Page 51 of Strictly Business : A Lesbian Romance

along from start to finish. She was so confused that she could feel her

temples starting to throb, signalling a headache coming on.

“I— I appreciate your offer,” she stammered again, not at all confident

in what words would come from her snarled up thoughts. “But I— would I

be able to think about it for a while?”

Christina’s eyes shifted again, this time to the projector on the middle of

the table, but they quickly darted back to Taylor’s face. Something was

definitely not right.

“Sure.” She managed to sound reassuring, and Taylor envied that

quick recovery. When she felt frazzled, it took her forever to calm down.

“Would you like me to call you tomorrow morning?”

Taylor had no idea how long it would take her to make a decision. She

was apparently being given twenty-four hours. She wanted to ask for more

time, but she nodded. “Can you check in then?” There. That way she wasn’t

committing to anything. She didn’t say that she’d have an answer.

“Absolutely.” Christina pushed back her chair and extended a hand. She

had a small silver or white gold band with a tiny green stone on her index

finger, but nothing on her left hand.

Taylor quickly shook it. Her fingers tingled at the contact and her lungs

burned from holding her breath. She snatched her hand back as quickly as

possible and, face burning with embarrassment for even checking

Christina’s left hand for a ring, she ducked down and pulled out the crinkled

paperwork from the day before. She passed it over. “Here. You’ll probably

want this.”

“Thank you.” Christina’s smile was easy enough, but Taylor thought she

saw uncertainty or even something bordering on panic in those frosty blue

eyes. She studied Christina’s smile, but just found her stomach clenching

when she truly let herself notice how lush and full Christina’s lips were.

“Thanks,” Taylor mumbled, flustered. She picked up her bag and

shouldered it. Christina moved to see her out, and Taylor walked quickly.

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