Chapter 7
“Hey,” a voice whispered in Sienna’s ear. “Hey, gorgeous. Time to wake up.”
Justine was standing next to the bed, fully dressed and her hair wet from the shower. She crouched so she was at eye level with Sienna.
“I’m sorry, but I have somewhere to be. I let you sleep as long as possible.”
“What time is it?” Sienna groaned.
“Just after eight.”
Sienna stretched her arms above her head and scrunched her eyes shut. When she opened them, Justine was unmistakably ogling her half-naked body.
“If you get up now, I’ll make you breakfast. If you want to sleep more, you can. I’ll leave you a key to lock up with. You can bring it to Rochelle’s this afternoon.”
“I’ll have breakfast with you.” Sienna was famished. “Just give me a minute.”
“Sure. I’ll see you downstairs.” Justine brought her hand to Sienna’s forehead and gently brushed the skin above her eyebrows. She looked quite perky for a woman her age having had only a short night of sleep—or was it ageist to think like that? Justine briefly looked into Sienna’s eyes, then pushed herself up and disappeared from the room.
So much for waking up gently and, perhaps, giving Justine the orgasm Sienna hadn’t been able to give her last night. Although Justine struck her as a woman who always had places to be and people to see with not a lot of time for idle lingering—and slow morning sex—in her life.
Sienna took a deep breath and threw the covers off.
Justine’s coffee was nothing like the superior stuff the state-of-the-art machine at her apartment produced, but Sienna downed it nonetheless. Maybe Justine was one of those super women who thrived on only four hours of sleep per night, but Sienna needed at least seven hours, eight if she could.
Last night, they had bantered for a while longer, talking of nothing very significant, while Sienna lay in Justine’s arms and then, somehow, Justine had ended up making Sienna come again—with her fingers this time—and when Sienna had checked her watch when they finally said goodnight, it had been almost three in the morning. She was exhausted and it probably showed on her face, but she tried to put on a smile for the short time she had with Justine. She would need to take a nap before Alexis’s car service picked her up after lunch to spend more time with Rochelle—the person Sienna should be devoting most of her time to.
“Can we keep this between us for now?” Justine said. “I’m not sure I’ll get the chance to tell Rochelle before this afternoon.”
“So you’re definitely telling Rochelle?”
“I tell Rochelle everything.” Justine employed her businesslike, straightforward tone again—as if it was just a simple fact of life that she would tell her ex about sleeping with the actor who was going to play her in a movie.
“Everything?” Sienna gazed up from her coffee.
“Not all the details, obviously, but I will tell her we slept together. Do you mind?”
“I hadn’t really thought about it, to be honest.”
“That’s okay.” Justine shoveled some scrambled eggs onto her fork. Sienna didn’t know if she was putting on a show for her—although she didn’t strike her as the type—or if Justine took breakfast a lot more seriously than any other meal. There were eggs, toast, yoghurt, fruit, and lots of not-so-stellar-but-strong coffee.
“Do we, um, need to talk about what… it meant?” Sienna asked, not that she had a clue. But she was curious what Justine thought about their impromptu night together.
“We can if you want to.”
Sienna huffed out a silly giggle. “Was it a one-time thing? Do you want to do it again? Do you want to go on a proper date?” She picked up her fork to attend to her rumbling stomach.
“I don’t know. Why don’t we just see where the day takes us? We’re meeting again this afternoon with Rochelle and Alexis, anyway.” Justine took a sip of coffee. “But, um, as far as dating is concerned, I think we have to be realistic about that. Last night was fun, but I hope you understand that we are not a good match in any respect.”
“Okay. Gotcha.” Sienna sounded more defensive than she wanted to. But Justine was right. Going on a proper date, like she had just suggested, was a bit out there.
“Let’s just play it by ear.” Justine pushed her chair back and walked over to her. “I absolutely mean no disrespect.” She hunched over and found Sienna’s ear. “I should only be so lucky to date someone like you.”
Justine had skipped lunch, as she did most days, due to lack of time. Sienna and Alexis would arrive at Rochelle’s in thirty minutes and she had decided to tell Rochelle about last night before they all met up again. Rochelle had some sort of sixth sense when it came to these things—when it came to Justine and who she slept with—and she didn’t want to be scrutinized by Alexis the moment Rochelle’s penny dropped.
“I’m early,” she shouted after she knocked and walked in the back door.
“Hi, Justine.” Rita, Rochelle’s wife, was nursing a cup of tea in the kitchen “That’s very unlike you.”
Justine kissed her friend hello and smiled, even though she’d hoped to catch Rochelle alone. Although to tell Rochelle was to tell Rita—and vice versa.
“Rochelle’s still putting on her face.” Rita winked at Justine. “You’d think she’s trying to impress these youngsters.” She chuckled. “You might even suspect she has a thing for younger women.” Rita was thirteen years younger than her wife and both she and Justine loved teasing Rochelle about that—even though, right now, that would make Justine a big hypocrite.
“Have you eaten?” Rita asked.
“I didn’t have time.” Justine sank into a chair. The short night was catching up with her.
“How about a sandwich? You know Mama Rita makes the best sandwiches,” she said in the voice she now used with her grandkids.
“I could murder a sandwich.” As if on cue, Justine’s stomach rumbled.
“On it.” Rita rose from her chair.
“Are you off work today?” Justine asked.
Rita nodded. “The students are on a field trip and, for once, my presence was not required.” She took some stuff out of the fridge. “Which is excellent timing because it gives me a chance to meet Alexis Dalton and, even more interestingly, Sienna Bright, who will be playing my lovely wife.” She went to work on fixing Justine a sandwich, an action Justine had long ago gotten used to—Rochelle and Rita loved to feed her. “Rochelle really liked her. What was your impression?”
“Um.” Justine’s cheeks flushed pink. Luckily, Rochelle waltzed into the room.
“You’re early.” Rochelle opened her arms wide and Justine got up to hug her friend.
“I think she wanted one of my sandwiches.” Rita handed Justine a plate. “There you go. Tuna with tomato and a touch of pickled onion, just how you like it.”
“Thank you so much. You spoil me.” Justine sat again and tucked in.
“Someone has to,” Rita said.
“How was last night? Did Sienna stay long at the shelter?” Rochelle asked.
“She and Darrel are already thick as thieves,” Justine said in between bites, gathering her courage. She checked her watch. If they were punctual, Sienna and Alexis would be here soon. “I took her to Min-ji’s after because we were both starving.” She’d found the discarded bag of Korean food on her kitchen floor this morning—Min-ji would be furious if she found out its fate.
“Oh.” Rochelle gave her a look. “And?”
“Things turned a little flirty and then, yeah, we went back to my place.”
“Things turned a little flirty?” Rita’s voice had shot up an octave.
“Did you sleep with her?” Rochelle cut in. “Did you sleep with Sienna Bright?”
“Yes,” Justine admitted.
“Oh my god.” Rita clasped her hands to her mouth as though Justine had just confessed she’d slept with her wife.
“I need to sit down for this.” Rochelle pulled up a chair.
“Shall I get us something stronger than tea?” Rita’s voice was still trembling.
“What happened?” Rochelle tilted her head and looked Justine in the eye. “I mean, how … did it happen?”
Instead of fetching booze, Rita sat next to them.
“We went to dinner. Had a few beers. You know what it’s like with Min-ji. She always acts like I’m such a big deal. Conjured up a special table for us out of nowhere. The food was out of this world. And Sienna is just… really nice and forward about what she wants.”
“Are you saying that she wanted you as a side with Min-ji’s food?” Rochelle asked.
“We just spent the night together, as two consenting adults who knew exactly what they were doing. There’s no need to make a big deal out of it. I just wanted you to know before she got here, because, well… you have that thing.” Justine waved her hand about. “Where you just know stuff about me without me having to say and I didn’t want the afternoon to be more awkward than it has to be.”
“But, Justine,” Rita said. “You slept with the actor who is playing your ex. Did that have something to do with it?”
“Of course not. Sienna’s just… I just had the hots for her.” And she for me, Justine thought, and wasn’t that the strangest thing of all for a movie star?
“You put the moves on her?” Rochelle said.
Justine picked up the rest of her sandwich. “Come to think of it, I think she hit on me. I was just playing, you know? Just having some fun after a long-ass day. But she went for it. And I didn’t say no.”
“Are you honestly claiming that Sienna Bright seduced you?” Rochelle could sound a touch less incredulous. “ The Sienna Bright? Bobby Bright’s gorgeous, talented daughter who is, what? Twenty years younger than you?”
“Don’t act so surprised.” Although no longer that hungry, Justine took another bite of her sandwich.
“But I am surprised,” Rochelle said. “I’m baffled, frankly.”
Justine swallowed. “Because she’s young and hot and…” She pulled up one shoulder. “I’m not?”
“That, too.” Rochelle was nothing if not brutally honest, a quality Justine greatly appreciated—and had been the basis of their long friendship after a difficult break-up. “But mostly that it happened. Just like that. You only just met her and… I don’t know. I wasn’t expecting this.”
“Good for you.” Rita seemed to have recovered from the shock. “Now I definitely can’t wait to meet her.”
The bell rang.