Accidental Love (49 page)

"You like it, do you?" Ronnie's eyebrow quirked at the thought. "Hmm…." She brushed golden hair out of her way and lowered her lips to the young woman's ear. "I have every intention of making love to you right here on this couch." Her voice was pure seduction and her hands moved to deliver on her promise, cupping Rose's breast.

"Ronnie, we can't do this now." She shifted away from the all too erotic touch. "I have my period, remember?"

"You know, a brave warrior would be willing to enter a bloody battlefield."

"Veronica!" she squeaked as she playfully slapped the older woman's shoulder. "I can't believe you said that." She gently pushed Ronnie away and sat up. "You need to get your mind out of the gutter and think about lunch."

"I already told you I'm not hungry…for food." Her mouth claimed Rose's as she moved onto the couch, covering the smaller body with her own.

The door opened quickly. "Hey Ronnie, I thought maybe we could catch some lunch at…" Susan's voice trailed off as she watched her sister bolt up off the couch and turn away. The redhead smirked as a rather embarrassed Rose sat up and hastily refastened the buttons that skillful fingers had undone. "Oh, I guess you already have plans for lunch. Hello, Rose."

"Hi, Susan." The young woman looked down guiltily.

Unable to resist, the younger Cartwright looked at her sister. "Hey Ronnie, you really need to remember to lock your door when you don't want to be interrupted or do you still want to keep telling me that nothing's going on?"

"Most people know better than to walk into my office unannounced," the executive growled, clearly as embarrassed as Rose. "You said something about lunch?"

"Well, I don't want to interrupt your plans."

"We didn't have plans yet," Rose said, regaining most of her composure. "I had just come in to ask Ronnie what she wanted when…" The feeling of her lover's hands on her body was still fresh, causing her to take a deep breath. "Um, what did you have in mind?" She forced herself not to look at Ronnie.

Susan smirked before continuing. "They just opened a new Chinese place on North Pearl Street. I heard their buffet is fabulous."

"You know what Mother would say if she knew you ate from a buffet in public?" Ronnie teased.

"Sure, sounds good to me." She saw Rose reach for her crutches. "Oh…there's absolutely no parking near it." She thought for a moment. "I know, I'll meet you downstairs, drive you over, then bring the car back to the garage. It's only a five minute walk from here."

"You don't have to do that," the young woman replied. "That's not far at all. I can make it."

"I don't know, Rose…crossing State Street with all that traffic at noontime." Ronnie shook her head. "Susan, why don't we just have them deliver something here?"

"That's fine with me."

"Are you sure?" Rose asked. "You seemed like you wanted to get out for a while."

"No, just wanted something other than the soaps to keep me company for lunch today." The redhead looked at her watch, the phone, and then her sister. "But I really am hungry." Another thought occurred to her. "Where are we going to eat?"

"Why not the conference room?" Ronnie replied.

"Can't. Brooker has a meeting in there."

"Isn't there a lunchroom?" Rose asked innocently. The sisters looked at each other and chuckled.

"There's a deli in the lobby and a break room down the hall but not really any lunch room," Susan said. "Most people go out for lunch or eat at their desks. Lunchrooms tend to make people take longer breaks and that reduces productivity."

"Oh, don't get her started on that again," Ronnie warned. "First it'll be the slackers, then the smokers, then the gossipers." She walked over and put her hands on the younger sibling's shoulders. "Before you know it she'll issue all sorts of memos and I'll have the Clerical Union screaming at me again."

Lunch and the rest of the work day flew by. As Ronnie expected, everyone who met Rose liked her immediately and the young woman quickly settled into her new position. The executive quickly learned the fringe benefit of having her lover be her secretary. Ronnie couldn't get enough of the blonde woman's kisses and would call her into the office just to taste the sweetness of Rose's mouth one more time. Fantasies played through the executive's mind. Fantasies which included her, the overstuffed leather couch in her office, and Rose naked and waiting for her. Alas, she knew they would remain only that. As much as they loved each other, there was a time and place for everything and in her office during working hours was not it. Opening her datebook, blue eyes fell on the upcoming Saturday. She was certain Rose would be over her period by then. The marbled blue-green pen twiddled in her fingers before she absently drew a heart in the memo section of the page. Soon the heart found letters doodled within it.
R. G. + V.
C.
Pitiful renditions of roses began filling the margins but when Rose spotted them later, they caused the young woman to burst into happy tears. While Ronnie was surprised by the reaction, she was more than willing to offer comfort, taking her lover into her arms and resting her chin on top of the golden hair. It was one of the times she enjoyed most, holding Rose in her arms. It was at those moments that Ronnie felt whole, complete. She knew that she could never live without the dancing green eyes and laughing smile of her precious Rose.

*************

When that Saturday came, Ronnie was awake with the sun, visions of making love to Rose over and over dancing in her mind. It was a particularly lively image that she focused on as she slipped out of bed and sauntered off to the bathroom.

"Oh, Son of a bitch!" The shouted exclamation woke Rose from her sleep.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Another muffled curse, then the sound of water running.

"Ronnie?" Rose picked up her crutches and made her way to the bathroom. "You okay?"

"Yeah," Ronnie answered from the other side of the door. Her underwear ended up in the sink with water running over them. She cleaned herself up then opened the door. "Guess what I got?" she said as she walked past, treating Rose to the sight of firm cheeks wiggling below the gray Tshirt.

"You're kidding."

"Nope." She jerked a clean pair of panties out of the drawer and pulled them on. "Talk about lousy timing." She leaned over and gave Rose a quick kiss. "But you should be done," she whispered in a husky voice, her hands slipping under the hem of the Dartmouth shirt in search of twin mounds. The young woman backed out of reach.

"Wait a minute there, Missy…I couldn't touch you when I had mine."

"B-but…" The executive pouted, realizing where the conversation was headed…and she wasn't.

"Rose…you know that just because you can't touch me that doesn't mean…"

"Don't even think about trying that. It didn't work when I tried it, remember?" The young woman's eyes took in the athletic body before her and sighed. "I was looking forward to it too, you know."

"But…but…" Ronnie was silenced by Rose's fingers against her lips.

"I hope you get over it quickly, darling," the young woman cooed. "Maybe next month you'll reconsider when I want to touch you."

***************

Rose wished Ronnie could be in the room with her when Doctor Barnes removed the cast but an important meeting forced the executive to stay at work while Maria drove the young woman to the appointment. The small reciprocating saw sliced through the plaster, ticking her in the process. "Just a little more," the doctor said. The saw was set down and a pair of scissors cut through the cotton and released the cast's hold on Rose's leg. The first thing she saw when looking down at her leg were the long strands of blonde hair sticking out past dried, flaky skin. She wiggled her toes, frowning at the tinge of pain that went through her ankle. She had been doing it for several weeks and the response had always been the same yet Rose had somehow believed that when the cast came off the pain would go away. After all, it didn't take that long for her right leg to heal up and take her weight. "When can I start walking on it?" She flexed her foot, hissing at the agony it caused.

"I'm afraid walking isn't something that's going to happen for a while yet, Miss Grayson."

"But…" She looked at the physician fearfully. "You said no more casts."

"That's right, no more casts," the physician reassured. "But your ankle suffered a great deal of trauma and it hasn't healed as well as I had hoped. It can't be left unsupported. You'll need a brace." She crossed the room and retrieved one from the drawer. Dark blue canvas covered flat metal rods and Velcro straps held everything together. Rose looked at the object with disdain. It represented the crushing of her hope and yet another reminder of the accident. She listened quietly as the doctor explained the need for physical therapy and stressed that the ankle was too weak to support any weight yet and a dozen other things that Rose did not want to hear. Her only consolation was that she could remove it to take baths. As much as the blonde woman had been looking forward to soaking in a hot tub of water, it seemed insignificant now.

Maria's attempts to get her to talk on the way home were met with mumbled answers or silence. Once inside, Rose announced she was tired and retreated to her room. Hoping against hope that the doctor was wrong, she set her crutches against the wall and let her left foot rest against the ground. There was a twinge of pain but nothing she could not live with. She leaned forward, putting more weight on the tender ankle. Blinding pain shot through her and she collapsed onto the floor. The pain was the catalyst as the tear ducts opened and her breath came out in wracking sobs. Maria came in and helped her into the bed where Rose quickly cried herself to sleep.

Ronnie entered a short time later, having been called home by the worried housekeeper. It took only a brief explanation of what happened at the doctor's office for the executive to realize why her lover was so upset. Rose had been excited at breakfast about the prospect of having the cast gone completely. Drawn into the young woman's good mood, Ronnie never gave any thought to the possibility that they might replace the cast with a brace. In fact, she had been more focused on the knowledge that her period was finally over and after a week and a half she would finally be able to make love to Rose again. Now looking at puffy eyes and the telltale wet spot on the pillow, she felt a sliver of guilt. All amorous thoughts far from her mind, Ronnie kicked her shoes off and climbed into bed beside her lover.

Rose felt a gentle rubbing on her shoulders as consciousness returned. She inhaled the scent of Ronnie's perfume and smiled, knowing her beloved was there with her. She rolled over and winced at the pain in her ankle. "Hi."

"Hi yourself," Ronnie replied. Her brow was furrowed with concern. "Did they give you anything for the pain?"

"More Percocet," she shrugged, her tone low. "I can take a bath now but not much else." She let herself be drawn against the taller woman and buried her face into the silk blouse. "I still have to use the damn crutches." She snuggled closer, her fingertips tracing the outline of Ronnie's bra. "I tried to put weight on it," she admitted. "But it hurt too much." Her legs shifted against each other. "And now it itches." Ronnie nodded, remembering when Rose's right cast was removed.

"Anyway," Rose continued. "How was Laura's final day?"

"Good. She loved her going away slash baby shower party."

"Good, I'm glad she enjoyed it. Sorry I wasn't up to coming."

"Shh, she understood. She loved the baby outfits and blankets, by the way." Ronnie's knuckles brushed against the softness of Rose's cheek. "But right now I don't want to talk about her. You've had a pretty rough day of it. Look, your cast is off and she said you could take baths now, right?"

"Right…"

"So how about we let Maria go home early today and you and I take advantage of that obscenely large tub I have upstairs, hmm?" Sensing Rose's hesitation, she added, "I have a full bottle of bubble bath just waiting for you. If you're a good girl I might even be convinced to join you."

"Are you done with…?" Ronnie's eyes twinkled with mischief as she nodded. Rose gulped.

"Oh." The finger that had been tracing the bra line now ran back and forth against the back catch.

"That means that I can touch you now," the young woman murmured, her voice a sensual whisper. "I missed that, you know. Touching you." She lifted her head, her lips finding Ronnie's.

"Don't punish me like that again."

"I won't," the executive vowed, knowing full well what the younger woman was feeling. "How does your ankle feel right now? Think you're up for that bath?"

"Are you going to join me?" Rose asked brazenly, the vision of a wet, naked Ronnie causing her heart to beat faster.

"I'd love to," the dark-haired woman replied.

**************

Ronnie turned the dimmer, causing the bright white to mellow to a soft yellow before her lover entered her bedroom. "Sit on the bed, I'll help you undress," she offered. Saving time, she began to strip, getting her skirt and blouse off before realizing Rose was standing there, watching her. She turned to face the younger woman, slowly removing the rest of her clothing. She stood there naked, her dark curls standing out in contrast to her skin. Rose swallowed several times as her eyes wandered up and down the statuesque body. "So beautiful," the young woman whispered.

"My turn to see your beauty," Ronnie countered, leading Rose to the edge of the bed. The crutches were placed out of the way and one by one buttons opened to reveal creamy white flesh. At last all the clothes were removed, leaving only the dark blue brace to mar the image. Careful not to jar the tender ankle, Ronnie opened the Velcro straps and removed the brace. "I think a shower first to scrub off all this dead skin would be a good idea."

"You're going to hold me up in a shower?"

"No, there's a bench built in to the wall and the showerhead is attached to a hose. It's one of those massager kinda ones."

"You really do have…"

"All the toys?" Ronnie interjected. "Yup." She grinned broadly as her eyes landed on her nightstand drawer and her mind filled with images of what was hidden inside. "You know Rose…" her voice took on a sensuous quality. "I have some toys that you haven't seen yet."