Pretending to paint was pointless when all I wanted was for some forty-something married stranger to fuck my brains out. What on earth was wrong with ...e? I mean, I'm not a bold person. I don’t make the first move. Hell, I rarely make the second move. And yet, I led him to the closet and basically threw myself at him. I washed the too-bright red paint from my brush and my fingers before packing up and leaving.On the walk home, I tried to reason it out....okay, when did I first see him?He was. He began rubbing his face slowly back and forth against the skin of her belly. Lin had no idea what to do. In a panic she glanced around the store, but she already knew there was no one nearby. To get the floor manager’s attention she would have to scream out loud. That’s what she should do, she decided. She was going to scream, right now… …Except that now Jack was kissing his way down the front of her panties, even as his hands were drifting up the backs of her thighs… Ohhhhhh… Lin felt her. . but my friends call me Steph.”“Nice to m ... meet you, S ... Stephany!”“Ok come on, Linc! Any friend of Brad’s is my friend too. Call me Steph!” Her wide, friendly smile covered her evil intent and her distaste for her two companions.Brad stepped into the conversation to Linc’s temporary relief.“Steph wanted to meet with you when you get a chance. She has some programming questions for the expert.”Steph jumped in. “Listen Linc, I know we caught you by surprise and you’re probably busy. Give. I was trying to protect them. I desperately wanted to protect them. Needed to protect them. Even though I knew in my heart that there was no way I could. And probably shouldn't.What bothered me most was that Tink believed I thought less of them than the family I'd lost.My baby girl was perceptive, no doubt about it. Perceptive, but wrong.I pushed my chair back from the table and stood up slowly. Their eyes followed my ascent, but I kept mine on Tink's face. The dull ache in my chest and stomach.