Chapter 1

“Sophie,” I gushed, giving her a hug and then pulling back. “I’ve met the most wonderful woman. She’s everything I’ve been looking for all these years and more.”

“Do tell,” Sophie said. “Don’t just stand there, come in. I’ve never seen you so happy, Cassie.”

I couldn’t wait to tell Sophie everything. Sophie was my best friend. We’d been through so much together, and now, finally, I was to have my own happiness.

“Drink?” she asked as I followed her into the kitchen.

“Love one,” I said. “It’s so good to see you. Where’s Monika?”

“She’s working late.”

“Really? Did you tell her I was coming over?” I asked.

“No, I didn’t tell her. You know what she’s like. When she said she was working, I was so relieved.”

Monika wasn’t happy about our relationship. Sophie and I had dated for almost seven years. We’d met at school and continued seeing each other through our university diplomas. Then one day Sophie decided we needed a break.

I was devastated and couldn’t understand why. I found out later she’d been seeing Monika on the side, and it was Monika who put pressure on her to dump me. I went overseas for two years and, through a mutual friend, found out Sophie wasn’t really happy.

Monika had a nasty jealous streak, and when she drank, she could become quite cutting and aggressive. She would abuse Sophie about me. Apparently Sophie had written me a letter, telling me she wanted me to come home and start again, that she was sorry and missed me terribly.

I never received it. Monika destroyed it and told Sophie my relationship with her was over and that’s how it was to stay. Sophie didn’t have the nerve to leave, so she just put up with it.

I was glad she wasn’t there, given she was so jealous. She made people feel awkward, and I hoped she wouldn’t come home early. I wondered if she was just saying she was working as a ploy on her part to hopefully catch us at something.

Anyway, that was in the past. I didn’t want to think about her now.

“So tell me, tell me everything,” Sophie said as we sat together on her couch.

“She’s gorgeous, really stunning and so exciting. She’s about the same height as I am, but she’s dark and mysterious. She has the largest brown eyes, long wavy hair that curls around her face, and her mouth is so sexy. She has this pout that just draws your gaze to her lips, and then you can’t bear to tear yourself away from them.”

“Well, you’ve certainly fallen hard,” she laughed.

“Who wouldn’t? We met about four months ago, when I was on the last leg of my trip. She’d taken the same tour bus, and we sat not far from each other. At the first stop, she made her way over to where I was. We struck up a conversation and she asked me flat out if I was gay.”

Sophie laughed. “So she came right to the point?”

“You can say that again. I wasn’t sure what to say, so I said, ‘Yeah, you got a problem with that?’ She replied, ‘Not at all, just hoping you’ll sit with me at the back of the bus.’ So I did. She’s exciting to be with. She has the most positive outlook in life. If you don’t like her, she doesn’t care. She doesn’t waste time on small talk. If she wants to know something, she asks, and if she likes you, you’re her friend for life.”

“Does she have a name?” Sophie asked.

“Sorry, yes, it’s Alessandra, but I call her Lessie. You’ll love her.”

“Nice. What does she do?”

“She’s an accountant, but this accountant is defiantly not boring. If anything, she seems to go out of her way to spice things up, be outrageous, even at work. She’s mischievous and loves to dare you. I found out very early on not to challenge her. She’ll win every time.”

“I’m intrigued already,” Sophie said, peering at me over the rim of her glass.

“That first tour on the bus, she had me eating out of her hand. One evening while we were still on the road, the bus had to detour due to an accident which had us running three hours late. She showed me what a devil she was.

“Most of the patrons were sleeping, and we were the only ones in the back seat. She had a blanket and covered our legs with it. She dared me to take my panties off, so I did. She snuggled up close to me, her hand on my thigh, inching its way up. She spread my legs open, her fingers wiggling around until they touched my slit.