Surrendering Series Box Set

That was another thing about love. It made you completely change your life to include another person, almost to the level that you didn’t know how to live without them anymore. It was both scary, and comforting at the same time. Comforting, especially after last night. I didn’t think he was going anywhere anytime soon.

“I don’t know how I can walk right now after last night,” I said as we gathered the rest of our things. He’d rented the room for another night, but I wasn’t sure if we could top last night.

Nope, that would probably kill me. I was going to need at least a day or two to recover. My poor ladyparts were exhausted. They needed a vacation from fucking.

Lucah held my hand on the walk back to work, and I got one more kiss before we got to the doors.

“Never forget.”

“I won’t.”

~*~*~

“You look happy,” Lilia said as I walked past her desk. “Any reason?” Sex. Lots of sex.

“Nope. Just woke up on the right side of the bed this morning.” I gave her a bright smile and practically skipped to my desk. I was still on my sex high, and it felt like nothing could bring me down from it.

And then I got an email from Violet, asking me if I wanted to have lunch with her. Obviously, I had made myself open to her, but that didn’t mean I was thrilled about it. Still, I was probably making a big deal out of nothing. Once I got there, I’d be fine.

So I sent her back an enthusiastic acceptance and she agreed to make reservations at a place just around the corner. It was much fancier than any place I’d usually go for lunch, but maybe the formal atmosphere would keep the conversation formal.

The rest of the morning I buried myself in work, but every ten or so minutes let my mind wander to the night before and a little of shiver of delight raced down my spine.

Lilia brought me a few things to sign and look over and halfway down the stack, there was a sticky note with one word written on it.

MINE.

I took it and stuck it on my computer. No one but Lucah would know what it meant, which made it even better. Just one more little piece of Lucah in my life.

I also found another of the notes in my purse. I bet he saved them all somewhere and they were going to randomly pop up in my life whenever I needed a reminder, which would probably be frequently.

Time before the lunch date sort of flew by and then it was time to meet Violet. I was trying to think of her as her own entity, separate from Lucah—as the woman who had rocked the interview, and I thought might be my new friend. It wasn’t her fault that she had a past with Lucah. I was NOT going to let that come between what might be a burgeoning friendship. At the very least the two of us had to work together and be able to make small talk.

So I practiced as I strode to the elevator, my clicking heels giving me comfort.

Violet was down in the lobby looking fabulous in a charcoal-colored fitted dress, yellow heels, and her hair in a twist. I looked her up and down, searching for a flaw, but I couldn’t find one, and then she turned and nearly caught me staring. That would have been awful.

“Violet, hi.”

“Hi, you look nice today. Love the shoes.” The more I learned about her, the more I wanted to like her.

“Same to you. So, shall we?” She nodded and we walked the short distance to the restaurant. It was quiet, despite the fact that it was the lunch hour. It even had a guy playing the piano. Did we have to tip him? Could we make requests? The hostess led us across the room and seated us at a table for two.

We sat and ordered drinks. I got a white peach sangria and she had the same. I needed a drink to get through this.

“Is this place okay? I wasn’t sure where you normally went. I’m still trying to get used to the city.”

“No, it’s great. I normally just go to the place across the street, actually. So, where did you live before you moved here?” I knew, since I’d seen her employment history, but this was where you started with small talk.

“I was in Springfield working for a small cable network. I loved it, but this was always where I wanted to be.”

She talked more about moving to the city and the perils of finding a decent and affordable apartment and roommates, and by the time our salads came (a Waldorf for me and a cobb for her) I was telling her the best places to go to get decently priced shoes.

In the back of my mind I kept telling myself that she and I had more in common than just shoes. We had both fucked the same guy. That was the thought I had to keep shoving aside and trying to forget. But it would only be shoved aside for so long.

We both ordered dessert (I was thrilled that she went for the molten chocolate cake and not the vegan gluten-free and probably taste-free cookie topped with soy ice cream), and it finally came up.

“I’m sorry about the other day, and being weird about Lucah and coming into your office and confronting you about it. I’ve felt funny about it ever since. I mean, it really has nothing to do with anything. That’s the first thing you’re never supposed to do, bring your personal life into the office, but I did and I’m sorry. Again.”