One of them bumped into Marian, spilling his beer on her. Damn! Sorry maam, he mumbled. Marian was shocked by the group and the smell that assaulted h...r senses. She may not have been a partier in her day, but there was no mistaking the aroma of pot that exited the bus. Dog, you ass, one of the other men yelled. Are you trying to get us thrown out of town? I know him, Marian thought, trying hard to remember why the man who yelled at his friend looked so familiar. Her heart began to beat a little. ”I expected recrimination, a perverse sign she cared. Instead, aloof calm and measured words delivered in a flat monotone. Elodie’s invitation to the house warming party was no accident, her intention, a rendezvous. My self-doubt convinced me otherwise. The following Monday, at yoga, she told Anne-Pierre everything: her excitement and my nickname.“Elodie, I was always attracted to you but my head was a mess. I was here alone, and could not risk losing my only friend.” I sighed, “So I hid how. He talked of gardens and a citadel, and a forge of some kind.He'd stick around, as long as the Pilgrim proved his usefulness. If they ever got there, that was. They had been wandering farther into the desert for a couple of days now. They had left the marble road behind two nights before, and that was about the time when Molo had run out of food. Perhaps the man had saved their lives, with his uncanny ability to find sustenance in such a forlorn and inhospitable place.Though lizards and rats. .. as sexy and as hot as you honestly look."That one caught her off guard. Again, I knew something about her that she certainly didn't know I knew. And that was obviously, that mom had certainly enjoyed the intimacy of another woman. The photos of her and Jackie together certainly proved that. I did thumb one of her hard extended nipples before she could react to that however."How sensitive are yours anyway?" I asked, as though curious, not actually trying to stimulate her in anyway, though I.