Page 27 of Just For Her

“Perhaps.” Tove played it cool once she eliminated the enticing image of a half-naked Kayla from her mind. “I’m not going to look at it right now, though. I’m in public.”

“Something for you to savor later. I know this is astressfultime of year for you.”

“Unfortunately.” This was when Tove took most of her lunch breaks out of the office, even though her pocketbook fought against it. The life of an accountant could be quite hectic the closer April 15thcame.Second comes October 15thwhen the extensions are due.As it so happened, half of her family had their shit together long before March, and the other half were such epic messes that extensions were inevitable. Yet Tove also took clients from the public too. Her phone was always ringing off the hook in February and March, and this was especially true since the influx of new residents brought with them new tax questions.

So the idea of a nude from her new girlfriend was…appealing.

“Anyway, I hope you’re looking forward to our date this Friday. We must make the most of it, babe.” Kayla sighed into her phone. “Starting next weekend, I’ve got Friday and Saturday night shifts at the brewery. Way better tips, but that doesn’t leave a lot of time for us.”

“There’s always Sunday,” Tove said.

“Yup! That’s the spirit. You know, you should also congratulate me on getting promoted so quickly. It’s not every new waitress who makes it to the best shifts in less than a month. Then again, I’m covering someone who is going on vacation, so…”

A cold breeze sent Tove deeper into her North Face jacket. “Hopefully you do well enough that they keep you there. Like you said, better tips.”

“You’re proud of me, aren’t you?”

Tove wasn’t going to take the bait based on sheer principle, but she couldn’t help but respond when Kayla took that smarmy tone with her. “Of course I am. You’ve come far in your short time here.”

“Babe, you have no idea.”

Tove didn’t know what that meant, but she and Kayla were still in the “getting to know you” phase of dating. Some things, like sex, had happened right out the gate. Other things, like “What’s your deepest fear?” were still unsaid.I don’t have a problem with that, either.Things were moving exactly at the speed Tove desired.

“By the way,” Tove said before Kayla hung up to get ready for work, “I sent you something. If it’s not at your friend’s house today, it should be tomorrow. The snows have made the mountain passes impossible again, so things are delayed.”

“Oooh, what is it?”

“You know I can’t tell you that. Something for you to look forward to when you get off work.”

“Is it lingerie? Jewelry? Ooh, flowers? From that florist near your office?”

“It might be one of those things. Not flowers. I don’t even know if you’re allergic.”

“Except you possibly know my size and taste in jewelry?”

It’s not hard to figure out.Tove had selected a negligee that fit most women around Kayla’s size. “I’m looking forward to you trying it on for me.”

“Anything for you, Tove.”

The way Kayla said her name was like a siren song.I still don’t know her from Eve, but I can’t help but respond to that voice…Sweet but husky. Desperate but controlled. Kayla straddled the line between fun new plaything and age-old girlfriend, and Tove knew that could be dangerous.

Tove hung up before Kayla could keep the conversation going. A photo soon arrived in Tove’s inbox, but she refrained from opening it while a family with small children ate at the table beside her, and the waitress wandered up and down the sidewalk with fresh water refills.

Tove still couldn’t believe that she was dating someone seventeen years her junior.

How did this happen, again?She knew. She remembered. Yet she couldn’t believe it. For twenty years, Tove had been mostly single. The dates were few and far between. The sex? Nothing like she had experienced over the past month. Kayla almost convinced Tove that she was existing in a fugue state that would reveal itself to be a dream. Maybe that was why Tove was still so guarded about the experience. She wanted to take full advantage of this woman’s interest in her, yet Tove held much about herself back. Not even the rest of the clan knew she was dating anyone yet.For good reason.Kayla wasn’t only much younger than Tove, but she was at the center of recent drama.

Drama that resulted in two trips to the family doctor, who Tove ensured was paid under the table from the family’s emergency coffers. The first trip was to ensure Kayla didn’t need further care for her supposed injury. The second was for a surreptitious STD and pregnancy test, although Kayla caught on right away.How do you get that by a woman?Tove had been candid when she said she couldn’t take risks in a casual relationship. If she wanted to keep warming Tove’s bed, then Kayla would take the tests.She didn’t mind the line I drew after that.Kayla was almost concerningly happy to go along with whatever Tove needed from her.

From where they went on dates. To when they met up. To what they did in the bedroom. Kayla was complacent with the former and adventurous with the latter, but Tove wondered where the line was.

Tove needed a line. Otherwise, she might lose control and take things too far.

It’s happened before.She had pushed so much of herself down into her gut since succumbing to the family’s pressure and becoming their go-to girl. Tove the Accountant was a lot different from Tove the Wild Child who thought she didn’t need the Fredrikssons to give her a happy life.Depends on how we’re measuring happiness.She loved the security that the past twenty years had earned her. Yet it had come at an emotional cost. One Tove still didn’t quite understand, because so much of herself was dormant. Kayla threatened to awaken the beast.

She didn’t know, did she?

“Anything else for ya, hon?” The waitress, who had the quintessential rural Oregonian accent that straddled the line between genuine and put-on, prepared to give Tove her check. Once it was on the table, the waitress asked, “Think it’s gonna rain?”

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