A day in Kenzie’s life… MacKenzie’s Hell
I’m still writing in Kenzie’s world – today in hers! While Kenzie’s relationship with Beau is fraught with history and complications, there’s a certain blunt honesty to the attraction between herself and Lynn Oglethorpe, her aunt’s financial manager. So today’s exploration is about that tension, and exploring it.
Once again, this is a first draft piece – I’m not allowing myself to do anything but do a quick doublecheck for spelling and punctuation – if I let my brain start editing I know I’ll get bogged down. It’s either write or edit, I can’t do both at the same time!
Kenzie ignored the seagulls calling overhead as she guided the boat dolly down the railway ramp to the water. A perfect breeze swayed the branches above and the reeds at the edge of the bay and she couldn’t wait to hear the chuckle of water against a wooden hull. It had been so very long. Decades, in fact. The sharpie, just finished, with masts amidstship and at the bow, glided easily into the low swells. A pair of oars rested in the oarlocks, waiting to push the craft out away from shore, the daggerboard waiting to be dropped. She pulled the boat to a halt and locked the dolly in place on the railway where with one shove she could slide it off the bunks and into the water. Water, life vests, a snack, a marine radio, and a few other necessary items waited near the rudder and the foreward sail was ready to be pulled aloft. The center sail waited, lashed to its sprit; Kenzie didn’t know if she wanted to risk hoisted that much sail area with just herself in the craft.
The breeze lifted her hair from her neck and she rolled her shoulders, pulled her shoes off and dropped the in the bow.
“Hello! Hey Kenzie!”
The call from the shop pulled Kenzie around and she squinted up the rise. Lynn Ogleton trotted down the ramp, waving.
“Hi Lynn,” Kenzie greeted her aunt’s financial manager. “Something wrong?”
Lynn’s gaze was fixed on the boat, the waves from passing boats slapping hollowly against the wood. “Wow, you finished the oyster boat. I thought you’d wrap up the launch first.” She drew closer and slid her hands along the sweep of the bow.
“I needed a break from it -messed up the same thing twice, so figured I’d best step away.” The other woman was still fixed on the sharpie and Kenzie tapped her fingers against her thigh. “Something you needed, Lynn? I’m hoping to take advantage of the light breeze…the clear afternoon…” She let her voice taper off, not wanting to be overly rude, but eager to go.
“Oh! No, sorry, I was actually coming to see if you wanted to go to the beach with me.” Lynn finally turned her gaze away from the boat, smiling shamelessly up into Kenzie’s eyes as she pulled her sunglasses away. Kenzie realized Lynn was in shorts and a tank top that revealed a significant amount of Lynn’s pale skin. The scent of suntan lotion, banana and coconut, tickled Kenzie’s nose.
“Ah, well.” Kenzie waved towards the boat. “How about you join me for a sail instead?” Did I just say that, she asked herself. Lynn’s smile wavered.
“Sail? Well. I dont know that I’ve ever sailed in anything this small…” Kenzie grinned, enjoying having the confident banker on her heels a little. “Oh, come on, don’t you trust me?”
~*~
It was hours later when Kenzie guided the sharpie towards the beach, pulling the daggerboard up as the bow ground up into the sand, lifting smoothly up until the weight of the craft slowed them to a halt. She slung a leg over the gunwale and splashed up to the bow, pulling it further up until the bow nudged the high tide line. They’d be gone before the tide came in, but she didn’t want to risk any rogue waves pulling the craft back out into the bay.
With a smile she held her hand out to Lynn. The shorter woman accepted her help and followed Kenzie up onto the white, almost blinding sand of the small barrier island.
“So you can only get to this one by boat?” Lynn asked, continuing their conversation, bending down to pull a shell from the sand.
“Yep. This one, the main island there, and the one on the other side used to be all one island about 200 years ago. A hurricane blew through seperating the one on the other side in the early 1800s, then this one seperated off about forty years ago. I love making the trip out here. You get away from all the tourists, feel like it’s just you and your own deserted island.”
Lynn stepped up beside her, letting their arms brush together. Kenzie let herself enjoy the thrill the contact caused. She enjoyed Lynn’s forthwright interest, appreciated that there was no question where she stood with the banker. Unlike with Beau…
Kenzie squashed that line of thought and lifted her glasses, pointing off along the beach. “Around that bend there you’d be able to see fishermen, boats, even kids playing in the surf. But right here?” Lynn pushed her glasses up on top of her head and turned into Kenzie.
“But right here we’re alone?” Her voice was husky and Kenzie had plenty of time to pull away as Lynn reached up, threaded her fingers through the short hair at Kenzie’s nape and pulled their mouths together. Plenty of time, but Kenzie simply surrendered.
Lynn’s mouth was soft but confident. Her tongue flicked teasingly against Kenzie’s lower lip. Her teeth followed in a gentle nip and Kenzie’s gut clenched as the shorter woman pressed her full length against her. When Lynn pulled back Kenzie was suprised to find her hand cupping the curve of Lynn’s ass, her other hand buried in the dark mass of hair.
“Mmm.” Lynn’s low sound of enjoyment was barely audible over the shushing of the waves. “Now, MacKenzie O’Dell, I’m going to be very, very honest with you.” Kenzie swallowed, certain her face was flushed. “I want you to know I find you interesting, fascinating, in fact, and I would like to be friends. I also want you to know if we weren’t standing on sand I’d have you down on your back showing you just how attracted to you I am. I’d love to have both of those things. But if I have to pick one, I want to be friends. So. Ball’s in your court now.”
Kenzie was astounded at Lynn’s confidence. She wasn’t great at friends, but the afternoon had been amazingly enjoyable, both the conversation and the low buzz of flirtation that had continued between them. She wanted the dark-haired woman as a friend, and desired her as a lover.
“Well.” Kenzie’s voice was husky and rough with want. “I’m game to try to make both of those things happen.” The words emerged with little premeditation. “So. Sand considering, why don’t we enjoy a bit of this island then we can head back?”
Lynn leaned up and into Kenzie, kissing her with a lazy, yet thorough passion. “Sounds delightful.”