Chapter 14

14

ADAZE

A s the day was coming to an end, the pair was hesitant to get out of Leilani's bed. Adaze knew she would need to make the drive home soon, but she was putting it off for as long as possible.

"I don't want you to go," Leilani pouted.

"I don't want to go either, but I have work tomorrow."

"Fine," she groaned.

Adaze slipped out of the bed then hesitated. "You could come over to my place tomorrow when you get off work, if you wanted. Maybe spend the night?"

"I work an early shift tomorrow. I get off around noon. You would still be working and your assistant will still be there."

"I know," Adaze tried to make it sound like it wasn't a big deal despite her pounding heart.

Leilani lit up. "I'd love to!"

"Then it's a plan." She leaned in to give Leilani a quick kiss. "I'll see you tomorrow, but I need to get home."

Leilani couldn't stop smiling. "Sounds good. I'll see you tomorrow."

Then she headed back to her penthouse.

That night, Adaze couldn't sleep. She spent hours pacing. She really did it. She invited Leilani back to her place during the workday. She was going to meet Diana.

Adaze froze mid-step.

She was going to meet Diana.

She would need to warn Diana in the morning. Her assistant was going to be over the moon.

She could only hope she wouldn't overwhelm Leilani too much.

It was still racing through her mind the next morning when Diana arrived.

"How was your date night?" she asked with a grin, holding out her coffee.

"Great, great," Adaze took a sip, buying herself a few seconds.

"That's good." After a moment of silence, Diana asked, "So what's with the face?"

"No face." Better to get it out fast and call it a day. "By the way, Leilani is coming by when she gets off work."

"Do you need me to order dinner for the two of you?"

"No, but you can order lunch for the three of us. She gets off at noon."

"Oh!" Diana blinked, waiting for a moment. "And you're not sending me home?"

"I will if you can't be normal about it."

"You don't need to worry. I am going to be so normal about this."

Adaze raised her eyebrow. "I'm sure you will. Can we get some work done now?"

"Of course. Of course."

Somehow, they managed to get a few hours of work done, even if Adaze struggled to keep her eyes off the clock.

Then, Leilani arrived

She walked right in like she owned the place. Adaze was glad to see her so comfortable. She walked right over to where she was sitting.

"Hey," Adaze greeted as her girlfriend leaned in for a kiss. "How was work?"

Adaze inhaled the sweet smell of smoke from her hair. It was an unusual smell—not like the smell of a smoker, the smoke smelled wild and fire-like and was melded with the sweet strawberry smell of Leilani's shampoo. Her hair was still damp. Her skin was smooth and glowing from the shower.

"It was fine. Tiring, if I'm honest. We went out to a wildfire call and there was a lot of work carrying pumps and hose from the nearest water source to the fire. Usually I like my job but today it was just routine—a straightforward fire, a lot of carrying equipment—and all I could think about was coming to see you."

Adaze glanced to Diana out of the corner of her eyes. Diana was pointedly not looking at them, but her grin couldn't be hidden by her phone no matter how hard she tried. "Missed you too," she said as loudly as she dared.

Leilani followed her eyes.

Diana met her gaze with a grin then turned to Adaze. "Well? Aren't you going to introduce us?"

Her eyes darted down to her computer. "Right, Leilani, this is Diana, my personal assistant. Diana, this is Leilani Silva, my girlfriend."

"Nice to meet you."

"Oh, yeah," Diana grinned. "Nice to finally meet you."

Adaze shot her a look, but she was not deterred.

"Why don't you come into the kitchen?" she offered. "We ordered you lunch."

"Yeah, that sounds great."

Adaze shot her a warning look as she scampered after her girlfriend.

Adaze tried to go back to her work, but she could hear the sound of their muffled voices. It was enough to drive a person mad.

Suddenly, a laugh cut the last thread of her concentration. She shifted in her spot in a vain attempt to get her ears somewhat closer to their location, but it was to no avail. No matter how hard she strained to hear, she couldn't make out what they were saying.

A more rational person would have simply gone to join them. That would be the logical thing to do if she wanted to join their conversation.

But Adaze wasn't about to do that.

No, she stubbornly sat there pretending she couldn't care what they were talking about in the slightest.

She very much cared.

She couldn't help the mild paranoia they were talking about her. She could only hope whatever Diana said wouldn't make Leilani second-guess their relationship.

Rationally, she knew this didn't make any sense. Diana wanted her to be happy, and she was more than capable of having conversation with another adult.

That did nothing to help the insecurity thundering away in Adaze's chest.

After what felt like hours, the pair returned, smiles on their faces. Leilani came to sit beside Adaze with no hesitation, their legs comfortably resting against one another's.

"How was your lunch?" she asked, hoping her voice came out neutral.

"It was good. Thanks for ordering me something. Am I alright here? I don't want to distract you from your work."

"You're fine here."

"Even if Diana and I talk? Can I talk to you?"

"You can talk to her," Diana answered. "All the important work is already done for the day. Besides, she and I spend a lot of time off topic just talking."

"Really? What do you talk about?"

"Mostly you lately."

Adaze shot her a look.

"What? It's true. Did you want me to lie to her?"

Leilani laughed. "It's really good to finally meet you."

"Yeah, you too."

They continued to talk until Diana left for the day, leaving the couple alone. When Adaze snapped her laptop shut with a sigh, Leilani leaned against her.

"Done with work?"

"Finally. Sorry to keep you waiting."

She shook her head. "Don't be. It was nice getting to be here while you did your thing. I wasn't in your way, was I?"

"No it was really nice having you here."

"Good, because I liked being here. Would you mind if I did this again sometime?"

"I'd be happy if you did."

"Good. I probably won't do it every time I have an early shift, but maybe every other time?"

"Whatever you want."

"Well, I don't want to risk Jaspurr getting lonely."

Adaze narrowly bit back the urge to say she could just bring him here. She needed to slow down and fast or she was going to be asking Leilani to move in for their one-month anniversary. And that would be peak lesbian behavior.

"No, of course not. Maybe I can come over to your place those nights."

"I'd like that." She hesitated. "Does Diana come over everyday?"

"No, only four days a week."

"Well, you don't have to, but I wanted to let you know, if you want, you're welcome to work from my house sometimes."

She couldn't help her smile. "I might take you up on that at some point."

"Good, because I'd like for you to."

They put on a movie and curled up together. About halfway through, Leilani suddenly lit up.

She whirled around to look at her girlfriend. "I forgot to ask! Do you like to hike? Because the friend I went out to lunch with hasn't had a chance to go since she got into town, so I was trying to get a group together."

Adaze hesitated. It really wasn't her thing, but she wanted to be a part of Leilani's world

"You don't have to?—"

"No, I want to."

Leilani lit up. "Great! We were hoping to plan for Monday evening. Do you think you'd be free?"

Diana was going to kill her, but… "I'll make it work."

"That's perfect. I'll let her know and get everything set up."

When Monday evening came around, Adaze picked Leilani up in her porsche and they headed to one of the state parks. She had had Diana pick her up some designer hiking wear and suitable footwear as it wasn't her usual scene.

As they pulled up in the parking lot, there was a small cluster of about three people already there, waiting for them. She vaguely recognized two of them as people Leilani worked with. The third on the other hand…. That couldn't be who she thought it was, could it?

As they pulled to a stop, Adaze couldn't help but frown when she saw a familiar face. Her blood ran cold as she realized she was right.

Standing there decked out in hiking gear with a one-eyed dog was her ex-wife.

But that couldn't be right.

This had to be some mistake.

But then they parked and Leilani raced over to her, greeting her with a smile

"Hey, Veronica!" she grinned. "Did you have an easy time finding the place?"

"Yeah, I—" she fell silent when she saw Adaze.

Adaze spun to face her girlfriend. "Is this who you've been spending time with?"

Leilani didn't seem fazed by any of this. "Oh, yeah, this is Veronica, the one I've been telling you about."

"Her? Are you serious?"

Images flashed through her head. She could see the way the two of them must be when she wasn't around. Veronica was an untrustworthy snake!

"Um, yeah? What am I missing here?"

"Her?"

Leilani had the audacity to look confused. Was she really going to pretend she didn't know who she was standing beside?

"Yes?"

Adaze shook her head. "I can't believe you would do this to me." She turned and walked back to her car.

"Wait!" Leilani dared to call after her. "I don't understand. What did I do wrong?"

But it was too late. She was already gone.