Disclaimer: I don't own either the characters or storyline. Inspired by the fiction novel I read.
I don't have a beta reader so all the grammatical mistakes are my faults. Please post reviews. It is like Glucose for me to write. Am open for anykind of comments.
Chapter 2:
Regina's day had started at five that morning in the gym. Graham and David, her workout partners, spent the hour sparring in the ring, beating the shit out of each other while Regina did cardio.
By eight-thirty, she was in the City hall, attending budget meetings. From there, Regina had moved on to meetings with the local unions. By noon, Regina wasn't even halfway through her day and she'd already overloaded and on the edge of burnout. Now she was parking her car between her house and the beach to deal with Emma Swan.
Regina knew who Emma was. She'd seen her around. Blue eyes, a quick smile, blond hair, and an amazing body that could drive anyone right out of their mind if she gave it too much thought. As she walked, Regina caught sight of Emma in the water. She was facing the waves, her hands on her head in a distraught pose. Just as something dashed towards Regina in her peripheral vision.
Something small.
Something evil.
Something names Tank. Regina scooped up the sand-covered puppy and held him away from her. The pug wriggled intently, running in the air, trying to get closer to Regina. Finally giving up, Tank refocused his attention on the woman in the ocean.
"Oh, I see her," Regina said. "And what the hell have you done now?"
Emma was panicked. It was one thing to lose a job. It was another thing entirely to lose the job. Damn.
"Tank!" Emma yelled at the waves. "Tank?" Wading back in up to her waist, she turned in a full circle to rescan the beach, and then went utterly still.
Standing on the sand was a woman. Her tall, straight shoulders implied strength and control, and she was rocking a power suit and dark wraparound Ray-Bans.
Holding Emma's arch nemesis.
Tank.
The puppy was panting happily away, and Emma could have sworn she was smiling. Forget the pig or alien theory—Tank was a rat. With a relief, Emma sat down on the beach. Suddenly a full on wave hit Emma on Face.
Emma was very busy fighting a full-facial, saltwater cavity wash when two strong hands gripped her arms and hauled her upright.
Mayor Mills, of course.
"I'm okay," Emma gasped.
"Sure?"
"Yes," Emma said, but Regina didn't let her go. "Really," Emma promised. "I'm good."
Regina nodded and continued to hold Emma against her.
Except… Regina wasn't holding her at all. Emma was clinging to her, soaking up the warmth and strength of Regina radiating through her now-wet designer clothes. Well, crap. Hiking her tank top down to her hips, she frog-marched out of the water as fast as she could so as to avoid being flattened by the next wave. She was completely wet from head to toes. Emma was feeling like she was some drowned kitten. But one glance down assured Emma that she didn't look like a drowned kitten. She looked like she was trying out for a wet T-shirt contest.
Yikes.
Emma decided not to look at herself again and made the mistake of looking instead at her rescuer. She was bare feet so she was shorter than Regina who was wearing those "fuck me" heels and Emma looks at the rescuer lips which was incredibly sexy.
"Arf!" Tank said from his perch, which was her purse, still lying on the sand. Nice. Emma gave herself a big mental thumbs-up for the "fun" that this job had been so far.
Regina nudged Tank off Emma's purse, and then attempted to brush the wet stand from the leather. But Tank was pulling the purse with more force to win. Regina nudged Tank again this time before Tank can come back to purse, Regina scooped Emma's purse. Regina was doing her damnedest to concentrate on the situation at hand, but that was proving difficult given the sight of Emma, her clothes plastered to her like a second skin. Half of her hair was in a topsy-turvy knot on top of her head, with the rest plastered to her face. The tip of her nose had gotten sunburned, and her mascara was smudged around her drown-in-me blue eyes.
And then there was Emma's mouth.
She had a full lower lip, one that warmed Regina up between her legs considerably and made her think about sex. Actually everything about Emma—the oh-shit expression on her face, the way she waved her hands like she was trying to explain herself without words, the delicate clinking of the myriad of thin silver bracelets she wore on her wrist—brought to mind sex.
Sex and chaos.
Pure, unadulterated, trouble-filled chaos.
Oh shit, Regina observed that Emma was wearing a white tank top and that wet top had a way of messing with anyone's brain. The nipples were hard because of cold and poking through Emma's tank top and making her want to bite them with her teeth and play with her hands.
Or maybe that was just Regina, and the fact that she hadn't had sex in so long she'd nearly forgotten how it felt.
Nearly.
The pulse at the base of Emma's slender neck was beating a little harder and faster than it should be. Emma's bra was white lace. God bless white lace. And Jesus, Regina really needed five minutes of shut-eye to clear the crazy thoughts or maybe she just needed to get laid.
Blowing out a breath, Regina scooped up the puppy that her sister had adopted with the sole purpose of sending Regina over the edge—which was working—and grabbed his shivering dog walker's hand. Regina led to her car.
"W-where are we g-going?"
"Nowhere." Regina cranked the engine and heater, twister around to extract her coat from the backseat.
"N-no, that's okay," Emma said. "I'll g-get it all wet and sandy."
"Put it on before your teeth chatter out of your head." Emma complied.
"I'm sorry I lost Tank."
The puppy perked up at his name and took a flying leap into the front seat, landing in Regina's lap. Sucking in a breath, Regina scooped Tank up and was promptly licked for her efforts.
"It's so great that you found him," Emma said.
"Yeah." Regina sighed in grim resignation, swiping the puppy drool off her chin. "So great."
"You warmed up now?" Regina asked.
"Arf."
Emma smiled in relief. The puppy was okay. "I guess that means yes."
"I meant you," Regina said.
"Oh!" Emma laughed. "Yes, thank you."
Regina just looked at her, and Emma realized she was waiting for Emma to get out. Right. Regina had to get back to work. Emma opened the door, and Regina did the same, getting out with Tank.
"Want me to put him away for you?" Emma asked, thinking it was the least she could do.
"I've got him."
Emma watched Regina headed towards her house. She was a beautiful woman, moving with such a grace. She was very fit, and very easy on the eyes. Emma wasn't often steered astray by bouts of lust, but she felt it stir within her now. But, the title Mayor before Regina name would keep her off Emma's list. "You said you'd kiss me if I lost Tank."
The words popped out of her unbidden, and she covered her mouth. Too late. Turning back, Regina shoved the sunglasses to the top of her head and lifted her perfect shaped left eyebrow, assessing look from dark brown eyes.
She looked exhausted. As if maybe she'd been working around the clock without sleep. "Ignore that," Emma said. "Sometime I have Tourette's."
Some of the tension went out of Regina's shoulders, and for a beat, her features softened into what might have been amusement. "You want me to kiss you?"
Oh boy. "You were happy I'd lost your puppy?"
Regina was looking like she was still thinking about smiling as she glanced down at Tank, tucked under her arm. "No. That would make me a bitch."
Right…
"And he's not my puppy." Regina said. "He belongs to my son, given to him by my evil sister, who I'm pretty sure bought him from the devil."
They both looked at Tank, who soaked up the attention as his due. He managed to roll in Regina's arms, over to his back, showing off his good parts with pride.
Such a guy. "If you don't want him, couldn't you just give him back?"
Regina laughed softly. "You don't have any kids, I take it."
Or dogs. "No."
"Trust me," Regina said. "I'm stuck with him."
"Arf," Tank said.
Regina shook her head, and then started toward the house again, her wet pencil skirt clinging to her long legs and very nice ass.
Apparently they were done here. "Uh, Mayor Mills?"
"Regina," she corrected.
"Regina, then."Still Regina continued walking so Emma cupped her hands around her mouth. "Should I come by your house at around the same time tomorrow, then?"
Regina laugh was either amused or horrified. Hard to tell. "No," she said.
Emma paused, but really, there was no way to mistake the single-syllable word. No was… well, no.
Which meant she was fired. Again. One would think she'd be good at that by now, but nope, she didn't feel good at it.
Emma felt like crap.
