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She made him wait for her answer, and as they rounded the corner to the last row of stalls, she could feel his tension growing. “No.”
“No?”
“No. It wouldn’t matter to me.”
Beth heard him release a large burst of air from his lungs. “Okay. Good.”
The two of them finished at the farmers’ market and headed back toward the café. When they arrived at her car, Beth leaned against the metal to face Drew. “Thank you for walking with me.”
“No thanks needed. I had fun. It was a good way to spend an afternoon.”
“When do you have to work again?” she asked. If they were going to be friends, she should probably get an idea of what his schedule was.
“Tomorrow. I work twenty-four-hour shifts. One day on. One day off. After three days on, we get four days off. It’s a nine-day rotation.” When he saw her confused look, he shrugged. “I know it’s a little confusing at first.”
“That’s okay. I think I get it.”
They stood in silence for several moments.
“Any plans for tonight?” Beth had no idea why she was asking.
Drew shrugged. “Not really. I’ll probably watch a little TV and turn in early.”
It sounded a lot like the evening Beth had planned for herself. “Well, I’ll let you get on with it, then.”
She moved to get into her car, but he stopped her. “Beth?”
“Yes?”
“Does this new friends thing include us exchanging phone numbers?”
Beth thought about it for a moment. Although giving him her phone number gave her pause, she wasn’t as nervous about it as one might think. Katrina was really good at screening applicants for the club. She’d even found Ben’s marriage certificate when they’d applied for membership. The problem was Ben was good at lies and procuring fake documents. When the subject came up, he was able to produce a very legal-looking certificate of annulment dated about a month after the marriage. Unfortunately, neither Beth nor Katrina had thought to question it. They’d both learned a very hard lesson.
No, nerves had nothing to do with Beth contemplating Drew’s request. Even without the background check Katrina would have done on him, she knew he was a firefighter. She knew where he worked, and even if he hadn’t told her, with Nicole’s help she would be able to find out. What was holding her back was the thought that it would be one more thing linking them together—one more step into opening herself up to trusting a man again.
“You don’t have to if you’re not comfortable,” Drew said.
“It’s not that. Okay, it is that. A little. But you’re right. Friends do typically exchange phone numbers.”
Before she could second-guess herself, Beth took out one of her business cards and a pen. Flipping it over, she scribbled both her home and cell numbers onto the card and handed it to him.
He looked it over, and then tucked it into his wallet. “Do you have another one of those? I don’t have anything with me to write on.”
Beth gave him another one of her cards, and he quickly jotted down his numbers. “The cell number is usually better. As long as I’m not out on a call, I’ll answer.”
She took the card and slipped it into her pocket. “Thanks.”
“I should let you go. Thank you again for this afternoon. I had fun.”
He waved, and she waved back before getting into her car. Every time she saw Drew, she got in deeper. How long would this ‘just friends’ thing hold?
She didn’t know the answer to that. But for the first time since Ben exited her life, she was beginning not to care. Drew wasn’t anything like her ex, which was good. The last thing she needed was another fake submissive who played with her and her emotions. She wanted real, and for all of Drew’s cockiness and his inexperience with being a sub, he was real.
Driving home, Beth tried not to let the possibilities weigh too heavily on her mind. She would let this thing with Drew play out. Hopefully, if he turned out to be another Ben, she’d find out before it cost her another broken heart.
***
Chapter 7
