Excerpt from
Sugar
© Karin Kallmaker, 2004
No portion of
this work may be reproduced by any means
without express written consent of the publisher.
From Chapter 4
Sugar peeked from behind the kitchen shades for the fiftieth time at the sound of an idling vehicle. This one was a truck, one of those shiny silver double-cab kinds of trucks. The kind that sat up so high off the ground that it required skilled gymnastics to get in and out of with any sense of grace. Unless, of course, a person was tall.
Charlie was tall. She exited the truck so nimbly Sugar would have awarded a 10.0 for the dismount.
Tall wasn’t a requirement for her. Noor was shorter than she was. Things had worked out just fine for important activities.
I’m unhinged, she thought as she went toward the door. The fire has smoked my brains. This wasn’t a date, this wasn’t anything. They’d just met. Charlie felt sorry for her. You’re a stray puppy she’s helping out, the told herself. It’s not a date.
She waited for the doorbell, counted to ten, then opened the door, hoping she was smiling.
Charlie’s jeans had razor-sharp creases, and the collar and cuffs of the denim shirt she’d pulled on over a close-fitting white tank were pristinely starched.
It was a date.
“Come in,” Sugar finally managed. Without the layers of safety gear, Charlie’s slenderness was even more apparent. Her short black hair, no longer showing the effects of the heavy protective helmet, was wavy with curls.
“Thanks.”
“My grandmother is at Bible study. I was just getting ready to assemble the cake, that’s why it’s such a mess.” Charlie’s off-duty attire also included a plain gold earring clipped to each ear.
“It smells heavenly in here.” Charlie set the bag of to go containers on the counter. “Can we talk and eat? I’m sorry, I’m starving all of a sudden.”
“Me, too.” Sugar got out plates and cutlery. “My grandmother doesn’t keep beer and wine, I’m sorry to say, and I haven’t yet been to the grocery store for myself.”
‘That’s okay. I’m on call until midnight.”
“Tea?”
“Sure, sounds great.” Charlie set out the cartons and the kitchen was redolent with the aroma of savory, tantalizing herbs and spices. Sugar’s stomach growled loudly.
“I’m really hungry,” she repeated unnecessarily. She started to blush but wasn’t sure why.
“I’m making you nervous.”
“A little. I’m out of practice at entertaining.”
“The women in this town are nuts.”
Sugar didn’t quite know what to say to that, so she busied herself with mugs and tea bags.
“I got to the restaurant and realized I had no idea if you ate meat. So I went with tofu in some, and one has shrimp. I hope that’s okay.”
“That’s wonderful. I do eat seafood and a lot of soy. It comes from working in a restaurant. Trust me, if you like dining out, don’t ever go in a restaurant kitchen.”
“That bad?”
“Sometimes, but actually it’s the repetition. After the first thousand you grill, a filet mignon is just another piece of meat. Is that tom nuong?” Sugar loved Vietnamese rice vermicelli dishes. Without thinking she made appreciative yum-yum noises and Charlie laughed.
“Thank you,” she said. “I was afraid I’d have to eat slow and be dainty. Which I can do, don’t get me wrong. But I’m used to eating with big burly guys who pick rib bones cleaner than piranha.”
Sugar handed over serving spoons. “Dish up and don’t be dainty.” Feeling much more comfortable herself, she gestured at the table and they both sat down.
For several minutes, they said little other than “Could you pass this” and “What’s that?” and “Wow, that one’s spicy.”
When the clink of forks against plates slowed a little, Sugar let out a satisfied sigh. “I didn’t realize I was that hungry. Thank you so much.”
“It’s my pleasure. Hey, on the way over I realized we didn’t talk about the price of the cake.”
Firmly, Sugar said, “That’s because there isn’t one, not on this one. You saved my knives, let alone everything else, and you simply did not have to do that. So please let me say thank you this way.”
Charlie stared down at her food for a moment, and Sugar held her breath, hoping her rehearsed little speech would settle the matter. “Well, I, uh… When you put it that way, I guess.”
Pleased, Sugar wondered if Charlie’s head was down to hide a blush. Not that one would easily show through that lovely light mocha skin. “Good, I’m glad you’re a reasonable woman.”
Charlie glanced up through her lashes with a look of pure mischief in her light, almost golden eyes. “Reasonable? Depends on who’s asking. But I’m not cheap and never free.”
Feeling better by the minute – gee, Sugar, think you ought to have eaten more than a handful of almonds and dried fruit today? – Sugar threw an unopened packet of soy sauce at her. “Flirt!”
Charlie ducked it, looking shocked and pleased at the same time. “Be careful what you start. I finish everything.”
Sugar gaped, blushed and laughed. “I can’t tell if everything you say is really about sex.”
“Good,” Charlie answered. She dabbed at the corner of her mouth with her napkin. “I do like to keep a girl guessing.”
“Well, my grandmother will likely be home in the next hour.”
“Oh, then we should get to it, huh?”
Something in Sugar stilled. “You’re not serious, are you?”
Charlie looked startled. “Of course not. We just met. I’m having a helluva good time flirting with you, though.”
Struggling to gain her composure, Sugar said, “Me too. I just…I haven’t dated in a while. And even when I did I felt like I was a Studebaker in a Ferrari world.”
Her gaze narrowed, Charlie asked, “What did Gantry tell you about me?”
“Nothing. I get the idea there’s some history there, though.”
Charlie’s expression was frozen. “Yeah. Someday I’ll tell you my side.”
“She didn’t say a thing. Really.”
“Okay, I believe you. We’re on opposites sides of a couple of issues, that’s all. We have friends in common, but we’ve always rubbed each other the wrong way.”
After she swallowed a last mouthful of rice, Sugar said, “The plot of nearly every romantic comedy ever made says that’s a guarantee of happy-ever-after.”
Charlie rolled her eyes. “Life is rarely like the movies. Did you really think I was going to try to seduce you tonight?”
“No.” Shoot, she always blushed when she lied, and it wasn’t fair.
“All I can say is that if I want to do you, you won’t have any question about it.”
How arrogant, Sugar thought. Stung, she fired back, “If I want you to do me, you won’t be guessing about that either.”
“Good.” Charlie’s seriousness abruptly melted into a smile. “Well, I’m glad we’re clear about that. Usually that doesn’t get settled until date three or four.”
 |
Sugar is a contemporary lesbian romance
by Karin Kallmaker.
Available from:
|
