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Samantha raised both dark brows and reached for her fresh rocks glass. “That can’t be true.”
“What do I know about you? You’re a successful academic and are involved with the various communities to which you belong. I know your family’s immigration story from your talks.” Natalia picked up steam, emboldened by being right. “Everything I know about you, Professor, I could have learned after an hour on Google.”
Samantha sipped her drink, but couldn’t conceal her surprise behind the glass. She wasn’t the only one who could wield curiosity like a dagger. Natalia could push too. Could show her how uncomfortable it was when they ventured away from being more than unattached sex partners.
Leaning against the booth, Samantha turned something over in her mind. Something Natalia wished she could hear.
“Shit, you’re right,” she said simply instead of getting defensive. “What do you want to know?”
Natalia hadn’t expected such an open-ended question. There were a million things she wanted to know, but she couldn’t admit that. Couldn’t fling her cards across the table like that.
“What do you want me to know?” She turned the question right back around without doing the professor’s heavy lifting.
Samantha leaned back against the booth and shifted her glasses as a way to buy herself time. “Shall I break a dating taboo with a stereotypical lesbian move?”
Intrigued, Natalia cocked her head to the side. After a beat, she tipped it forward, indicating that Samantha should go on.
“How about my last girlfriend?” Samantha’s lips were pink and playful.
Whatever she was going to tell Natalia wasn’t deep or emotional. She wouldn’t be exposing her soft, nougat center. Unsure if she was relieved or disappointed, Natalia listened.
“It ended a year and a half ago,” she started, as if setting the scene. “She was a sociologist I met while attending a conference in Vancouver.”
“The start to any great meet-cute.”
Samantha laughed. “Oh, yeah. We talked until the hotel bar closed.”
“And then where to go other than your hotel room?”
“Naturally.” She agreed without suppressing her grin. “And we talked until the sun came up.”
“And spent the next day together?”
“Next day?” Samantha repeated, as if offended. “I told you this was a real gay lady scenario here.” She laughed. “We spent the entire week-long conference together.”
“And then eloped while driving the U-Haul and rescuing a three-legged dog?” Natalia sipped her gold-flecked drink.
“Now you’re getting it,” Samantha agreed.
“So where is Mrs. Prof. Samantha Reyes after this whirlwind love affair?” Natalia pressed, growing impatient with the dribs and drabs.
“I did say she was my ex, didn’t I?” Her elegant fingers danced along the edge of her glass in a hypnotic and surprisingly alluring motion. “After she went back to Phoenix, and I went to Miami, we instituted nightly phone calls and weekly video chats until we could schedule a time to see each other in person again.” She tipped her glass to one side, ice ball sliding with a clink. “The time never quite materialized before we realized it was over.”
Natalia watched Samantha like she was searching for a diagnosis. She’d listened carefully and disagreed with her assessment. “You failed, Professor.”
“Failed?”
“You could have told me anything, and you chose your last girlfriend.”
Samantha nodded, openly unsure of Natalia’s point.
“But you didn’t tell me about a girlfriend. You told me about a hot hookup. A fling. If you consider that a relationship, Samantha, you’re fooling yourself.” She leaned closer, the surge of winning like drugs in her blood. “But maybe we have the potential to repeat our evening together. You’re obviously capable of indulging without the trappings of formality.”
Samantha watched her for several loaded seconds, probably wondering how she was going to talk her way out of her misstep. And then she laughed, eyes crinkled, teeth gleaming laugh.
“That’s the first time you’ve ever called me by my first name.”
Natalia had no intention of letting her slip away. “You really think we’re so different? Because you smile easily and unleash your charm, you think you’re so open?” She picked up her glass, gaze pinning Samantha against the leather upholstery. “Because I think you’ve just learned to hide in plain sight. At least I’m transparent about being opaque.”
