Free Taking Chances by S.J. Maylee Page A

without any underwear on
should have made her feel perverse, but it didn’t. She wondered if she was
changing or awakening.
    Certainly it seemed strange to go about your
business and be aware of your bare mons the entire time.
She smiled at her desk and was thankful for its side panels. There would be no
flashing today.
    The notes were probably still in her purse. She sat,
reaching in the bottom drawer and dug into the bottomless bag.
    “How are things going with Jake? Are you still
seeing him outside the office?”
    Lydia raised her head to explain they weren’t seeing
each other. Yet. Her heart soared with her excitement,
and then plummeted when she realized the question was not directed at her.
    “Absolutely, we’re going as strong as ever. Just
last Friday he met me at the club. He has pretty wicked fingers.” Gina wiggled
her fingers in the air.

Chapter
Seven
     
    She ripped her purse out of the drawer, pushed items
around with too much force for the defenseless ChapStick and brush in her way. Finally, she found the note she’d come for. She stared at
her handwritten questions and wondered how she’d gotten so off course. She
needed to stop her downward spiral, needed to pull her emotions back in line. She
slipped the note into the shredder, and escaped the room.
    In a bee-line, she made it to the upstairs bathroom.
She threw herself into the chair and wanted to bury herself in her hands, but that
would be weak. Lydia refused to let in the eager emotion. A breakdown was not necessary.
    Last Friday was last week and long before yesterday.
Jake hadn’t claimed he was celibate, but was he dating Gina? It certainly would
explain the attention Gina had been paying her the last couple of days. Last
night, she had given her body and she was tempted to give him more, but how could
she now? She had no desire to enter a sex triangle. Tears filled her lower eye
lids and threatened to overflow.
    Gina.
Why did it have to be Gina?
    If Jake couldn’t see past Gina’s veneer, there was
no way he would value what Lydia could offer. She forced her chin to stay high
as a tear rolled down her check.
    The door creaked open. “Lydia?”
    “Leave me alone, Jake. I’ll be out in a minute.” She
angled her face away from the door, and their stare caught in the mirror.
    He stormed into the bathroom.
    He knelt at her side. “Honey, please talk to me.
Tell me what happened.” His thumb wiped away the next tear ready to fall.
    “Why didn’t you tell me you were seeing Gina?”
    “What? I’m not. Who put that idea in your head?”
    “Gina.”
    He lowered his head. He was caught. Lydia had to
smile. Jake was no different. Men were scum. She could take comfort in their
consistency.
    His hands took hers. He rubbed his thumbs over the backs
of her hands. She instinctively squeezed back, trying to take the last minutes back.
She still wanted the possibility of a future with him, and the realization
caused the ache to deepen.
    His gaze found hers.
    “Gina is an unattached submissive, and she frequents
the club, as do I. I may not be in a relationship, but I do seek to fulfill my
needs and needs of other unattached subs. Gina knows full well the extent of
our scenes. I have never seen her outside of the club.”
    “What does that mean? You touch her, but you don’t
care about her?”
    “You could look at it that way—”
    She removed herself from his touch and found solace
on the other side of the small room.
    “That’s … I don’t know. I don’t understand.” Her sight
focused on the floor as she tried to reconcile the man she thought she knew to
the one she saw now.
    “Lydia, ask me questions,
or let me explain. Don’t make assumptions.”
    “Assumptions!” She
turned abruptly to face him. A big breath allowed her to calm her voice. “I’m
not assuming anything. You just told me. At the club you touch other woman
regularly. No wonder you don’t want me there. I’d probably put a crimp in your style.”
    “Lydia, I