Page 10 of Until You

“You could try Tinder or one of those new dating apps.”

“I have, but right now I don’t have time for a real relationship.” Plus, her job involved so much secrecy…it was hard to get close to a man when her job was the sum of her existence, and her NDA kept her from discussing it. It had all led to a string of meaningless relationships that had left her feeling emptier with every breakup. Not that she’d been looking for something meaningful. The thought of a serious relationship made her want to break out in hives.

Brittany studied her face. “Don’t you get lonely?”

The question chafed, but she brushed it off with a snort. “I’m here with you. Of course I’m not lonely.”

“You’ve seen me three times in the two months you’ve been here, and you only have one month left. Both of our schedules are about to become insane, which means we’ll spend even less time together.” She paused, and tears filled her eyes. “Who’s your person? The one you call when you have a shitty day? Once upon a time, it used to be me.”

The question was a double-edged sword, not only reminding Lanie how alone she actually was, but that she’d lost her cousin along the way too.

She opened her mouth to answer, still unsure what to say, when the waitress appeared with their drinks. She set two tall glasses in front of them, each topped with a lemon slice. “We didn’t have pink lemonade, so the bartender used regular lemonade. And he included tequila along with the vodka.”

“Tequila and vodka?” Britt asked.

“And beer,” the waitress said.

“Perfect,” Lanie said, picking up her glass and taking a sip.

After the waitress took the two women’s orders, Britt picked up her glass and took a tentative sip. “This isn’t so bad.”

“But it’s strong as hell, so be careful.”

Britt took another healthy drink.

“Now that we have our fortitude, we can have the talk.” Lanie folded her hands on the table and tried to look serious. “Now, when a man loves a woman…”

“Stop.” Bitt laughed. “I know about sex. We both know I lost my virginity my freshman year of college.”

Lanie gave her a naughty grin. “And with your matching dildos, it sounds like you’ll have even more experience than me.”

“Not matching. Randy’s is several inches shorter and much narrower.” Britt took another sip, then added, “But he’s got no reason to be jealous of mine. His manhood is much broader than my dildo.”

Lanie held up both hands in surrender. “Whoa! TMI. The next time I see Randy, I don’t want to be thinking about his manhood.”

“He definitely knows how to use it.” Britt gave a little shimmy. “He’s got this move where he—”

“That’s enough!”

“Which one of us needs the drink now?” her cousin asked with a wink.

Lanie picked up her glass and took a sip. “You win.”

Britt turned serious. “Who’s your person, Lane? I’m not that easily distracted.”

She hesitated. “My assistant. Stephanie.”

“Your employee?”

“She’s not my employee. She works for the same company. We travel together. We spend a lot of time together. We’re friends.”

“That’s sad.”

“How is that sad?”

“All you have is work. Once that goes away, will you still be friends?”

The hair on the back of Lanie’s neck stood on end. “Who said my work is going away?”

---