Page 21 of XX Love Affair

“How lucky you weren’t doing a private party tonight.” Delia sat back again. When Helena draped across her lap, it almost felt natural. Like they had been casually dating for weeks. Don’t mind if I do… Delia embedded her fingers into Helena’s thick hair, searching for her neck and the dip in her shoulder. Most women loved being massaged there, in Delia’s experience. The perfect way to get them going while she flirted with another woman. “And how lucky you keep your fun to the East Coast. I hear things have gotten quite wild in the… well, the wild wild west.”

Helena tensed. Delia eased her fingers into the “sure thing,” instantly relaxing the muscles beneath her touch.

“That so?” Blair asked. “I’ve been out of the loop. It was a busy performance season up through Valentine’s Day.”

I missed every one, huh? If Blair had a newsletter, Delia would subscribe. She didn’t care if Mira was the one doing the spanking and fucking. She was hot, too. Hot, but a pain in my ass. They weren’t friends, but they weren’t exactly rivals, either. Frenemies? Yes, frenemies.

“Didn’t you hear about Candace Lister? Was arrested in an FBI raid back around New Year’s. Human trafficking! Can you believe it?” Delia was still scandalized. She had done business with Candace before, had even been to some of her parties in San Francisco and, of course, Hellfire, which she owned a stake in. Probably not anymore. That’s a PR nightmare, even in Los Angeles.

Helena pushed herself out of Delia’s lap. As she drank deeply from her cocktail, Blair replied, “Come to think of it, I heard something about it from Mira. Always a shame to see people give the lifestyle a bad name.”

“Have you ever been to her secret club in San Francisco?”

“No, can’t say I have. I’ve only been to Hellfire, but who hasn’t been there?”

Helena nearly dropped her copper mug on the coffee table.

“Everything all right?” Delia asked her date.

She was offered a surreptitious glance. “I’ve been there.”

Blair’s immaculate eyebrows peaked up her forehead. Delia was only slightly surprised. “Is that so? What was it called? Something like Night?”

“Yeah.” Helena did not directly look at either of them. “Club Night. I went quite a few times. My last, uh… steady thing lived in San Bernardino and was friends with her.”

“That’s still a ways from San Francisco.”

“My ex did a lot of business in the Bay Area. As I said, she worked a lot with Candace. Not anymore, obviously.”

She, huh? For some reason, Delia was surprised to know that Helena’s last “ex” was a woman. While Helena was familiar with the female form, she also wasn’t undiscerning, and men as romantic partners were easier to come by than women. Ask me how I know. More than once, Delia wished she could stomach men at all. It would open up her dating opportunities!

“I hear it was a very nice club,” Blair said. “Didn’t someone have a residency there? Michelle, I believe. Or am I making that up? I know she and her Mistress live in that area.”

“You must be right. Seems like the kind of performer Lister would be in–”

Before Delia could finish her observation, Helena lost grip on her copper mug, her Moscow mule spilling all over the table.

“Oh!” Blair leaped up. To the tune of Helena’s effortless apologies, the hostess said, “No worries! I’ll take care of that.”

She alerted the bartender a few yards away while swinging open the hallway linen closet. Delia put both hands on either side of Helena, who still fretted over the spilled drink as if she had committed the greatest faux pas of the year.

“Easy, easy.” Delia pulled Helena back from the mess she couldn’t clean up without the help of the towels Blair brought over. As the hostess quickly mopped up the icy mess, Delia told her date, “You’re far from the first person to spill a drink in here, let alone this year, I’m betting. Didn’t I spill a drink a few months ago? A goddamn hot toddy. My finest moment.”

Blair looked mildly amused when she got up, soaking wet towel in her hand. “I cleaned that one up, too. Should I get you another drink, Ms. Helena?”

“Why don’t you grab that bottle of wine I have on reserve,” Delia suggested. “Get yourself a glass as well, Blair. It’s the least I can do.”

Delia didn’t have to do that, and it was a spendy way to say thank you, but she didn’t mind. Ever since Helena first tensed up at the mention of Candace’s name, Delia had a feeling her date wasn’t fully enjoying herself. Deep down, Delia had a people-pleasing bone that requested she somehow fix this.

“Everything all right?”

Helena nodded. “Don’t mind me, please. Butterfingers.”

Delia brushed her fingers against Helena’s chin. “You’ll like the pinot noir.”

Another figure appeared out of the corner of Delia’s eye. She recognized Judith’s buxom chest and swept-up blond hair. “Everything all right over here?” her silky voice asked.

“Fantastic,” Delia said. “My date just had a spill.”

---