Page 117 of The Paid Wife: A Lesbian Romance

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She could eat cheese melted onto a plate. She could be

childish and silly, even just for a few minutes, and good God,

that was just so wonderful.

“You know what this needs?” Dani asked.

“What?” Emily gasped out between fits of laughter.

“Wine.”

Wine was probably a bad idea, but Emily figured a glass or

two couldn’t hurt. She was barely of legal drinking age, but

that was the one thing her parents had allowed her to have at

fancy dinners or for holidays. A glass of red or white, not full,

and always something that paired well with the food they were

having. She’d never been allowed to sip wine just for the sake

of having it.

“Alright,” Emily said, half mystified. Dani seemed so exotic

with her melted cheese, her own place, her own shop. No, that

wasn’t why. It was because she was different. She was

mysterious. There was so much more to her than what the

surface said, Emily could just tell. Plus, she read tarot, which

was about as mystical as it got in Emily’s sheltered experience.

“Not too much though,” she added quickly. “Despite how

much I’d like to annoy my parents, my dad was right about

one thing. I can’t keep cutting class. I better go tomorrow.”

Dani lifted a shoulder and shrugged. “Okay. Red or white?”

“Um, I don’t know. Surprise me.”

“Red goes with cheese, but you have to drink it warm,

which I’ve always thought was gross. I do have a bottle,

though, if you want. It’s dry and nasty. I got two because they

were on sale for a better price if you bought more than one. I

drank the first one, but it was disgusting.”

Emily bit down on another piece of cheese so that she

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