Page 79 of The Virgin Romance Novelist Chronicles
“Works perfectly,” I replied, feeling a little better.
“Good, I look forward to it. Before we get off the phone, tell me, how’s the cat world?”
“How do you think it is?” I asked while chuckling. “Pretty sure if I let my guard down today, the cats would have eaten me alive. They can sense when I’m having a bad day and my resolve has weakened.”
“You had a bad day?” he asked softly, and that tone made butterflies float in my stomach. “What happened?”
Ha! Like I was going to tell Lance what happened. Yeah, no, thank you. I wasn’t about to tell a man I wanted to date that I just ripped a loud one on a guy’s face. Pretty sure that was dating suicide.
“Just some stuff at work I won’t bore you with,” I said. “Nothing that won’t just go away, but thanks for asking.”
“Well, if you want to talk, let me know.”
“Thanks, Lance,” I said as I pulled up to my apartment. “Hey, I have to pay the cabbie so I should go. I’ll see you Saturday?”
“Yes, don’t be late.”
We hung up and I paid the cab driver, giving him a decent tip for not making me wait in traffic for too long during rush hour. He did some fancy maneuvering that yes, had me peeing my pants a couple times, but he got me home.
When I walked in the apartment, I was surprised to see Henry was home already, and that there was Chinese food on the kitchen counter, a pair of sweat pants and a baggy shirt folded on the chair, and a smiling Henry in a pair of shorts and a tight-fitting T-shirt, waiting for me.
“Welcome home, love.” He walked toward me and picked up my change of clothes. “Thought you might want to change before we get our date started. Delaney will be staying at Derk’s place tonight, so we have the place to ourselves.”
“You say that as if something’s going to happen,” I said with a sad smile and grabbed the clothes from him. “Thanks for this. I’ll go change, and then I’ll be back.”
“Hold up.” Henry grabbed my hand and pulled me into him. “What’s wrong? Are you still mad at me? I want you to know I’m really sorry, Rosie, and I’m sorry if I was acting like an ass to that lint-roller guy earlier.”
“It’s not that,” I said, pulling away. “Just a bad day. I’ll be right back. Fix me a plate?”
I left him to tend to the food while I changed. I stripped down, took off my bra and went panty- less since I already was. I didn’t want anything constricting me tonight. Once I threw my hair into a messy bun and put my fuzzy socks on, I walked to the living room where Henry was starting the DVD player and placing two huge plates of food on the coffee table.
“Got us all set up,” he said while coming around to the couch.
I sat cross-legged on the sofa and placed a pillow on my lap. Henry sat next to me and was about to hand me my plate of food until he saw the tears welling in my eyes. Instantly, he had his arms around me and hugged me close to his chest.
“Rosie, what’s wrong? Why are you crying, love?”
“I’m sorry,” I said into his shirt, trying to avoid getting snot all over him. I pulled away and wiped my eyes. “Just a rough day.”
“You said that. Do you want to talk about it?”
“Not really,” I admitted. Even telling Henry what happened seemed like something I couldn’t possibly do.
He quirked his mouth to the side while he studied me. “Rosie, you tell me everything. What’s going on? Does it have to do with that lint roller guy?”
“His name is Phillip.”
Taking a deep breath, Henry responded, “Fine, does it involve Phillip?”
“It might.” More tears started to fall down my cheeks from the thought of what happened.
Growing angry in an instant, Henry made me look at him. “Did he hurt you?”
“No,” I choked out as a sob escaped me.
“Love, please talk to me. What happened? You’re scaring me.”
Sighing into him, I just blurted it all out. “I farted on his chin when he was pleasing me orally.”
