Page 29 of James

Wordlessly, James and Laura moved to the table and Julie took up her post at the bar.

“Hello again,” James said.

“Hi, I’m sorry I tried to run away,” Laura began tersely. “But I haven’t heard from you in weeks and then you turn up here and push me up against the wall?”

“Right. That… I didn’t think about that. I couldn’t think at all. I saw you and it was all I could do not to just grab you.” He ran a hand over his stubbled chin ruefully. “I guess what I actually did wasn’t much better. I’m sorry.”

“Okay, well… I guess I can forgive you for that.”

James smiled and raised his arm as if to take her hand. Laura held her posture stiff and leaned away. Why did the man have to be so gorgeous and smell so good?

After a moment, James lowered his arm again. “I’m sorry, too, Laura. For what it’s worth, I’ve been trying to find you all this time, but all I had was your name and it’s not exactly unique. I knew what you did, but not where you worked. I knew where you did your shopping and your laundry, and I hung out there until the Hy-Vee threatened to have me arrested for solicitation, but I never saw you.”

“You could have come to see me at the hospital,” Laura said in a small voice.

“I tried! They wouldn’t let me in! I wasn’t on your contact list.”

“My--?”Do you want us to call anyone or put anyone down for visits? “Oh,” she said, hot with embarrassment.

“Oh,” he said back at her, but not in a mean way.

Laura’s stiff shoulders unlocked and slowly fell. “I know I’m not being fair. I know that. I just can’t help feeling… When I didn’t hear from you, I figured I was just another notch on your bedpost, and you weren’t really interested in me. I was embarrassed that I’d let myself be used like that.”

“Laura, no.” Horror stricken, he blinked. “I wouldn’t do that to any woman. We had something special that night. I got to the hospital, but they wouldn’t tell me anything. I didn’t know if you were still there or not. They wouldn’t even give you my phone number.”

“I know. I know! And they even asked me… but I just didn’t think…” She tugged on the collar of her blouse and darted a glance at James. “I’m sorry I thought badly of you. Our night together was special for me, too.”

“Maybe we could continue this conversation with a little more privacy?” James suggested, his tone reflecting a desire to prevent any further retreat on her part.

She swallowed and considered his proposal. “I’d rather stay here, if it’s okay with you. Julie doesn’t need to be my guard dog anymore, though.” She waved Julie over to tell her, and added, “but would you please tell Kate and Chris we’d rather not be disturbed?”

“Sure thing.” Julie beamed and bounced away, much like Abby would.

“Would you like to order some dinner?” James asked.

“Why not? Can we get a menu?”

After they had ordered food, James put out his hand. “Hi, I’m James Black,” he said with a broad smile. “I work in construction, and I’m known as a good Dom.”

Laura smiled and decided to play along. “I’m Laura Turner. I work in IT. I’m new to all of this, but I think I’m a submissive.”

“Oh, Suzie, you won’t believe what happened tonight!” Laura exclaimed over the phone.

“What? Is something wrong?” Even through the line, Suzie’s alarm was evident in her tone of voice.

“No, no, something’s right, for a change,” Laura reassured her sister. “Remember James, the man from the laundromat? He was at the munch tonight. We talked and it was wonderful. I felt such a powerful connection.”

Suzie interrupted with a pointed, “And did he explain why he didn’t call you?”

“Yes, and you’re right. We didn’t exchange any personal information. You told me so. Turns out he’s been looking for me these last three months. He’s been going to the laundromat ever since it reopened, hoping I would show up. Isn’t that romantic?”

“I can see the Hallmark movie now,Love Among the Suds,” Suzie drawled. “So what are you going to do now? Are you going to see him again?”

“Yes. He invited me out for dinner a week from Friday. I’m so excited.” Laura gave up on adulting and did a silly little Abby-dance with the telephone pressed to her ear.

“Where is he taking you?”

Giddy with excitement, Laura exclaimed, “Swagat at Zona Rosa Town Center!”

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