Chapter Eight
"What do you think?" Bo asked, adjusting the straps of her dress.
"Hot, hot, hot. Dyson is going to pop something when he gets a look at you in that thing. Twenty bucks says you won't even make it to the dance once he sees it," Kenzi said, clapping her hands together. "I feel like an artist, and you're like the Mona Lisa I painted."
"Aww," Bo said. "You're sweet, thanks for helping me." She examined herself and she had to agree she looked pretty good. Kenzi had done a great job in choosing a dress that bought out her best features. It was a soft red silk that reached almost to the floor, with a sash that tied above her hips and accentuated her waist.
Still, Kenzi's words left her feeling cold. She found that she didn't care all that much what Dyson thought of what she wore – he never took much notice of stuff like that anyway.
"Only Mona Lisa doesn't have jugs like yours of course," Kenzi joked, putting an arm around her as they stood side-by-side in front of the mirror.
"You had to get that in there, didn't you?" Bo laughed. She heard a knock on the door from downstairs and moved to answer.
"Wait, I'll get it, you change. You don't want him to see you in your dress before the big night! It's bad luck," Kenzi said, holding out a hand like a stop sign.
"This isn't our wedding doofus. Anyway it'll be Lauren. She's bringing over that file I asked her for," Bo replied, pushing past her as Kenzi rolled her eyes.
"Great, the Snow Queen," Kenzi said under her breath. "I'm out, I'm going to hit The Dal for a drink," Kenzi said more loudly to Bo, who was single-minded in her heading towards the door.
"Okay," Bo called out, not listening to either part of what she'd said.
Bo opened the door and smiled at Lauren, whose eyes dropped appreciatively down to take in the dress. Her eyes widened and Bo could swear she saw her swallow. Lauren dragged her eyes back to Bo's face.
"Hey," Lauren said, holding out the file towards Bo. "I put a few post-its through there highlighting the stuff you asked about. If you need me to go through anything in more detail you can give me a call."
"Thanks. Did you want to come in for a drink? I'll just go and change," Bo offered, pointing vaguely over her shoulder.
"Yeah sure. What's the occasion anyway?" Lauren asked. She pushed the door closed behind her, her eyes once again trained on Bo's body encased in the dress.
"Nothing too exciting. Just the police ball," Bo replied and Lauren nodded coolly.
"Hi Lauren, bye Lauren," Kenzi said as she breezed her way through the living room and outside. Lauren waved at her and went to sit on the couch, feeling deflated. Maybe she shouldn't have accepted Bo's invitation inside. The mention of the police ball had brought her train of thought straight to Dyson, and Bo was wearing that dress for him.
"So, what'll the lady have?" Bo said as she came back into the room. Lauren sat up straighter on the sofa, pulling it together.
"Coffee would be nice. The dress is beautiful by the way," Lauren said, remembering her manners. Beautiful was hardly adequate as an adjective; however it would be inappropriate to gush about it like she'd like to. Bo looked like she was born to wear a dress like that. Lucky Dyson, she thought glumly.
"Thanks," Bo said, and if Lauren didn't know her better she would swear that she was ducking her head in embarrassment. Modesty really wasn't Bo's strong point, but that was okay. Somehow Bo managed to pull off that delicate balance of being utterly confident but not arrogant.
"I don't know how I'm going to survive this dance though. I skipped the prom of course and I haven't been to a dance since middle school. I don't know how to dance outside of a nightclub, or the living room," Bo said as she bustled around the kitchen making coffee.
"Can you waltz? That's all you'd really need to be able to scrape by I'd think. Thanks," Lauren said, taking the mug from Bo. For a second she was fixed on the way their fingers brushed against one another's.
"No, I have no idea, seriously. I'll have to learn."
"I can teach you right now, it'll take about five minutes, it's simple." Lauren put the mug down on the coffee table and jumped up from her seat.
"Really? You know how to dance?"
"Sure," Lauren said, playing it off like no big deal when in truth she was enjoying the look of surprise on Bo's face. There was still so much they didn't know about one another.
"I'm leading, so you put your hand on my shoulder," Lauren explained. She put her hand on Bo's waist and they clasped their free hands. "Now when I step forward you put your foot back. That's right, you've got it." She counted out the steps and soon they were moving in time.
"Wait a minute, we need music," Bo said, flicking on the radio Kenzi had liberated from someone's warehouse, and ran back to Lauren.
"See? You're doing it already. I knew you'd be a good dancer," Lauren said.
"Oh yeah? Why?" Bo asked. She wasn't wearing shoes and Lauren's heeled boots meant that she had to turn her face slightly upwards to look at her. She could feel Lauren's fingers spread out over her waist. They were standing far enough apart to be appropriate but she could feel herself drifting forwards; trying to get closer without thinking about it.
She could feel the heat from Lauren's body. It took a lot of strength to not press herself against her.
"Just a feeling," Lauren said, averting her eyes from Bo's face in a way that made it clear exactly what was on her mind. Bo looked down to avoid staring at Lauren's mouth and her eyes landed on Lauren's collarbone and neck. It would be so easy to lean forward, to put her lips on exposed skin and draw out a moan from Lauren's throat.
She erupted in giggles when she found herself being dipped. "Well done. You've just got to go with it when someone else is leading, move the way they move," Lauren said, smiling cheekily. She'd done it to make Bo laugh and to dispel some of the sexual tension that was brewing between them. Their mutual laughter made it thicken. They were struggling against one another, Bo trying to bend her in kind, their legs coming closer, thighs pressed together.
Lauren was about to step away, knowing that it was time to end this, when the song changed to one with a slower tempo. There was an edge to their silence, a dare. Bo stepped forward into Lauren's arms, taking her hand again so that they could move slowly.
All of the cold distance between them – the distance that had been slowly disappearing – no longer existed at all. Lauren closed her eyes tightly. She didn't want to think about the fact that she was helping Bo prepare to dance with someone else. So she focussed on the warmth and press of the body against her, and hoped that Bo couldn't feel her heart thudding through her shirt.
They were barely moving, and it had turned into not much more than an embrace. For someone so strong Bo really was incredibly soft. Lauren put a hand to the small of Bo's back.
The song was through before Bo moved away from her, and then she was looking down into Bo's brown eyes, which she could see were staring at her lips. Bo grabbed her by the front of her shirt, her fist bunching up the fabric, and pulled Lauren firmly towards her so that they could kiss.
It was agonisingly slow, the way Bo's mouth moved over her. Bo's tongue was at her lips, asking her to open her mouth. She did, and heard herself moan when that tongue slid against her own. They kissed for a long minute - Bo grazing her teeth over Lauren's lower lip. Bo was kissing her hungrily, like it was something that she'd been wanting to do as much as Lauren had been craving it.
And then it was over, too soon. Too much space between them; Bo's face regretful and disbelieving.
Lauren's hands had been resting on Bo's hips and she'd started to move them upwards along Bo's back towards her hair, but her hands had stilled when Bo had pulled back. She wanted to lean back in, keep going and erase that look from Bo's face.
Dyson. God, how could she think Bo had really wanted to do this? She stepped back, Bo's face making her feel only a little shy of heartbroken. The apology was almost out of her mouth before she remembered that she didn't have anything to apologise for, that it hadn't been her who had initiated any of this.
"Lauren . . ." Bo started.
"Don't . . . you don't have to say anything, I'm leaving," Lauren said. She couldn't bear to listen to Bo hash out all of the reasons why what had just happened was a mistake.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to do that," Bo persisted. She'd put a hand to her mouth, her fingers covering her lips as though she couldn't believe where they'd just been.
"I know," Lauren said quickly. "Don't worry about it. I mean, it's instinctual for you isn't it? It must be almost like a reflex, and having another person's pheromones right on top of you like that must be like waving food in front of someone who's hungry," Lauren rambled.
"I'm not some sort of animal," Bo snapped, clearly hurt.
Lauren shrugged helplessly. "I didn't mean anything by it."
"What did you mean?" Bo said.
Lauren stared back at her. She didn't understand how this had been turned back around onto her. She'd just been trying to make things less uncomfortable; to try to stop Bo from looking at her that way. It seemed that if she gave Bo an 'out' - reduced the whole situation back to something that just couldn't be helped – then things wouldn't be so bad.
"Nothing. Have fun at your dance," Lauren said, picking up her jacket stiffly and walking to the door. She was half-hopeful and half-dreading Bo trying to stop her, but she didn't.
Bo released the breath she'd been holding and sank down onto the couch, putting her head in her hands. "Shit," she said softly to herself. She had screwed up so, so badly.
She was still sitting on the couch when Kenzi came home. "It was dead as disco at the Dal tonight. Lauren gone?"
"Yes," Bo said through her teeth.
"What happened?" Kenzi asked, already on the couch and looking at Bo expectantly.
"Something really, really bad."
"You made out didn't you?" Kenzi guessed. She was shaking her head. "Bo, what are you doing? Dude, howcan you do this to Dyson?"
"Can't you say something comforting instead of making me feel worse?" Bo pleaded with her. She loved Kenzi and she knew that Kenzi loved her, but her honesty could be too much. Sometimes she just wanted to get away with a little self-deception, but Kenzi would never let her do that.
"Honey, you are so transparent. Did you or did you not deliberately get dressed up before Lauren came over?"
"No?" Bo said. It seemed like a horrible thing to admit to herself of anyone; but she supposed that she had wanted Lauren to see her in that dress. She put her hands over her face again. "Shit."
"What are you going to do? Are you gonna tell Dyson?"
"I don't know," Bo said. Just the thought of talking to him about it was enough to make her want to break out in hives. "I guess I need to work a few things out."
"You do, before anyone gets hurt. And that includes you," Kenzi said, putting her arms around Bo. Bo rested her head on Kenzi's shoulder and closed her eyes.