Page 25 of Becoming

“I had. Have. But, I needed to be near her.”

“I can understand that feeling,” Eve said with a touch of melancholy.

“I know you can. I wish that…”

“No, Rebecca. Don’t try to distract me with my own problems. I do that enough these days. Go on. This woman accepted your invitation, I presume.”

Damn it, Rebecca sighed. “Yes, unfortunately. Or, fortunately depending on how you look at it.”

“And, how do you look at it?”

“I don’t know,” Rebecca answered honestly. “On the one hand, it was the most incredible sex I’ve ever had.”

“Sex?” Eve interrupted with surprise. “I was under the impression that sex was never an option in that room.”

“Your impression is right. It isn’t.”

“But with this woman everything is different,” Eve guessed.

“Yes.”

“And, on the other hand?” Eve prompted when Rebecca remained quiet.

“Hmm? Oh, right. The unfortunate part.” Rebecca absent-mindedly turned her teacup in circles on the table. “She’s young. Very young. I should have left her alone.” The last part was said quietly, almost to herself.

“How young are we talking?” Eve asked.

“Twenty-five.”

Eve hummed and sat back in her chair. “That is young. However, she’s old enough to know what she’s doing.”

“I could be her mother, Eve.”

Eve chuckled. “Perhaps. If you started early enough. But is age really the biggest factor here? I can’t see you being this troubled by someone who is immature.”

“She’s not. It’s not that.” She groaned in frustration. “It’s the combination of that, the sex, the emotions. It’s too much.”

“So, you ran.”

Rebecca couldn’t be upset with the truth, and the fact that Eve’s eyes held compassion told her that Eve wasn’t judging her.

“I ran.”

“May I ask, which one of those things was the mistake? The invitation, the sex, the emotions, or the running?”

Rebecca let out a mirthless laugh. “All of the above?”

“Are you asking or telling?”

“I should have left her alone.”

“So you’ve said. What I would like to know is why you feel that way.”

Rebecca closed her eyes. This was what she was trying to figure out in her head. In her heart. Why it hurt so much to be with Cassidy. And why it hurt, even more, to be away. She had been with the woman twice. It shouldn’t be like this. Walking away should have been easy and painless. Yet, here she was.

“She wasn’t a fan of the lifestyle,” Rebecca began. “She doesn’t like being told what to do.”

“I’m guessing you changed her mind.”