focused on moving against the other. Layla could feel her partner’s sex sliding wetly against her thigh, even as she felt Carmen’s leg pressing against her sensitive labia and her mons.

When Layla’s feelings began to overwhelm her restraint, she didn’t know it for a time, until she realized that they were grinding hard against each other. The pound of desire was in full force now. She drew her teeth over her lover’s shoulder, to the base of her neck. Carmen cried out with need.

Sensing Carmen was beyond holding back, ready to boil over, Layla focused on herself for a moment, grinding her sex against Carmen’s thigh, feeling her mons compressing against her hard, sensitive clit, and when Carmen’s moans rose in intensity, she was right there with her, her hands pressing into Carmen’s ass, keeping up the pressure as each reached her climax.

One more time waking wrapped around her lover. Were they going to be sleeping apart from now on? The thought brought a wave of regret. But hadn’t they agreed last night that they’d keep sleeping together? They’d had some spurious reason, but Layla didn’t recall exactly what it was.

She’d want to leave for her annual backpacking trip soon enough. Would Carmen wait for her while she was gone? Would they text their insults to each other every day? Would she sleep with other girls if they hadn’t committed to a relationship?

Layla had spent nights – and in one case, a couple of weeks – with girls she’d met on her travels, though in some of the places she’d been, that was life-threatening. She didn’t feel any urge to do so this time. Could they be exclusive? It was a conversation they’d need to have.

Carmen shifted, coming to rest with her legs between Layla’s, an arm around her stomach, and her lips touching her breast. Her presence reminded Layla that she had to check the Valentine’s day tally. She picked up her phone and logged into her banking app.

“Holy fuck,” she said.

Carmen’s eyes struggled open. She kissed the side of the convenient breast, then looked up at Layla. “What’s up?”

“Almost every prospect came through for me. V-Day has fed my savings way more than any other year.”

“Oh, that’s good,” Carmen responded. She rolled away, reluctantly. “I should check my own.”

It took the half-awake girl several minutes to navigate through her bank app. Then, “Holy fuck.”

Layla laughed. “Clearly, even an oversexed dork can learn from her betters.”

“And whose fault is it I’m oversexed, asshat?” She dropped her phone on her nightstand and wrapped herself around Layla again. She mumbled something into Layla’s breast.

Carmen turned her face up. “Will we ever admit we’re in love?” she asked.

Layla felt an abrupt surge of warmth, even as Carmen continued, “I mean, if we ever reach that point?”

She was providing cover, but Layla had heard the confession in the earlier words. “You think I could ever fall for a perv stalker?”

Carmen scowled at her, and opened her mouth to speak, but Layla cut her off. “I guess we could admit it now, if it makes you happy. Then we’d never have to worry about it changing our relationship. ‘Cause, let’s face it, we’d be a lot better together than the Franchise’s stupid arrows.”

Carmen seemed puzzled by the idea for a moment, but nodded. “Okay. I love you, asshat.”

“I love you too, jerkface,” Layla replied. “You make me very happy.”

“Yeah, that’s an unfortunate side effect,” Carmen groused, “but I guess I can live with it,” she finished, reaching for Layla.

A suitable amount of time later, still panting, Layla rolled off her girlfriend onto the bedsheets. “So,” she began, after catching her breath, “have you ever considered going backpacking? I’m sure your skinny ass would look better after a few days’ hiking.”

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I hope you enjoyed this lighthearted departure from my usual series.

I’d like to thank @THBGato and @redgarters for beta-reading this story and offering invaluable feedback. It wouldn’t have been the same without them.

As always, I love any feedback, positive or negative, so please rate and add a comment.