" But for how long?"That one caught me flat-footed. "Well, I don't know, but it's been around kind of a while, you know. I expect it'll keep on going.... I doubt it," she said.I looked at her in surprise."We're a dying breed, Nicky. Singers like you and me and Mario and all. Sort of like the castrati back a couple hundred years ago, except without the surgery." From the 17th to the early 19th centuries women were barred from public performances in many places, so they created sopranos by the. .. Whatever he was. Well, he did have an expensive car, and his career was probably lucrative, but he was no Kate Moss. So there was not going to be a cold day in hell if he was just going to say no.You don’t want to be away from Aron, do you?Shut the fuck up.You know I’m you. You’re talking to yourself. In your own mind.Irrelevant.“Boss, what are you thinking of, right now?” Mark asked, looking at him a bit funny.“Stuff,” he shrugged.His answer didn’t seem to make his secretary happy.“I can. He laughed and asked if I wanted a dry shirt. I simply said yes. He handed me the shirt and I turned around to pull the wet one off. As I did I could feel hands along my sides helping me to pull it over my head. I turned to look over my shoulder and saw Derek looking back at me. He held my hips and turned me around slowly. He looked me in the eyes and said, “You look beautiful.” I wasn’t sure if I was dreaming but I quickly learned that I wasn’t. Before I knew it he had my lips on his. He put. I took a small white purse from mynightstand and walked out of the bedroom to join David."Wow, babe," he said, grinning as he looked at me. He had changed intokhakis and a sportcoat, sitting on the couch watching TV. "You lookamazing."**We arrived at the Orange Plum just on time for our reservation. As Iwalked in, memories flooded in of the last time Alexa was here. Irecalled with perfect memory the half angry exprsssion on David'sfather's face in meeting me for the first time, and David's.