Page 43 of Seduce

“Not people in the lifestyle, but outside of it, yes.”

“They don’t understand?”

“There is that. My ex-girlfriend thought I could do better in life than make adult toys.”

“Based on what I saw of your home, I’d say you’re doing pretty darn well.”

“I have a good clientele.”

“Does that include the adult film industry?”

“It does.” He flashed her a smile. “What started off as a small thing turned into a big business for me.”

“I love it.” She stood and picked up their plates. “I think it’s fantastic you can do something you love, and it makes you money.”

“What about you?” He followed her with their empty coffee mugs. “Do you love being a librarian?”

“Actually, I do.” She did love her job. “My job is good to me, and I’m lucky enough to make a good salary.”

“I hear a but in there.”

“Yes and no. When I was in high school, I really wanted to work in a museum.”

“The Smithsonian.”

“Yep. There’s so much history in DC. I wanted to explore it all.”

“I hear the passion in your voice. Why didn’t you pursue history and find your niche? I can’t see you being afraid of hard work.”

“It wasn’t that.” She pushed away from the sink. “My father is in politics, and that makes life a little more difficult.”

“You mentioned your father didn’t approve of you going into library science.”

“He didn’t. He also didn’t want me getting a degree in art or archeology or museum studies either. I really wanted to be a curator, so that meant master’s degree, the work experience, and possibly a PhD. After all that, library science was a better option.

Damon rubbed his forehead. “I don’t see what the issue was. You don’t strike me as someone who gives up that easily. Especially for a career you clearly wanted to have.”

“You have to think about politics. Perception is everything and so is appearance. While working for a museum is an honorable job, those jobs were for other people, not me. My father wanted me to find a young man who had political aspirations and become the best political wife in the world.”

“Tessa, you’re a great woman, but I can’t see you holding your tongue with some of these, shall we say, not too bright politicians. Including your father.”

She snorted. “You have that right. At one party, someone was talking—I can’t even remember about what—and they had the facts all wrong. I gently corrected him, and I got this, ‘Oh honey, you’re so cute. Now go run along.’ I lost it. Let me tell you, no one was a happy camper after the party. Especially my father.”

“I would’ve loved to see you let them have it.” He guided her to her sofa. “So, since you have the day off, what shall we do?” His fingers played with her hair.

“Don’t you have work to do?”

“I’m fine. I do need to run over to Colby’s shop to see if he can make us some new wristbands.”

“Colby? “

“Yeah, he runs Durham’s Leather Shop.”

“Oh, that new place that opened down the street from Lara’s cafe.”

“That’s it.”

“Okay. News reports say most of the damage and power outages are on the way out of town, not in town. Except for the library. There’s a big tree in the parking lot. Go do what you need to do, and we can have dinner tonight in town.”

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