With a start Solley realized that was exactly what was happening...she felt a connection. Not judged, or vulnerable, or pitied. Gin seemed to accept Solley's mess of a life for what it was, the nadir of hope and joy, where even falling into despair took too much effort. Solley sensed that she'd been there, too.

She knew this journey. The realization intrigued her. Gin Ito intrigued her . h.e.l.l, if misery loves company I could do a lot worse than sip beer with Gin Ito.

And now that she had a rudimentary understanding of how the Jet Ski stunt was supposed to look, she might even be able to make intelligent comments about the performance.

a 36 a The jetty was a heaving ma.s.s of activity. All the seagoing vessels, including numerous trashed up Jet Skis, were moored alongside the weathered boards. A variety of sound, fi lm, and techno people rushed through their work in ch.o.r.eographed motion.

As Solley and Marsha progressed along the moorings, the crowd parted and they beheld the wondrous sight of Gin idling astride a Jet Ski, clad in a lurid pink and platinum wetsuit and ridiculous blond wig.

Solley snorted down a laugh as she and Marsha stood at the edge looking down at her. "Oh, my G.o.d. You're like the Silver Surfer in drag."

The stuntwoman looked so colorfully plastic it was easy to imagine her as a parody of the sixties comic book superhero.

She was all silicone and sa.s.siness.

Gin glanced up through the long tendrils of her gaudy wig. Her dark eyes sparkled with mischief. "The jealousy's eating you up, isn't it?"

"And just where the h.e.l.l did you get those from?" Marsha thrust a probing fi nger toward Gin's suddenly ample chest.

"Well, the truly scary thing," Gin deadpanned, "is that I'm meant to look like you looking like Kelly Rose looking like Red Revenge. So don't start on me about these t.i.ts. I take it you didn't need a stuffed bra."

Solley giggled at the spectacle of the slim woman bedecked with garish blond tresses and a chest that would land her fl at on her face if she wasn't hanging onto the Jet Ski throttles.

"And there I was thinking they were buoyancy aids."

"Oh, the world is so full of funny white women with big t.i.ts," Gin responded with a saucy smile. "Must be where you store all your humor."

a 37 a "b.o.o.b envy. So common, so sad." Marsha sighed.

"It must be an enormous obstacle to overcome." Solley shook her head sadly.

"I hope we don't have a bust-up," Marsha continued.

"Impossible. Isn't she your bosom buddy?"

"Yes, and t.i.t wouldn't be the same without her." They both collapsed in giggles at their atrocious jokes.

"Well, girls, thanks for the mammaries, but see ya later."

Gin sniffed. Revving up the engine, she slowly pulled away from the pier.

Solley smiled at the sight of the buxom "superhero"

bouncing over the waves with as much dignity as she could muster. The banter had lifted her spirits. She'd enjoyed the twinkle in Gin's eyes as they swapped terrible puns. She'd also noticed the way Gin's gaze drifted discreetly to her b.r.e.a.s.t.s.

Normally Solley would recoil if she caught someone looking at her that way. But Gin's appraisal didn't seem salacious.

If anything, it indicated a physical awareness Solley found herself responding to. Why else would she be standing here on this jetty, glued to every move of that lithe, tight body but not giving a d.a.m.n about the stunt?

Later, during the afternoon, Solley and her sister calmly prepared dinner in the kitchen while outside a gang war raged.

Marsha, given her delicate condition, had ensconced herself upstairs on her bedroom balcony and proceeded to wreak revenge on the junior members of her family as a water-gun sniper. Meanwhile, Gin leaped and dived across the sand dunes in a series of ruthlessly executed guerrilla tactics, wielding her own "weapon" to leave a trail of waterlogged devastation. The kids were in hysterics, running from haphazard ambush to a 38 a full-face confrontation. All were soaked beyond hope, but in the hazy heat of the late afternoon the air was warm and their energy remained high.

Once dinner was ready, Solley opened the kitchen door and moved out onto the soaked deck, waving the white napkin of peace to holler for a suppertime truce. It was not to be. A merciless arc of water whipped up from the dunes and hit her squarely on the chest. Spluttering in surprise, she heard Janie curse as more water fl ew past her through the open door and into the kitchen.

"Right, that's it," Solley commanded in her most enraged matriarchal tone. "Weapons down and get your squelchy a.s.ses onto this deck right now."

Recognizing her end-of-all-good-things voice, the kids trudged up to the deck, heads lowered, guns trailing, and bottom lips extruded.

"What were the rules?" Solley asked as they lined up before her.

"Gin did it," Della said.

"No excuses. Look at the kitchen fl oor. It's soaked." She broke off when the kids convulsed into fi ts of giggles, their eyes focused beyond her.

Turning around, she was speechless for several seconds.

There, like a giant bat, hung Gin, suspended from the balcony by her feet and pulling faces behind Solley's back, much to the snorting glee of her children.

Eye to eye, in a weird upside-down way, Solley scolded, "Oh, and you must be the mature adult. And, by the way, thanks." She indicated her soaked T-shirt.

Gin's gaze followed her accusing fi nger. Solley glanced down, too, immediately blushing as she became aware of the thin semitranslucent material that clung to her hardened nipples, clearly outlining the raspberry contours. f.u.c.k, where did those a 39 a come from? Horrifi ed that she'd drawn Gin's attention to...

well, her attention-seeking nipples, she folded her arms across her chest. Christ, why don't I just send her a p.o.r.nographic picture of myself.

After a slight hesitation, Gin tore her attention from the wet T-shirt. Throwing a quick glance at the children, she drew herself back up onto the balcony above, out of sight. The kids howled with laughter at the deliberate clowning.

Joining in the fun as much to cover her own embarra.s.sment as to please the kids, Solley yelled, "Come down here right now, you little squirt. I want a word with you."

She headed for the stairs. No sooner had she moved in that direction than Gin vaulted over the balcony railings onto the deck. She landed like a silent a.s.sa.s.sin at the fringes of Solley's peripheral vision, indicating for the kids to be quiet as she attempted to sneak up.

Spinning around, Solley aimed a fi nger at her. "And don't think I don't see you."

She lunged halfheartedly at Gin and they launched into a quick, farcical circuit around the couch in the family room.

Gin yipped and yahooed and Sol scolded, both hamming it up to the kids' delighted hoots of laughter. Their clowning continued until Solley caught her heel on the coffee table and lost her balance. The back of her knees. .h.i.t the armrest of the couch and, falling backward, she grabbed for the front of Gin's top, dragging the smaller woman down with her onto the soft cushions.

They lay there nose to nose, and for a short, stunned moment Solley found herself sucked into the glowing depths of Gin's enigmatic eyes. She could feel the hard length of Gin's sinewy body pressing down on her, one steely thigh slowly pushing her softer ones apart.

Gin, supporting what little of her weight she could on a 40 a palms sunk deep into the plump cushions, could feel herself sliding closer and closer to the full petal lips that parted moistly below hers. So close they could share air, and still she was slipping uncontrollably closer. She could feel the heat pulsing from Solley's belly and smell the warm scent of her soft white throat. Solley's pebbled nipples sc.r.a.ped against Gin's chest.

"Are they making a baby?" Della's innocently perplexed voice cut through their overloaded senses.

"Dunno." Jed shrugged in disinterest.

Exchanging a horrifi ed look over their predicament, the two women hastily scrambled to their feet. Solley patted her hair in place, looking everywhere but at Gin. Something shifted in her consciousness. She realized she had practically been fl irting. Well, sort of fl irting, which was okay considering she was so rusty. She cast a shy sideways glance at Gin and knew at once that she was fl ustered, too. Straightening her shirt, Gin fussed over her cuffs, her small ears glowing red with embarra.s.sment. The soft pulse at the base of her throat throbbed, fascinating Solley with its fl uttering dance until all she wanted to do was press her lips to it. The impulsive thought startled her. She smiled. It was nice to feel attraction toward another woman, even if only for one fl ashing, sultry moment.

Rather weakly, she ordered the children to go wash and change before dinner. Gin's eyes never left her, and Solley could read the unspoken question in their depths even though she doubted what she was seeing. She herded the kids out of the room. They were hungry so they didn't put up much resistance. She knew she should go after them, but she stayed and faced Gin.

"I'm sorry. That was more than a little embarra.s.sing."

"They're only children. They enjoyed the game," Gin a.s.sured her softly.

a 41 a Solley gave a fi rm nod. "Yes, that's all it was. Just harmless fun to cheer up the kids."

"Yes. I enjoyed it. You did, too, didn't you?"

Solley kept nodding. "Of course."

"Then maybe we can fool around again sometime." With a sly grin, Gin ducked out of the room, leaving a slightly stunned Solley in her wake.

Bemused, she fl ung herself back down onto the couch.

What the h.e.l.l? Maybe we can fool around again... The double meaning of Gin's parting shot played havoc with her senses.

G.o.d, you're one stupid h.o.r.n.y b.i.t.c.h, she remonstrated herself.

Stupid h.o.r.n.y b.i.t.c.h? Yes, and it felt good for a change. Solley was surprised. It felt safe and invigorating to think about fl irting with Ms. Gin Ito. She hugged the feeling like a cozy little secret. She mentally patted her reawakening libido.

Welcome to the world, baby girl.

Her heart raced, making it hard for her to stay put. She thought about fi nding Janie and Marsha and having a civilized adult evening, with wine and conversation after the kids went to bed, but all she really wanted was some alone time.

She collected a light shawl from her room and dropped by the kitchen on her way out. Doing her best to appear innocent and unshaken by the muddle of feelings Gin had stirred up, she said, "Hey. I'm not that hungry, Janie. Are you okay managing the kids if I skip dinner and go for a walk?"

"Sure, hon. I'll leave you some lasagna." Janie gave her a long look.

Solley escaped quickly and ambled down to the beach.

She followed the sh.o.r.eline, bare toes tickled by the bubbling surf and warm, wet sand. Up above, stars shone as cold and hard as diamonds, making her feel inconsequential and lost in the scheme of things and the pa.s.sing of time.

a 42 a "What the h.e.l.l am I doing?" she whispered to the galaxies.

Hiding. The word looped in her mind, harsh in its truth.

She'd always hidden. She hid behind the children while the love hemorrhaged out of her partner's heart. She was hiding at her sister's house as Dan consulted lawyers back home. She was even hiding out here on the beach, scared of what she might see if she looked in Gin Ito's eyes over dinner. And how she might feel.

"I'm useless at love and terrifi ed of l.u.s.t," she blurted to an unsympathetic ocean. "G.o.d, what a stupid cow. Where did all my courage go? When did that happen?"

It was true. She was a lioness where her children were concerned, but a coward when it came to facing her own needs. She thought back to the vibrant, fun-fi lled woman who had caught Dan's roving eye. How they had loved, madly, pa.s.sionately. She was the one with fi re enough to enslave her lover. And then what? Wedded bliss and Dan's infi delities, one after the next, chipping away at her confi dence, tapping at her self-esteem like a million tiny blows of a sculptor's hammer until she was completely reshaped. Remodeled into this fabricated sh.e.l.l of a woman who hid on beaches because she was too scared to take a chance.

Shivering, she pulled her shawl around her tighter and took one more look at the heavens. She refused to live in this vacuum anymore, numbly going through the motions of each day. She was suffocating, and there was only one person with the power to change that. If she wanted to feel better, she would have to make it happen all by herself.

Facing the distant lights of Janie's house, she began her walk back, muttering a mantra as she went. "Tonight I'm starting over. What's done is done. Tomorrow I'll be braver."

a 43 a a 44 a

CHAPTER FOUR.

Gin Ito, I need to see you."

The furious bellow ripped apart Gin's solitary early morning tai chi. Peace, harmony, and inner equilibrium all popped like a bubble as she faced the tall, fl ame-haired Valkyrie striding across the sand toward her.

"What exactly did you tell my sister happened between us last night?"

"Nothing." Gin was amazed at how her heartbeat could drum in her head, the wind could howl in her ears, and her tongue could fl ap like a cat door. All because this very angry woman had descended on her like a raging, red sandstorm.

"Nothing happened, so what could I possibly tell her?"

"Well, I can't answer that since I wasn't there. All I know is that someone gave her the impression we were making out."

Gin frowned as she joined the dots. She'd pa.s.sed the door of the children's room last night as Janie and Marsha were putting them to bed. Pausing to take pleasure in the sweet family scene, she'd caught the tail end of a conversation about making babies. Her name and Solley's were mentioned in the mix, to her horror, and she'd fl ed before Janie and Marsha could tease her.

"I think the children squealed," she explained awkwardly.

a 45 a "Obviously they misunderstood what they saw and said incorrect things to your sister."

"Let me get this right. My children squealed incorrect things?" Solley quoted, eye to eye with her quarry.

Gin squirmed. She felt like a big, fat stool pigeon, betraying the kids. More wind blew through the cat door. This conversation wasn't getting any easier. "I have a feeling they thought we were trying to make a baby."

"Make a baby?" Solley stared at her incredulously. "So this snippet of misinformation came to my sister's attention, and you knew it, but you did nothing to correct the impression?

Would you care to elucidate?"

"I only overheard part of a conversation, then they saw me and I...ran away. Marsha was busting a gut laughing and Janie went sort of...evil."

"Janie's a b.i.t.c.h when she's got one over on someone.

Been there, suffered that, forced to eat the T-shirt."

Gin wasn't sure if Solley was letting her off the hook or suggesting that she was a wimp. "I should have said something.

I guess it just didn't occur to me that Janie would take it seriously. Or tease you, too."

Solley regarded her seriously. "She's my sister, and in case you didn't know Marsha is my partner's cousin. They talk."

"I thought you and your partner were breaking up." The words were out before Gin realized she'd been tactless and could have used a more neutral tone. But that was certainly Marsha's version of events.

"We're working through some problems." Solley's tone was defensive and cagey, discouraging further discussion.