Page 56 of Secret Submission

“Wouldn’t it be a better reminder if it just wasn’t there at all?” Camille hmphed. “And I know. I’m just cranky because my coffee didn’t taste right this morning.”

“Where is Freddy now?” Julie asked. She knew Camille wouldn’t be griping if Freddy could overhear. It wasn’t as if having a different system for the milk was a deal breaker, but it was one of the few hiccups the couple had hit since moving in together.

There was a moment of silence.

“At the store,” Camille finally muttered begrudgingly.

Julie had to laugh, and she could hear Olivia doing the same. So, he was already in the process of fixing his so-called ‘mistake.’

Camille cleared her throat, talking over her friends’ laughter. “So maybe Connor’s flaw will be equally benign.”

Maybe. Or maybe it would slowly creep into their lives the longer they stayed together, until one day, she realized that there was a big problem that she’d never noticed because it had taken so long for it to grow big. Like a frog sitting in slowly heating water, only realizing too late that it was being cooked.

Yeah, she didn’t have to say the words out loud to realize that some of her issues with John were rearing their ugly head again. Because she was introducing Connor to her family tomorrow? Because he was the first man she’d seriously dated since her divorce? Because her feelings for him were already growing faster than she was comfortable with?

Because of all the above?

Ding, ding, ding.

“You can’t tell me we’re not moving too fast,” she said. At least she got to work some dough while she had this conversation. Stretching and folding worked her arm muscles and gave her something physical to do.

“What’s too fast?” Camille asked. “Is there even such a thing as too fast?” She sounded way too much like Julie’s therapist, Dr. Sime.

“Too fast is…” Julie huffed. “Too fast is getting in over your head emotionally without thinking through the ramifications. Too fast is feeling things before you really know the person. It’s emotion based on nothing.”

“So, you think your emotions for Connor are based on nothing?” Olivia’s amusement was clear. “Not the fact that he’s paid a lot of attention to your likes and dislikes and showered you with attention for a year before revealing himself? And after he did reveal himself, it turned out that what he wants from a sexual relationship is exactly what you want? And that he’s just as attentive, if not more so, in person? And that you have a whole bunch in common?”

“Well, when you put it that way,” Julie muttered. Yes, she and Connor liked a lot of the same things. Both of them enjoyed music, though she was a little pickier in her selections, but that just meant he was happy to listen to what she wanted to. They both liked action movies. Sure, his tastes ran more toward superheroes, while hers ran more toward Jason Bourne, but they’d both be happy watching each other’s choices.

While she’d gotten an appreciation for independent films and documentaries while with John—since that was all he’d ever watch—she preferred things a little more lighthearted. A little less bleak. Why her ex had constantly wanted to watch depressing things, she’d never understood.

And Connor had already indicated a willingness to watch her movies with her, something John had only done a handful of times the entire time they were together. She’d stopped trying to watch with him after that because it wasn’t worth the complaining and the constant critiques. She didn’t care if there were plot holes big enough to drive a spaceship through. She just wanted to watch fun movies.

Considering how often she’d watched extremely depressing or even horrific movies for him, without complaining, she hadn’t understood why he couldn’t do the same for her.

Because he was a self-involved douchebag.

Right.

Connor wasn’t.

“You’re right.” She sighed. “I know it’s all in my head. I mean, I’m sure there will be a flaw eventually, but I do know some of my issues come from my own baggage.”

“Don’t worry,” Camille’s voice was full of false sympathy. “I’m sure some kind of flaw will reveal itself soon.”

“Maybe he snores,” Olivia suggested.

“He doesn’t.” At least, he hadn’t the couple of nights they’d done sleepovers. Snoring wasn’t a deal breaker for her, anyway. People couldn’t help if they snored. Though, that would be the perfect example of a flaw that wouldn’t cause her to run, which was probably Olivia’s point.

“Maybe he doesn’t return the shopping cart at the grocery store.”

“Maybe he only does laundry once a month.”

“Maybe he slurps his soup.”

Julie started laughing as her friends threw out suggestions of things Connor might do, but she was pretty sure he didn’t. Shaking her head, she moved her dough to the two Dutch ovens she had prepped for the job and put them in before going to wash her hands.

“You two are ridiculous,” she admonished as she cleaned off her hands. But they’d done what they’d meant to do—cheered her up and reminded her that not all flaws meant the end of things. It was a good reminder. Connor wasn’t John. Even at the beginning of her relationship with John, there had been little things she’d ignored. Little signs. They hadn’t been obvious red flags, but there had been things she’d put up with that she hadn’t wanted to—like the movies—because everything else had been so good. Especially the sex.

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