“What!” Oksana’s eyes popped wide. She knew Annie had a little freak in her, but—
“I’m kidding.” Annie chuckled. “This would split me in half.” She held up the dildo and eyed its broad rises carefully. “But if you slip a finger in my ass and finger my pussy just right, I’ve been known to squirt. A lot.”
“Oh.”
Oh, fuck!
“We might have to try that.”
Annie tossed the toy behind her and turned back to Oksana after it landed safely in the sheets. “Hurry. We’ve got some errands to run.”
Right. Errands. The last thing on Oksana’s mind.
*
Annie was staring at her.
“What?” Oksana asked, keeping her eyes on the road.
“Nothing. I’m just so used to seeing you in workout clothes. Not that I mind the spandex. You look good.”
Oksana could feel the pink rise in her cheeks and she mumbled her thank you. She liked the outfit too, but it was hard to think when Annie looked at her like that, like they should be having sex that very moment. The smile she’d given her back in the cottage reminded her of the love they made the night before, but the glint Annie had in her eyes now reminded her of what they’d done in the park and just how much Oksana would be up for that sort of desperate fucking again. Which they could be doing right now if it weren’t for cursed little sisters and Baba Inna’s refusal to get a driver’s license.
“I like these jeans.” Annie’s hand slid over her knee, but stopped midway up her thigh. Oksana would have told her to go a little higher if the two in the backseat were doing a better job of focusing on each other. Erica was looking out the window, singing along with the radio, and Kat was probably busy texting girlfriend number six from her phone.
“So, Annie, what do you do?” Kat asked rudely from the backseat.
Oksana scowled at her in the mirror. “Ekaterina.”
“What? Can’t I just ask what your new girlfriend does? You are her girlfriend, right?”
“I don’t know. Am I?” Annie quirked her head to the side.
Oksana scowled. “We’re just friends.”
“With benefits?” Kat had a serious death wish.
Annie laughed, squeezing Oksana’s thigh. “I work in television.”
“Doing what?” The kid was worse than a mob father with a pistol.
“I’m a producer on
Single Dad
,
Barbecue Showdown
,
and
Just Dance
.”
“Oh my God! Do you know Meta?” Erica fucking screamed.
“Damn, Erica,” Oksana groaned, rubbing her knuckle in her ear. That was one thing she could appreciate about Kat. She could be obnoxious, but she wasn’t loud.
“Sorry.”
Kat ignored Erica’s outburst and grumbled, “I don’t like her.”
“I don’t exactly know her, but we have met. I mostly make sure she gets paid,” Annie told them. Oksana smiled. She liked hearing Annie talk about her job. She was confident in her work.
“Do you get to go to her rehearsals and stuff?” Erica bounced in her seat.
“No. I’m stuck in the production office all day.”
“Who does her hair and makeup?” Kat asked. Oksana had never considered it, but one night during a marathon of
The Hills
, Kat assured her that no one, not even reality TV stars, went on camera without makeup.
“She has this woman named Lux who she likes,” Annie said, moving her hand closer to the inside of Oksana’s thigh. Tricky thing taking advantage of the distraction. Thank God for decent underwear. Oksana’s pussy throbbed even more when Annie gave her a gentle pinch.
Oksana coughed. “Kat wants to be a makeup artist.”
“I want to do movies, though. Not TV. My school is doing
A Midsummer’s Night Dream
, and they are letting me do the makeup for all the fairies. It’s not a film, but it’ll be good practice.”
“That’s so cool. I know some great makeup ladies.”
“Yeah, I’m good with the makeup, but I still need to get my hair game together. Sana’s friend is gonna let me work at her salon this summer if I keep my grades up.”
“And if you stop screwing around on my couch.” Kat was sorry; Oksana knew it, but she couldn’t let her off the hook without one final dig.
“We’re sorry, Oksana,” Erica said. “It was my fault.”
Oksana caught Annie as she quickly faced front and bit her lip to hold in her laugh. She must have been just as horrified stumbling across those two.
Oksana pulled into the parking deck and quickly found a space a million yards away from the Beverly Center’s escalators. She hoped Annie or Erica didn’t mind the hike. She didn’t like squeezing her Tahoe between little cars just to get closer to the stores. Some asshole always dinged her doors then blamed her for driving such a big truck.
“It’s okay, Erica. Just, ya know,” she said, cutting the ignition.
“It won’t happen again.” Erica shook her head frantically. Oksana almost believed her.
“Oh look. We’re here.” Kat flung open her door and booked it for the escalators. Erica was right on her heels, grabbing Kat’s hand and shoulder as soon as she caught up. Oksana stared in horror when her sister paused and let Erica jump on her back. The power of puppy love was ripe between the two, and clearly, the intoxication fueled Kat’s quad strength.
Oksana and Annie followed at a leisurely pace, both laughing at the ridiculousness of the last hour. For the first time in days, Oksana felt good, relaxed, but as they joined Kat and Erica on the ride down to the lower levels, she couldn’t understand the sudden grip on her stomach or the sweat that broke out across her forehead when Annie casually took hold of her hand.
The Invitation
Annie was happy. The feeling was a mix of Christmas morning, the last day of school, and a really good batch of chocolate chip cookies she made once. That contentment and excitement started somewhere in the middle of her chest and sparked up as a silly grin she couldn’t seem to shake off her face.
Baba Inna was still a tad frightening, but Annie could feel the love radiating off the elderly woman. Annie loved the no-nonsense reception Oksana’s grandmother had given her, and she was a little tickled that for the first time in her life, someone wanted her to gain weight.
And Kat was just awesome. Annie hadn’t been around a teenager since she was a teenager herself, but she liked this kid. She was bold, but it was clear she respected Oksana’s authority, even if her raging hormones seemed to get in the way. Annie didn’t get serious about any sort of professional aspirations until she’d had her butt kicked across several movie sets. The fact that Kat was actively working toward a career at fifteen was amazing. Plus, it was a little precious that Kat was a smaller version of Oksana—with hair.
Still, through all the smoke and mirrors, they weren’t fake smiles and hugs. Annie felt truly welcomed by them both. Kat’s questioning in the car felt genuine, not suspicious, and something told Annie that Baba’s acceptance of Annie’s participation in their mundane family Sunday was a big deal. It made Annie happy. Happy and intrigued.
Oksana and her family were magic.
Being an only child had been a lonely existence and Cheryl, the Collins’s housekeeper, had done all of the boring errands, like going to the market. She had been nice enough to teach Annie how to bake, but growing up, Annie knew there was a simple warmth missing from her house. Oksana’s home oozed warmth.
It had been a while since she’d spent time outside of work with anyone new. The steady rotation of Jeff and her stable of three friends had grown surprisingly monotonous in the past few years. Planning for the wedding had just made it worse. Annie went from human being with thoughts and interests to bride. Annie actually looked forward to the rest of their afternoon and dinner with Baba Inna.
She fought the urge to kiss Oksana every five seconds and settled for holding her hand as they hung near the entrance to the MAC store.
Kat moved around the boutique carefully, quietly sorting through cosmetics with a focus that Annie admired. Kat knew exactly what she was after. Erica followed close behind, eagerly grabbing the eye shadows and blushes that Kat decided on.
“You having fun yet?” Oksana asked. She seemed a little tense, but Annie chalked the sudden tightness in Oksana’s shoulders up to the fact that she was watching Kat like a hawk out of the corner of her eye.
“I’m having a blast. And this parenting thing is kind of sexy on you.”
“Oh, really?” Oksana glanced down at her and cocked an eyebrow.
Heat flashed to Annie’s crotch. Subtly, but not so much, because they were in public, she pressed herself against Oksana. Their legs wove together and Annie’s breasts rubbed against her.
“Yes.” Annie couldn’t look away from those deep green eyes. The timing was off and the location completely inappropriate, but all she wanted to do was make out with Oksana right there in the store. Another romp in the car would be nice, followed immediately by a trip to a bed. Annie wasn’t particular about whose bed it was. She glanced at Oksana’s lips and figured a little peck wouldn’t hurt.
“Here.”
Annie almost jumped away from Oksana’s thigh. Kat snuck up on them like a ninja, but Oksana must have seen her creep across the store because she didn’t so much as blink.
“You need these.” Kat handed Annie a few different boxes.
Oksana grabbed an eye shadow from the heap and carefully regarded Kat. “She’s not buying makeup for your amusement.”
“It’s not for my amusement. Your girlfriend has great eyes and I think this”—Kat held up a little tube of eyeliner—“would make her eyes totally pop.”
“But I like my eyes inside of my head,” Annie said quite seriously.
Kat smiled wide. “That was funny. But seriously. This, this, and this will look awesome on you. And I would think my sister would want her girlfriend to look as awesome as ever.”
Annie laughed at the way Oksana glared back at Kat. “Are you paying for it?” Oksana asked.
Kat rolled her eyes, something that ran in the family. “Yeah, I am. I just wanted to show Annie first.”
Annie picked out the eye shadow and read the back. “I’m actually running low on ‘Electric Tide,’” Annie read off the label.
“See.”
But Annie amended, “I’ll buy all this other stuff if you promise to practice on me. And if you promise to be nice to your sister.”
“Lame,” Kat groaned before her face lit up with another wide grin. “Deal.” Annie stepped out of the way as Kat wrapped her arms snugly around Oksana’s waist and rattled off something in Russian before she darted back to Erica and a rack of eyeliners.
“Hurry up,” Oksana said. “I want to get some lunch.”
“What did she say?” Annie asked.
“She said I’m the best big sister ever.”
Annie had the sneaky suspicion that wasn’t all. “And?”
“And she thinks you’re really hot.”
“Well, as adorable as she is, I prefer the full-grown version.” Annie rose up on her tiptoes. She tried not to let it throw her when Oksana hesitated. She kissed her, quick and light instead of the tongue probing suckfest she’d been hoping for.
Oksana sighed and reached for the small pile of makeup in Annie’s hand. “Here, let me get that.”
“No, I got it.” Annie walked over to the counter and tried not to make any horrified faces when the girl behind the register gave her the total. She shrugged it off as an investment in Kat’s future and forked over her credit card.
Oksana didn’t miss the ridiculous total. She rubbed Annie’s arm while she signed her receipt. “Sorry. Makeup is her crack. You shouldn’t have to pay for her addiction.”
Annie thanked the cashier and took her bag. “It’s awesome. At that age *NSYNC was my crack.”
“Oh, we are so over.” Oksana frowned. “I was Backstreet Boys all the way.”
“Blasphemy. Absolutely blasphemy.”
They retreated back to the corner and Annie didn’t hesitate to slip her arms around Oksana’s waist and rest her head against her shoulder. Oksana tensed again but relaxed as Annie gently stroked her side.
“You okay?” Annie asked.
“Yeah. I’m fine.”
“Okay. You’ll tell me, right?”
Oksana merely nodded.
Maybe it wasn’t Kat. A lot had changed between them recently, and Annie had to remember that not everyone had her bull in a china shop approach to things. Maybe Oksana wasn’t comfortable with the shift in their relationship. Or all of this PDA Annie insisted on. Instead of pulling away, she held tight, trusting Oksana to open up if there was a problem.
They moved on to Sephora where neon nail polish was purchased, and just as they were heading for the exit, Kat detoured for the escalator.
“Where are you going?” Oksana asked.
“Upstairs,” Kat said innocently. “I need jeans.”
Annie looked between them as Oksana scowled at Kat.
“Okay. I
want
new jeans. I swear I’ll be fast.”
“Fine, but seriously hurry. We’re going to eat, grab stuff for Baba, and then you have homework.”