Forever Comes in Threes, page 15
She tossed her headset onto the desk, sat back in her chair, and closed her eyes. She was instantly back at the farm with Ming’s lithe body curled against hers. She wanted to feel their hearts beat in sync again, trace the delicate cherry blossoms adorning Ming’s delicious shoulders, and rub her aching clit against Ming’s firm ass. God. She was turning into a puddle.
Her computer pinged repeatedly with a string of insistent messages.
Julie: What are you thinking?
Julie: Answer
Julie: Me
Julie: If you’re masturbating, STOP.
Julie: STOP RIGHT NOW.
Julie: I’m going to call
Julie: and you better pick up.
Perry shook her head but answered on the first ring. “No. I’m not masturbating, you idiot. Do you have sex on your brain? Do you need to get laid more often?”
“No. But you need to shut down the teenage boy that’s taken over your brain. What are you thinking? Are you still going to do that vlog? I’m telling you that Ming is Dr. Lee, so you’d better get in all the sex you can before she finds out that you’re the Dr. Chandler whose followers are invading her podcast.”
The anger rising from Perry’s gut and heating her ears was unreasonable, but she was tired of Julie’s apparent jealousy. “First of all, she is Dr. Ming Davis. Second, my photo is all over my website and my book covers, so if she were Dr. Lee, I’m sure she would have looked me up and already know Timed for Success is my podcast. Third, if she is Dr. Lee and knows who I am, she wouldn’t be dating me.”
An uncomfortable silence loomed before Julie spoke again. Her voice was soft but unapologetic. “I think you’re wrong but hope you’re right. I just don’t want you to get hurt.”
Perry relented. She did realize Julie was only trying to protect her. “I know. I’m sorry. But I’m a big girl, so it’s on me if I get hurt. Okay? You’ve done your best to warn me.”
* * *
The terrors scrambled out of Perry’s office and down the stairs when the doorbell chimed and SHA announced someone was at her front door. Perry groaned. She had so much work to catch up on since she’d basically blown her weekend schedule to spend time with Ming. She was tempted to ignore the summons. She didn’t need religion or a security system or cookies. Wait. Cookies might not be a bad idea.
“Hola,” Ming said when Perry opened the door. She held up a grocery bag. “Authentic Spanish paella and salad. Had dinner yet?”
Molly barked joyfully, while Tucker and JT raised their noses to sniff at the dinner offering. Perry grinned and wrapped one arm around Ming’s shoulders to draw her into a kiss. Way better than cookies.
“My neighbor is going to think you’re one of those food-delivery services.”
“Driving a Mercedes?”
Perry shrugged. “Those businesses saw profits soar during the pandemic.”
Molly’s barking stopped, and she scampered down the steps and across the yard before her escape registered and they sprinted after her, Tucker and JT on their heels. Fortunately, Molly’s target was Mrs. Mayberry, who was watering her flowers next door. Tucker hung back while Molly and JT greeted her enthusiastically.
“Hello, you little darlings. How are you today?” Mrs. Mayberry crooned as she bent to pet each on the head.
Perry picked up Molly, and Ming snagged JT. They never needed to corral Tucker because he was always at Perry’s heels.
“I’m sorry, Mrs. Mayberry. They slipped past me when I opened the door for Ming.”
“Oh, it’s no problem.”
“I’m just fostering them until they can be rehomed. Their owner, one of my mother’s colleagues, died unexpectedly.”
“Oh, I’m so sorry.” Mrs. Mayberry’s sympathy was directed at Molly, who licked her hand when Mrs. Mayberry gave her head another pat.
“I hope they haven’t been bothering you too much with their barking.”
“Oh, on the contrary, dear.” She turned to Ming and touched JT’s name tag. “I cheered when this brave fellow grabbed the tail feathers of that irritating blue jay that’s been dive-bombing the chipmunks I feed in my backyard. It’s amazing how high he can jump—JT, not the pesky jay. That nuisance bird hasn’t been back, and I’ve got this handsome boy to thank.”
“He is up for adoption,” Ming said. “He’s the sweetest cuddler of the three.”
Perry froze, a vision of dead chipmunks lined up on Mrs. Mayberry’s patio filling her head. “Uh, that might not be a good idea. He’d probably chase away the other birds that Mrs. Mayberry feeds. I’m sure he doesn’t know the difference between a cardinal and a blue jay. Dogs see only in black and white, don’t they? I think I read that.” She was babbling, but she had to stop this idea before Mrs. Mayberry bought into it.
“I suppose you’re right. Anyway, my daughter and her husband just bought a big house with a guest cottage out back, and they’ve been after me to move. I’m finally considering it because I don’t get to see my grandchildren enough. I don’t think they figured a dog into the picture.”
The tightening in Perry’s chest eased. She’d been afraid she’d have to confess the mole murder if Mrs. Mayberry had seriously considered adopting one of the dogs. And her neighbor was sharp enough to instantly translate mole-killer to chipmunk-hunter.
“I’m sure you’d make a great pet mom,” Ming said. “But Perry’s right. I’m afraid your bird friends wouldn’t be safe from the dogs’ natural instinct to hunt.”
* * *
Ming was impressed that the dogs obediently followed Perry inside after they said good-bye to Mrs. Mayberry. Did Perry realize the bond she’d established with the little pack? Once it was clear they weren’t being invited to share the food Ming brought, Molly and JT gnawed on their chew bones. Tucker lay on a nearby rug, clearly so he could watch Perry’s every move before nodding off for a dog nap.
Perry set out plates and opened a bottle of wine, while Ming warmed the food. As they worked, they laughed about Perry finding JT with the feather stuck in his beard and calling Julie to help her search for a bird body before Mrs. Mayberry found out, only to discover today that she’d witnessed the entire event and approved of JT’s well-timed leap that scared the pest away for good. The easiness of their conversation and the domestic feel of dining together in Perry’s kitchen felt very much like the many happy evenings she’d spent with her grandmother. She loved her parents, but their expectations for her and her need to please them was a constant undercurrent in the time they spent together.
Actually, an undercurrent of expectation bounced around in this room. Sex. Later. Dinner was the appetizer. That was why Ming was there instead of accepting Imani’s offer for dinner to celebrate Ming’s success today.
Still, more than sexual tension engulfed them. Shy glances of something peppered their comfortable conversation. They certainly had no trouble being sexually suggestive, even occasionally aggressive with their flirty looks and comments. But this seemed different. Could these glances be…affection, perhaps?
“So, how was your day?” Ming abandoned her deep thoughts before Perry noticed she’d gone quiet.
“Busy.” Perry held her gaze and raised a suggestive eyebrow. “I was having trouble concentrating.”
Ming swayed toward Perry. “Really? I had you figured for someone who could shut everything else out when it was time to focus on work.”
“Normally, I can. But I kept straying off course every time I thought of this.” Perry closed the distance between them. Her lips were soft as they caressed Ming’s, and her mouth tasted of the spicy paella with a hint of the salad’s raspberry vinaigrette. Ming held her gaze when Perry withdrew. She was a split second away from demanding they abandon dinner for the bedroom when Perry’s question derailed her.
“Tell me about your day.”
Ming mentally stutter-stepped as she switched direction from lascivious to victorious. Her predator side, the tiger, licked its huge white teeth.
“The signatures of my former partners in our cooperative made me a multi-millionaire today. I mean, I was already worth several million on paper, but this deal handed me over ten million dollars in liquid assets. They had to sell off some of the portfolio properties and let two new doctors buy into the practice just to pay me off.” She suspected Perry’s bank account matched or exceeded her own, so she would understand Ming was bragging about turning the tables on her traitorous coworkers, not her wealth.
Perry sat back in her chair. “Wow. That’s incredible.” She poured more wine and held her glass up. “Here’s to one smart businesswoman’s victory and her many successes still to come.” Perry sat forward again, eyes gleaming. “So, how’d that one bastard look with crow feathers stuck in his teeth?”
Ming couldn’t stop her giddy laugh. This woman got her. They were so in sync. It was a silly mental thing she’d done since childhood, but she imagined Perry as a wolf. Her gleaming eyes were golden, and her tongue was lolling over sharp canines, eager to share a taste of Ming’s kill.
“His face was so red, I thought he might blow a major artery when Imani asked them to show identification to her notary before each of them signed the contract. Then he turned green when the office manager came in and whispered a little too loud that someone from the IRS was there to see him.”
“No. You’re kidding.” Perry laughed. “What great timing.”
“I’m pretty sure he’s the one who started this whole business to kick me out. He didn’t know I was already restless and ready to leave.” Ming thought back to that morning when they had blindsided her with the news they wanted her gone. “I’m still stung about how they planned this attack behind my back. I thought those people were my friends. I guess some of them still are. But I might not have let Imani clean them out so badly if they hadn’t tried to take advantage of me first.”
Ming drank the last of the wine in her glass while Perry dumped the scraps of their dinner into the trash and dropped the plates into the sink. She barely had time to set her wineglass down before Perry stepped behind her and circled her arms around Ming’s waist, feathering kisses down her neck.
“Actually, I’m hoping to take advantage of you, too.” Perry nipped her earlobe, then held it gently in her teeth, pressing on nerves that sent tingles down her neck to her breasts. “But I’ll be happy to let you make me pay for it. Instead of draining my bank account, you can indenture me as your sex slave.”
Ming twirled in her arms and bit down hard at the base of Perry’s neck. She was the tiger, and talking about her financial victory fed her hunger for this prey. “You’d better rethink the order of that plan.” She dug her nails into Perry’s scalp, then pushed her away. “Upstairs. Now.”
Their first coupling was fast and rough, fueled by flaming passion, and then, after a short respite to catch their breath, they made slow, sensual love. When the sweat of their exertions had dried and their hearts slowed, Perry tugged the blanket up to cover them. Ming settled her head on Perry’s shoulder and snuggled against her long, sexy body, listening as her heartbeat and breathing slowed into slumber. Sex with Perry was beyond incredible, but the constant desire to be with Perry worried her. Was this more than just fun?
Had she found the yin to her yang, or yang to her yin? This possibility scared her in light of all the other changes currently in her life. Deep down inside, she was worried that Perry had never mentioned their dueling podcasts after the one time she’d alluded to them at the adoption event and something had interrupted Perry’s reaction.
“Maybe you need them to show you how to find a better balance between work and your personal life.”
“Now you sound like that crazy Dr. Lee podcast.”
Had Perry been teasing with the crazy comment? It was great if she could compartmentalize work so that it didn’t taint their personal relationship. Ming had read that some political couples did that. But what else could Perry be capable of sealing off from their relationship? Another lover? A secret, kinky sex life? An illegal enterprise? She couldn’t shake the feeling that she was hurtling down a freeway with no brakes.
Chapter Twelve
Who knew an arthritic thirteen-year-old Lhasa-apso mix built like a waddling cannonball could turn into a guided missile when she spotted a cat? Or that the cat would be a personal friend of the goofy but protective half-grown, sixty-pound Labradoodle racing across the dog park to intersect Molly’s strike path?
The morning started out bright and sunny enough. Well, from Perry’s point of view, waking up with Ming in her arms made everything sunny and bright. She was riding so high on pheromones that she cut her morning team meeting short and decided to take her trio of terrors to the dog park. She should be searching for more information on Dr. Lee and preparing for the upcoming vlog her people had worked out with Rayna Shine’s people, but she didn’t care. She just wanted to wallow in this euphoria Ming brought into her life.
She was checking to make sure she had an adequate supply of poop bags when Tucker whined, then sounded the alarm in his sharp, incessant, Timmy-fell-down-the-well—or more precisely, Molly-sees-a-cat—bark.
Molly shot forward, yanking Perry off balance and causing her to drop all three leashes. She silently congratulated herself for not falling flat on her face when the leashes were torn from her grip and yelled at Molly to stop. Molly, however, was an activated nuclear weapon with no code to disarm.
A dog-park melee of shouting, arm-waving, barking, and pet retrieval ensued.
A woman was screaming at Puddles, the pursued cat, to run when the half-grown Labradoodle she was leading homed in on Molly and yanked the woman off her feet to intercept.
As Molly’s self-appointed bodyguard, JT took note of the Labradoodle’s intent and revealed that the twenty percent of his mixed DNA that wasn’t cocky schnauzer was apparently Chicken Little. He turned tail, ran back to circle around Perry’s legs, and begged to be picked up out of danger.
Surprisingly, nervous, paw-wringing Tucker drew on his Jack Russell terrier super-hero genes and rose to the occasion. He circled behind the unsuspecting Labradoodle and latched on to his left hindquarter just as the larger dog bowled Molly over, diverting her long enough for the cat to escape to the safety of a nearby tree.
The cat, when finally retrieved from her perch, was indignant. The goofy Labradoodle joyfully licked the hands and faces of everyone who came by to exclaim over his heroism. The owner of both animals was aghast at a single, small puncture mark on her dog’s leg.
Meanwhile, Tucker stood bravely by his packmate and gave the dumb ’doodle pup the stink eye in case he got any ideas about coming after Molly again. Molly the Missile had run out of fuel and forgotten all about the cat, focusing instead on a good roll in the sun-warmed grass. JT, now that the threat level had been downgraded to DEFCON 5, strutted over in his big-dog stance to take up sentry with Tucker.
After many apologies and a promise to pay any veterinary expenses, including therapy for the traumatized cat, Perry took her pack home. It was almost time for their afternoon nap.
* * *
“I’m the one who needs therapy after that catastrophe. Was that woman neurotic, or do they really have therapists for pets?”
Ming laughed, and Perry loved the sound. She wished it wasn’t coming through a video call. Ming had spent the day arranging for her move to the farm and had dinner plans with her lawyer to tidy up last-minute legal stuff for the closing tomorrow morning.
“They actually do have pet therapists.”
“So, they sit on those little couches you see advertised as dog beds and whine complaints about their owners?”
Ming shook her head, still chuckling. “The therapists are part vet, trainer, and animal naturopath. They listen to the owner, observe the animal’s behavior, then maybe coach the owner on how to deal with unwanted behavior—theirs and their pet’s. They also might utilize medicine, massage, or alternative practices like acupuncture to improve the animal’s situation,” Ming said. “Animals can be hyperactive or suffer from neuroses just like people. Sometimes, they’re simply reflecting their owners’ problems. But some animals have suffered severe trauma that can’t be healed by a warm bed, daily feedings, and a kind caregiver.”
Perry could understand. Even her growing feelings for Ming weren’t healing her pain of having disengaged parents raise her. She’d been like a puppy left alone in the yard with a water bowl and a bag of food. “Okay. I understand. But being treed by Molly, who didn’t come anywhere close to catching her, couldn’t have been very traumatizing for the cat.”
“Maybe a dog had grabbed and injured her before, so, as harmless as today’s incident was, it could have brought up her past trauma.”
“You’re saying she could have kitty PTSD?” Perry kept her tone light and teasing, but she made a mental note to call the contact information the woman gave her and ask if her pets were okay or needed further treatment. Wait. When did she become an animal lover?
“You’re incorrigible.”
“I’m just kidding. I’m going to check in with their owner.”
The affection in Ming’s smile warmed Perry.
“I’m going to miss my bed warmer tonight,” Ming said.
“Your bed warmer is going to miss you, too.”
“Then tell sweet Molly I will be back for more cuddles.” Ming dramatically slapped a hand over her mouth. “Wait, you thought I meant you?”
“Yeah, yeah.” Perry smiled and shook her head at Ming’s teasing before she grew serious again. “Will I see you tomorrow? Can I take you out to celebrate the closing or cook dinner for you here?”
“Hmm. Dinner at your place sounds perfect.”
“Good. I can’t wait to hear more about your plans for the farm.” She paused. “Ming?”
