Aftershock Page 4

  “You certainly aren’t wasting any time,” George said.

  “You only gave me a three-day notice. I have to hustle.” She nodded toward Hal. “If Hal comes on board, I can let go of the financials and pay more attention to operations and marketing.”

  “Who’s going to manage your inventory?” George asked.

  Lily knew that had been his primary responsibility. She almost volunteered that Anna would have to buy and train a monkey, but stopped herself, aware that the wine was making her silly.

  “I’m going to let Brad handle that. It makes sense to give the sales manager total control over the lot.”

  “That’s enough business,” Kim said. “I want to hear more about this cruise. Hal can take me to Greece as soon as you get back.”

  Throughout dinner, Lily listened with envy as George filled them in on the details of their trip. She and Anna were overdue for a real vacation. The two-day camping trip to Yosemite had been their longest getaway since becoming lovers a year ago. Something on a faraway beach would be perfect.

  As the plates were cleared, Jonah began to fuss.

  “Someone else is hungry now,” Kim said.

  Anna patted the baby’s head. “You can feed him here. We don’t mind.”

  “I mind. I fed him just before we got here. I’m trying to get him on a schedule of eating again at nine and going right to sleep. That’s our only hope of him making it through the night.”

  Hal stood up and collected their belongings. “I guess we should go.”

  “How long am I going to have to wait for your decision, Hal?” Anna asked.

  “You’ll probably have a message on your answering machine when you get home tonight,” Kim said. “You caught him after a bad week at work.”

  “Good. I can get him cheap.”

  “Don’t count on that.”

  Anna chuckled and started to rise.

  Lily did the same, and was pleasantly surprised when George offered a hand to help her to her feet. She couldn’t resist ducking under his arm and twirling, a move that told her the wine had definitely gone to her head. “You dance divinely, George.”

  “You think that’s something, just wait till you see me dance at Anna’s wedding.”

  “You’re throwing us a wedding?”

  George shook his head drearily as everyone else laughed.

  “No more weddings for me,” Anna said. “One was enough.”

  Stung by Anna’s retort, Lily lurched away from the group toward the cloakroom. Suddenly conscious that her actions would be seen as pouty, she shook off her soured mood and tried to smile. Anna had always said her ill-fated marriage would have been far less humiliating had it not been for the lavish wedding. No wonder even the word carried such baggage. She stopped and waited until Anna caught up.

  “This is such wonderful news, Anna.”

  “It’s going to be a madhouse for a while . . . and Dad probably doesn’t know it, but his timing is perfect.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “I’ll tell you later. If he hears what I’m up to, he might change his mind.”

  The group’s departure was typically chaotic. Hal was sent with the valet tickets to order the cars, Martine retrieved the raincoats and umbrellas from the coat check, and Lily ducked into the ladies’ room.

  Anna took one last opportunity to cuddle with Jonah while Kim put on her raincoat. She was hopelessly in love with the little guy, enough that she entertained the fleeting thought of talking again with Lily about someday having a baby of their own. The notion deserved serious consideration before dismissing it altogether.

  But her father’s announcement tonight had given her a new set of immediate priorities. Rumors about Sweeney Volkswagen going under had her salivating at the possibility of expanding Premier’s auto empire.

  She smiled when Lily returned from the restroom and her father helped her into her coat. It was impossible not to appreciate the way their relationship had grown. Both of them deserved credit for smoothing out the rough spots—Lily for meeting her father’s objections with humor, and her father for simply letting those objections wilt. No matter what either of them said, they cared about each other in their own special way.

  Lily joined her at the door the moment her X3 appeared. Anna stepped in just as she reached for the keys. “Oh no, you don’t.”

  “Probably not a bad idea,” Lily said in agreement. She climbed into the passenger seat and immediately rolled down the window.

  As Anna walked around the back of the vehicle, she heard Lily shout.

  “Hey, George! You have to be nice to me now. I know your boss.”

  Anna laughed and strapped herself into the driver’s seat. “Buckle your seatbelt, baby.”

  Lily complied, fumbling a little with the catch.

  “Did you have a good time?”

  “I must have. You’re not letting me drive.”

  “Every time I looked over there, Dad was filling your glass. I bet you had a whole bottle.”

  “It’s hard to keep count when someone else is pouring.”

  “If I were you, I’d plan on sleeping late.” That was Lily’s usual defense against a hangover. Not that she often drank to excess . . . but she enjoyed kicking back on the weekends. They both worked hard during the week, so Anna didn’t begrudge her the chance to relax. She too enjoyed a glass of wine here and there, but never so much that she wasn’t able to drive them home. “I might go in to my office for a little while tomorrow. Is that okay?”

  “Measuring for new drapes?”

  Anna chuckled. “Something like that.”

  Lily’s hand crept over the console and into her crotch. “What if I have other plans for you?”

  “Then I . . . might have to do some . . . multitasking.” She grasped Lily’s hand and pulled it to her lips. “I love you.”

  When they reached their home, Anna triggered the automatic opener for the garage door and pulled the SUV alongside the black Z8 she had acquired last week. The sleek two-seater convertible was longer and more powerful than BMW’s mass model, the Z4. She felt bad for the seller—a Hollywood producer facing bankruptcy—but his misfortune was her gain. She’d had her eye out for one of the rare roadsters since losing her 850 in the earthquake.

  As she stepped out, she realized the rain on the concrete floor had made it slick, a danger given Lily’s unsteady state. “Stay there. I’ll come around.”

  Together they huddled under an umbrella and hurried across the driveway to the side porch. “Our next house is going to have an attached garage.” Anna slipped in her key and pushed open the door to the family room.

  Before she could even kick off her wet shoes, Lily was covering her face and neck with passionate kisses. Anna happily accepted the greeting. “Somebody’s feeling sexy tonight.”

  “We’re celebrating.”

  “And just what are you celebrating?”

  “I’m sleeping with the boss.” She bit Anna’s earlobe and whispered roughly, “I have a surprise for you upstairs.”

  Anna felt a surge of excitement as she followed Lily up to the master suite.

  Lily set the tone immediately for what she had in mind, pushing Anna backward onto the bed. “Off with that dress, Amazon.”

  Anna complied, scooting out of the cocktail dress and tossing it onto the bedside chair. Under Lily’s watchful eye, she then slipped off her stockings.

  “Keep going or you won’t get your surprise.” Lily rested one knee on the end of the bed.

  “I definitely want my surprise.” She unhooked her bra and tossed it aside. Then she slid out of her panties and leaned back against the shams, waiting for Lily to take her.

  Apparently, that wasn’t what Lily had in mind. Piece by piece, she undressed as well, caressing her own body as it became bare. When she was fully nude, she scooted closer, but just out of Anna’s reach. “Do you remember the first time we made love?”

  “It was over the phone,” Anna said.

&nb
sp; “That’s right.” Lily cupped her breasts and pushed them together. “Do you ever think about that night?”

  “I do.”

  “I think about it all the time. You know why?” She licked her fingers and used them to pinch her nipple. “Because I like to picture you touching yourself.”

  Anna followed her cue and allowed her hand to drift to her breast. It wasn’t unusual for either of them to “lend a helping hand” when they made love, but this was the first time they had done this solely for show.

  “Show me what you were doing when you told me how wet you were.” Lily dipped her own fingers between her legs and held them up. “Were you wet like this?”

  Not taking her eyes from Lily, Anna opened her legs and delved into her center, coating her fingers the way Lily had.

  “This is what I did, Anna . . . this is how I was touching myself when I told you what I wanted.” Her eyes closed as she slid two fingers inside and began to pump. “Only I imagined it was you doing this.”

  “And you were doing this for me.” Anna began to massage her clitoris.

  “You were reaching deep . . . way up inside.” Lily held one leg out to open herself more, using the fingers on her other hand to spread her labia. “Do you like this?”

  Anna moaned her approval and increased the speed of her strokes. “I want to see you come.”

  Lily was breathing hard now, and she removed her fingers from her vagina to rub her clitoris. “I’ll come for you”—she pointed to where Anna was touching herself—“but I want you to save that for me too.”

  With a groan of frustration, Anna slowed her hand, mesmerized by the smoldering look on Lily’s face. It was all she could do not to climax when Lily suddenly dropped her lower jaw and drew in a deep breath.

  “Is this what you wanted to see?” Still upright on the bed, Lily began to undulate, never dropping her gaze. She cried out in the rhythm of her thrusts, and suddenly drew her slickened hand from her own clitoris to slide it into Anna. “Now you.”

  Anna was way past ready, and in only moments, it was over.

  Chapter 4

  The whirlwind began on Sunday afternoon when Hal called to accept Anna’s offer to come to work at Premier Motors. She named him vice president of finance and promised him a fat salary to go with it. By noon on Monday his accounting firm had shown him the door—not unusual, considering his company dealt with confidential client files—and he was on the lot first thing Tuesday morning. Eager to implement her vision for the dealership, Anna met with him behind closed doors all day, laying out her plan for growing the business and tasking him with working the numbers to get it done.

  By Saturday afternoon, she had her new management team in place. Brad Stanley, Premier’s longtime sales manager, was stepping up to vice president of operations, Anna’s old job, minus the marketing responsibilities, which she kept for herself. Brad would handle day-to-day management, such as staffing and inventory control.

  Holly Martin, last year’s hire from San Diego, was a natural to take over Brad’s post as sales manager. She knew more about the cars than any salesperson on the lot, and she had a real gift for closing the deal. Anna had taken advantage of the casual atmosphere at Premier to get to know Holly outside of their working relationship, and had begun to think of her as a friend. She would make a great addition to the team.

  As expected, George had made himself scarce following his retirement announcement, taking the whole week off to pack for the cruise. He was oblivious to the major moves Anna had set in motion.

  Even though her father was no longer running the business, she wanted to share with him her plans before he discovered them on his own. That meant catching him at home tonight before he and Martine left for Greece.

  “Anna Kaklis, you have a call on line one. Anna Kaklis, line one.”

  Anna had been taking congratulatory calls from the business community all week after the press release in the Times. “This is Anna Kaklis.”

  The voice on the phone was deep and raspy. “What are you wearing?”

  It took her only an instant to recognize Lily’s mischief. “Funny you should ask. I can’t remember putting underwear on this morning. I don’t think I did.”

  “That’s because I’ve stolen all your panties. I have a panty fetish, you know.”

  “That would explain why you’re always taking them off me.”

  “I like to sniff them when you’re not here.”

  Anna felt herself blushing at the intimacy, hoping no one at Premier accidentally picked up the wrong line. “What can I do for you, my little pervert?”

  “You can come home. We just got an invitation to Sandy and Suzanne’s for dinner. Sandy’s fixing something that sounds French.”

  Anna checked her watch, then the pile of papers on her desk. “That sounds great, but I need to talk to Dad about Sweeney before they head out tomorrow. I was thinking about going by after work.” She waited, hoping Lily wouldn’t be too upset about yet another late night. “Why don’t you go? I’ll finish up here and head over to Mom and Dad’s. Then I’ll see you at home later.”

  “I don’t have to go. I can come by and pick you up. We can grab a bite somewhere and then stop by so you can talk to George.”

  It was bad enough Anna had worked late every night this week. She wasn’t about to wreck a night out with friends for Lily. “No, I don’t want you to do that. You’ve worked hard this week. You’ve earned a night out, and you should go.”

  “By myself?”

  “Yeah, go and have fun. Tell them both I said hi, and we’ll have them over soon. Okay?”

  “If you’re sure . . .”

  “I am.” Anna felt her guilt recede. At least Lily would have a good time tonight. “I should be home by nine.”

  “Okay, I’ll see you then.”

  Anna hung up and leaned back in her chair. Her first week as CEO had been hectic, but it was almost behind her. If she came in early tomorrow, she could take Sunday afternoon off to relax. Maybe she and Lily could pull out their calendars and find a few days to get away. Memorial Weekend in Hawaii was looking better all the time.

  Lily pulled in behind Sandy’s small sedan, excited about seeing her friends. To be truthful, she would have been excited to see total strangers after a full week of being on her own. She and Anna hadn’t had a meal together all week, with Anna leaving for the dealership at six thirty each morning and returning in time to fall into bed exhausted. But it was only temporary . . . at least that’s what Anna had promised.

  She picked up the two bottles of wine—one white, one red— on her front seat and headed up the stairs to her friends’ ranch-style home.

  Sandy met her at the front door before she could even ring the bell. “What’s this? Two bottles of wine?”

  Lily greeted her with a hug, clicking the bottles behind Sandy’s back. “I have no idea what tarti . . . whatever is.”

  “Tartiflette. It’s a potato pie with cheese and bacon.”

  Lily held up the wine. “And that’s best with what?”

  Sandy took the chardonnay and left Lily holding the cabernet sauvignon. “Let me chill this.”

  “Fine. We can drink this one before dinner.”

  “Right . . . and pass out with our faces in our plates.”

  Lily followed her into the kitchen, where Suzanne was putting the finishing touches on the table.

  “Hey, where’s your pretty half?” Suzanne made no secret of her opinion that Anna was gorgeous—except that first time they all shared a nude soak in the hot tub. She had lost her tongue that night.

  “She’s working late,” she answered with a mock snarl.

  “On a Saturday night?”

  “Yeah, I’ve hardly seen her all week.”

  “I guess she has a lot to do now that her father is retiring.”

  “He says he’s going to work part-time. But now that Anna’s in charge, she’s making some big changes.” Lily worked the corkscrew until it popped. Then she poured
three glasses of red wine. “Don’t tell anybody this, but she’s getting ready to make an offer for the Volkswagen dealership in West Hollywood.”

  “Who would we tell?” Sandy asked.

  “Nobody, silly. But she wants to keep things low-key so they can get things done without somebody else jumping in to bid.”

  Sandy led the way into the living room and offered Lily a bowl of cocktail nuts. “Eat these so I won’t.”

  “Gladly.”

  “So how long is this working around the clock going to last?”

  “It better not be much longer, or I’m trading her in for a new girlfriend.” Lily took a gulp of her wine and set the glass on the coffee table. “At least she’s hired a new management team. Maybe she can start taking weekends off.”

  “Wouldn’t that be nice?”

  “It really would. We could have a normal life.”

  Suzanne came in and refilled Lily’s glass before scooping up a handful of nuts. “There’s no such thing as a normal life. Just ask Sandy.”

  Sandy shook her head. “Isn’t that the truth! Try living with an ER nurse who works double shifts three times a week.”

  “No, thanks. Anna and I made a deal that we weren’t going to let work take over our lives.”

  “So where is she?” Suzanne asked haughtily.

  Lily realized her grousing about Anna’s late hours had led her friend to pile on out of sympathy. “It’s only for a little while longer. She was just saying a couple of weeks ago that she wanted to start doing more things with our friends.”

  “How did your camping trip go?” Sandy asked.

  “We had a ball.” Lily finished her second glass of wine as she described the weekend at Yosemite—meeting Anna’s friends, the hike to the base of the falls, and how Anna adapted to the outdoors. “Their dog was so funny. He wouldn’t leave Anna alone.”

  The oven chimed and Sandy herded them back into the kitchen to eat.

  Lily smiled to herself as Suzanne poured chardonnay for the table. One more glass of wine and she would be spilling her guts about what they had done in their tent. But it was the weekend, time to relax. “Anna’s friends had some cool news. They’re having a baby.”