Page 35 of Nothing to Fear

“You’re private about your age, okay, but don’t tell me you’re still a teenager.”

“No.” Another laugh; its warmth and ease coated her like a blanket. “Not a minor.”

“And were you a saint in your teen years? When you were young and horny?”

“I never forced a woman to get me off.”

Jimmy would probably say the same. People processed the same event in different ways, lit by the angle of their specific lens. Another’s lens may be calibrated to an opposing perspective.

“Sometimes guys just take it too far.”

“Sometimes a woman has to speak up,” he said with an unexpected stern air. “You should talk to your employer about security and your building manager too.”

“Neither of those people are present when I’m getting intimate. And I like to think I’m more assertive now than I was at fifteen.”

“Not if you’re letting your partner get themselves off in you without demanding a return.”

“You can’t force someone to care about your needs. They do or they don’t.”

“If they don’t, they shouldn’t get a chance with you.”

“Now I know why you’re not married.”

“Why’s that?”

Wow, not so judgment free tonight.

“Impossible standards. Are you saying if you were with an incredible woman who checked all but one of the boxes, you’d dump her if you couldn’t get off in her?”

“You’d spend your life with a man who didn’t care about your pleasure?”

“I haven’t found a man to spend my life with. I hope when I find him, I’ll talk to him about everything, including that.”

Though could she visualize that potential future? No. Not when it was impossible to trust anyone.

“There’s nothing wrong with guiding a partner.”

“How come sex is always a part of our conversation? You talk about sex with all your clients?”

“If you think I’m being inappropriate—”

“Hey, what is wrong with you tonight? You’re on edge.”

“I apologize.”

“Don’t apologize, talk to me. Is it your family? Women problems? If you have something pressing or concerning, go, be where you need to be. I’m okay, we can talk another time.”

“This is where I need to be,” he said. “This is helping.”

“That I don’t believe. Tell me.”

“I upset someone,” he said. “Someone important.”

“I’m sorry. Can’t you apologize?”

“I will, but I don’t know if it’ll make a difference.” He sighed. “I hoped you’d call tonight.”

“You did? Why?”

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