Date night

When I got into the room, Dorothy was already in the shower. I was already exhausted. This girl had much too much energy for me. I really hoped she didn't have anything planned for tonight. I needed to figure out how to leave without hurting her feelings.

She came out of the bathroom drying her hair. "Hey, that whole thing with… Inga pushing me into the water. That was weird, right?"

"She's from… one of those countries... you know, really pushy women," I said. "You should consider yourself lucky; they only do that with people they like."

"Has she ever done that to you?" Dorothy asked, brows furrowed.

"I think you know… Inga does not like me," I answered.

"Okay… I guess…" she said then smirked at me. "I was thinking that for tonight… we could have a little me and you time?" she said, dropping her towel.

She stood there, her gorgeous body naked in front of me, and I couldn't say no to that. She turned to go toward the bathroom, and I said, "You get that water ready, and I will be in there in a sec."

She smiled and turned, sauntering really slowly. I picked up my phone and texted Emma. "Yeah no… I'm getting laid tonight."

Emma: you were the one that said yes.

Emma: I am asking you this one favor so that I can save face with this horrible heinous human being.

Me: She offered herself to me, what am I going to tell her?

She paused for a bit, and then came back to me.

Emma: Done.

Me: What did you say?

Then Dorothy peeked out of the bath. "Hey Regina? Inga wants to hang out just her and I. Something about strengthening the family unit?"

"What?" I said incredulous. "You think it's necessary?"

"I mean, it could be good for the kids…" she said with a shrug.

I sighed as if it pained me. "Okay, I guess… Do I get to join you in the bath before you go?"

She smiled and hung up her phone. Then she pulled me into the tub with her.

I dressed as best as I possibly could, a pure white sun dress and heels. My short bob was left in waves, and I had pinned my hair to one side with a Hibiscus flower in red. My makeup was meticulous, and when I stepped out into the hallway between our rooms, Emma paused, taking all of me in.

"Wow," she said, coming to take my hand. "You look … wow."

I smiled, looking at her with the same sense of awe. She was the most beautiful thing I had seen in a long time. Her long flowing curls free to blow in the breeze, and she wore a sun dress that matched mine except in the color red. Red has always suited her well. My lady in red.

"Did you read the flashcards?" she asked in a whisper as we approached our table.

"Relax," I said, squeezing her hand. "Believe it or not, I passed med school, I got this."

We greeted Lily and her husband Killian and took a seat across from them. Already, Lily started in with her nonsense. "Look at us, Emma! Both of us so happily married."

"Yeah, very happy," Emma said.

"He is everything I ever hoped for, right Killi?" Lily cooed. I nearly gagged; this woman...

Then the two started talking nonsense and making out in front of us. Emma rolled her eyes and looked at her menu. I followed suit and let the two show-offs continue their PDA show.

I picked up my phone and texted Emma.

Me: You think they're on something?

She smirked and texted me back.

Emma: Just hope their noses are clean.

I chuckled under my breath and put my phone away.

"Mmm," Killian stated. "I love the way you smell. Nothing smells as good as Lily."

"Smelling Lily…" I said, and Emma started to laugh. "Always… Always a good thing." I couldn't help but chuckle at our own inside joke.

Then Lily turned to me. "So Regina, you're a plastic surgeon!"

"Yes, I am," I answered.

Lily turned to my date, and I was really getting tired of her turning everything in Emma's life against her. "That's very convenient for you, Emma," she said with a knowing smirk.

Emma tilted her head, looking at her. Before she could reply, I said, "Nah, this girl has had nothing done."

"Awww, Sweetie," Emma stated.

"She's just a natural beauty," I said and took her hand.

Then Lily made the mistake of asking me, "What about me? What would you do to fix me?"

I turned to look at her. Why would you ask this of someone that could destroy your fragile ego? Especially since you are making a real effort to make my wife feel bad about herself. I pursed my lips and said, "Professionally speaking?"

"Yeah," she insisted.

"Nothing, I wouldn't do anything to you," I answered.

"You're too sweet," she said, thinking there was flattery there.

"I mean, you already took too much fat out of your arms, but that's what sleeves are for," I continued, and Emma hid her smirk behind her hands.

She glared at me then, and I smirked back, satisfied. "So where did you two meet?" She asked, trying to move on.

"We just met at a concert," Emma answered.

"Sting…" I stated, looking at Emma to show her that I remembered what she wrote even if she didn't. "Live at the index card. It was a benefit for the rainforest."

Emma smiled at me like she was so glad she picked me for this charade. Then ominous music began to play, and it was Killian's phone ringing.

It was one of his foundations calling, and he was going to walk away. But before he did, he turned to Lily, and they whispered three words to each other. It was weird. Then he just walked away. Lily turned and noted our confused faces and explained, "It's something we do when the other leaves, say what we love about the other most."

"Oh, that's really nice," Emma said.

At the same time, I said, "Oh, I like that."

And it was the first time both of us agreed with that little Lily.

"You guys should try it," Lily said.

"We should try," I said.

"Yeah, we should. We'll try that later," Emma said at the same time.

Lily rolled her eyes. "Not everyone can do it."

Emma's competitive edge pushed her. "We'll do it now." Then she turned to me. "Right now."

I nodded. "Okay…"

So then Lily extended her arms towards us and said, "You have to look each other in the eyes and say what you love about the other."

"We can't just say it? We have to look at each other for this?" I asked and turned to face Emma, who seemed to be preparing herself to do this.

She turned to me and looked into my eyes. Her voice turning more sultry than I ever remember hearing it. "You ready?"

I swear I can feel my pupils dilate; my panties are now a little damp, and my throat has constricted, making the next words out of my mouth a richer tone. "Go ahead."

She blinks and shifts a little in her seat. "I love your sense of humor?"

"You do?" I asked softly. "All of it?"

She giggled, "Every dirty bit of it." I laughed softly. "I love your stories."

"Yes, they can go long, but…" I said with a shrug. "I try to finish strong."

"It's okay," Emma said. "Always entertaining." She paused, and her voice softened. "I love that you read the index cards."

I paused, I lost my voice. But I responded. "Of course."

"And I love that you secretly have a … huge… heart. And it's just filled with… Kindness and humility," Emma continued. That was more than three, but I will take it.

"And blood?" I said, needing this to make me stop wanting my best friend.

She smirked. "I'm sure there's blood." She shook her head. "I don't know; I just think you're a really nice person, and I really like… I really love spending time with you."

"That's good enough for me right there," I said with a smile. "Yeah, game over."

"Gina…" Lily said, pointing at me. I looked at her and back at Emma. Oh yeah, it was my turn. The thing was, I had forgotten the woman was there.

"Okay, I guess I want to start by saying that I love the most that you fixed your teeth," I said with a smirk.

Emma laughed, showing me the perfect teeth she had worked so hard for. "Why am I not surprised."

"They were horrible, I agree," I had said to Lily because the answers she had given had been too intense, and I needed to lighten the romantic air in the room.

Lily laughed, and I didn't like that.

"Um… You know what I love?" I paused, and Emma looked at me expectantly. "How you just do everything for everybody else, and you never expect anything back." I paused and furrowed my brows. "In fact, when I say thank you, I don't know, do you hear that or not?" She kind of shook her head. "It's cute."

She laughed again.

"And I just love that… You're the only person I've never lied to in my life." Her eyes softened. "I swear, I just trust you. More than anyone else in the world. You know every secret about me."

She smiled at me, shaking her head, astonished at what I had to say.

"I love your smile." The quality in my voice changed. She shifted in her seat again. "That smile is the magic. When I am in the operating room, all I can think about is 20 minutes more, and I get to see the smile. That smile starts my day."

With our gazes locked, I couldn't say any more. I wanted to kiss her. I was going to kiss her. I looked at her lips, and she looked at mine, and there was nothing else in this world.

As I began to lean forward, Lily said, "I won best smile at our sorority three years straight, right, Emma?" She startled us out of our shared bubble, and we looked at her. "Not little Bucky here…"

The idiot laughed as if we cared that she had the better smile years ago. Emma lit up my world now.

Then there was a Hula competition, and though I know Emma was trying to sit it out, I noticed that Lily has a way of goading her into a lot of things. Lily challenged me too. But I already knew I am a winner.

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome tonight's Hula girls," the host said, and out walked six ladies in hula skirts. Emma looked gorgeous. Her physique so well-toned she put Lily's lipped arms to shame.

Lily was being super obnoxious on stage, always moving to stand in front of Emma as if she were trying to get my attention. Because no one could possibly want Emma more than her, right? I rolled my eyes and watched Emma do a standard Hula. The roll of her hips, the toned abs, it was possibly the hottest thing I'd ever seen.

"How tall do you think that guy is?" Killian asked, taking me out of my pondering.

I looked at him, "Who, that tanner guy?" I asked.

He nodded, "He looks about 6'3".

I shrugged my shoulder. "Sorry, I hardly pay attention to men… unless they have breasts that need reducing."

Tanner went around eliminating hula girls one by one until there were two. Emma and Lily. "Let's pick up a little tempo, shall we?"

This is when they brought up the drums. "What?" Emma said and she looked over to Lily to understand what she was supposed to do.

Lily challenged her. But apparently, some of Emma's fitness routines must have been Hula lessons because she looked like she had done it before. Lily resorted to hopping on one leg then the other a couple of times just to keep up with her.

But Lily would not stay undaunted. She was apparently a gymnast and did a flip and a split, and Emma rolled her eyes. Beverly cheered on them both. Especially me, for Emma, I mean.

"Nobody cheated tonight," Tanner said, addressing one of the contestants yelling, "Fixed." "These are two of the hottest chicks to do this show. But the job is not done; I need your help because I need a winner." So then he placed his hand over Lily's head. The crowd went wild.

Then he put his hand over Emma. and the cheers were higher.

Then Lily mooned everyone in the crowd, and the cheers went higher, so Tanner declared it a tie.

"That's great! We both win." Emma said. But Lily couldn't have one. She had to have better than Emma. Emma couldn't be happier than her, so she called for a tiebreaker.

"Tiebreaker!" she shouted. And Emma rolled her eyes.

The tiebreaker involved me. And I had some news for Lily. I can get pretty competitive too, and I wasn't about to let her lord this over my best friend's head.

"We're gonna play the game Coconut Smoochie," he said. "The object of the game is the coconut is in their midsections. It must move all the way up to their mouths without the use of their hands. If you touch the coconut, you are disqualified."

I looked at Emma. She looked super annoyed at Lily. I held onto her hips, bringing her attention to me. I locked our hips together and asked her to pay attention to my movements with my eyes alone.

"Ready?" Tanner continued. "One, two, three, get coconutty."

We began to move, and I swear if this wasn't the heat of competition, the friction we made together would have made me come. As it was, I was concentrating on other things as our hips made contact over and over again as we worked the coconut up our torsos.

At some point, Killian dropped the coconut on the floor, and he picked it up with his ass cheeks. That was impressive. But Emma and I remained steadfast, and soon the coconut was touching her lips, and then they were touching mine. We were victorious.

Emma and I smiled at each other while Lily stomped away. "You suck at everything," she yelled at her husband as she passed by us.

"Great teamwork, you two. How long have the two of you been married?"

"Twelve years," Emma stated, and by mistake, I had blurted out 10 years.

"Very long time." Everyone laughed, and I was just glad I could play that off with her.

As the evening continued, Emma and I danced, laughed, and shared secret glances. Lily, on the other hand, seemed increasingly irritated by our camaraderie. Every time Emma and I shared a moment, Lily appeared to find new ways to insert herself into our space.

Eventually, Lily and Killian excused themselves, claiming they had an early morning commitment. Emma and I exchanged relieved glances as they left.

"Well, that was an interesting evening," Emma commented.

"Tell me about it," I replied, wrapping my arm around her waist. "I'm just glad we survived the coconut challenge."

Emma chuckled. "We make a great team, don't we?"

"The best," I affirmed, giving her a reassuring squeeze. "Now, how about we enjoy the rest of our vacation without any more surprise challenges?"