Her Surrender (Irresistibly Bound 2)

“Yes, of course.”

Lindsey didn’t want it. She needed it. She should have been grateful to have a job at all, let alone one that paid this well. Half her art school classmates were working at Starbucks. Plus, she’d been in a car accident almost a year ago that had left her with a steep medical bill. A few years working at Prime Life Insurance, and she could make a serious dent in her debt.

But the idea of doing this for a few years was soul-crushing.

“You know how it works,” her boss said. “We have quotas to meet both individually and as a team. You need to pick things up.”

“I know,” Lindsey said. “I’ll work harder, Mr. Grant.”

“Good.” He gave her a wide smile that looked more like a grimace. “Why don’t you get back to work? I want to see that fresh-faced, energetic employee you were when you started here.”

Lindsey left her boss’s office and returned to her cubicle. She slid her headset back on and brought up a list of names and phone numbers on her monitor.

As she stared at the screen, all the numbers seemed to blur together. Her dreams seemed more out of reach than ever. She was never going to pay off all this debt, let alone make it to Europe. At age 23, she still hadn’t fallen in love. And her sketchbook was at the bottom of a box somewhere, untouched since she finished art school.

Lindsey opened her desk drawer and glanced at the phone inside it. She had a message. Th

e office had a strict ‘no cell phones’ policy, but she didn’t care. Looking behind her to make sure no one was around, Lindsey picked up her phone and read the message. It was from her friend Faith.

Do you have plans tonight?

Just grabbing the last of my stuff from my old apartment, then I’ll be right over, Lindsey sent back.

Lindsey’s apartment building had been shut down for the foreseeable future because of a dangerous black mold infestation. For now, she was sleeping on Faith’s couch. With the housing market in the city as competitive as it was, Lindsey was struggling to find a place within her budget. She wasn’t exactly broke, but money was tight.

Faith’s reply came through. Great! We’re going to celebrate the fact that we’re roommates again.

Lindsey grinned. She and Faith had lived together during art school. They’d had plenty of fun together. Not to mention that they’d gotten up to plenty of trouble.

Lindsey looked up from her phone and glanced toward Mr. Grant’s office. He was standing by the window, staring straight at her.

Crap. Lindsey stashed her phone in her drawer. She’d better get back to work. She dialed the next phone number on her list.

“This is Lindsey from Prime Life Insurance. How are you today?”

Lindsey fished the spare key to Faith’s apartment out of her handbag and unlocked the front door. She dragged her suitcase inside. “Faith? I’m here.”

There was no answer, but Lindsey could hear the shower running. She walked into the living room, set her suitcase down, and eyed the old, gray couch that was now her bed. Lindsey had crashed on it several times before. At the very least, it wasn’t too uncomfortable. And Faith sometimes stayed overnight with the family she worked for as a nanny, so she’d given Lindsey permission to sleep in her bed when she wasn’t coming home for the night.

Lindsey opened her suitcase and rummaged through her clothes. She wanted to change out of her stifling work outfit, but she had no idea what Faith’s plans for the two of them involved. Lindsey hoped it was nothing too crazy. It had been a long week, and she was feeling drained.

Faith entered the living room, dressed in sweatpants and a tee, her dark curly hair tied back in a messy bun. She flopped down onto the couch. “All moved in?”

“Yep.” Lindsey sat down next to her. “Thanks again for letting me stay with you. I promise I’ll be out of your hair soon.”

“Take your time,” Faith said. “It’ll be fun to be roommates again. It’ll be just like old times.”

“I’ll try not to cramp your style when you bring guys home. Or girls.”

“I’ve given up on guys. Girls are much more fun.”

“It must be nice to have that choice,” Lindsey said. Faith’s sexuality, according to her, was that she ‘liked people’ and that was that. She never bothered to put a label on it. Lindsey envied that about Faith. She always seemed so self-assured.

Lindsey looked Faith up and down. “What’s with the sweatpants? I thought we had plans tonight?”

“We do,” Faith replied. “We’re staying in and doing what we used to do on Friday nights when we lived together.”

“You’re not serious, are you?”