Taking Chances Read online

  Palani bit her lip, trying to understand. “Have you always known you wanted women?”

  “No,” Kana said. “It took me a long time to figure it out.”

  Palani nodded. “So you dated men before that?”

  “Yep,” Kana said. “And none of them inspired any kind of deep love or even deep feelings of attachment.”

  “But you feel that with women?”

  “Yes. With women I feel like I can be myself and open up my heart. I’d never do that with a man.”

  Palani nodded, understanding what Kana meant. It was what she’d been struggling with. The problem was, she didn’t know if it was just that she hadn’t been with enough men to find the right one, or if she really did want to be with women.

  “How do you know if it’s just that you haven’t met the right guy yet?” Palani asked, hoping someone could finally help her answer her own biggest question.

  Kana looked back at her for a long moment. “Well, I’d say it’s pretty simple, really,” she said. “If you’re only turned on by men, and not women, then you haven’t met the right man yet.”

  “How would I know if I’m turned on by women if I can’t ever find out?”

  “Well, that’s why you’re looking for one, right?”

  “Right.”

  “Well there you go,” Kana said, grinning.

  She stood from the counter, turning to look in the mirror and putting the eyeliner away. She started to move toward the door.

  Palani stood from the bed, looking at Kana.

  “So, then, what is your type?” she asked.

  Kana stopped in her tracks, glancing back at her for a long moment. She grinned and shook her head.

  “Never mind,” she said, then proceeded out of the bedroom and back down the hall.

  “Why?” Palani asked doggedly as she followed Kana.

  Kana picked up her keys off the island, still grinning. “Just never mind.” Turning, she walked toward the front door.

  “Kana!” Palani exclaimed, moving to intercept her, literally standing in front of the door so Kana couldn’t open it.

  Kana stared down at her, perplexed.

  “What?” Palani asked.

  “Who told you my name?” Kana asked.

  “What is your type?” Palani countered.

  Kana grinned again, shaking her head.

  “Stop that!” Palani exclaimed, laughing softly.

  “Who told you my name?” Kana asked again.

  “What is your type?” Palani countered again.

  Kana looked thoughtful for a moment. Placing a hand on the door above and behind Palani’s head, she leaned down menacingly, her eyes glittering mischievously.

  “Tell me who told you.”

  “Tell me your type,” Palani replied, putting her hands on her slim hips.

  Without another word, Kana leaned in, kissing her lips softly. Then she deepened the kiss as she took a step forward when Palani moaned softly.

  Palani’s hands touched Kana’s waist, grasping at her as every nerve in her body seemed to come alive.

  Kana pulled back, looking down into Palani’s eyes.

  “You are my type.”

  “I am?” Palani breathed, looking shocked.

  “Smart, beautiful, petite, and very feminine. Yes, you are my type.”

  “But you don’t want to see me,” Palani reminded her.

  “Because you’re married, Palani.”

  Palani stared back at her for a moment, not sure what she could say. Then, dropping her head back against the door, she sighed.

  Kana stepped back, looking subdued. “I’m sorry, Palani,” she said, sounding like she truly was. “I just don’t want to get involved in something this complicated right now. It’s not you, it’s really not. It’s all me here.”

  Palani nodded, looking very unhappy.

  They went out to the car then, and Palani was very quiet for a long time. Kana looked over at her, trying to think of something she could say. It was very obvious that Palani was unhappy, and Kana didn’t think there was anything she could do to change that.

  “Well,” Kana said, “at least now you know that a woman can turn you on, right? So that should take care of that part of your curiosity.”

  Palani nodded, swallowing convulsively, her head still turned toward the window. She was trying desperately to handle the overwhelming feeling of disappointment she was feeling at that moment. When Kana had kissed her, every fiber of her being had said Yes!, but that had come crashing down all too quickly with Kana’s edict.

  She wanted to cry. She’d always believed in Fate. And she thought that Fate had showed her what was right. It had been too much of a coincidence that Kana had appeared in her life like this. But now she didn’t know why she had. It didn’t make sense to her at all. She wished it did, but it didn’t, and it depressed her no end.

  “Palani?” Kana queried, her tone worried.

  Palani looked over at her. Her unhappiness was almost tangible.

  “Look,” Kana said, “why do you think you want me?”

  Palani didn’t answer for a long moment, then she sighed. “I thought Fate had been trying to tell me something. It was stupid,” she said, shaking her head.

  Kana looked thoughtful for a moment, then said, “Well, maybe Fate wanted me to help you figure things out as to who to be with, maybe just not the way you thought.”

  Palani considered that, then nodded. “Maybe.”

  “Do you know where Bourbon Street is?”

  “New Orleans?” Palani answered with the beginnings of a grin.

  Kana laughed. “No, babygirl, I meant here in San Diego.”

  Palani shook her head.

  “It’s in Hillcrest, look it up,” Kana said. “My friends and I hang out there. We’ll be there Friday night at ten. If you want, you can meet us there.”

  “Okay,” Palani said, with a small smile.

  “Okay,” Kana said, smiling back.

  As it turned out, Friday was the longest day Kana had had in a long time. It started at four o’clock in the morning with a raid. The suspect they were trying to nail made a run for it, and Kana gave chase, following the man up and over an eight-foot fence. After she’d tackled him, and had him on his stomach with her knee in his back as she cuffed him, she noted she was bleeding. Tiny, who’d caught up to her by then, pointed out that the fence she’d jumped had razor wire at the top. Kana nodded, taking it in her stride, as she always did.

  She went back to her vehicle, pulled out her first aid kit, and wrapped her arm to stop the bleeding.

  “You should get that looked at,” Tiny commented as he walked by with her collared suspect.

  “I looked at it,” Kana replied, grinning.

  “Joe’ll scream at ya,” Tiny warned.

  “Only if you open your big trap,” Kana replied sweetly.

  “It’s an injury, K. If I don’t report it, it’ll be my ass.”

  “It’s a scratch, big guy, not an injury.”

  “It’s a gash the size of Texas. Get it looked at.”

  Kana nodded, having no intention of wasting time at the emergency room that day. They spent the next four hours processing paperwork on the arrest. Tiny pointedly handed her the incident report for her cut; she pointedly folded it and put it in her pocket. Tiny shook his head, rolling his eyes. He was used to dealing with her stubborn attitude; nothing she did frustrated him anymore.

  They’d worked together fourteen years; they’d been partners with homicide for six years. Prior to working for the homicide unit, they’d been primary members of Midnight Chevalier’s gang task force. As former gang leaders in Hawaii, they had come to work with Midnight a few months apart, but had always shared a kinship due to their heritage. Both were proud Samoans from fairly traditional families, so they understood each other like others never could. Now, as partners in homicide, it proved to be a great asset to them. What one didn’t think of in a case, the other did. They had a connection that let them communicate without words when interviewing suspects. Kana would know when to change tactics; Tiny would know when she was doing just that and pick up where she stopped. A number of cases had been solved with their good work. The DA loved the two. They made good cases and rarely made mistakes in gathering evidence that would cost him the case in court. He liked them so much that he’d spoken to Midnight frequently about making sure the two stayed together as partners.

  Their raid turned up another lead on one of their cases, so they followed up on it. They were after a second suspect who had been thus far impossible to locate. They ended up two hours away in Los Angeles, doing what they called “banging trash cans.” They turned up more information, but needed to go back down to San Diego to assimilate it and check out an address they’d gotten.

  Between traffic and their information search time, they ended up back in San Diego at six that evening. Tiny called his wife, Jess, telling her he wouldn’t be home for a while. Kana had no one to call, so she just kept working. They spent the next four hours reading over what they had on the case, checking the computer for records and anything that would give them another lead.

  Kana finally walked into her house at 10:45 p.m. that night. She’d called her friend Terri earlier that evening, telling her there was no way she was going to meet up with their friends that night at the bar. Terri had understood, having known Kana for years and understanding the nature of what she did.

  Kana sat down on her bed, taking off the bandage on her arm and looking at the wound again. She grimaced as she noted it was bleeding. Getting up, she went over to her stereo and pushed the buttons for the CD. The sound of a rain shower began in the room with piano behind it; it was soothing. She rewrapped her arm and then sat down on the bed. Her head throbbed. It had b
een an extremely long day, and on top of it, she hadn’t managed to eat anything at all. She considered getting up to go make herself something. Sighing, she shook her head. She didn’t have the energy at that point. She moved to lean back against the headboard, sitting up.

  A half hour later she was half asleep when she heard a voice call out to her.

  “K, you here?” It was Terri.

  “Unfortunately,” Kana called back, grinning.

  Terri was always checking up on her. This was pretty normal for her, so Kana didn’t bother to even open her eyes.

  “I, uh, brought you something,” Terri said, walking into the bedroom.

  “Yeah?” Kana asked with a total lack of interest.

  She assumed Terri had brought her food, and she didn’t really feel like eating now. She just wanted to sleep.

  “Yeah,” Terri said, her tone holding such an odd note that Kana found it necessary to open her eyes.

  Standing in front of Terri was Palani. The first thing Kana noticed was that the girl looked damned good. She was wearing all black, including a leather miniskirt, lace-up bustier top, silk stockings, and high-heeled boots. Damn! was all she could think.

  Kana still wore blue jeans, a black Oxford-style shirt, her black hiking boots, her gun in its shoulder holster, and her badge clipped to her belt. She was the picture of a weary cop. It was the first thing Palani noticed about her.

  “Well, that being said, I’m out of here,” Terri said, grinning at Kana’s expression.

  Kana narrowed her eyes at Terri, but the other woman was already turning to leave, making a hasty exit.

  “You stood me up,” Palani said, her voice holding humor.

  Kana breathed a deep, weary sigh. “I’m sorry, I was just dusted.”

  Palani nodded, walking toward the bed, her eyes on Kana. “You look very tired.”

  “That’s because I’ve been up since about three this morning.”

  “And you just got home?” Palani asked, glancing at her watch and looking horrified.

  “About a half hour ago,” Kana said, checking the clock.

  “My God, no wonder,” Palani said, shaking her head.

  Kana turned, dropping her feet to the floor and leaning down to unlace her boots. Palani watched in fascination as Kana got up, pulling her gun out and depressing the magazine release to take out the ammunition clip. She then pulled the slide back to remove the chambered round, putting the bullet back into her ammunition clip. It was Kana’s standard routine, and she didn’t think anything of it, but to Palani it was fascinating. Kana shrugged out of her holster, hanging it on the valet next to her dresser. Reaching down, she unclipped her badge, laying it on the dresser next to her weapon. Glancing back, she noticed that Palani was watching her.

  “What?” Kana asked.

  Palani shook her head. “I’ve just never seen that kind of thing before,” she said honestly.

  “Don’t date too many cops, huh?” Kana asked, grinning.

  Palani smiled. “Not yet.”

  Kana narrowed her eyes at the younger woman, but she didn’t have the energy to counter that comment. Instead she went over to her walk-in closet.

  “Be right back.”

  She went into the closet and pulled off her boots, jeans, and shirt, changing into the sweats and black tank top she usually wore when she was home.

  Palani was sitting on the bed when she came back out. Kana moved to the other side of the bed, sitting back down and pulling her knees up to her chest, resting her bandaged arm on her knee gingerly.

  “What happened?” Palani asked.

  Kana shrugged. “Razor wire and inattention.”

  “Does it hurt?” Palani asked, noticing that there was blood seeping through the bandage.

  Kana shrugged again. “I’m too tired to notice at this point,” she said, grinning.

  Palani nodded. She wondered remotely if Kana was trying to hint that she wanted her to leave, but she was determined to stay until Kana asked her directly to go. They were both silent for a while. Kana closed her eyes, leaning her head back against the wall, stretching out one leg on the bed, the other still supporting her hurt arm. Palani tuned in to the music that flowed from the speakers, hearing the sound of the rain as it sounded like it was pouring down.

  “What is this?” she asked, turning to look in the direction of the stereo, actually putting her back to Kana.

  Kana’s eyes appreciatively perused Palani’s perfect shape in the outfit she wore, even as she answered her. “Some Spring Showers thing I got a while back.” She shrugged. “It’s soothing.”

  Palani nodded, listening to the music. Closing her eyes, she could picture the rain. She sighed deeply. “It reminds me of home,” she said wistfully.

  “Me too,” Kana said.

  They both listened for a few minutes. It seemed only natural when Palani moved back on the bed, closer to Kana. Kana reached out, putting her arm around Palani’s small waist. Palani leaned back against Kana’s shoulder, her head in the hollow there. Kana’s arm stayed around her waist. Kana grinned, noting that Palani seemed right at home. She had to admit to herself that it did feel awfully good to have Palani leaning against her.

  The song changed a few minutes later. The introduction was a roll of thunder, and then pouring-down rain. It changed to the sound of rain dripping.

  “This reminds me of the days when I’d sit on the lanai and listen to the rain,” Kana said, her tone melancholy. A lanai was what the Hawaiians called a covered balcony.

  Palani nodded. “The thing I loved most was the fact that one minute it would be pouring down rain, and the next the sun would come out and shine all over everything.”

  Kana laughed softly, nodding. “You never knew when it would open up and dump either.”

  “Nope,” Palani said, grinning. “But you could guess that the minute your mom finished hanging out the washing, that’s when it would rain.”

  “Yep, happened every time.”

  They were silent again for a while. Kana’s fingers stroked Palani’s stomach unconsciously. Palani sighed, reaching down to put her hand lightly over Kana’s. She was enjoying the simple pleasure of being there, not wanting to overthink it all too much.

  That night when she’d gotten to the club, she’d looked for Kana. Apparently, Kana had told Terri about her, since the tall blonde woman had come up to her and said, “Are you looking for Kana?”

  Palani had answered that yes, she was. Terri then told her that Kana wasn’t coming that evening, that she’d gotten held up at work. Palani’s mood had fallen. She’d been looking forward to seeing Kana again, imagining that she’d at least be able to coax her into kissing her again. Hoping somehow to change Kana’s mind about seeing her.

  Terri had apparently noticed how unhappy she was, because she’d bought her two drinks. In no time, Palani was telling Terri her whole story, and about how she was so sure Kana was Fate’s way of telling her what to do. Terri had nodded, glancing at her watch.

  “Come on,” she’d said, standing from her barstool.

  “Where are we going?” Palani had asked, not sure what Terri was thinking.

  “I’ll be back,” Terri told the other women at the table.

  She’d taken Palani’s hand then, leading her out of the bar. Palani was worried that Terri had mistaken her outpouring of whimpering as a come-on. Outside, Terri led Palani over to her car.

  “Where are we going?” Palani asked again, pulling her hand from Terri’s grasp and refusing to budge another inch.

  “I’m taking you to Kana’s house,” Terri said, grinning, sure she knew what Palani had been thinking. “I’m not saying I wouldn’t love a shot at you, but I also hate to see my friend miss her big chance.”

  Palani bit her lip in subdued excitement. “You’re taking me over there?”

  “Yeah,” Terri said, winking at her as she got in her car. “Don’t give me too much grief, or I’ll change my mind and take you to my place.”

  Palani laughed happily, getting in on the passenger side of the vehicle. Now, here she was with Kana, and she couldn’t think of anywhere she’d rather be. They just seemed to click, somehow.

  Palani moved sideways, turning to lean against Kana’s bent leg, looking at her. “What made you become a police officer?” she asked, wanting to know more about her.