Taryn thought of the seven-bedroomed mansion her parents moved into just before they brought Ralph into the world. It would probably seem obscene to Cassie. “Not so much. How about you? Do you have siblings?”
Cassie looked away abruptly but not before Taryn had seen the blackest of clouds descend over her usually bright eyes. The little seriousness they’d agreed on seemed to be inadvertently leading them along an ever-darkening path.
She cleared her throat. “That’s not something I want to talk about it,” Cassie whispered.
She seemed to hold something else back. Was it something she didn’t want to talk about with Taryn, or something she didn’t want to talk about period? Again though, Taryn wasn’t about to push. They’d been having a lot of fun together over the past week, and she didn’t want to risk that by trying to force a clearly difficult conversation, didn’t want to risk losing her friendship. Taryn had thought staying in one place was going to be difficult, but their time together was making it almost too easy.
“My younger brother, Ralph, is visiting for a few days. He gets in next week. Maybe you’d like to meet him?” She didn’t know why she’d think Cassie would be interesting in meeting a confirmed bachelor who generally had no etiquette with women outside the bedroom and the consultation room, but she was trying to steer the conversation back into safer waters.
“Does he look like you?” Cassie asked.
“Why?” She didn’t manage to keep the suspicion from her voice. When they were in their twenties, she’d lost out on too many potential lovers to Ralph for it to be a series of amusing anecdotes.
Cassie gave a sidelong glance. “Why would you want me to meet him if you’re worried that he’s going to sweep me off my feet?”
“Old habit,” she said. In truth, she hadn’t felt threatened by him for years. Especially since Andi had taken her under her wing and mentored her to stud-dom. And even if he had gone out with them, there were always more than enough women for them all. But Cassie wasn’t one of those women, and apparently that mattered. Maybe she’d think about that later, but more likely, she’d ignore it.
“Well, now you’ve made me want to meet him just to see who could make you feel insecure.”
“Hey, nobody said…” Taryn shut up when Cassie grinned at her. Something made it all but impossible to bullshit this woman.
Cassie shifted sideways and tucked her leg under her butt so that she could face Taryn, all evidence of her recent wobble gone from view.
“So now you’re a stunt rider in a traveling human circus. Interesting.” She arched her eyebrow. “How did that happen?”
“Mm.” Taryn tilted her head back and looked to the sky. “I thought you said we were only getting a little serious.”
Cassie slapped Taryn’s thigh lightly. “Quid pro quo, remember? I gave you something a little serious, so now it’s your turn.”
“Now who’s a stickler for the rules?” She bunched her thigh muscles under Cassie’s hand and smiled when she saw the resulting shot of desire in Cassie’s eyes. “I did all the training. Went to med school and got fully qualified.”
“Wait—what? You’re actually Doctor Taryn Taylor?”
Taryn scrunched her nose and shook her head. “I haven’t renewed my license for a long time, so it’s really just a piece of fancy paper and a title.”
“Wow.” Cassie said nothing else for a few moments. “You’ve got to be the first stunt rider who’s also a qualified surgeon.”
Taryn shrugged. “It’s not something I’ve ever been interested enough to find out. I didn’t want to be part of that life, so I ignore it mostly. My mom keeps hoping that I’ll come to my senses, and she’s desperate for that to happen before I maim myself or get too old and no longer have steady hands.” She avoided Cassie’s intense gaze. It had been a long time since she’d talked to anyone about this. And she liked it that way.
“So with your parents and your siblings, do they cover the whole body?”
Taryn nodded. “More or less.” She knew where this line of questioning was headed even though she hadn’t had this conversation for nearly a decade back when Andi quizzed her about it. Andi had taken some convincing that Taryn wanted to be a career stunt rider and that she wouldn’t desert them when she got bored. Problem was, Tarynhadbegun to tire of the work. Hence the Alcatraz jump; she was pushing the risk envelope in an attempt to rediscover her initial passion.
“What were you going to specialize in?”
Cassie continued her exploration of Taryn’s legs and was working her way down Taryn’s calves; she was pleased she’d taken the time to shave everything that morning. Taryn rolled her eyes. “You don’t want to know.”
“Oh, I can assure you I do.”
Taryn narrowed her eyes, and Cassie arched her eyebrow. It was like a facial arm wrestle to see who faltered first. “Fine. Designer vaginas.”
Cassie clamped her hand over her mouth but that did nothing to stop the burst of laughter. “A lesbian who didn’t want to work with lady bits all day, every day. There’s got to be a joke in there somewhere. It certainly has to be a first.”
Taryn shook her head. “I expected a more mature reaction from a medical professional,” she said and smiled widely. “Think of it asover-exposure. If I was working on them all day, maybe I wouldn’t want to play with one all night.” She pulled her legs from Cassie’s lap and swiveled around so that she could take Cassie in her arms. She drew her in for a long, deep kiss then firmly pressed her palm between Cassie’s legs. “And I wouldneverwant to get tired of playing with you.”
Cassie tilted her head slightly. “You with the smooth lines,” she said before she wrapped her hand around Taryn’s neck and kissed her hard.
Taryn pressed her body against Cassie’s, and they moved to lay on the bench. Funny thing was, that hadn’t been a smooth line. Taryn actuallydidn’twant to tire of playing with Cassie, but she reminded herself this was just a little vacation of sorts from her normal life and its rolling schedule, moving from place to place. Just the way she loved it…right?
