Page 123 of His Virgin Romance Series

Paul smiled and nodded at me, recognizing the promise that I was making to him at that moment. “Anyone special in your life?” Paul asked.

I hesitated. What should I say? I had a girlfriend…sort of? I wasn’t really sure at the moment. “Well… it’s complicated.”

Paul rolled his eyes. “My life is complicated, Jared,” Paul said. “Yours is a fucking dream.”

“I’m actually here with someone.”

“Oh?” Paul asked, immediately interested.

“Her name is Rachel.”

“Girlfriend?”

“Well…she was,” I said uncertainly.

Paul looked around the room and caught sight of Rachel. “Is that her?” he asked me discreetly.

“Yes.”

“She’s a stone-cold fox,” Paul said. “She’s too good for you.”

I smiled. “I agree…but we’re sort of in limbo at the moment. It’s—”

“Let me guess?” he said, cutting me off. “It’s a long story?”

I smiled. “I’ll tell you about it on my next visit.”

“Fine.” He nodded. “Well, invite her over here and introduce me. You brought her in here for a reason.”

I stood up and gestured for Rachel to join us. She looked a little nervous as she walked over, but she gave Paul a beautiful, open smile and leaned in to hug him before he did.

“It’s really nice to meet you, Paul,” Rachel said, sitting down next to me. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“I wish I could say the same.”

“Hey, now,” I said, feeling strangely at ease in this unusual situation.

“So, Rachel, is this your first trip to prison?” Paul asked.

“It is.” She nodded.

“I hope that Jared didn’t drag you here?”

“Not at all,” she insisted. “I wanted to come. I wanted to meet you.”

“I wish we could have met under different circumstances.”

“I don’t know; this makes for a pretty interesting first meeting.”

Paul smiled, and Rachel looked instantly horrified with herself. “Oh my God…was that just a really insensitive thing that only assholes say out loud?”

Paul laughed and looked at me. “I like her,” he said.

We spent the rest of the hour talking about random things. Mostly, I listened to Paul and Rachel exchange stories about me and felt strangely happy. It was the closest thing I’d gotten to a family dinner, except that we weren’t at home and there was no dinner on the table. But still, my mood only improved as the minutes ticked by. Rachel and Paul got on well, and there were no moments of awkward silences between any of us.

When the guards came in to usher us away, Rachel looked up in shock. “Already?” she said. “That can’t have been an hour.”

“You’ll have to visit me more often,” Paul said.

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