Page 37 of Relentless Pursuit

“Sure.” She widened the door and motioned for her friend to come inside. “What’s up?”

“I have a potential match.”

“That’s great,” Kayla said. Connie had been waiting a few weeks for Blake and his team to find her someone. “You must be excited.”

“I’m nervous.”

“Really? You’ve done this before.”

“It still makes me anxious.”

“I get it. It’s new, and you don’t know what to expect.” Kayla had anxious knots in her stomach any time she was with Julian.

“He’s older, rich, and looking for someone to take to parties and work functions over the holidays. He travels quite a bit and needs me to be available for that.”

“Is that something you’re interested in?”

“I think so.” She glanced at the box on the table. “What’s that?”

“A gift.”

“From Julian?” Connie looked at the card, quickly reading it before picking up the bag. “This is amazing.” She put the strap on her shoulder and looked in the mirror hanging by the window. “Do you know how much this cost?”

“I have an idea.”

“What did you have to do for this?”

“What? Nothing. I don’t know.”

“Don’t be so offended. You had sex with him, right?”

She nodded, not entirely comfortable discussing her sex life. It wasn’t that she was embarrassed, but the things they had shared weren’t exactly normal. Were they?

“He’s a very generous man.” Connie put the bag on the sofa. “As long as he treats you with respect and doesn’t ask you to do something you don’t want to do, then you shouldn’t feel weird about keeping his gifts. You knew the terms going in.”

“I like him.”

“That’s a good thing.”

“More than I probably should.” Kayla pulled her hair from the rubber band and shook it out. “I know what I agreed to. I’m the one who wanted the uninhibited sex with no commitment, but I didn’t expect it to be with the one guy I could see spending forever with.”

“Julian doesn’t do forever.” Connie frowned. “I don’t know how you ended up with him.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” She noticed that whenever Connie mentioned Julian, her friend would throw in little digs about Kayla not being totally compatible with him. Kayla tried to dismiss her friend’s comments as resentment because she hadn’t found a match yet. Maybe now that Blake had found someone for Connie, things wouldn’t be so awkward.

“It means you’re not strong enough to just do sex. You two knew one another before meeting at Sapphire. He doesn’t do relationships, and you want one with him. He had to know that. I don’t understand what he was thinking. And Blake? He’s usually not this careless.”

“I can be what he wants. I told him that, and in return, he’ll give me what I need.” Maybe if she kept telling herself that she would eventually believe it. “Didn’t you come here asking me for a favor?” She wanted to change the subject before Connie pissed her off. “Did you want to borrow a dress or something? Although, I think you look really hot. Are you meeting your match tonight?”

“Yes,” she said. “We’re going to have a drink at the club and get to know one another a bit.”

“Cool.”

“Will you come with me?”

“To Sapphire?”No, I can’t. Not there.

“Yes, just until he shows up and I feel comfortable. I don’t want to walk in alone.”

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