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  Oksana and Annie followed at a leisurely pace, both laughing at the ridiculousness of the last hour. For the first time in days, Oksana felt good, relaxed, but as they joined Kat and Erica on the ride down to the lower levels, she couldn’t understand the sudden grip on her stomach or the sweat that broke out across her forehead when Annie casually took hold of her hand.

  Chapter Nine

  The Invitation

  Annie was happy. The feeling was a mix of Christmas morning, the last day of school, and a really good batch of chocolate chip cookies she made once. That contentment and excitement started somewhere in the middle of her chest and sparked up as a silly grin she couldn’t seem to shake off her face.

  Baba Inna was still a tad frightening, but Annie could feel the love radiating off the elderly woman. Annie loved the no-nonsense reception Oksana’s grandmother had given her, and she was a little tickled that for the first time in her life, someone wanted her to gain weight.

  And Kat was just awesome. Annie hadn’t been around a teenager since she was a teenager herself, but she liked this kid. She was bold, but it was clear she respected Oksana’s authority, even if her raging hormones seemed to get in the way. Annie didn’t get serious about any sort of professional aspirations until she’d had her butt kicked across several movie sets. The fact that Kat was actively working toward a career at fifteen was amazing. Plus, it was a little precious that Kat was a smaller version of Oksana—with hair.

  Still, through all the smoke and mirrors, they weren’t fake smiles and hugs. Annie felt truly welcomed by them both. Kat’s questioning in the car felt genuine, not suspicious, and something told Annie that Baba’s acceptance of Annie’s participation in their mundane family Sunday was a big deal. It made Annie happy. Happy and intrigued.

  Oksana and her family were magic.

  Being an only child had been a lonely existence and Cheryl, the Collins’s housekeeper, had done all of the boring errands, like going to the market. She had been nice enough to teach Annie how to bake, but growing up, Annie knew there was a simple warmth missing from her house. Oksana’s home oozed warmth.

  It had been a while since she’d spent time outside of work with anyone new. The steady rotation of Jeff and her stable of three friends had grown surprisingly monotonous in the past few years. Planning for the wedding had just made it worse. Annie went from human being with thoughts and interests to bride. Annie actually looked forward to the rest of their afternoon and dinner with Baba Inna.

  She fought the urge to kiss Oksana every five seconds and settled for holding her hand as they hung near the entrance to the MAC store.

  Kat moved around the boutique carefully, quietly sorting through cosmetics with a focus that Annie admired. Kat knew exactly what she was after. Erica followed close behind, eagerly grabbing the eye shadows and blushes that Kat decided on.

  “You having fun yet?” Oksana asked. She seemed a little tense, but Annie chalked the sudden tightness in Oksana’s shoulders up to the fact that she was watching Kat like a hawk out of the corner of her eye.

  “I’m having a blast. And this parenting thing is kind of sexy on you.”

  “Oh, really?” Oksana glanced down at her and cocked an eyebrow.

  Heat flashed to Annie’s crotch. Subtly, but not so much, because they were in public, she pressed herself against Oksana. Their legs wove together and Annie’s breasts rubbed against her.

  “Yes.” Annie couldn’t look away from those deep green eyes. The timing was off and the location completely inappropriate, but all she wanted to do was make out with Oksana right there in the store. Another romp in the car would be nice, followed immediately by a trip to a bed. Annie wasn’t particular about whose bed it was. She glanced at Oksana’s lips and figured a little peck wouldn’t hurt.

  “Here.”

  Annie almost jumped away from Oksana’s thigh. Kat snuck up on them like a ninja, but Oksana must have seen her creep across the store because she didn’t so much as blink.

  “You need these.” Kat handed Annie a few different boxes.

  Oksana grabbed an eye shadow from the heap and carefully regarded Kat. “She’s not buying makeup for your amusement.”

  “It’s not for my amusement. Your girlfriend has great eyes and I think this”—Kat held up a little tube of eyeliner—“would make her eyes totally pop.”

  “But I like my eyes inside of my head,” Annie said quite seriously.

  Kat smiled wide. “That was funny. But seriously. This, this, and this will look awesome on you. And I would think my sister would want her girlfriend to look as awesome as ever.”

  Annie laughed at the way Oksana glared back at Kat. “Are you paying for it?” Oksana asked.

  Kat rolled her eyes, something that ran in the family. “Yeah, I am. I just wanted to show Annie first.”

  Annie picked out the eye shadow and read the back. “I’m actually running low on ‘Electric Tide,’” Annie read off the label.

  “See.”

  But Annie amended, “I’ll buy all this other stuff if you promise to practice on me. And if you promise to be nice to your sister.”

  “Lame,” Kat groaned before her face lit up with another wide grin. “Deal.” Annie stepped out of the way as Kat wrapped her arms snugly around Oksana’s waist and rattled off something in Russian before she darted back to Erica and a rack of eyeliners.

  “Hurry up,” Oksana said. “I want to get some lunch.”

  “What did she say?” Annie asked.

  “She said I’m the best big sister ever.”

  Annie had the sneaky suspicion that wasn’t all. “And?”

  “And she thinks you’re really hot.”

  “Well, as adorable as she is, I prefer the full-grown version.” Annie rose up on her tiptoes. She tried not to let it throw her when Oksana hesitated. She kissed her, quick and light instead of the tongue probing suckfest she’d been hoping for.

  Oksana sighed and reached for the small pile of makeup in Annie’s hand. “Here, let me get that.”

  “No, I got it.” Annie walked over to the counter and tried not to make any horrified faces when the girl behind the register gave her the total. She shrugged it off as an investment in Kat’s future and forked over her credit card.

  Oksana didn’t miss the ridiculous total. She rubbed Annie’s arm while she signed her receipt. “Sorry. Makeup is her crack. You shouldn’t have to pay for her addiction.”

  Annie thanked the cashier and took her bag. “It’s awesome. At that age *NSYNC was my crack.”

  “Oh, we are so over.” Oksana frowned. “I was Backstreet Boys all the way.”

  “Blasphemy. Absolutely blasphemy.”

  They retreated back to the corner and Annie didn’t hesitate to slip her arms around Oksana’s waist and rest her head against her shoulder. Oksana tensed again but relaxed as Annie gently stroked her side.

  “You okay?” Annie asked.

  “Yeah. I’m fine.”

  “Okay. You’ll tell me, right?”

  Oksana merely nodded.

  Maybe it wasn’t Kat. A lot had changed between them recently, and Annie had to remember that not everyone had her bull in a china shop approach to things. Maybe Oksana wasn’t comfortable with the shift in their relationship. Or all of this PDA Annie insisted on. Instead of pulling away, she held tight, trusting Oksana to open up if there was a problem.

  They moved on to Sephora where neon nail polish was purchased, and just as they were heading for the exit, Kat detoured for the escalator.

  “Where are you going?” Oksana asked.

  “Upstairs,” Kat said innocently. “I need jeans.”

  Annie looked between them as Oksana scowled at Kat.

  “Okay. I want new jeans. I swear I’ll be fast.”

  “Fine, but seriously hurry. We’re going to eat, grab stuff for Baba, and then you have homework.”

  “I know. I’ll be fast,” Kat yelled over her shoulder as she sprinted up the escalator, Erica hot on he
r heels.

  Oksana sighed again and stepped on behind Annie. “You ever want to have kids, just remember trips like this are waiting for you fifteen years down the road.”

  “It’s fine. Really. I’m having a good time,” Annie said.

  By the time they caught up with the girls, they were already darting toward the changing rooms with more than jeans piled in their arms.

  “Separate fitting rooms!” Oksana called after them. Kat groaned but walked into a room next to Erica’s.

  Annie settled in for a long wait at Oksana’s side. They had plenty more small talk to catch up on.

  “What’s you—”

  Suddenly, Oksana froze.

  “What? What is it?” Annie turned around to see a bouncy woman making a beeline right for them, weaving her way through racks and patrons. She was beautiful; her long black hair was swept up in a thick ponytail, and her bangs were electric blue. A pattern of stars was tattooed down the side of her neck. Annie could only imagine which trajectory it took along her skin, but the design picked up down the length of her arm. Her black skirt was tight and her red shirt cropped high above her diamond-studded belly button. Intense combat boots gave her a good six inches on Annie.

  She pounced on Oksana. “Hey, baby!”

  “Hey.” Oksana hugged her back. “What’s up?”

  Annie swallowed some bile and shifted anxiously beside them. This was just a friend, she told herself. A super gorgeous friend, and from the look of things—the hair and the tats down her forearm—a friend who was exactly Oksana’s type. Annie shifted again, and on instinct slipped her arm around Oksana’s back. Hello, Jealousy. It’s been a while.

  The woman didn’t miss the gesture. Her eyes lit up, but she didn’t say anything about it. “Not much. Just returning some stuff.” She turned to Annie then and stuck her hand out.

  “Hi, I’m Noelle.” Annie took her hand and was pleased with the firm handshake the woman doled out, but she was still on alert, drawing small, possessive circles across Oksana’s hip.

  “Sorry.” Oksana blushed like crazy. “Noelle, this is Annie.”

  “Oh.” Noelle nodded. Oh, this couldn’t be good.

  “Jesus,” Oksana moaned. “Noelle’s girlfriend, Ronnie, was at The Maypole with me the other night.”

  “Oh my God.” Annie almost smacked herself. “Can you please tell her I’m sorry? I got a little out of control.”

  “Pshht.” Noelle waved her hand between them. “Ronnie doesn’t care. She’s been laughing about it for the past few days.”

  “Oh, that’s great,” Annie said seriously before she matched Noelle’s smile. “I’m glad we’ve all been properly introduced.”

  Then there was a five-second pause of the purest, most concentrated awkward silence. Annie almost wanted to laugh. Noelle was trying to be cool, but she failed. Her eyes sparkled at Oksana, the ache to pull her aside and drag this gossip right out of her plain as day. Annie had seen that look a thousand times, given it out a thousand times herself, but Noelle was going to have to wait for another time to interrogate Oksana. Thank God for little sisters.

  Kat sprang from the dressing room like a jack-in-the-box.

  “Noelle.” She beamed and skipped toward them. Actually skipped. Annie sensed a little bit of a harmless crush.

  “Hey, gorgeous. What are you doing?” Noelle said brightly, giving Kat a big hug.

  Kat turned around, showing off the denim that was trying to suffocate her ass. “New jeans.”

  “Cute! Get those.” Noelle swatted Kat on the butt just as Erica poked her head out of the dressing room. Annie caught the daggers Erica stared at Noelle. Kat skipped away oblivious and asked Erica’s opinion on the pants.

  “That’s the new girlfriend,” Oksana said.

  “Oh. She might knife me,” Noelle muttered through gritted teeth. She waved at the girls as they ducked back into their rooms. Annie could have sworn she heard Erica growling. Apparently, Noelle sparked a little jealousy everywhere.

  “So.” Noelle turned her attention back to Oksana. And Annie. “Since I’ve been so busy and clearly so have you, why don’t you and Annie come to Señor Kim’s with us on Wednesday? Scooter wraps his shoot on Tuesday.”

  “What’s Señor Kim’s?” Annie asked.

  “Mexi-Korean fusion restaurant. With karaoke,” Noelle told her.

  Annie spun on Oksana, surprising herself with her eagerness. She didn’t want to push herself on Oksana’s friends like she’d pushed herself on Oksana and Oksana’s family, but that combination of cuisine sounded delicious. “Don’t make me ask?” she pleaded. She realized she was at it again. Pushing. But she’d already blurted out her interest to Oksana and her friend.

  Oksana simply smiled. It seemed genuine. “Sure. We’ll be there.”

  “Good.” Noelle sounded almost appeased. “Bring Annie.”

  “Ha. Funny. I will. Bye.” Oksana frowned back playfully.

  “Bye, Kat!”

  “Bye, Noelle!” Kat yelled over the door.

  “Bye, ladies.” Noelle strolled back to the register, not even hiding the fact that she whipped out her cell phone as she went. Annie imagined her girlfriend, Ronnie, if she remembered right, would know about their little introduction in three, two…

  “Did I just invite myself to dinner?” Annie looked up at Oksana and bit her bottom lip.

  “No. Noelle invited you.”

  “And you?” Annie asked anxiously.

  Oksana’s eyes dropped to the ground and now the smile, genuine or not, was gone.

  “Hey. What’s wrong?” It was the third time Annie had asked Oksana today.

  When Oksana didn’t answer, Annie gently tugged her into a quiet corner between a rack of vests and blouses.

  “Talk to me,” Annie said, letting her hands rest on Oksana’s hips.

  Oksana took a deep breath.

  Oh, this really can’t be good. Annie winced internally.

  Oksana shut her eyes tightly then opened them. “I thought I was okay with all of this. I feel like the other woman.” The confession just exploded out. Oksana was being honest, exactly what Annie wanted, but the truth was like a stab to the gut. It was her turn to stare at the floor.

  “Aren’t you afraid we might run into someone you know?” Oksana reasoned. “I mean you’re still technically engaged, and you’re touching me in public.”

  Annie sighed and shoved her hands in the pockets of her hoodie. She hated to do it. She missed the warmth from Oksana’s body immediately. Still, she was smothering.

  “I know, I’m sorry. It’s just when I’m with you I sort of forget about everyone else.” She looked up finally, searching Oksana’s eyes for some understanding.

  “I get that, but what if your maid of honor came walking in here right now and we were holding hands. You wouldn’t care if she started asking questions?” Megan knew something was going on between them, but that wasn’t Oksana’s point. This was bigger than the two of them, bigger than what she had spilled to Megan over lunch.

  “Should we stop seeing each other?” Annie asked, struggling to keep her tone neutral. She was frustrated with the timing and the situation. She was frustrated with herself and a little bit with Jeff. The truth was it didn’t matter how she felt about Oksana. She’d created a nightmare scenario.

  “No! No. I—”

  “Sana, listen.” Annie held up her fingers to start counting. “One, Shane is out of town this weekend. Two, Feather lives out in Topanga Canyon. She and her boyfriend are spending the next week living in the near-authentic tipi they’ve just erected on his property. And my best friend-slash-maid of honor”—she did the slash through the air—“Megan wants to meet you, so we’re in the clear.”

  “So you’re just out with me because it’s safe?”

  Okay, that explanation came out all wrong. “No. I’m out with you because I love spending time with you. And if we ran into my friends, I would tell them the truth and I would have to deal with Jeff however that
came. I would just prefer it if he heard it from me first.”

  “And Jeff’s friends?”

  “His close buddies are with him on his trip, and the other ones wouldn’t be caught dead in the mall.” Annie dialed down the emotion and put a gentle hand back on Oksana’s hip. “I want to spend time with you.”

  “I…” Oksana paused. “How can you be so calm about this?”

  “Because I really like you. I mean it. I want to be with you.” Annie couldn’t think of another way to put it. Her heart skipped when Oksana smiled.

  “I should believe you, shouldn’t I?”

  “Yes.”

  “I’m into you too, if that wasn’t obvious last week and yesterday in the park. And last night at your place. And this morning.” Oksana sighed again then finally got to the heart of what was bothering her. “I’m just not ready for labels yet. It’s one thing with Kat and Baba because they’ll know everything basically. With other people, I don’t know. After Jeff gets back, okay?”

  “Okay. So until then we’re just friends? That’s the official report? No touching. No kissing. In public.”

  “You don’t mind?”

  Of course I do, Annie wanted to say, but she held that back because Oksana had a point. Being caught by her friends or any members of the wedding party would be awkward as hell, and even though Annie was slightly terrified about how things would ultimately go down once everyone knew the truth, she knew the fallout was her problem to deal with, not Oksana’s. Nothing would have ruined their first day out together more than running into Shane or Feather while Annie was busy palming Oksana’s ass.

  If the tables were turned, Annie wouldn’t want to be the other woman. Add in Oksana’s romantic past, and the last thing Annie should do was pressure her further, no matter how happy Oksana made her or how sure she was about her decision. She’d promised Oksana time and patience, and that’s what Oksana would get.

  “No. I don’t mind. Even though I really want to kiss you right now, but I get it.”