The Price of Fame - KJ1 Read online

  “Mmm, my idea of a perfect, lazy Sunday afternoon.” Kate squeezed her lover’s waist and nuzzled her neck.

  “But first, we’re going shopping.”

  “What?”

  “Well, Stretch, even I can’t make a feast out of Raisin Bran and American cheese. You need some food in this house.”

  The older woman groaned. “I hate to shop.”

  “That’s because you haven’t shopped with me.”

  “Mmm-hmm,” Kate said dubiously. “I’ll do it, but only if dessert is included with the meal.” She gave her lover a lecherous look.

  “I’ll think about it,” Jay smirked as she slipped out of her lover’s grasp and bent down to scratch Fred behind the ears.

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  Two hours later they were comfortably ensconced in the two-person hammock swing on the second tier of the deck. Kate was semi-reclining with her back and head resting on a pillow, her legs stretched out the length of the swing; Jay was lying between her legs, using her as a backrest. The younger woman held the New York Times Sunday crossword puzzle in one hand and a pen in the other, her lover leaning her chin on her shoulder as they studied the puzzle together.

  “Tell me again why we’re doing this in ink instead of using the more widely accepted and cautious pencil?”

  “Because, Stretch, it shows that we have confidence in our answers.

  Only wusses use a pencil. But if you don’t think you’re up to playing with the big boys...” The blonde tresses were ruffled by a loud exhale.

  “Just as I thought,” Jay nodded. “We need a ten-letter word for ‘strong in battle or possessing powerful weapons.’ Any ideas?”

  Kate looked at 22 Down, where the writer was pointing. “Yep.”

  “Care to share?”

  “Armipotent.”

  “You’re making it up.”

  “Am not, go look it up.”

  “Hmmph. I’ll trust you, and besides, it works with the other answers.”

  “Of course it does.”

  Jay turned her head a little so she could look at her lover. “How did you know that?”

  Kate shrugged. “Dunno, just did.”

  “You’re so smart.” Impulsively Jay lifted herself up a bit and kissed her lover on the mouth.

  “Nope, just full of useless trivia.” The blue eyes smiled down affectionately at her.

  They worked on the puzzle for another hour or so, managing to fill in most of the answers. Jay yawned and stretched.

  “I saw that, young lady. That’s about the tenth time in the last five minutes that you’ve yawned. Ready for a nap, perhaps?”

  “Only if I can take it right here, lying in your arms.”

  “I think that can be arranged.” Scooting down further so that they were lying more prone, Kate used her leg to start the swing rocking gently. Her companion turned so that she was lying on top of her, and the two of them promptly fell asleep.

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  It was several hours later when they awakened, the sun just beginning its descent in the western sky. It had cooled down quite a bit and Jay shivered involuntarily.

  “Cold, love?”

  “Just a little.”

  “Wait here.” Kate disentangled herself and disappeared into the house, returning several moments later with a quilt, which she laid over them after re-positioning herself. “Is that better?”

  “Much. I feel like I’m in Heaven here. I never want to leave.”

  “Fine by me.” Kate smiled fondly at her lover.

  They were both silent for a time after that, each lost in her own thoughts. Jay was thinking about what she had just said. She had really meant it, but did Kate mean what she had said? Would she want her to live there with her? Was it too soon to talk about that? How about if we start small, Parker, eh?

  “Kate?”

  “Hmm?”

  “Would it be all right if I stayed until tomorrow morning instead of going home tonight? I could catch the 6:00 train and be in the city by 9:00 a.m., plenty of time to get to the office and turn in my story.”

  “Do you really want to?” Kate thought it was too good to be true.

  “Oh yeah.” Jay’s smile lit up her green eyes.

  Kate pulled her up closer and hugged her tight, whispering in her ear,

  “I’m so glad. I’ve been wanting to ask you all day, but I was afraid you’d say no.”

  “Never,” Jay said, leaning in for an ardent kiss.

  Jay was standing in front of the kitchen counter, chopping up vegetables to sauté for the pasta primavera she was making. She had changed into a pair of tight-fitting jeans and a light cotton v-neck sweater under which she wore nothing. She had already prepared the garlic bread and put it in the oven to bake and was just getting ready to toss the veggies into the pan.

  Kate stood in the doorway for a moment, admiring the way her lover looked in her jeans. With a lascivious glint in her eyes she stole up behind Jay and began nibbling on her exposed neck, reaching under the sweater at the same time to cup high, firm breasts in her large hands and brush her palms over responsive nipples. “God, you look so sexy,” she breathed in between bites and licks.

  “Hey...ooh...I was...ahh, trying to...mmm...cook here.”

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  “Yeah, you’re looking pretty hot to me.” Kate’s voice dropped to the low, sexy register that made Jay’s blood boil. She had already undone the younger woman’s jeans and was busy exploring.

  The blonde was trying her hardest to ignore the ache that instantly spread outward from her groin to the rest of her nerve endings, but it was fast becoming impossible; the exquisite combination of long, talented fingers and the friction of the material rubbing against her was pushing her over the edge. Kate’s hands and mouth seemed to be everywhere and Jay was rapidly losing the ability to focus on anything but the sensations being created by her lover’s attentions.

  “Agh, Kate, in a minute I won’t be able to stand...ohh, baby...” She reached her arms back over her head, grabbing her lover behind the neck in an effort to remain upright as her knees began to buckle.

  “It’s okay, love, I’ve got you.” Kate wrapped one arm firmly around Jay’s waist as Jay began to climax.

  For several minutes worth of heartbeats they stood suspended there, panting and struggling to regain their equilibrium. Finally Jay gave up the fight and sank slowly to the floor, pulling her partner with her.

  “That was such an unfair sneak attack.”

  “Hey, life’s unfair.”

  “I will get you back for this, you know.”

  “Oh,” there was that low, sexy tone again, “I’m counting on it.”

  Eventually dinner made it to the table, as did the two women, and they spent a leisurely time just talking quietly about nothing and enjoying the food. After the meal Kate insisted on doing the dishes and cleanup, telling Jay to go relax in the family room and pick a movie out of her tape collection.

  When her lover joined her, Jay was sitting on the couch with a tape of Casablanca in her hands, quietly looking at the fire she had built in the fireplace. “Ah, excellent choice. Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman in one of the finest performances ever.” Kate took the tape from her lover, placed it in the VCR, and sat down next to her, pulling a quilt over both of them. At critical moments in the movie, they both recited the lines along with the characters, and at the end they were both crying.

  When it was over, Kate put her arm around her lover and they walked together upstairs to bed. “Jay,” she said, “I think this is the beginning of a beau-ti-ful friendship.” The younger woman bumped hips with her and smiled as they made their way up the rest of the stairs.

  It was 2:30 a.m. and Jay hadn’t slept a wink. She tried snuggling closer to Kate, which was difficult since she was practically on top of her already. “What’s the matter, love, can’t get comfortable?”

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  “No,” she smiled, “I’m more than comfortable, I just can’t seem to fall asleep.” In truth, she couldn’t stop wondering when the next time was she would be able to see Kate, and it was bothering her. How were they going to make this work? Would they only see each other on weekends? Would they see each other every weekend? God, that would never be enough for her. But did Kate feel the same way? It was so clichéd to talk about moving in together less than two weeks after finding each other again, wasn’t it?

  “Something bothering you?”

  What should she say? 2:30 in the morning, two and a half hours before she had to get up and catch a train, hardly seemed like the appropriate time to be having a conversation with such important implications. “Maybe if you sang to me I could fall asleep. Did I tell you how beautiful your voice is? What other little secrets are you hiding from me?”

  “There are no secrets from you, love, just more things to discover about each other. Do you really want me to sing something?”

  “Yes.”

  “Any requests?”

  “Oh, you take requests?”

  “Only from you.” Her lover kissed her on the nose.

  “Anything you want to sing is fine by me, sweetheart.”

  Kate was quiet for a minute and then, with a deep breath in, she began to sing an old Anne Murray tune, A Love Song. “I want to sing you a love song, I want to rock you in my arms all night long...”

  Jay closed her eyes and listened as the melody washed over her.

  Kate’s voice was magnificent, and the song was perfect for the occasion.

  She let herself drift, feeling the vibration of her lover’s diaphragm beneath her ear. By the time the last notes had faded away, she had fallen peacefully asleep.

  Kate smiled to herself when she heard the deep, even breathing that told her that her lover had, indeed, conked out. She tightened her arms around the lithe form and joined her in slumber.

  At 5:00 a.m. the alarm went off, startling both of them. A long arm snaked out and swiped at the insistent buzzer. “Argh.”

  A second groan was audible from underneath the covers, where a disheveled blonde head was poking out. “That clock can’t be right, it is not possible that it could be time to get up already. For Pete’s sake, we just went to sleep.”

  “Come on, sunshine, we don’t have a lot of time to spare this morning, got to get up and face the day.”

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  “Don’t want to.”

  “Have to.”

  “Don’t have to like it.”

  “Nope, I’ll give you that.” Kate chuckled. “But you do have to get upright. Come on,” she grunted as she pulled her lover up with her. “I’ll get the coffee started, you get the shower going.”

  “Oh no, we’re not going to have a repeat of Friday morning.” Jay felt a tingle as she thought about their impromptu lovemaking session in and out of the shower.

  “What, you didn’t enjoy Friday morning?”

  “Oh, I didn’t say that,” Jay grinned evilly. “I just said we couldn’t repeat it this morning; we don’t have time.”

  “Aw, honey, where’s your sense of adventure?”

  “I think I lost it when we were doing 95 miles per hour on the interstate so that I wouldn’t miss my train.”

  “Hmmph. And I thought you liked to live dangerously.”

  “Sweetheart,” the blonde woman said as she reached up and planted a kiss on her lover’s cheek, “there’s dangerously and then there’s dead.

  One’s okay, I’m not so crazy about the other.”

  Kate swatted her on the behind and headed for the kitchen, Fred following closely at her heels, his tail wagging vigorously.

  They both managed, with much difficulty and not a little grumbling, to behave themselves and get showered, dressed, and ready to go without much delay. The ride to the train station was depressingly silent, both women clearly unhappy at having to separate. Jay clutched at Kate’s fingers and the anchorwoman rubbed her thumb lightly over the back of her lover’s hand.

  “I don’t want to go.”

  “I don’t want you to. Unfortunately, you have to turn in your story and go to work, and so do I.”

  “You know what, Kate?” Jay asked, turning her face up to gaze into those cerulean pools that never failed to mesmerize her.

  “What love?”

  “Sometimes being a grown-up sucks.”

  Kate laughed. “You’ve got that right, sweetheart. I promise I’ll call you later, okay?”

  “I guess it will have to be, won’t it?” Jay sighed unhappily.

  “I guess so.” Kate used the cover of darkness in the parking lot to capture her lover’s lips in a sweet goodbye kiss. “I love you so much, Jay. I hope you know that.”

  “I do, love,” Jay said as she nibbled at her lover’s lower lip. “I love you, too, you know.”

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  “Yes, I do. Come on, we’ve got to get going before you miss your train and blame it on me.”

  Jay got out of the car and ran around to the driver’s side, jumping into Kate’s arms where she stood. “I’m going to miss you so much.” There were tears in her eyes and she clung desperately to the strong body pressed against hers.

  “Me too,” was all Kate could get out around the lump in her throat.

  She stroked the blonde head. “It will be all right. Hey, it’s a big day for you.” She pulled back a little to look into those emerald eyes that she adored so much. “Your second cover story in as many weeks. Pretty soon you’re going to be too important to talk to the likes of me.”

  “Too important to talk to the woman who made the cover of Time magazine? Somehow I don’t think so.” She smiled and stepped back, a bit of her usual self-control evident once again. “Okay, let’s go.”

  Together they made their way to the platform and the waiting train.

  As she had before, Jay selected a window seat with a view of the scenic Hudson River. For a little while she just enjoyed the sights as they flew past her, the sailboats catching the wind, a tug pulling a barge, and some ducks paddling around in the tall grasses near the shore. Focusing on nature helped to calm her a bit and to restore her normally good humor.

  Leaving Kate was more difficult that morning; at least the last time they parted she had known that they would be seeing one another in two days. She was unsure when they could be together next, and it was making her nuts. She shook her head, trying to get a handle on her feelings.

  This was so unlike her; she had spent years being completely work driven and single-minded of purpose to the point of walling off all other parts of her life. She had never noticed how lonely her existence was, or how solitary, until this incredible thing called love happened to her.

  Suddenly all she wanted to do was to be with the woman who owned her heart, and nothing else seemed to matter very much, including a coveted cover-story assignment. Were it not for the fact that it was her lover who was to be on the cover, she wouldn’t have cared at all, and that scared her silly.

  Thinking about the piece she had written, she wondered if Kate would like it. Would she think it was accurate and fair? What if she didn’t? Jay pushed the thought from her mind. As a professional, she knew she shouldn’t be concerned with what her subjects thought about her work as long as she stayed true to the facts and presented a balanced and insightful story. But this wasn’t just any subject: this was the woman 167

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  she had desired right from the first and the owner of the other half of her soul.

  Kate hadn’t asked her about the story even once—hadn’t asked to read it, hadn’t asked how it had turned out, hadn’t even inquired as to whether or not she would like the outcome. She seemed to understand intrinsically that Jay needed to keep some professional distance about the piece, and for that the writer was eternally grateful.

  It had actually been easier to stay objective than she h
ad thought it would be. The extensive interviews she had done, the amount of time she had spent just observing the journalist at work, and the reactions of those around the charismatic woman had given her a solid foundation from which to write. For that period of time that she was working on the story, Jay had set aside her own thoughts and let the interviewees and the anchorwoman’s performance speak for themselves. In the end, the question she had asked herself was if the piece was something she would have written about a subject she had never met before and knew nothing about. She was confident that it was.

  Kate sat at her desk, but she wasn’t really there. Her heart was 150

  miles south and her head was busy contemplating when she could see Jay next. She closed her eyes and remembered the feel of her lover clinging to her in the parking lot. There was no question that the younger woman had been as distraught as she was about parting. What we really need, she thought to herself, is time. Yeah, a solid block of time without any distractions; just the two of us together, getting to know each other, seeing if we’re compatible and if we could live together in harmony. She laughed at herself. Oh, who are you kidding, Katherine, you’ve already made up your mind, you just want time to convince Jay. Chuckling again she thought, So, what’s wrong with that?

  “Hey, you okay, Kate?”

  She hadn’t realized how long she’d been sitting there with her eyes shut, so deep in thought that she hadn’t even heard Phil and Gene approaching. “Fine, just a little tired, I guess.”

  “Yeah,” the producer said, “you’ve been working really hard lately, and then there was the LCA Show. When’s the last time you took a vacation, kid?” He knew the answer: never.

  Gene piped in, “I meant to tell you, Kate, you were fantastic in the show. Thanks again for the tickets. I tried to congratulate you Saturday night, but there was a huge crowd around you and I couldn’t get close.”