Page 121 of Strictly Business : A Lesbian Romance

“No,” Christina said cautiously.

“But you do?”

“No. I— I mean— I have questions and doubts. Not regrets.”

Taylor reached for Christina’s hand. She set hers on the table and

Christina unpeeled hers from around her coffee cup. She knew she probably

shouldn’t do it, because touch between them seemed to be an explosive, out

of control thing, but she wrapped her fingers around Taylor’s anyway.

“I know that you probably think that we can’t date and work together.”

Christina must have looked surprised because Taylor giggled. “Sorry. Not

trying to creep you out. I can just tell because of the way you’re— well—

meticulous about your work and your appearance. I know you want to put a

good image out there. I rely mostly on emotion, which isn’t necessarily a

good thing. I’ve been fired from my last three jobs. I haven’t been to

college. I don’t have nice things to wear. I don’t have a lot of money, but I

do know that some jobs require people to dress and act a certain way

because that inspires confidence and trust. So, here’s my proposal. I think

we should give whatever we have going on a chance. I know that’s

probably surprising to you because before last night you didn’t even think

that I liked you.”

“Correct.”

“I didn’t know that I did.” Taylor laughed. She was taking everything so

in stride, that it was astounding. She didn’t appear worried or anxious at all.

It was refreshing for Christina. If Taylor wanted to talk about reassurances,

it was also comforting. “I guess I was in denial about what I was feeling.

Attraction. I was attracted to you and that made me wary. When I was

fighting you, I was really fighting that.”

“What’s different now?”

“Well, we took a chance on emotion and physical chemistry and all the

things everyone says not to listen to, and it was really— um— amazing. At

least I thought it was. I know that we can work together, and I think we’d

---