“I think Andi’s falling in love with Bernice. If something goes awry with the residency, that could impact their relationship.”
Cassie dipped a giant prawn into a rose-colored sauce. “I’m sure if their relationship is strong enough, it can survive something like that. But you seem to be getting ahead of yourself and thinking worst-case scenario. From what I know of you, which isn’t a lot, sure, but you seem to be a glass brimming over kind of person. What’s making you so pessimistic about this?”
“Andi means a lot to me. She took a chance on me when everyone else thought I was just flopping around trying to find myself.”
“How old were you when you met?”
“Twenty-eight.”
Cassie almost choked on her prawn. “Twenty-eight! I thought you were going to say you were fourteen, and she rescued you from the streets.”
Taryn rolled her eyes. “Wow, thanks for the understanding.”
“Oh, come on. Don’t be like that. You have to admit that’s amusing.” Cassie leaned across the table and placed her hand on Taryn’s shoulder. The feel of her hard muscles bunched beneath her shirt initiated a particularly pleasant reaction, and Cassie bit her lower lip. “Sorry. Tell me how Andi took a chance on you.”
Taryn pulled back, crossed her arms, and shook her head. “No. All personal information privileges have been revoked.”
Cassie arched her eyebrow and gave Taryn a stern expression. Well, as much as she could be stern in the circumstances, but Taryn seemed to respond to her icy demeanor as if it triggered something sexual in her. It was a response Cassie was becoming particularly fond of. Having that kind of effect over a hot butch like Taryn was intoxicating. Her hard exterior relaxed visibly, and she softened like a marshmallow over a campfire. Yes indeed, it was an extremely nice reaction to elicit.
Taryn covered her eyes. “No. Don’t bring out the big guns. That’s not fair.”
Cassie laughed gently. “I’m sure I don’t know what you mean,” she said and arched her eyebrow even higher when Taryn peeped between her fingers.
Taryn’s ensuing moan sent a throb through Cassie’s body. How fun it was to get that response without even touching her.
Taryn kept her eyes covered and pointed in Cassie’s general direction. “That. The eyebrow thing. It’s crazy what it does to me.”
“Tell me how Andi saved you, and I promise I won’t do it.” White lies were okay when it came to flirting, she decided.
“No eyebrow warfare. Promise?”
Cassie crossed her fingers under the table. “Promise.”
Taryn dropped her hand and narrowed her eyes. “A lady never lies.”
“Ladies always lie,” Cassie said. “And so do gentlemen. And so do not-so-gentle persons and all the rainbow of versions in between and beyond.”
“But you promised. And you’re a doctor. You swore a Hippocratic oath to do no harm.”
Cassie’s shoulders shook with the laughter she was trying hard to keep inside. “‘Eyebrow warfare.’ ‘Harm.’ You’re throwing some loaded terms around for a little brow wiggle.”
“It’s not the size of the wiggle, it’s the catastrophic effect said wiggle has on a defenseless woman like me.”
“Ha, you’re about as defenseless as a lion.”
Taryn grinned and played with her hair. “I do like my mane.”
“And you like being thought of as king of the jungle too.”
Taryn’s expression turned serious, and her eyes darkened. “How about I take you to my hotel room, and you can make your own mind up about what I might be king of?”
Cassie throbbed at the husky drop in Taryn’s voice. She looked at the seafood platter, barely touched because they hadn’t stopped talking to breathe, let alone eat. She raised her hand to get the waiter’s attention. “Could we get this to go, please?”
The waiter inclined his head. “Of course,” he said and took the plate away.
Taryn remained silent, but the hungry look in her eyes said more than words could cover.
“What? I’m planning on working up quite an appetite over the next few hours,” Cassie said.
