Julian
“Julian,sweetie, what do you think? Should I getLaird’s ConquestorA Dom for thePrincess?”
I stared out the window of the Books and More and watched a swirling cloud of burnt orange leaves fly past, caught on the November breeze like dust motes in asunbeam.
“I dunno. Either, Mama.” I leaned against the window frame. “Get both. It’ll save you a trip back nextweek.”
Her answering sigh could have felled a tree, and I looked over my shoulder in amusement as she flipped her long, dark braid over her shoulder, looking more like a teenager than a woman of fifty-five.
My mother was the human embodiment of energy. Vertically challenged as I was, I still managed to tower over the woman by a solid five inches, but it was like the power of a person twice her size had been compacted into her small frame, to the point where she appeared to vibrate, even when she was doing nothing more taxing than frowning down at a pair of romance novels she’d picked up from the saletable.
Meanwhile, I felt more and more like the human embodiment of inertia, letting my life take on a life of its own. It had been five weeks since my announcement at the diner. Five weeks since Daniel and I had officially become fake boyfriends. Fivelongweeks.
I turned back to the window and watched as Daniel strode down the street toward the laundromat, dark jeans clinging to his broad thighs, blond hair catching the sun, capable hands balancing a big duffel bag of clothes. He looked gorgeous, strong, and a little lost, the way he always did when he was in town. It was funny, because I was pretty sure he’d lived in the city for a while, so little O’Leary shouldn’t have been overwhelming. Then again, interactions could be pretty anonymous in the city, and O’Leary didn’t understand the meaning of theword.
“I just don’t know,” my mother grumbled. “Myrna says this one is terrific, but I don’t think I enjoy the ones with the S-D-B-M.”
“Hmmm,” I said, still staring out the window, waiting for Daniel to emerge from SpinningJenny’s.
“Doyou?”
“Pardon?” I turned around finally and found my mother watching me with small frown on herface.
“Julian, are you even paying attention tome?”
I was still doing penance for my lie-by-omission, as evidenced by my presence in the romance section in the first place, so it was probably best not to test herpatience.
“I’m sorry, Mama. I was distracted.” I took a deep breath and tried to stop thinking about Daniel, which was a lot like not thinking about elephants. “What were yousaying?”
“Isaid, do you like the S-D-B-Mbooks?”
I shook my head. “Pretty sure I don’t, since I have no idea what thatis.”
She sighed, exasperated. “Of course you do. The stories with the whips and chains.You’ve been a naughty girl. Or boy, I suppose.” She tilted her head and looked at me. “Do theyhavethat for guys,too?”
I blinked. Then I coughed. “Do you, um… Do you meanBDSM?”
Please, God, let her notmean…
“That’s what Isaid.”
It really wasn’t, but it also wasn’t worth arguing. “I don’t… um…” I shook my head. “No.”
“No, as in they don’t have it for guys? Or no, as in you don’t likeit?”
“No, as in I don’t want to talk about this,” I suggestedhopefully.
She narrowed her eyes, and I felt vaguely like I had when I was sixteen and worried she’d somehow seen my porn cache, which was ridiculous since my porn cache was now safely out of herhouse.
I snuck another glance out the window. “Are you almost donehere?”
She turned toward me fully, brandishing a book with a scantily-clad couple on the cover, like the fire-and-brimstone preacher of a very peculiar church. “You know I always told you that you won’t know if you like something until you try it, Julian. Remember when you said you didn’t like pumpkin? And now youlovepumpkin, don’t you? And then there was the time I had you read that JD Pritchard book, even though you swore you didn’t like mystery thrillers, and what happened?” She paused, but didn’t wait for me to reply. “You read all six of his books in a week! So how do you know you won’t like this? It might change yourlife!”
Oh, dearGod.
“Mama.” My voice was strangled, so I cleared my throat and tried again. “Remember when I told you that I wouldn’t discuss my relationship with you? This… This definitelycounts.”
“Your relation…” She blinked, then her eyes widened. “I didn’t mean… JulianRoss! Honestly!” She glanced around the store to see if anyone might have overheard, then lowered her voice to a whisper. “I don’t want to know aboutthat. I meant theromance novels, Julian! How do you know you don’t like BDSMromanceunless you tryone?”
