Page 127 of Strictly Business : A Lesbian Romance

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“I can’t tell with you either. You seem so confident.”

Christina nodded. She didn’t know what to say to that, because she

knew that she projected a certain image. She’d worked hard to make it

appear like she had it all together. Her father taught her all about how to

perfect that and not much else. She suspected that under the brusque, hard

surface, her dad was quite unhappy and had been for years. She grabbed her

bag and her coffee. She knew she was taking a seriously huge leap, but at

thirty-five, if she didn’t jump sometime, would she ever? Taylor wasn’t just

any lake or river, or whatever water fit best with that metaphor of diving in.

She was special. She was the most beautiful, placid, sweet water on earth.

Water with healing properties. Water that was just so cold and delicious,

and Christina felt so, so parched.

“I guess we should go if we want to make it back to get any work done.

I brought my tablet. I have a bunch of brochure and pamphlet designs to

show you.” There was her confidence, slowly returning. She didn’t feel like

she had to fake it. She felt strangely comforted by their conversation. Like

she didn’t have to run and hide and figure out a strategy for avoidance. In

fact, she’d lost the need for escape altogether.

Taylor grinned. She grabbed her coffee and her bag too. “I thought you

might.”

Chapter 18

Taylor

Time might officially run and order the world, but it was ultimately an

illusion. Taylor had often remarked that time changed as she got older.

Maybe not time, but her perception of it. Since she’d made the pitch for her

business, it was hard to believe that so much had changed. So much had

been accomplished. Time itself seemed to speed up.

Taylor wasn’t sure where the weeks leading to Thanksgiving had gone.

That day in the coffee shop where she fought for something that she didn’t

even know that she had wanted, for someone that she realized was so much

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