Discovering Stella (31 page)

Leaning forward, I pressed
my
lips to his and gently teased them open with the tip of
my
tongue. They obediently parted and allowed
for
the kiss to deepen, sending warm chills spiralling down
my
neck and back. And yes, they were warm chills, because
that’s
exactly what kissing Lawson did to me.

His hands slid
over my
hips and rested at the
top of my
arse, firmly pressing me closer to his
body.
The friction that caused heightened the pleasure swirling around internally, prompting me to rest
my
hand
on
the back of his head and tense
my
fingers with mild aggression. I wanted him.
All
of him. And
not
just his taste in
my
mouth. I wanted to feel him inside me
as
he brought me back to life.
Holy shit! I’m ready. I’m ready to give myself to another man.

Realising the significance
of my
epiphany,
not
to
mention
that
we
were
heavily
petting in a
pub
full
of
people,
I
pulled
away
and
gathered
my
bearings.
“I
have
to
go,”
I
whispered
in a
breathy
voice.

“No,
you
don’t.
She’ll be
fine,”
he countered, leaning in and kissing me again.
Oh my god! My tongue just died and went to tongue heaven.
Lawson’s
hands shifted,
one
finding the back of
my
head and the other settling between
my
shoulder blades.
He
dipped me backward while kissing me
passionately,
completely throwing
out my
sense of equilibrium.

Wolf
whistles and cheers erupted from the people surrounding us,
making
me squeal and break the kiss. I laughed and slapped his
shoulder.
“Bring me back
up,
you
toad.”

“Fuck
toad, that kiss just turned me
into
your
prince.”

“Not
quite,
but
you’re
getting
there,”
I offered with a cheeky smile.
“Now
bring me back
up.”

Lawson
swung
me upright, amplifying
my
already
dizzy
state. “Thank
you.”

“Anytime, Princess.”

“You
can
let me go
now.”

“If I have
to.”

“Yeah,
you
do.”

He
grumbled and let his hands drop to his sides. I,
on
the other hand, smoothed
my
dress down and prayed I
hadn’t
just revealed to the population of Pittstown what
type
of underwear I was
partial
to.

“You
both quite right there?”
Todd
interrupted, his attempt at a perturbed expression failing miserably
due
to a hint of his dimple.

“Never
better,”
Lawson answered,
taking
a seat.

Shaking
my
head at both
men,
I opted to go and track down Meg and apologise
for
making
her
feel bad, and then force
her
to dance the night away with me.

As
I
entered
the ladies bathroom, I noticed
it
was
empty.
That
notion
alone surprised me — the ladies bathroom was never
empty.
“Meg,
you
in here?” I called
out,
checking to see if the cubicles were locked.

One
of the doors opened and to
my
disappointment — and distaste — Vicky stepped
out,
wearing a look of utter derision. “Stella, is
it?
We
haven’t
met
...
well, we kinda have,
haven’t
we? Remember? I was the
one
Lawson was rubbing his erection
on
that time
you
walked
into
his
workshop.
How’s
your foot, by the way?” Her face wore an ill-laced smile as she glanced down at
my
ankle.

I, too, glanced down at
my
foot,
but
then snapped
out of
my
shock at
her
brazenness.
“That’s right,”
I drawled, sardonically.
“You’re
Vicky,
the
one
who fucked
Lawson’s
best friend Leigh, right? Great decision that
was.”
I nodded,
my
eyes wide,
my
gesture praising
her
with
an
over-the-top
smile. “So
how’s
that
work
ing
out for
you?”

Sheer disbelief fleetingly flashed in
her
eyes before
it
was replaced with what appeared to be boiling animosity. I
didn’t
care though;
nasty
skanks
like Vicky never ceased to
amaze
me. I was
not one
to willingly become a victim of such people.

She
glared before
walking
to the basin, turning
on
the tap and proceeding to wash
her
hands while finding
my
watchful eyes in the reflection of the mirror.
“You’re
a revenge fuck, Stella, nothing
more,
nothing less. I suggest
you
don’t
grow too attached.”

“Thank
you
for
your
concern,”
I answered,
walking
behind
her
to find
an
unlocked cubicle.
“But
if
you
know Lawson
as
well
as
you
think
you do, you
would know
he’s
not
the vengeful type.”

Vicky turned the tap off and snatched a piece of paper
towel,
drying
her
hands with a newfound sense of purpose.
“Don’t
fuck with me,
bitch.
I
don’t
play
nice,”
she snapped, tossing the scrunched up towel in the bin before storming
out
of the room. I let
out
a breath
as
the door to the bathroom slammed
shut
and shook
my
head at
how
ridiculous she was, when the
cubi
cle door next to me slowly opened. A
mop
of wavy
blonde
hair appeared, and when the owner of said
mop
turned in
my
direc
tion,
I came face to face with Meg and
her
holy fuck
expression!

“Bloody hell! Are
you
all
right?”

I laughed. “Yeah. I came in
here
to ask the same question of
you.”

“Don’t
worry about me. Oh
my
god, she was lethal,” Meg exclaimed, glancing at the door
as
if at any second Vicky would return.

“Nah,
she’s
only lethal to herself.
Honestly,
people like
her
don’t
faze
me.
She’s
a
bully,
and I refuse to be bullied by
her
or
anyone
else
for
that
matter,”
I explained, closing the door and
taking
a seat
on
the
loo.

The sound of water running down the drain indicated Meg was washing
her
hands. “Stella,
I’m
really sorry about your hus
band,”
she voiced
loudly,
so that I could hear
her
over
the
water’s
slushing noise.

Sighing, I finished
my
business and began to adjust
my
dress. “Like I said to
Todd
and Lawson,
thank
you,
but
I’m
not
after
sympathy.”
Opening the
door,
I stepped up to the basin, continuing the explanation I’d already given twice before yet knew I had to again. Accepting that people would want to offer their condolences once becoming aware of
my
loss was, in hindsight, inevitable.
“I
don’t
want
you or
anyone
else feeling
sorry.
It
is what
it
is. Nobody
can
change what happened, so
there’s
no
point
feeling sad about it. I want to
move on
and
that’s
why
I’m
here.
I
don’t
want to dwell
on my
husband’s death any
more.”

Meg nodded and gave me a sympathetic,
but
understanding, rub
on
my
back.
“Okay,
enough said.
How
‘bout we crank the jukebox up and dance the night away instead, huh?”

Finishing the
drying
of
my
hands, I turned toward
her
and smiled
happily.
“Sounds perfect.”

Guards eventually come down

Stella and Meg strolled
out
of the ladies
room,
arm in arm, looking pleased
as
punch with themselves. What was
it
about the loo that made
women
happy? They always want to go in pairs
or
in a
group,
and when they come
out they were
giggly and acting mysterious,
as
if they’d just been treated to a male strip performance
or
something.
It
always confused the fuck
out
of me.

Stopping
next to
my
chair, Stella draped
her
arm
over my
shoul
der.
I bloody
loved
it. I
loved
the
new,
confident and
out-of-her-
shell princess —
it
suited
her.

“I
got
you
a new
beer.
Didn’t
know what else
you
wanted to drink,” I said, offering
it
to
her.

She
leaned down and whispered in
my
ear. “Surprise me next time. Sometimes I like surprises.” Stella then straightened and
motioned
for
Meg to follow
her
to the dance
floor.
Before she could
walk
off,
I grabbed
her
and dragged
her
onto
my
lap, securing and dipping
her f
or
a kiss.
She
fought
my
restraint at first,
but
then relaxed and let me have
my
way.
I sure as shit could get used to sliding my tongue inside her mouth
...
among other places.

“I’m
fairly sure the two
of you
have already established
you
both have
tongues,”
Todd
grumbled like a protective fuck.

I ignored him and deepened the kiss, slowing
my
actions and very subtly massaging
her
head with
my
fingertips.
Her
resolve
melted
and
her
body relaxed.
Then,
gradually,
Stella’s
lips separated from mine when she pulled
away.
I
looked
down and found that
her
eyes
were
closed and the expression she
wore
nothing
but
satisfied bliss.
It
sent
the biggest fucking thrill right through
me.
“Want
to go
home?”
I suggested,
making
it
clear with the
tone
of
my voice
that I wanted nothing
more.

Before she could answer — with what I hoped would be ‘fuck,
yeah’
— Shaz approached the table and squawked right next to
my
ear, interrupting
my
plans to whisk Stella
away.
“Finished with your plate?”

“It’s
empty,
Shaz, so yeah
I’m
finished,” I groaned, reluctantly helping Stella upright.

“Stop
whining,
lover
boy.
The night is still young.
You’ve
got plenty of time to
ply
Stella with alcohol, then have your naughty little way with
her.”

“Shaz!” Stella exclaimed, giving
her
a small nudge of the
shoulder.

She
screwed up
her
chin. “What?
That’s
one
good night right
there.”

“The bar is lookin’
busy,”
Todd
pointed
out,
insinuating she nick
off.

Shaz flippantly flicked
her
hand at him.
“Yeah,
yeah,
Toddy,
don’t
get your knickers in a
knot.”

He
raised
an
eyebrow at
her
and shook his head.
“I
don’t
know
how it
is that
you
still
work for
me.”

“Because
you love
me,
that’s
why.
And because
I’m
the best darn
employee you
got.
Sorry,
Stella, no
offence.”
Shaz winked, collected the empty plates, and walked back to the kitchen.

“She’s
right,
you
know.”
Stella laughed.
“She’s
the best
employee
you’ve
got.”

“Yeah,
don’t
I know
it?
Pity she
doesn’t
come with a
plug,”
Todd
added. Both he and I cracking up laughing.

Meg hit him
on
the arm while suppressing
her
giggle.
“Todd!”

Just
as
Stella was presumably about to tell me off
as
well,
her
phone
rang, the ringtone belonging to
her
friend from Melbourne. I raised
an
eyebrow at
her
as
if to suggest she answer
it
— she’d said she was going to sooner
or
later.

Stella glanced at the screen and
hovered
her
finger
over
accept before shaking
her
head and pressing the reject
button.
When she glanced up again, Meg,
Todd
and I looked
away,
as
if we’d been busted staring.

“What?” she asked
defensively.
“This night is about
all
of us
...
here
...
now.
I’ll speak to Julia when
I’m
ready.”

Todd
raised his hands in surrender.

Meg asked him — no
louder
than
a whisper — who Julia was.

And I slid
my
hand
onto Stella’s
leg, giving
it
a reassuring squeeze to let
her
know I respected
her
decision.

*
 
*
 
*

For
the remainder of the night, Stella and Meg dominated the dance
floor,
selecting song after song
on
the jukebox.
It
was clear they both liked hits from the 80s and 90s, Madonna, Michael Jackson and the soundtrack from
Grease
being their favourites.

Watching Stella dance
as
she let
her
hair down and had
fun
was fucking awesome.
Her
smile alone had the ability to command of me whatever
it
was she saw fit.
But
that laugh, that goddamn laugh,
it
was
my
undoing. And if I was going to be completely
honest
with myself, there was
not
the shadow of a
doubt
that I was falling
for
her.
Hard.
Just being around
her,
watching
her
and communicating with
her
put
me
over
the
moon.
When I was at
work
I thought about
her,
craved
her
...
willed the hours to tick
away,
so that I could once
again
be in
her
presence. The feeling was good.
But it
also worried the hell
out
of me.
She
could leave at any second
...
run
. And what would happen then? I
didn’t
want to think about it.

Shaking the horrid thought
out
of
my
head, I continued to watch
her
from
my
seated
position
on
a barstool
not
far from the edge
of
the dance
floor. ‘Helping
Hand’ by The Screaming Jets came
on,
prompting Meg to jump up and down, squealing and begging
for
Todd
to join
her
and Stella. I knew the cocky bugger would; he could dance
...
unlike me.

“Slave,”
I teased
as
he got up from the stool beside me and answered
my
sister’s
beckoning
call.

He laughed and countered with, “Your time
will
come,” before
heading
to the
dance
floor and groping my sister
like
a
pervert.

Sitting there watching them — mainly Stella — and drinking
my beer, my
quiet and happy observing was cut short when Vicky took the seat
Todd
had abandoned.

“You
two
an
item?” she asked,
her
eyes
on
Stella.

I looked toward the dance floor where
Todd
was spinning Princess around like she was a ballerina.
She
looked so carefree and
happy.

“Yeah,”
I said
proudly.
“We
are.”

Vicky sighed.
“You
like to do things the hard
way,
don’t
you?
It’s
okay,
I get
it
.
”

I’m not in the mood for this shit.
Refusing to look at
her,
I kept
my
focus
on my
girl.
“Don’t
know what
you’re
talkin’ ‘bout,
Vicky. Spit
it out or
go
away.”

“I
think
you
know exactly what
I’m
talking
about,”
she said with a mild laugh.

Nodding — because she was insane and no matter what I said, she would disregard
it
— I dismissed
her
game-playing. “Whatever
you
say.”

“You
always were stubborn, and
you
never knew what was good
for
you.
It
appears
you
still
don’t.”

I turned to face
her
and waited till
her
eyes met mine.
“You’re
right. I
didn’t
know what was good
for
me, because
it
sure
as
shit
wasn’t
you.”

Vicky’s
eyelids narrowed before she turned to face forward again, placing the straw of
her
drink in
her
mouth.
After
a
long
sip
, she swallowed, then swirled the
contents
of the glass around. “When
you’re
done
trying
to get back at me with Miss Prim and
Proper,
I’ll be waiting. Why? Because
it’s
always been me and
you
...
Vicky and Lawson. That
won’t
change.”

Before I could set
her
deranged mind straight, Stella came dancing up to where I was sitting, a look in
her
eyes that spoke of mischief and ownership — ownership of me.
She
didn’t
acknowledge
Vicky,
just kept
her
stare fixed
on
mine
as
she swayed
her
hips and shoulders. Then,
taking
my
hand in hers, she seductively lured me to
my
feet and turned toward the dance
floor,
wrapping
my
arms around
her
waist
as
she led the
way.
It
was
hot
as
fuck!

When
we reached
the
spot where
the
others were
dancing,
she
spun
to
face
me
and
draped
her
arms
around
my
neck.
I
moved
my
hands
to
her
hips
and
pulled
her
flush
to
my
body
with
a
smile
and,
together
with
the
look
in
her
eyes
and
the
way
she
was
rubbing
her
sexy
body
against
me,
my
cock
was
hard
in
no
time.
I
tightened
my
grip
and lifted
her
up
so that
her mouth
was
level
with
my
mine.
She
didn’t
hesitate,
gripping
my
head
and
guiding
our
lips
together.
Our
tongues
fought
each
other’s
and
our
grasp
on
one
another
tightened.
It
bloody
set
me
alight
like
a
firework.