The Pleasure in Surrender (an erotic historical short story) (5 page)

Backing away from the door, she let that thought linger for about two seconds. He wasn’t wearing a ring, something she’d noted when she’d been caught staring. So, the man was still fair game. Lifting her chin, she headed toward her bedroom, stopping by her desk to shut off the monitor to kill the damning picture.

For the first time in five months, she experienced a thrill in her heart. Sure, nothing had been resolved between them. He was still stubbornly hell-bent on roaming the world, and she had a life here, filled with friends and work she enjoyed. But maybe, this time, they could find some middle ground. She’d be open this time. Really listen to his hopes and dreams. She wasn’t her mother, and Derek wasn’t like any of her loser stepdads. After that last fight, she’d come to the realization of how wrong she’d been to paint him in the same light. Dead wrong to limit her dreams based on her mama’s history.

One thing she’d learned in all this these months alone was that a life without Derek was no life at all.