"I'm sorry." Valerie cradled Diane's face in one hand, a thumb brushing at the rain that streaked her cheeks. The water was warm. "You're crying."

"I didn't know what to expect when I saw you again." Diane found Valerie's hand and clasped it. "I'm not used to wanting a woman the way I want you. I'm a little...a lot...out of my element."

"Me too." Valerie laughed and tilted her face to the sky. "Oh God, you can say that again." She tugged Diane's hand. "Come on, we need to get in out of the rain. This is crazy."

"I know," Diane said breathlessly as they began to run, still hand in hand. "I'm freezing."

"So am I," Valerie called above the wind. "Did you see Felicia?"

"Yes, she was on her way up to the main house."

"Blair arranged for you to come?"

Diane hurried up the path toward the deck, her feet sinking into wet sand. "Sent a car. Not the usual big ugly thing, and the spookies were cuter." She jumped up the stairs and stamped her feet to rid them of bits of detritus. "I don't think they were the normal Secret Service crew."

"They're probably Whitley's private security," Valerie leaned a shoulder against the wall under the eaves, trying to avoid the rain. She touched Diane's hand, then stroked up her forearm. "Is everything all right?"

"Yes. Blair and I have been best friends forever. She.. .we,. .needed for us to be together right now. She called. I came." Diane searched Valerie's face. "So I'm a house guest."

"For how long?"

"I don't know. Is it all right I'm here?" Diane caught Valerie's other hand and held them both, squeezing gently. "Because if you don't want me to st—"

Valerie pulled her into her arms and stopped her words with a hungry kiss. When she finally pulled away, she said, "I want you. Don't ever doubt it."

"Tell me that again," Diane murmured, sliding down the zipper on Valerie's windbreaker. She slipped both hands inside and underneath the light sweater, finding warm skin. Her pupils instantly dilated with a rush of arousal. "You're so beautiful."

"Let's shower."

"Felicia—"

"If she comes back, she won't bother us." Valerie opened the door and pulled Diane inside. "I'm still on my lunch break."

*

"How's it going?" Cam asked, lightly resting both hands on Blair's shoulders from behind. Blair sat on a high backless stool in front of a wooden easel that was angled to allow her an unobstructed view through the wide windows out over the dunes.

Blair looked at Cam over her shoulder, her expression abstracted. "It's an amazing storm."

"The weather report says we're looking at a nor'easter. There's going to be a lot of water coming our way." Cam studied the canvas. It was an astonishing riot of turbulent purples, indigo, and grays verging on black, cut through with slashes of white. She could almost feel the water beat against her skin. "God, that's fabulous."

"You think?" Blair's voice was both pensive and pleased.

"It's.. .awesome." When Blair rested her head back against Cam's chest, she slid both arms around her, resting her chin against the top of Blair's head. "I've never seen you do anything quite like this. It's.. .raw. That's not just about the weather, is it?"

Blair gave a small start and then laughed quietly. She closed her hands over Cam's and pulled Cam's arms tightly around her. "How could I forget that your mother is one of the world's finest artists. Of course, you would notice these things."

Cam kissed the top of Blair's head. "I notice you."

"I know you do." Blair was silent for a moment, staring out the window and watching the two women run through the dunes in the rain. Diane's hair had come loose from her cap and tumbled down almost to her shoulders, darkened by the water to a rich burnished gold. Valerie, soaked to the skin, was laughing. Blair thought she'd never seen either of them look quite so happy. "They're a beautiful couple, aren't they."

"They are."

"Did you know?"

Cam shook her head. "I suspected. Did you?"

"Not that things had gone this far. I don't believe I've ever seen Diane in love."

"Is that what they are?" Cam bent down and kissed the side of Blair's neck.

"Oh, I think so." Blair tilted her head back and looked up into Cam's face. "Does it bother you?"

Cam's gray eyes darkened, a reflection of the wild storm pummeling the island. "Are you asking me if there's something between Valerie and me?"

"Darling," Blair murmured, reaching up to stroke Cam's cheek. "I know there's something between you. She used to be in love with you. And I know that you cared for her."

"Cared for. That's different than—"

"Cameron."

"What?"

"You're being a bit of a jerk."

Cam's mouth twitched. "Am I?"

"I know you're not in love with her. It was just a simple question... more or less." Blair grinned. "Okay, there are moments when I'm jealous. But that's just because she's a beautiful woman and there was a time when she tou—"

"Don't." Cam leaned down farther and found Blair's mouth. She kissed her until she felt the tension ebb from Blair's body, to be replaced by a different kind of urgency. Then she drew her head back and said, "I love you. No, it doesn't bother me. Sometimes...sometimes I find myself hoping she'll finally be happy."

Blair stood, turning until she could press against Cam, wrapping her arms around her shoulders. She nuzzled her neck, kissed the edge of her jaw, and finally her mouth. "You see? That's why I love you."

Before Cam could reply, Blair silenced her with another kiss.

*

"Are you sure about this?" Diane asked, dropping the towel over a wicker chair as she crossed the room. "I don't want to compromise you with your colleagues."

Valerie was already reclining in the center of the queen-sized bed, the sheets thrown back, her skin flushed from their recent shower. She was nude and she was breathtaking. Like I can walk away, Diane thought, feeling the heaviness of desire suffuse her. She was used to taking her pleasure from pleasuring women, but as much as she wanted Valerie to come screaming from her touch, she ached for the soft pull of Valerie's mouth on her nipples and her clitoris.

Valerie turned on her side and propped her head on one hand. Her smile was slow as her gaze drifted over Diane's body. "If you're really worried, we can get dressed and watch the storm,"

Diane settled one knee on the mattress next to Valerie and leaned over her, her breasts mere millimeters from Valerie's face. "We could do that. I love how wild it is out there."

"Or..." Valerie grasped Diane's hips and, rolling onto her back, brought Diane down on top of her. She slid one leg over the back of Diane's, bringing their centers together. "You could stay here with me, and..." She ran her lips back and forth over Diane's nipple. "We can rage together."

"Keep doing that..." Diane arched her back and groaned. "And I won't care if the entire Secret Service team comes through the door."

Valerie lifted her hips and rolled them both over in one easy motion, sliding down on the bed as they settled. She kissed the tanned, tight skin below Diane's navel. "I can't stop thinking about this. About how you smell. About how you taste. About how much I need to touch you." She turned her head and kissed the butter-soft skin at the very top of Diane's thigh. "Please, please let me love you."

"Darling," Diane murmured, her fingers drifting through Valerie's hair, guiding her lower, "you don't ever have to ask."

Chapter Twenty-four

Monday, September 24

I don't want to go back." Diane refilled her wineglass from the bottle of cabernet that sat in the center of the glass-topped coffee table. She sat on the sofa in khaki shorts and a navy sleeveless blouse with her feet propped on a rattan footstool.

Blair slouched next to her with her legs extended and her bare feet resting on the edge of the low table. Her grey Champion sweats were threadbare and hung off her hips; her red T-shirt with the sleeves and lower half torn off proclaimed "Arnie's Gym." She nudged Diane's knee with hers. "So don't. There's plenty of room here, and I don't get the sense that you're bored."

Diane smiled, thinking of the late-night assignations in Valerie's room and the early-morning walks on the beach, rain or no rain. "Bored. No, not that." She sipped the wine, then watched the bloodred liquid swirl in the glass. "It's been a long time since you and I have had this much time together. It's been good. And I can't say that I mind catching up on my reading."

"And then there are the other benefits," Blair remarked dryly. "Eating pizza every other night, strolling in the freezing rain, or if you're really lucky like me, finding strangers in the kitchen when you're in your underwear—"

"God, I thought that guy was going to kill himself trying to get out the door when we walked in that morning. He probably thought Cam would be right behind you and that she'd shoot him on the spot."

Blair laughed. "It wouldn't be the first time one of my security people has seen me undressed."

"Yes, but I'd bet Tanner's crew aren't used to it."

"True, and they've adjusted to our routine very well. She's got good people. I wasn't so sure when Cam decided to have them rotate with the Secret Service agents inside the house, but it's been fine." Blair angled sideways and rested her cheek against her arm, which she extended along the sofa back. Gazing at Diane, she grinned. "And don't forget how much fun it is to report your every movement to the crew chief. How could you possibly think of leaving?"

"Unfortunately," Diane said pensively, "I have a business to see to."

"Diane," Blair said quietly, "there is no business as usual in Manhattan right now. It's not going to hurt if you take another week off." She leaned closer and rubbed Diane's shoulders. "Here, turn sideways. Your back is in knots."

When Blair pulled her legs up onto the sofa, Diane shifted into the vee of her parted thighs. She sighed as Blair worked her thumbs up and down along her spine. "God, I've forgotten how good you are at that."

"Oh yeah? Well, it has been a long time."

They both laughed.

"I can't remember who seduced whom that first time," Diane said musingly. "Of course, we were fourteen."

"Well," Blair said, circling the flats of her fingers in the hollow at the base of Diane's spine, "you asked me to rub your back when you just happened to be naked, but I copped the first feel. So, I guess it was probably mutual."

"We were so innocent." Diane turned her head and looked back at Blair. "I was so crazy about you."

"You never said."

"I know. You were such a little heartbreaker already, and I guess I just didn't want to take the chance of getting hurt."

"I wonder what it would have been like," Blair said, sliding her hands back up to curve over the tops of Diane's shoulders. "If we'd been lovers then—I mean, if we'd admitted it was more than just the sex."

"We wouldn't have this. This friendship." Diane lightly stroked the tops of Blair's thighs where they cradled her body. "And as much as I've wanted you all these years, this is what I've always needed."

"You're okay with things now, right?" Blair spoke gently, her hands still.

Diane laughed. "I'll admit to having a twinge now and then, when you're looking particularly devastating." She patted Blair's legs. "But I'm not pining, and I can enjoy a back rub without getting wet."

"Well, fuck, I'm slipping," Blair muttered playfully, resuming her ministrations. After a few minutes of silence, she said, "You know what you said about taking a chance?"

"Mmm-hmm." Diane rested her head back against Blair's shoulder and closed her eyes. "God, that feels so good."

"You have to take chances when you're in love."

Diane shifted slightly so she could see Blair's face. "And who might you be? I could have sworn you were my old friend Blair Powell, who used to say that being in love was just a state of insanity."

Blair shrugged. "Maybe it is. But it feels really good, so why not choose a state of insanity that makes you happy instead of sad?"

"I think I know what you mean. After everything that's happened, if there's something—or someone—in life that's precious, we shouldn't lose sight of it."

"So are you?" .

"What?"

"Taking a chance. With Valerie?"

"Oh, I have no idea what I'm doing with her." Diane shook her head, her expression rueful. "She's...she's turned everything upside down on me."