Page 6 of Life After

Jen’s cheeks reddened. “You really don’t have to do that. It was no trouble at all, and I had to head back this way to get home anyway.”

“I’d like to…”

Come on, Jen. Let’s have a little fun. Suzanne wanted to say that out loud, but she wouldn’t. Jen probably wasn’t interested, and she was likely involved already. While getting carried away with herself, Suzanne hadn’t stopped to contemplate that for a moment. Well, she had, but she still found herself flirting regardless.

“Unless you’re not single?”

Jen narrowed her eyes at Suzanne. “Iamsingle, but you’re not.”

“Widowed,” Suzanne said quietly. “I’m widowed.”

Jen winced, then held up her hands. “O-oh, I’m sorry. That’ll teach me to assume.”

“I can see why you did assume. No harm done.”

Jen looked down at her feet as she nodded slowly. “Then, yeah, I could go for a drink with you. If you’re sure you want to?”

Suzanne smirked. “Oh, I want to.”

“Why, though?” Jen was entitled to ask that question. It likely wasn’t every day that another woman flirted with her on the doorstep. “You don’t know the first thing about me.”

“Well, no. But isn’t that the point of getting a drink together? To learn more?”

“I mean, yeah. I guess.” Jen suddenly seemed flustered. Perhaps a little hesitant.

Okay, be bold again. Suzanne cleared her throat. “And as for the why. Well, I was attracted to you the first time you came here. Surely you picked up on that, no?”

Jen blushed further as she wrapped her hand around the back of her neck and puffed out her cheeks. “Kinda hoped that’s what was happening.” Jen looked back up at Suzanne, those hazel eyes soft and inviting. “All I know right now is that I’d be a fool to turn down that drink with you.”

“Are you free tonight?”

Jen snorted. “I’m free every night. But, yeah, tonight is good. I don’t work Friday so won’t have to call it a night early.”

“Perfect.” Suzanne reached for a scrap of paper on her desk, jotted her number down, and handed it over to Jen. “Text me your number, and I’ll let you know the plans. Does that sound okay?”

Jen looked down at the paper in her hand, then back up at Suzanne. “Y-yeah. Sounds great.”

“Then I’ll…see you this evening.”

Jen looked back down at the paper again, seemingly shocked. Suzanne couldn’t fathom why, though. She definitely wanted to get to know Jen. And maybe it would all turn out to be a mistake—thiswasan unexpected meeting of two people, after all. But what if it turned out to be great? Suzanne was at a point in her life where she was willing to take that risk. She had nothing to lose at all.

“This…” Jen held up the paper in front of her. “You’re not joking about tonight, are you? Like, you really want to get a drink together?”

Suzanne frowned. “No, I’m serious.”

“R-right. Okay. Then, I’ll text you once I’m home.”

Jen stoppedin the hallway at home, trying to get her head around the fact that someone had just asked her out for a drink. She could be way off the mark, and Suzanne may simply be thanking her for today, but it didn’t feel that way. Suzanne had continued to flirt, just as she had whenever Jen was working.

Maybe women are just like that these days…

“Is that you, love?” Denise called out from behind the closed living room door. “Jen?”

“Yeah, it’s me, Mum.” Jen scrubbed a hand down her face, dumbfounded by the turn of events today. “I’ll be in now.” She kicked off her boots and gave herself another moment or two to understand what was happening here. While she wasthrilledthat Suzanne had shown an interest in her—she was gorgeous, after all—Jen wasn’t sure how much her past was going to interfere with anything that may progress. Because it would, one way or another.

Maybe her mum could give her some direction about all of this. She always had been the one in the family who spoke sense. Quite frankly, her mum was the only one who seemed to care about Jen and her life since her release from prison.

She walked through into the living room, the warmth hitting her immediately. She may have only spent thirteen months behind bars, but she’d missed her home comforts, and she was still getting used to them since her release. “Hey, Mum.”

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