Page 27 of Breaking the Sinner

“It was a joke, but I’ll be sure to be clearer next time. Obviously, it went well. You’re smiling like you won the lottery.”

Gen sighed, sinking into the armchair by the couch. “You know I don’t gamble. But you know what? I feel like I did. Because I did win the lottery. Instead of money, I got to taste life.”

A smile crept across Sophie’s face. “So what was your favorite flavor from today’s sampling of life?”

Gen splayed back on the chair, tossing her hand back dramatically. “The fact that every single thing he utters is sexy. Can that be a flavor? If it is, I am only ordering this flavor from now on.”

Sophie snorted. “You’re in love.”

“Am I?” Gen furrowed her brows. “I’m pretty sure I’m not.”

“I’m kidding, hon. So, you gonna keep seeing this guy or what?”

“Uh, yeah. He’s helping me with the list. We made ground rules and everything.”

Sophie nodded. “Smart move. Like signing a prenup.”

“What’s a prenup?”

“Like a contract people draw up before they get married.” Sophie snapped her book shut, setting it aside. “Prenuptial agreement. To protect them when things go awry.”

Gen nibbled on her lip. She’d wanted the rules to protect herself, as a small fish in the infinite pond of LA. But why did Cobra want to protect himself? What did he have to worry about?

“He said we should put a time limit on it. What do you think about that?”

Sophie shook the foot dangling over the arm rest, squinting at the wall as she thought. “I think that makes sense.”

“But how does a time limit help anything?”

“It helps you two not fall in love.”

Sophie’s words settled like dead weight. “Oh. That’s not even a possibility. That’s not why I’m doing this.”

“Well…it could happen. I mean, once you have sex with him, you’re gonna think you’re in love.”

Gen picked at the hem of her shorts. “Who says we’re having sex?”

Sophie’s laugh tinkled through the living room. “Oh, come on, Gen. That’s what this is about. For him, at least.”

Heat shivered through her. She felt like she should be upset about that, but she couldn’t be. Sexwasan end goal. “And for me, too.”

“Exactly. Making a time limit is a nice way to wrap things up. Makes things less complicated.”

“What should I say then?” Gen threw her hands up in the air. “A year?”

“Oh, come on! A year? You might as well ask him to marry you now.” Sophie snorted. “Think shorter term. How long are you trying to stay in LA?”

Gen squeezed the arm rests. It was harder to organize a hookup than she’d expected. When she’d imagined last year what it might be like to find a lover, it had involved a quick verbal agreement and maybe a handshake. Yet another relic of her naïve former self.

“At least a few months. If all goes well, Holt Body Fitness will be the launch pad for my trip to Europe. But if I can’t get it together…I could be here indefinitely. Or maybe even go back home early.”

Sophie nodded. “There you go. The end date can be when you want to go abroad.”

Gen drifted through the apartment as if she were full of helium, both Cobra’s and Sophie’s words rattling around inside her. There were so many things she had to do still, but traveling abroad was one of the highest items on her list.

She’d spent her girlhood wondering about the rest of the world. In her homeschooling, she’d learned about America’s neighbors on the globe, but only as far as being able to identify continents on a map. Sure, Greece and Denmark existed, but what were those placeslike? What did they eat? Did they have bunkers, too? These questions had plagued her childhood.

Answers finally began trickling in in the form of daytime travel programs that held her captive during her rehabilitation in the hospital. Anthony Bourdain had led her to choppy, stinky coves in Asia, while Rick Steves had murmured appreciatively about the rolling hills of Italy.

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