Be All, End All

Darynn groaned at the reminder of the confrontation still before her. “However. I’ll just make it short and sweet. Can you follow us? I drove.”

Janna smiled, “You sure this is a sure thing?”

She felt like growling. A sure thing? She was already getting wet thinking of having this woman. “Yes. You decide where. My place is kind of small, but it’ll do.”

“That’s fine. Tight is good.”

Darynn grinned, loving the slow drawl of the woman’s voice. It made her feel nearly silly in her eagerness. She pulled out her money clip and gave the woman enough for a cab and a business card. “I’m at the business address, not the house attached to it. His car is there so wait until he leaves. As pathetic as this evening has been I don’t want to hurt his feelings.”

Janna nodded, “I don’t need the money.”

“It’s for a cab. Take it.”

She stood, eager now to get the drama with Ian over with. Of course there was the chance that this woman would stiff her, but she’d be no worse off. And if she did show… Mmmmm.

“Honey, what’s *your* name?” Janna asked as she stood. They were nearly equal in height.

“Oh, sorry. It’s Darynn.” She held out her hand reflexively. Live in a male world, live by the male rules.

Janna stepped closer and they were kissing again. Darynn was more eager this time, sweeping her tongue into the woman’s mouth. Their hands gripped and held, not exploring, but just holding while their mouths did all the work.

They were breathing heavier when they pulled apart this time. Darynn’s eyes rose to meet the bright blue looking back into hers and felt a hunger she hadn’t felt since… Well, probably just since the past Thursday when they’d gone racing. But wanting Dom had become a chore, a treat she wouldn’t allow herself to taste.

A thumb brushed at her lip, probably fixing a smudge from their lipsticks meeting. “Darynn, I’ll be there. Thank you.”

Darynn wasn’t quite sure what she was being thanked for so just let it go. “Okay, then I hope to see you in a bit.”

Back in the club she made a bee-line for the table where she’d left Ian. She saw that he was talking to someone and slowed her approach. A glance back showed her that Janna was following her inconspicuously. Probably just wanting to get a look at the guy getting dumped for her. Darynn would have done the same thing.

Slowing even further Darynn watched Ian. Two girls at the table next to theirs were talking to him, and from the looks of things it was rather flirtatious talk. He was smiling more now than he had all night with her. It nearly hit her. Had he been having a bad night too? Well, duh. It obviously hadn’t been the time of his life.

She approached the table and noted the exact moment he saw her. His face stilled mid-smile and he looked utterly guilty. Poor guy. Did he think she was some controlling shrew? Darynn snorted when she considered that he probably did.

She purposely walked between the tables and smiled at the two girls he’d been speaking to. They were both young, blond and cute. Girlie girls. Just his type!

“You alright?” Ian was asking as she climbed up beside him on the high stool.

“Yeah, sure.” She gestured to the girls, “Do you know them?”

He blushed and she nearly had to laugh at his reaction. “No. I—uh, they were—um.”

Darynn held up her hand, “It’s okay. They’re kinda cute, huh? Which one were you checking out?”

Ian looked at her like she’d asked him to commit murder. “Uh, I wasn’t—“

“Pfft. Don’t bullshit me. I was gone for like twenty minutes. You were probably trying to secure a ride home.”

He smiled, “It had crossed my mind that you’d ditched me.”

Darynn shrugged, “I’m sorry, but I did consider it.” He went silent and for once she didn’t blame him. “Look, Ian, this night didn’t turn out like we planned. No biggie, okay? I’m not the giggling sort and you’re too nice for your own good.”

He shrugged, looking both embarrassed and pleased.

“So can we call it?” That got his attention. “No regrets, no worries. We’ll say we had an okay time and move on.”

He was frowning at her. She got the feeling that he didn’t trust what he was hearing. “You sure?”

“Yeah, I am. There’s no point in faking like we’re having a good time.”

Ian just stared at her for a long time. “You’re pretty cool, Darynn. I can see what Dom likes about you. Just call it. I like that. And we can still be friends?”

That comment about Dom had hit her hard. What had he meant? Did he know something? Was there some sort of guy vibe that she couldn’t detect? Had Dom said something? Or was it just a rumor? And in the end what did it matter? She took a deep breath and forced a smile. Dom showing his interest in her was nothing new, so this wasn’t a revelation or anything. *Just settle down.*

“Sure. More than. Here.” She slid off her seat and moved to the girls nearby. Ian tried to call her back in a hushed tone, but she ignored him.

She was met with half confused, half hostile looks from the two girls. “Ladies, I need to ask a favor. Ian here was my date tonight and I treated him kinda lousy.” She shrugged, “Been a bad week. But anyway, I was gonna ditch him and was wondering if you ladies could take care of him.”

“What’s the catch?” the one asked. The other seemed to be shyly checking out Ian.

“No catch, I swear. We just decided to mutually call it off. Why waste the rest of our night, huh? I’ll give him cab fare, but if one of you could take him to his car that would work too.”

The one was nodding at the other at the idea.

“What’re your names?”

The more interested one answered, “I’m Sheri, this is Jess.”

“Darynn, nice to meet you.” She held up a finger, “One sec.” She returned towing Ian, shoving money into his pocket. “Ian, this is Sheri and Jess and they agreed to take care of you for a while. They’ll treat you better than I can.” At her urging he climbed into the seat across from them.

“Darynn, you don’t have to do this. What about your drive home?”

She shrugged, “I’m a big girl. I gave you money for a cab if you need it. Come by and pick up your car sometime. I’m sure the team won’t mind seein’ ya outside Che’s.”

“You don’t have to do that,” he told her, searching his pockets. “And I can at least see you home.”

She gripped his arm, staring up at him, “It’s okay, Ian.” Looking back she saw that Janna was still waiting, watching. She jerked her head in a come hither. It took one more try to get the woman to actually move.

Ian was looking with her now. When Darynn looked up at him he was watching Janna and the look on his face made her want to laugh. He’d added two and two. He was losing his date to another woman, and by the look on his face he was imagining himself in the dog pile.

Janna smiled at the three at the table when she arrived.

“Ian, this is Janna. She offered to see me home.”

His look was intense when he looked between them. The blondes just looked confused, not sure of the undertones of the meeting.

Finally Ian spoke and did so with more gumption than he’d shown all night. “Nice to meet you, Janna. Take care of Rynn here. She’s kinda wild and hard to figure.”

Darynn grinned. She reached up and pulled Ian down, planting a kiss on his lips. “Thank you,” she whispered.

Then she was holding Janna’s hand and they were moving through the crowd to the door.