Stay Longer

  STAY LONGER

  by Maria Jackson

  STAY LONGER

  Published by Maria Jackson

  Copyright © 2017 Maria Jackson

  All Rights Reserved

  May not be copied or distributed without prior written permission.

  This book was adapted with permission from a previously published book by A.R. Steele.

  ONE — LEANNE

  After lengthy consideration, including a detailed evaluation of the likelihood of enjoyment versus the potential ramifications, I decided my best course of action was to stop at the Whooping Crane and get myself a fucking beer.

  I’d just acquired a new case, which gave me something to celebrate. Granted, my feelings were mixed about the particular client. But this watering hole was a place to drown my sorrows, too, so going seemed reasonable enough.

  I only noticed the dark clouds overhead when I pulled into the parking lot. Thunder cracked as I parked the car, and a torrential rain began a second after. In the time it took to get to the entrance, I was drenched.

  Brushing off as much water as I could, I walked inside. Hopefully I looked presentable — not that this crowd cared. They were the type to sit in silence and drink alone.

  The Crane’s clientele was older and more blue-collar than me, not to mention more heterosexual. I drank here on my way home from work because I could park and walk to my condo, then come back for my car in the morning.

  Usually the bartender greeted me as soon as I got inside. As I pulled up a stool and slipped off my wet jacket, I saw her with a noisy table at the back of the room.

  “Frances?”

  She gestured she’d be with me in a moment. I huffed and adjusted myself on the stool. The service here was never incredible, but it was generally better than this. Squinting over at the group, I made out a few familiar faces. Just the regular patrons, so what was making them so rowdy?

  I let a minute pass before I glanced back over. Frances didn’t even have her notepad. She was laughing with the customers, socializing as if she wasn’t on the job at all. I waved, making big circles with my arm. At last I had her full attention.

  And as she moved away from the group, I caught sight of the woman she’d been blocking.

  The stranger was talking animatedly, gesturing with both hands. A strand of curly black hair strayed into her face, and she brushed it aside. Tapered eyes. Dusky skin. Petal lips.

  I would’ve kept staring, except Frances arrived next to me. “What can I do you for, darlin’? The usual?”

  “Yes, please.” I nodded to the new person. “Who’s that?”

  “Name’s BJ. You should go over there. She’s hilarious.”

  Not likely. The volume of those riotous voices was already getting on my nerves as I sat in a puddle of rainwater and tried not to listen. But, as if seeing BJ’s face had enabled me to tune into their conversation, I could suddenly make out every word they said.

  “So after less than an hour in the air, they said they were going to land here and send us to Syracuse in the morning. Can you believe it? Hardly drizzling out there, and their brilliant decision was to make an emergency landing.”

  Frances brought my beer and returned to the group without so much as a “how are you,” and I turned to face the empty bar.

  My bad mood worsened as BJ went on, “And that’s how I got stuck in this podunk town for the night. Going to be missing the first day of Art on Fire, but I can’t complain. At least I got to make the acquaintance of you lovely people… and your podunk town.”

  The people around her roared with laughter, including Frances. Personally, I was less amused.

  I stood up, not caring if I looked like a bedraggled rat. “Excuse me!” It took a few tries for them to hear me over their laughter. “Would you be so kind as to keep it down? Some of us are attempting to wind down the day in peace.”

  “I do beg your forgiveness, kind lady.” A well-worn Jack Daniels T-shirt hugged BJ’s slim chest just right. “Won’t you please come and join us? We’d be ever so happy to experience the present of your presence.”

  I narrowed my eyes at her. “I highly doubt I’d enjoy yours, considering I’ve already begun to dislike you. Next time you wish to rant about a place, perhaps you should remind yourself that some people live in this podunk town.”

  “Aw,” some of the regulars protested.

  A man named Paul took the lead — we’d spoken once or twice about the strengths and failings of the bar food. “Don’t be like that, hon. BJ’s trying to make the best of a bad situation. She doesn’t really think anything bad about Newbank.”

  “So your name is actually BJ,” I said, looking the woman in the eye. “Charming.”

  The insult didn’t seem to register. “Glad you like it. And I’d have to disagree with Paul. I truly believe this is a crummy little middle-of-nowhere metropolis, yet I’m perfectly happy to be here because I’m meeting such lovely people.”

  The others nodded agreeably, while I fumed. “Why not just use your full name?” I practically yelled. “BJ sounds like…”

  “I haven’t even gotten your name, and you’re already trying to change mine.”

  “Maybe if you’d said anything other than mocking the place I’ve lived all my life, I’d be a little friendlier.” I swiped an errant drop of water out of my eye. “And it’s Leanne.”

  BJ raised her glass. “To Leanne!” The others clinked beer bottles, cheering me for no reason whatsoever. “Look, come sit down with us, would you?”

  Reluctantly, I pulled up a seat. “Fine. If you promise to talk normally.”

  I attempted to squeeze the chair between Ellen and another woman. It wasn’t going to fit.

  “Whatever do you mean?” BJ asked, moving an oversized backpack out of the way and dragging my chair over to her side. “I always talk like this.”

  I gave her a hard stare, and her eyes crinkled into a smile. “All right, all right. I’ll stop giving you a hard time. It’s good to meet you, okay? Sorry we got off on the wrong foot.”

  Her hand enveloped mine, warm and dry and surprisingly soft. Despite myself, I smiled back at her.

  The conversation was more fun now that I was a part of it… although I did blush madly when BJ turned her focus onto me. “Tell me about you,” she said, giving me a lengthy up-and-down stare. “What’s with the suit?”

  “I’m a lawyer.”

  Her eyebrows rose. “Your husband must be happy about all the bacon you bring home!”

  “I’m not rich. Uh, not married, either.”

  Perhaps this would’ve been the time to say I was as gay as the day was long. My orientation was no secret, but it didn’t come up much, and I was fairly sure no one sitting at the table was aware of it. Even at my law firm, only a few people knew.

  I’d thought about dropping it into a normal bar conversation — the quiet kind that centered on food or sports. It seemed like a fairly basic thing to know about me. But it was irrelevant, too. Why would it matter to any of the people I occasionally drank with?

  My hectic schedule precluded relationships, so I wasn’t hiding a partner. If I ever got one, I’d be open about it. In the meantime, I saw no reason to come out to my acquaintances. Were any of them really going to have a lesbian cousin they could set me up with?

  “Not married,” BJ repeated meaningfully. “No girlfriend? Boyfriend?”

  My cheeks went even hotter, and I wondered if she might’ve guessed. “Neither.”

  “Same here,” BJ said. “Single and loving it.”

  Paul leaned on his elbows, giving her a look that was downright inappropriate coming from a married man. “That’s a shame. I can hardly believe some nice boy hasn’t locked you down yet.”

  “Oh, many have tried,” B
J laughed. “Girls, too. They just can’t hold on for too long. I’m always on the road, see? I don’t stick around long enough to get attached.”

  Some vague part of my mind kept listening after the word “girls,” but most of me stopped there. Had BJ just said she was bisexual? She’d done it so casually, I’d almost missed it. And the blue-collar, conservative small-towners around me were taking it in stride.

  “You must want to settle down eventually,” an older woman said.

  “Maybe one day, but not for a long time. You all want to hear a little secret?” Leaning closer, BJ met each person’s eyes. “I don’t know if I should tell you this.”

  “Tell us!” the group clamored.

  Frances, who had been replenishing our drinks, paused and watched her. Everyone but me was on the edge of their seats.

  Fine, I was equally entranced. BJ had a way of casting a spell and drawing you in.

  She threw back her shoulders. “What the hell, I’ll never see any of you again.”

  Against my best efforts, my own voice joined the chorus. “What? What is it?”

  “I have a goal,” BJ said confidentially. “Every single city I visit, I get with one guy and one girl. Minimum.”

  My jaw dropped open. And BJ wasn’t done.

  She continued offhandedly, “Not so much a goal as a habit, I guess, since it always happens. Twenty-plus cities so far.”

  These staid, upstanding citizens I’d thought I knew exploded over BJ’s announcement.

  “Good for you!” a man said, giving her a high-five. “If I was thirty years younger and single, I would’ve done the same. The woman part, anyway.”

  I would’ve expected the women to be horrified. Instead, they giggled behind their hands.

  “What will you do in Newbank?” Paul asked. “You’ve only got a few hours here, and you haven’t been intimate with anyone. Are you going to break your streak?” He edged his chair in closer, and I suspected he was angling to be one of those conquests.

  “See, that’s where you’re wrong,” BJ said. “I had a guy in the bathroom at the airport. Buff soccer player named Pedro — I think. He was… exquisite.” She kissed the tips of her fingers.

  Paul’s face fell, and she backed up a little. “So that’s one taken care of. You only need a woman now.”

  “Exactly.”

  BJ looked around the table again, her gaze falling on me. The force of her stare made me wriggle on my seat. As those eyes raked up and down my body, I had the impression she was picturing me without my clothes. And that she liked what she was imagining.

  “What do you say, Leanne? You up for it?”

  TWO — BJ

  The look of utter shock on Leanne’s face made me laugh, even as it also sent tingles through my veins. Had she never been propositioned by a complete stranger before?

  I waited patiently for her response, oblivious to what the other people at the table might be thinking. Her cheeks, which had been pinkish since she sat down, were now a flaming shade of scarlet. She opened her mouth, but all that came out was a stutter.

  “Out with it now,” I said. “Are you up for it, or aren’t you?”

  She was so stiff and buttoned-up in that expensive-looking skirt suit of hers. Her collar was buttoned so tight, it looked like it was about to choke her at any second. Even getting soaked in the rain that’d delayed my flight hadn’t made her any less uptight. Then again, who knew? I’d just met her. Maybe this was her relaxed state.

  Either way, I wanted to know what she’d be like without all the uptightness. Her dark brown hair splayed across a pillow, that hard-set jaw going lax, those brilliant white teeth shining as she moaned my name… I wanted to undo her.

  Since she was taking her time answering, I glanced around the table. Everyone else was watching her as closely as I was, and their expressions ranged from amused to cautious. They’d all been rooting for me a minute ago, but I figured it was a bit different when I hit on one of their own.

  “Le-anne,” I said, making her name into a singsong. “There’s a nice private hallway around the corner. Don’t you want to go there with me?”

  “No!” she finally burst out.

  A few people made sounds of disappointment, and I joined them. “Why not?”

  “I d-don’t do that.”

  Her eyes were wild, like a caged animal. When she looked directly at me, though, I saw something impossible to mistake. Desire. I could have her if I played this the right way.

  “You don’t do what?” I asked. “Sex?”

  “Of course I do!” Despite her vehemence, she looked around as if she’d just admitted to a dark secret.

  “Sex with women?”

  She cringed as she answered. “No, I do. I’m gay.”

  The group at the table nodded intently, and I thought I heard Frances make an “aha!” kind of exclamation. Apparently this was news to them. I’d called it the second I saw her.

  “Sex in public? Sex with a stranger?”

  Warily, she shrugged her shoulders. “Now you’re getting closer.”

  “There’s a very simple solution to that, dear Leanne.” I slung an arm around her shoulder, just long enough to make her uncomfortable. “Hang around and get to know me a little better, and then we’ll go back to your place.”

  She blinked a few times, and I couldn’t even make out what she stuttered as a response. She didn’t leave, though. She stayed right there.

  “So, do you have any good festivals in this podunk town of yours?” I asked the group.

  The conversation went back to normal topics, although I was still thinking about stripping Leanne out of her damp clothes — and I was damn near certain she was thinking about the same thing.

  Every time I caught her looking at me, which was often, she immediately looked away. After about the tenth time, I winked at her and grabbed her knee under the table. Her leg jerked… but she didn’t move away.

  We talked and drank until last call, at which point Frances insisted on buying everyone in the bar a final shot. I’d been dead serious about enjoying these people’s company. They were about as different from me as night to day, but their down-home, straightforward ways amused me. Besides, I could get along with anyone who enjoyed drinking beer.

  Although the bar was still open for another hour, people began to drift out after the taps closed. I half-expected Leanne to be the first to take off. She stayed at my side, though, only downing the dregs of her last beer when Frances said she was going to close up. “Enjoy your night, you two.”

  Now Leanne gazed around as if disoriented. I’d been pretty sure I had this in the bag, but what if she was just drunk? It would be a shame to break my streak after so long. If Leanne rejected me, I doubted I’d have many chances to meet another girl.

  “Off to your place, then?” I asked brightly.

  “Yeah.”

  Hefting my backpack onto my shoulders, I headed for the door. With the breeze, the cool autumn air gave me a bit of a chill. Thankfully, the pouring rain had diminished to a trickle.

  Once we were out, Leanne gave me an odd look. “I meant I’m going home alone. Not with you.”

  I stood a little too close to her. “Why’s that?”

  “We’ve been through this.” She stepped away and leaned against the wall.

  “You know me now, and we’ll be at your place. What else?”

  “It’s a weeknight.”

  “Lame excuse. You know I’m leaving tomorrow. And I know you like what you see.” I grinned at her, gesturing at my body. It wasn’t being cocky if it was true. I knew the slightly androgynous way I dressed only served to hint at the hourglass figure underneath.

  She shook her head fervently, actually closing her eyes as if she needed to block out the sight of me. “I’d love to be with someone who looks like you. The idea of touching…”

  “So do it. What’s stopping you?”

  She opened her eyes a smidgen, taking a peek at me before shutting them again. “I co
uldn’t. It just couldn’t happen.”

  “Why, though? I’m right here telling you I want you. You’re the only one stopping it from happening.”

  “Well, I… I…” She seemed perplexed now. I was getting through to her. “I never do this kind of thing,” she managed.

  “Let me tell you a secret, my friend.” Moving in closer, I put my lips to her ear, letting my breath raise goosebumps on her velvety skin. “That’s what a lot of people say. And then they do it anyway.”

  A long moment passed, and her jaw clenched more than ever. I wondered if she was seriously going to say no. Then, heaving a sigh, she grabbed my arm and began to walk. “You really know how to make a girl feel special, you know.”

  “Honey, you ain’t seen nothing yet.”

  Shooting me a glare, she went to her car. “I’m getting my umbrella. I don’t drink and drive. We’ll walk.”

  And who asked her to drink and drive? Not me, that much was for sure.

  By the time we got to her condo building, Leanne had gotten to be a bit of a pain in the ass. “You don’t tell anybody about this, okay? If anyone ever asks, we had some drinks and then went home. Separately.”

  I rolled my eyes. “That’s for you to deal with. I’m never going to see those people again.”

  “I know, but I mean, if you do ever happen to see them.” She swiped a card to let us into the lobby. “Even if it’s ten years from now, and…”

  “Good to know you’ll still be ashamed of this ten years from now.”

  The building was gorgeous, I’d give Leanne that much. All marble pillars and lush green plants. I stared around unabashedly as she led me into the elevator. The wall was glass, and I pressed my palms to it, watching the ground floor move away.

  “One would think you’d never seen an elevator before,” she muttered. “You know, you outed me to a bunch of near-strangers tonight.”

  “Yeah, what was up with that?” I turned my attention back to her. “Every single person I know is aware I swing both ways. Mostly because I’ve slept with either them or their siblings, but…”

  A robotic voice announced the twenty-third floor, and Leanne led the way out. “God, you’re obnoxious. Tell me again why I’m doing this.”