Page 60 of Rivals and Liars

Leire wraps her arms around her and scatters kisses along her shoulder and neck while Kate catches her breath.

"We're going to be late," Kate whispers, her body still soft and loose.

"We have time, relax."

Kate pulls back to look at her. Her cheeks are flushed, her face pale, and her green eyes are shining like two emeralds.

"You've been saying we have time for half an hour."

"God, you're beautiful," Leire breathes, catching her lips and deepening a kiss that leaves Kate gasping all over again. "Okay, now we can actually get in the shower."

They shower together, taking turns under the stream with movements they've been practicing for nearly two months, as if they've choreographed a dance only they know. They dress quickly and in less than fifteen minutes they're in the car.

Leire is at the wheel while Kate unzips her gym bag and checks — for the fifth time since she packed it last night — that she has everything she needs.

"Looks like my morning-sex plan was a failure," Leire jokes, and Kate snaps her head up.

"What?"

"I wanted you calm and relaxed, but apparently it didn't work." She puts a hand on Kate's thigh. "Relax, baby, you're going to do great."

Kate turns to toss the bag onto the back seat and narrows her eyes at the Spanish woman.

"Are you saying the sex this morning was just a scheduled task?"

Laughter bursts out of Leire and she flicks on the turn signal to go left.

"Making love with you is never a scheduled task — I could do it every hour of the day without getting tired," she says, a flicker of heat in her eyes that makes Kate's throat go dry. "I just don't want you this nervous. You're a professional, Kate. That doesn't stop being true just because you retired."

"I know."

Leire reaches over and finds her hand, lacing their fingers together and bringing them to her lips, kissing her knuckles, and Kate breathes out a smile.

"Those parents are lucky you said yes."

The redhead smiles and settles back in her seat. Since retiring, offers have been coming in — some from broadcasting, others from high-level clubs wanting a coach, and one to co-host a sports show. Kate weighed them all with Leire, but kept turning them down because none of them sparked what she'd started calling that spark — the one every match used to light in her the moment she set foot on a court. Until a week ago, when a neighbor from the development rang her doorbell. He's a businessman who lives on the island, with ten-year-old twin daughters who've been training at a local tennis club since they were six. He begged her to be their personal coach, and Kate felt that flutter move through her at the thought of shaping two little stars the way she'd been shaped. She ended up saying yes, and on the heels of that came another request — from a widow who wanted lessons for her eighteen-year-old son, a young man who studies in the evenings and trains in the mornings. And today is the first day: two hours with him this morning, then two more with the girls after lunch.

"Thank you," she murmurs, glancing sideways at Leire.

"Of course. You know, maybe we could build our own club someday," Leire adds, and Kate turns to look at her. "Something small — a handful of kids we can shape from the ground up, teach them what we know the way you're doing now, but on our own court."

"That sounds amazing, sweetheart."

"Yeah. If everything goes well, I'm thinking about retiring next year — one more season and that's it."

"Leire…"

The Spanish woman looks over and smiles.

"I'll be thirty-two. Doesn't seem like a bad time. You know my knee's been bothering me lately, and I've been thinking about it a lot. I think I'd rather be smart about it like you and stop in time than end up on the operating table. I don't know," she murmurs, glancing at her. "It's just something I'm turning over in my head."

Kate leans across and kisses her cheek.

"I think it's great, as long as it's what you want, Leire. Take all the time you need."

The Spanish woman winks at her just before pulling into the parking lot in front of the club.

"Okay, we're here," she says, raising her eyebrows.