Chapter 18
“I still don’t understand how you survive with this little groceries.” Juniper shook her head as she put the last of the cold stuff away in Rowan’s refrigerator.
“Protein shakes and microwaveable mac and cheese don’t count?”
“That’s awful, Rowan,” Juniper laughed.
On their way back from the water, they’d majorly needed to refuel their bodies so they stopped at the dollar store to grab a few groceries to hold them over until they could do a proper trip into the neighboring town.
“Maybe I’m angling for your mom to keep sending an extra lunch with you to work.”
“Oh, I’m definitely telling my mom on you.”
Rowan leaned back against the counter, and Juniper slid between her legs and played with the buttons on Rowan’s flannel shirt she’d thrown on when the sun went down.
She shifted to running her hands up Rowan’s arms and over her shoulders. “You’re the most athletic nerd I’ve ever met.”
“Thanks, I think?”
“Is it the protein shakes?” Juniper giggled.
Rowan shook her head and moved her hands to rest just above Juniper’s ass. “Probably just the fisherman genetics.”
“Where does the nerdiness come from? Your mom?”
“She was an English teacher and an avid reader. My dad still has some of her old books lying around.”
Juniper smiled. “I didn’t know that about her.”
“Apparently her favorite genre was murder mysteries. My dad loves to tell the story of how he realized she was in love with her when she told him the reason why.”
“What was the reason why?”
“On their second date, she was reading on her porch while she waited for him to pick her up. When he asked her about the book, she told him in vivid detail all of the gory parts. He laughs to this day that even though he was used to fish guts, he wasn’t fully prepared for this sweet, intellectual woman to be so obsessed with books like that. ”
“Poor Victor,” Juniper laughed. “He’s the chillest guy ever.”
Rowan nodded and laughed. “I know right. So she closes the book and sighs and says ‘It’s almost like you can see the blood running down the pages.’ She looks over at him and winks, and he said he was totally lost for her.”
“Wow. I think you get your sense of humor from her too.”
“Yeah, definitely. He still has that book.”
“Have you read it?” Juniper smiled at her and tucked her arms around Rowan’s waist.
“When I was eleven,” Rowan smiled down at her. “It was way too fucked up for an eleven year old to read.”
“I bet.”
Juniper looked around at Rowan’s house that was slowly but surely coming together. “It’s looking good in here. Do you have any pictures to hang up?”
“Like artwork?”
“No, like of your family.”
“Not really. I don’t think my dad has many left.”
“Hmm.”
Rowan grabbed two handfuls of Juniper’s ass and started walking Juniper backwards from the counter. “So about all of these other surfaces we have in this house. I was wondering if I could get your opinion of the shower first.”
Juniper giggled as she wrapped her arms around Rowan’s neck. “Do you need some decorating advice or something?”
“Oh, I’d love to see the way you look against my wall.”
They reached the bathroom door and Juniper twisted the handle so they could tumble inside.
The next morning, Juniper flicked on the coffee pot in her office.
From her ever expanding coffee station, she pulled out the three mugs Gloria had given her.
They enjoyed coffee together most mornings when she brought her a mug down after checking her email.
It had become their little morning ritual.
After taking Gloria her mug, Juniper retrieved the other two from her office, along with a picture frame from her bag she tucked under her arm.
Then she pressed her hip into Rowan’s door frame, as she had tended to do once she had seen the reaction it got out of her.
But if they way they’d spend the entire day and most of the night before were any indication, she didn’t need to rely on those little attention-seeking gimmicks anymore.
She had Rowan’s full, and very attentive, attention.
“Hi,” Juniper said in a coquettish tone.
Rowan looked up from her computer and scanned her from heels to face.
“Oh. Hi,” she responded, her eyes darkening from her assessment.
A smile curved Juniper’s lips, but she didn’t move from the door. “Shall we?”
“Shall we… what?”
Rowan raised an eyebrow. Juniper bit her lip.
They had done quite a bit of that what in the last two days.
The kind of women who love women action that you don’t realize has gone on for several hours until someone finally emerges back into reality.
Like when it was 10pm the night prior, and Juniper realized she couldn’t go to work in nothing but Rowan’s t-shirt.
“We could work on your presentation for the International Indigenous Peoples’ Forum.”
Rowan leaned back in her chair and rested the back of her head on her hands against the headrest. “I suppose.” She smiled, not taking her eyes off of Juniper.
“Behave. We’re at work now.”
Juniper stepped inside and kicked the door closed with her foot.
“Fine. Come sit with me. I’ll pull it up.”
Juniper paused and her tongue darted out to lick her lips.
Not on her lap, Juniper. Be professional.
She set the mugs down and pulled an extra chair around her desk. Rowan immediately grabbed her mug and took a long sip, her eyes watching all of Juniper’s movements until she sat down. Juniper bit the tip of her thumb before resting her chin on her hand to stare back at Rowan.
“We can’t be this way at work.”
Juniper wasn’t sure why she was whispering.
It wasn’t like they were doing anything wrong.
It was still kind of hot though. The only way she’d ever admit Rowan was kind of her boss, or at least over her, professionally speaking, was in this situation right here.
She’d been over her plenty of times since Saturday otherwise.
Rowan smiled into her mug before setting it down.
“As much as it pains me to not be touching you right now, you’re right.”
“It pains you, huh?”
“Oh, I’m in fucking agony.”
Rowan grabbed Juniper’s hand and pulled her close.
She placed a kiss as light as a feather just against the edge of her lips.
Juniper throbbed and wanted to trace a line up the center of Rowan’s lips with her tongue before pushing her mouth open.
Instead she traced a finger down Rowan’s chest until it hit the top button.
Then she pulled it away and sat back again.
“Don’t think for a second that this isn’t equally as hard for me.”
Rowan sighed. “Fine. Fine, fine. Let’s get started working then.” She maneuvered through a folder on her work laptop to find the presentation.
Juniper fidgeted with her hands. “Rowan?”
“Yeah?”
“I want to present with you, if I still can.”
Rowan turned to smile at her. “Really?”
“I can’t promise I won’t be nervous, but I’m going to try.”
“You’re going to be great. I’ll be there to support you the whole way.”
Juniper picked up her mug as Rowan recapped what she had worked on the previous week and what was still left to do. They discussed the outline for the presentation and where each of them could take turns splitting the responsibilities for speaking.
Rowan nodded toward the screen. “I was thinking here you could talk about where you learned your knowledge from.”
“You don’t think they’ll minimize what I’ve done since I didn’t go to school?”
“Absolutely not. And fuck anyone who tries. Seriously, Junie, most people who spend their lives locked away in their ivory towers would kill to know half of what you know.”
Rowan’s phone buzzed against the desk. Once she looked at it, she jumped up from her seat.
“It’s Theo. Do you mind if I take this in the hallway?”
“Sure. I’ll keep working on this slide.”
Juniper moved over to Rowan’s seat and finally removed the picture frame she’d tucked under her arm and placed it on Rowan’s desk.
She finished writing out the talking points she had swirling in her mind about Indigenous traditional ecological knowledge, making sure to emphasize the importance of having a deep understanding of local ecosystems, biodiversity, and the sustainable management of natural resources.
She looked up at Rowan as she walked back in the office. “What did Theo want?”
Rowan scratched the back of her neck. “Uh, we were just talking about the new housing developments.”
Juniper looked back to the screen to keep working. After Rowan sat back down, she asked casually, “Is there something wrong with your house?”
“No, not at all.”
Juniper looked over at her again curiously. “Okay, cryptic.”
“I’m not trying to be. I promise.” She paused and Juniper followed Rowan’s eyes flicker over to the picture frame.
“Is that…” Rowan leaned closer and grabbed the frame from the desk. “Me and my parents?”
“Yep.
The picture showed a toddler-aged Rowan sitting on the floor between her mom Pearl’s legs as she played with toys. Wrapping paper littered the floor of the warmly lit living room, and Victor looked on proudly from his spot behind them on the brown floral print couch.
Rowan looked at her excitedly as she sat back down next to Juniper. “Where did you get this?”
“I went through my mom’s photo albums again and saw it.”
“That’s why you were late this morning?”
Juniper smiled. “Maybe.”
Rowan leaned into Juniper’s body and placed a searing kiss on her neck. “Today is going to be a very long work day.”