Chapter Six. As she gazed into her closet, Grace remembered Margo’s comments about their dinner plans.

As she gazed into her closet, Grace remembered Margo’s comments about their dinner plans.

“We’re going someplace nice, ” she said. “So, no pants and you’d better wear makeup.”

“You’re not fixing me up, are you? ” she had asked suspiciously.

Margo cackled. “No, honey. I’ve learned my lesson on that front. This is just dinner. Simple and easy. You’ll be home by ten.”

Secretly she was disappointed that Margo clearly believed she was a lost cause. Still, Margo was her best friend and full of surprises. Maybe the evening would result in a potential date, and she allowed that sliver of optimism to guide her fashion choices. She picked a sleek black dress, which was definitely the sexiest thing she owned. She’d bought it on a whim when Margo had taken her shopping one afternoon after they’d consumed more liquid than solids at lunch. Margo knew alcohol was her Achilles’ heel and had taken full advantage of her when they wandered into Macy’s dress department. The hemline came well above her knees, and two ribbons of black silk trailed up her chest, barely covering her breasts, and fastened behind her neck. For such an expensive dress, there isn’t much material above your waist, Gracie.

What would her patients think if they happened to see her out in public? And what would Eva think?

She resisted the urge to change into a conservative blouse and skirt, and, to confirm her commitment to her sexy look, she removed the clips that secured her hair and shook her blond mane as it tumbled over her shoulders. She smiled slightly. She looked ready for action even if she had no intention of acting upon anything. She touched up her red lipstick, pleased with the result. She’d never thought of herself as vain, and others said she was pretty, even if she spent most of her life hiding it underneath a long white coat and sensible shoes.

When Margo appeared on her doorstep twenty minutes later, she applauded. “Surgeon by day, sizzling sexpot by night. Let’s go see how many heads you can turn.”

As they headed for Margo’s idling Mustang, Grace savored her effusive praise. She reached for the passenger door handle and glanced down the sidewalk at a white blur bounding toward her. She remained frozen in place, too surprised and too slow to move out of its path—whatever it was.

As if stepping into a spotlight, the streetlight caught its form for a split-second, long enough for her to realize that Pepper, Dina Devereaux’s Harlequin Great Dane, was charging her. His tongue flapped from side to side, and she estimated she’d be flattened momentarily.

“Cease! ” a voice commanded.

Pepper’s paws immediately tangled as he attempted to obey. Instead of toppling Grace, he merely collided into her legs, but the force of one hundred and thirty pounds while she tried to stay balanced in two-inch heels was too much. She dropped to the ground, albeit gently. Pepper sat in front of her panting.

Dina finally caught up to her dog and Grace. “Are you okay? ” she asked anxiously, extending her hand.

“I think so.”

She rose and quickly adjusted the top of her dress, which had slipped to one side, revealing most of her left breast. Her gaze shot to Dina’s face.

She raised her eyes from Grace’s overexposed chest, her cheeks crimson. “Um, I’m really sorry about Pepper. He saw Mrs. Reemer’s cat just a few seconds ago, and he took off. Then he saw you, and he hates to see people leave. I’m so sorry. Are you sure you’re okay? ”

“I’m fine, ” she said, suddenly realizing that Margo had remained inside the Mustang during the whole ordeal. She’s probably on her cell phone.

“Well, you look absolutely amazing.” Dina nodded toward the Mustang. “Are you going on a date? ”

“Oh, no. I’m just going to dinner with my friend. We’re just friends, ” she said again, feeling like a complete idiot.

Dina’s eyes slid away from her face and down her body— slowly. She seemed to savor each curve covered by the black silk. When their eyes finally met again, she offered no apologies for her forward behavior, but instead stepped toward Grace and touched her shoulder.

“I hope you have a wonderful evening, ” she whispered. “And you look incredible.”

She turned away and Pepper immediately followed, trotting next to his mistress, who sauntered back down the street, her hands stuffed inside her front pockets.

Grace took a deep breath, trying to calm her racing heart, and joined Margo inside the Mustang. Thelonius Monk’s trademark jazz floated through the car and Margo’s head rested against the leather seat, her eyes closed.

Her eyes still closed, Margo inquired, “Are you ready to go now, or should I just drop you off at the end of the cul-de-sac for a quickie? ”

“Margo! ” Grace feigned indignation. “I hardly know Dina.”

A wicked smile crossed her face. “Honey, you practically exposed yourself. I guarantee that if you went and knocked on her door right now, she’d whip that dress off you in about two seconds.”

“I seriously doubt that, ” she disagreed weakly. “Can we go now, please? I’m starving.”

She desperately needed Margo to charge out of the neighborhood, away from Dina.

Margo put her hand on the gearshift and looked over at her. “Last chance. I can just as easily knock this baby into reverse and coast down your street all the way to her front door.”

She stared ahead. “Unbelievable.”

Margo leaned over the seat and put her arm around her. “I dare you to let me back this car right into her driveway. I dare you to knock on her door and let her see both your tits.”

She scowled. “You dare me? How old are we? Nine? Are you going to double-dog dare me next? ”

“No, first, I’d have to double-dare you.” Margo sighed heavily and put the car into drive. “Life’s passing you by, sweetie.”

As if to make a point, she floored the gas. Grace lurched backward in her seat, and the car screeched down the quiet street, instantly distancing her from the temptation that was Dina and dissolving another opportunity for her to change her life.

The encounter with Dina bothered her throughout dinner. She continually replayed the lustful look on Dina’s face when she’d fallen to the ground, and the incredible eyes that couldn’t turn away from her own. Margo didn’t notice and conversed enough for both of them, and as long as Grace asked questions occasionally and continued to nod in the appropriate places while she sipped her merlot, she could let her mind wander deeper into her private thoughts.

“So have you reconsidered accepting my generous present? ” Margo asked, sipping her after-dinner brandy.

She raised an eyebrow. “If you’re asking am I ready to imbibe some unknown liquid, no, I’m not. I won’t be snorting any cocaine either.”

“Fine. But you might be interested in a piece of gossip I picked up the other night at Destiny’s.”

She knew Destiny’s far too well. Eva had insisted they go to Happy Hour at least twice a week, and while the house merlot was decent, Grace had spent most of the evenings watching Eva flirt with other women.

“What? ”

“I was at a table with Naomi, one of the lesbian flight attendants I like to party with, and I overheard these three women talking. I didn’t turn around, but above all of the music I recognized one of the voices. This woman with the familiar voice kept talking about how much she missed her lover. She’d dated all of these other women, but no one compared to the doctor she used to date.”

Grace’s heart beat faster. “Did you see who it was? ”

Margo smiled. “Of course. And I think you can guess.”

“Did she see you? ”

“No. She was too involved in her conversation and she was pretty toasted. So, the news for you, Gracie, is that your ex is still pining for you. You actually might have another chance with her, if you want it. But you definitely would need to make more of an effort.”

As Grace shook her head, Margo was already pulling the oak box from her purse. “No way, Margo. Besides, if Eva wants me back, she needs to be content with the real me.” “You’re not even content with the real you.” She stood and grabbed her purse. “I’m not discussing this any further. I’ve got to hit the bathroom.”

She meandered through the restaurant, unable to believe that Margo wanted her to swallow the potion. And she couldn’t believe Margo had tried it. She’d handled dozens of poisoning cases during her ER rotation as a resident, and some of them were gut-wrenching. She pictured Margo laid out on a gurney, her lips lavender.

When she returned, Margo was flipping her cell phone shut. “That was Joseph. I hope you don’t mind, but I invited him and Michelle to join us. They’re right around the corner at that little Irish bar.”

“Sure, ” she said, with little enthusiasm. “The more the merrier.” A fresh glass of merlot had arrived while she was gone, and she drank greedily. She loved Joseph, a chemist who worked at the hospital, but anytime she faced Michelle she needed a little buzz.

She took another swallow, feeling lightheaded. “Are you hot? ”

Margo shook her head, staring at the table. “No, in fact I think they’ve got the A.C. on too low. I’m starting to get chilly.” Margo wouldn’t meet her gaze. She narrowed her eyes. Something was up. “Margo, what’s going on? ”

Margo glanced up for a second. “Sometimes, Grace, I just need to help you.”

“What are you talking about? ”

Her eyes drifted to the vial that rested in the box on the table. Suddenly she realized more of the Root of Passion was missing. She held up the almost empty wineglass.

“You didn’t.”

Margo placed her hand over Grace’s. “Now, don’t panic. I just put a few drops in your wine. Take a deep breath.”

“How can I not panic? You may have poisoned me! Right now my entire nervous system—”

“Breathe. Just once. Take one deep breath for me.”

Realizing that Margo wouldn’t allow the conversation to continue until she’d followed her instruction, Grace closed her eyes and took a deep breath—and was calm. She opened her eyes and leaned back against the booth’s leather headrest. She checked her pulse. Normal. She still felt incredibly warm, and when she cradled herself into the leather booth, every nerve seemed to react. An image of Alice sliding down the rabbit hole flashed through her mind, but she let it go. She let it all go. It was as if her entire body deflated, and she was nothing but a malleable piece of clay.

“Are you okay? ”

She nodded and a slow smile crept over her face. She couldn’t believe what was happening. A burst of energy surged through her, one that was impossible for her medical mind to decipher. She didn’t feel high or stoned—just refreshed. The pebble of doubt that lived in the corner of her mind was dislodged, and when she scanned the couture of the women sitting at the nearby tables, she made a firm conclusion.

“I look damn good, don’t I? ” she asked Margo.

“I think it’s working, ” she said blandly. “There’s Joseph and Michelle.”

Margo quickly closed the small box and shoved it in Grace’s purse. She waved toward a dapper black man in jeans and a dress shirt, and a woman in tight leather pants and a silk blouse with so much lace that Grace wondered if it was really a negligee top from the lingerie department.

“Hey ladies, ” Joseph said as he slid next to Margo in their semi-circular booth.

Michelle sat beside her and smiled sexily. “How are you, Grace? ”

“I’m fine, ” she said, her body temperature rising again.

That seemed to happen whenever she and Michelle shared airspace. Michelle was a former model turned concierge at the Scottsdale Fairmount. They had known each other since high school and had dated briefly until Michelle discovered a French foreign exchange student who was willing to teach her more than vocabulary.

Somehow they remained friends, and while Grace spent years studying and toiling to achieve her career goals, Michelle had wandered aimlessly from job to job, her incredible looks conveniently opening doors for her. She wasn’t motivated to find a real career, content to work from eight to five at any job that could support her love of expensive shoes.

“I’ve missed you, ” Michelle whispered, patting her thigh. “You look totally hot.”

“Thanks, ” she said, dismissing the flirtation as overt friendliness.

That was how they talked to each other. Still, she was a little surprised when Michelle didn’t remove her hand and began stroking her thigh. Grace was now certain that the air conditioning was broken or she was having a premature hot flash. Joseph listened as Margo recounted her trip to South America, both of them entirely ignoring Michelle and Grace. It was inevitable when the four of them got together, but Grace suddenly wished they could find a mutual topic of interest, anything to distract Michelle from what clearly seemed to be her mission for the evening—help Grace have an orgasm in public.

“What are you doing? ” she hissed.

Before Michelle could answer, the waiter brought Grace another glass of merlot, flashing a creepy grin in her direction. Joseph ordered a bottle of Pinot Noir and a vodka tonic for Michelle.

“That must be some merlot.”

“Why would you say that? ” Grace asked.

“It would definitely explain the expression on your face, and your rather sexually explicit pose.”

She immediately sat straight up and frowned. “What are you talking about? ”

“Now, why did you do that? I and probably many of the restaurant patrons were enjoying a lovely view of your cleavage, particularly your right breast.”

What the hell is going on with my breasts tonight? I might as well have gone topless.

She was mortified. She tapped Margo on the shoulder and waited for Joseph to finish an anecdote about his experience with speed dating.

“Why didn’t you tell me I was exposing myself to everybody in the restaurant? ”

Michelle snorted. “Geez, Grace, get over it. It’s no big deal. It’s like when you see some woman come out of a bathroom and her skirt’s still stuck in her slip.”

“Or when a guy forgets to zip up his fly, ” Joseph said.

Margo clapped her hands together and started to laugh. “I was in the mall one time and this little kid was with his mother and this gang banger, who I’m guessing was the father. Anyway, the guy’s pants are sagging to his knees, and the little kid comes up behind him and grabs his pants to get his attention, and he pulls them all the way down.” Everyone started to laugh, but Margo waved her hand. “That wasn’t the best part. The guy was so surprised and disoriented trying to catch the kid that he tripped. He looked like some sort of insect, lying on his back trying to get his pants pulled up. It was the funniest thing I’ve ever seen! ”

They were all laughing so hard that at first Grace didn’t feel Michelle’s hand stroking the side of her breast. Once she did, she turned and faced her. Michelle parted her gorgeous lips, both carefully lined and shaded in a rich pink hue.

“Oh, baby, ” she whispered, as her fingers brushed against Grace’s nipple. Because Michelle had angled her body sideways, none of the other patrons noticed, and Joseph and Margo were slugging back glass after glass of Pinot as if they’d entered a contest.

Grace should have moved away, or at least removed Michelle’s hand, but the touch resounded through her body, and she imagined the Root of Passion coursing through her system.

Instead, she inched closer to Michelle, who whispered, “We’re going home together. No arguments, doctor.”

When they’d finished their drinks, Grace announced Michelle would give her a ride, and Margo and Joseph looked stunned. Then Margo smiled knowingly and glanced at her bulging purse that held the oak box.

They’d barely made it through the door before Michelle unfastened the ribbons of silk and cupped her breasts lovingly.

“It’s about time we just took this off, ” she said, reaching for the zipper and letting gravity do the rest. All that remained were her lacy underpants, which she knew were soaked from Michelle’s endless foreplay in the restaurant.

She gasped when Michelle forcefully knocked her onto the couch. The room spun, and she became slightly disoriented.

“What’d you do that for? ” She attempted to rise but found her equilibrium wouldn’t cooperate. It was as if the bones in her body had disappeared.

She looked up, watching Michelle discard the lacy blouse and slip out of her leather pants.

“Now, ” Michelle said, still hovering over her, “How drunk are you? Are you hung over? ”

She shook her head slightly, entranced by Michelle’s incredible body and a mole that sat slightly above her left breast. “I’m not drunk. I don’t have a headache and I don’t feel sick. My pulse and heart rate are steady. I’m just totally relaxed, and it’s like I swallowed a bottle of muscle relaxants.”

“You sound just like a doctor, ” Michelle slurred.

“I am a doctor.”

“Well, Dr. Owens, we’re going to play a little game. Perhaps you know it? It’s called Doctor.”

They indeed played quite a game, until Grace led her to bed and proved that medical school had taught her more about female genitalia than any lesbian sex book ever could.

When Grace opened her eyes the next morning, she was keenly aware of the light snoring next to her, and the cascade of melon-scented reddish-brown hair that rested against her cheek. She kissed Michelle’s cheek and she stirred.

“Oh, God. What happened? It feels like a bull is standing on my head. How much did I drink? ”

“You had four vodka tonics.”

“Well, you had more than me, and you’re not hung over? ”

“No, ” Grace said, unwilling to share anything about the Root of Passion. “It’s probably my metabolism.”

Michelle sat up on one elbow, her eyes barely open, shaking her head. “I have no idea what you’re talking about, Doc.” She lifted up the sheets and glanced at their completely naked bodies.

“And I’m assuming we rekindled our flame from high school last night.”

Grace’s jaw dropped. “You don’t remember the sex? You don’t remember the way you ordered me to play with myself until I was about to orgasm? ”

Michelle’s face screwed up into disgust. “I did what? That’s not my game. Hell, I don’t play games. Straight sex.”

“Not last night. You were like a dominatrix.”

“What? Now I know you’re full of shit. You must have been totally trashed and you’re making up stuff.” She pulled the covers off and began searching for her clothes.

“They’re in the living room. That’s where we started, ” Grace said, pointing to the door.

Michelle left and came back a few seconds later, holding her own clothes and Grace’s dress. “Now, I do remember this dress.”

“Do you remember how you got it off me? ”

Michelle shook her head. “Not a clue.” She glanced about the room and saw Grace’s vibrator on the nightstand. “Okay, so if you remember everything, what did we do with that? ”

Grace smiled timidly. “After the third time, you insisted I get it out.”

“No, I never use a vibrator, not since—”

“Not since the French foreign exchange student forgot to lube it before she used it on you during high school.”

Michelle looked horrified. She sat on the bed and hung her head. “I told you that story? I’ve never told anyone about that.”

Grace reached over and stroked her beautiful back. “Sweetie, it’s okay. Besides, you certainly enjoyed it last night. Of course, you insisted on taking my lube home with you. Proclaimed it as a miracle cure.”

Michelle shot her a stabbing glare. “No way.”

She pointed to her purse, and Michelle began fishing through it. When she pulled out a half empty tube of lubricant, she started to laugh. “This is un-fucking believable! You’re telling me that I did some dominatrix thing with you in the living room, and then I changed into some vibrator-happy lush who fell in love with a tube of lube? ”

Grace paused, thinking of a way to explain. The change in Michelle had been noticeable, and as a doctor she had been fascinated by the gradual crumbling of her calm exterior as the alcohol seemed to affect her more and more as the night wore on, until her speech was incoherent and she began singing old Dusty Springfield tunes—a tidbit Grace decided not to share.

“It was an interesting night, ” Grace said. “One that we probably shouldn’t repeat. As a physician, I’m advising you to stay away from vodka tonics. I think they’re a little strong for you.”

Michelle started putting on her clothes and turned away. “I’m too embarrassed to talk about this anymore, Grace. I’m just going to go.”

Grace sensed the awkwardness of the moment and headed for the bathroom. “I think I’ll take a shower.”

Michelle said nothing as she shut the door between them. Why was last night so clear to her? It had been one of the greatest sexual experiences of her life. She’d craved Michelle’s touch, and she was thrilled when she brought Michelle to orgasm. Granted, she felt tired and she decided to skip her morning run, but there was no hangover. She’d been in fabulous control the whole time. Did the Root of Passion actually do that?

When she finally came out of the bathroom after a long, hot shower, Michelle was gone. She got dressed and went into the kitchen to make coffee. On the counter, she found a note in Michelle’s perfect script, the lube next to it.

Grace,

I’m speechless about last night. I’m glad we had a great time, but I’m so sorry that I can’t remember it. The fact that you can—the fact that you even let me seduce you, and best of all, the fact that you aren’t totally wasted is incredibly significant.

I’m making a list of everything you should do with your life. You know how much I love you, so here it is:

1. Face a fear and overcome it.

2. Have sex with a stranger.

3. Make a public spectacle of yourself.

4. Alter your appearance for sex appeal.

5. Have a relationship!

If you’re wondering where I got this list, I called Margo and we made it together. Actually, we made it a long time ago, one night after we’d finished an entire bottle of Pinot Noir and were psychoanalyzing you. You’re a great topic of conversation, honey. Change your life, sweetie!
P.S. Despite what I may have told you last night, I don’t need this lube. I have more than you’ll ever own.