Chapter four: The Date

"So, Lara, how did you know?", Dana inquired, finishing her meal and putting down her fork. "I mean, how did you know my friends were trying to determine your gayness?"

Lara had to grin at the memory of that particular event. It had been completely obvious to her that the four women wearing sunglasses each weren't usual customers from the second they had walked into the dining area. The redhead swallowed the last bites of her meal and continued to hold Dana's gaze.

"Well, you know, it wasn't really that difficult.", she said after a short silence, earning herself a surprised stare.

"What? Was it really that obvious?", Dana asked, sounding rather surprised.

Lara nodded. Taking a sip of her wine, she continued. "Actually, yes. It was. I mean, you know, there were those four women coming into the club together. So, naturally you would assume they are going to sit together. Then they suddenly split up and sat at three different tables, one of them at yours." The chef took another sip of wine and smiled. "May I add that the way they were dressed looked rather suspicious, too. So, of course my curiousity was peaked and I decided to keep an eye on them, you know, just in case..."

"In case of what?", Dana asked, while her gaze never left Lara's.

"Well, in case they were planning to raid the club.", Lara answered with a slight chuckle attached to her voice.

The tennis player grinned at the other woman's joke. "My friends would never do that.", she said in mock-indignation.

"I know, Dana.", Lara said, holding her hands up in defence. "Anyway, so I had decided to keep an eye on them and, you know, they weren't behaving like any usual customer would. They sat there, cell phones in hand, one of them writing things down, throwing glances my way all the time and I thought like, Did the head chef send spies after me to check if I'm doing my work right?" She let out a little chuckle. "But then there was that kiss, you know, totally blew the little cover they had and it wasn't as if you didn't do anything unsuspicious."

"Me?" The brunette stared at the sous chef with wide eyes. "What did I do?"

"Well, you totally tensed up when they walked in and those worried glances over your shoulder...I mean, I could tell that something was going on just from your behaviour..."

A shy smile crossed Dana features and she averted her eyes. "We weren't exactly subtle, were we?"

Lara shook her head, softly laughing. "Not exactly, no."

"But you totally made them think you were straight, you know."

"Did I?", the redhead asked, not really surprised, as it had been her intention to make Dana's friends believe she was straight. It had made the surprise for Dana even greater.

"Yes, you did. You know, you had like seven points for being straight and nine for being gay, but then they thought of the margin of error and decided to use the secret weapon.", Dana explained.

"The woman that tried to hit on me."

The athlete nodded her head. "Yeah, that was Shane. She's like the womanizer of our group, you know. But when you didn't react to her flirting with you at all, my friends decided you were one hundred percent straight and dropped the case and so did I...that is until you kissed me." Dana's face slightly blushed at the mention of their kiss. "God, Lara, you should have seen their faces when I told them about it.", she finished and started laughing.

Lara watched as Dana threw her head back while laughing, the small movement revealing the delicious flesh of her throat. She unconsciously licked her lips at that sight, feeling a sudden small wave of desire rush through her body, but she shook it off of her immediately. As Dana's laughter had died down, they continued their talk, only having eyes for each other.

--

They walked along the busy streets of Korea Town, hand in hand, enjoying each other's closeness. After they had left the restaurant-Dana had somehow managed to pay the bill herself, despite Lara's protests-the redhead had suggested to take a little walk before returning to the car and the athlete had willingly agreed.

"I still don't like the idea that you paid the whole bill yourself.", Lara confessed, while watching the people around them, a lot of them straight couples.

Dana chuckled. "Lara, come on. I asked you out, so I pay the bill. I don't get why you're so upset about this."

Lara could feel Dana's blue eyes watching her and turned her head to look at the smaller woman.

"Upset? I'm not upset.", she said, doing her worst pout, which earned her a laugh from Dana. "It's just that, you know, I don't like to be dependent on anyone."

At that Dana laughed even harder. "So, I pay one meal of yours and you think you're dependent on me?", she managed to get out.

For a second the chef pondered whether to be angry at the other woman, who seemed to be making fun of her, or not, but realizing that would most definitely kill the mood-and that really was the last thing she wanted to happen-she decided to let it go. After all, it really was her fault, but then again Dana had looked at her with those irresistible blue eyes, insisting on paying their meals and Lara had found herself giving in.

"Would you like me to be dependent on you?", the redhead asked in a rather seductive tone.

As soon as the question was asked a blush crept up Dana's face. Lara wondered how many times the tennis player was still going to blush that night and found herself once again terribly attracted to the other woman. Dana looked absolutely cute to her when she blushed.

"I don't know...", the brunette said, avoiding Lara's smiling eyes. "I mean, maybe, you know, in some way or another..."

The sous chef grinned at this, deciding to play some more. "Some way or another? I'm not sure I know what you mean.", she said, smiling playfully.

Suddenly Dana stopped dead in her tracks and let go of Lara's hand, causing Lara to stop walking as well. The redhead watched intently as the athlete stood in front of her, still not facing her. They stood like that for a few seconds, people passing by. When Dana lifted her head again she had a huge devilish grin on her lips.

"You know exactly what I mean, Lara.", she simply said, her voice deep and seductive.

This time it was Lara who blushed a deep crimson at the unexpected words, her blue eyes widening. The look on Dana's face combined with the sound of her voice and the way she had pronounced her name-with so much longing-was sending a shiver down the chef's spine. While Lara was still wondering about the sudden change in the tennis player's behaviour, said tennis player approached her and took her hand again.

"You should have seen your face just now.", Dana said, unable to contain her laughter. "So shocked and confused." She pulled the other woman along with her. "You know, you're not the only one that knows how to play this game, Lara."

Lara didn't respond. She simply walked along, holding Dana's hand in hers, feeling totally and utterly happy.

--

The drive back to Lara's place was spent in silence, neither woman wanting to break the comfortable atmosphere around them. Lara had spent the entire drive thinking of a way to expand the date without seeming too intrusive. This night had been the best Lara had had since a long time and she didn't want it to end just yet, but at the same time she didn't want to rush into things.

"Well, we're here.", Dana broke the silence, letting out a small sigh.

The redhead, being ripped out of her thoughts, looked up and around and realized that they had arrived at her place. Suddenly she was beginning to feel a slight sense of loss.

"Yeah, we're here.", she repeated Dana's words and unfastened her seatbelt rather reluctantly.

Another silence fell upon the two women, both of them not wanting to separate already.

"Umm, do you want me to walk you to the door?", Dana asked, when Lara was about to get out of the car.

The sous chef stopped in her tracks and turned to the other woman, a smile lingering at the corners of her mouth.

"Yeah, sure.", she replied, hoping not to sound to eager.

Within a few seconds the tennis player was out of the car and at Lara's side, offering her hand to the taller woman. Lara willingly took the offered hand and both women walked up to the front door of Lara's apartment building. With each step they took, the redhead could feel her heart beating faster and the sense of loss getting stronger.

"So, umm...", Lara started as they stood in front of the entrance. "Well, do you want to come in?"

Dana's eyes slightly widened at the question. "I would love to, but, you know, I, umm..." Her voice trailed off.

Lara's heart sank at the rejection, but she understood why Dana would deny the offer.

"I'm sorry.", the tennis player whispered when she didn't get a response, looking into the other woman's blue eyes. "It's not about you or tonight, Lara. I mean, you know, I had a really, really great time tonight, but I don't think we should, you know..." Once again her voice trailed off.

"I know, Dana.", Lara said, her voice barely audible, nodding her head. "Maybe you could just walk me up to my apartment then?", she suggested, smiling unsurely.

Anything to keep Dana around her a little while longer was fine by her.

"I think I could do that.", the tennis player told her and gave one of her brightest smiles.

Lara unlocked the front door and the two women made their way up the stairs to Lara's apartment.

"Apartment 311, this is were I live.", the redhead said as they stood outside her apartment. "You're sure you don't want to come in?", she tried again, although she knew that Dana hadn't changed her mind.

"Yes, Lara, I am sure.", the other woman said, sounding somewhat guilty.

"It's okay, Dana, really.", the sous chef said, noticing the guilty expressing on the smaller woman's face. "I don't want to rush into this either." Feeling somewhat relieved about the fact that they both wanted to take things slow, Lara smiled broadly. "What I'm wanting to say is, I had a really great time tonight and I'm hoping that we'll go out again."

Dana simply nodded at this, smiling. All of a sudden the smile vanished from her features and was replaced by a deep blush.

"Umm, I was wondering...", the brunette started, but failed at words.

"What's wrong, Dana?", Lara asked concerned, mistaking Dana's blush for a sign of nausea. "Are you feeling sick?"

Dana shook her head at that, her eyes still avoiding Lara's. She let out a deep breath and lifted her head to look at the concerned chef. Her face was still a deep crimson, but Lara noticed the shy smile on her lips.

"I was wondering if maybe I could kiss you good night." This time the words didn't fail Dana.

Lara's concern was replaced by a feeling of utter happiness as soon as the athlete had uttered her words. The redhead didn't say anything. She simply closed the distance between them and captured the other woman's lips in a soft kiss. As soon as their lips met, Dana's body pressed into the other woman's, deepening the kiss, and Lara found herself backed up against the door. She was beginning to feel light-headed, her knees about to give in at the sudden passion racing through her system. Lara knew that if they didn't end the kiss now they would end up in bed together, but she couldn't pull herself away from this passionate liplock. Dana ran her hands up the redhead's body and into her hair, pulling her even deeper into the kiss. Regaining control over her body's actions, Lara gently pushed the tennis player away, locking her eyes with the other woman's, each woman's eyes darkened with desire.

"I...I...don't know what got...", Dana started to form an explanation, but was silenced by one of Lara's fingers placed on her slightly swollen lips.

"You don't have to say anything, Dana.", the redhead said, her voice husky. "I think I better go before I pull you inside with me."

Dana nodded, her eyes watching the other woman intently. Both women said their good nights and went different ways, agreeing on meeting at the country club the next day.

"Oh, my god, she's one hell of a kisser.", Lara thought as she wandered through her apartment. "For a second I thought she was going to fuck me right there." A blush crept up her face as she imagined what she had just thought.

Her lips were still tingling from their kiss as she reached her bedroom. Getting out of her dress and into her pajamas she settled into bed.

"Good night, Lara.", she heard Dana say again, wishing she would hear her say this every night. She fell asleep with a smile on her lips, dreaming about the shy tennis player.

Lara Perkins had totally fallen in love and was enjoying it.