Unable and unwilling to stop him she bent her head to allow him complete access to the graceful column. She was not even aware she had closed her eyes...until she realized Duncan had turned her again to face him, his arms still cradling her to him.Duncan kissed her closed eyelids, then covered her face with butterfly kisses. Somehow no one had ever delighted her this way and she found herself quivering with delight. Wriggling her body closer to his she again wound her arms around Duncan's neck,. “It’s not really worth getting into,” she warned him.“Don’t be like that,” he winked. “I’m interested.”“They were rural family practice physicians. They also wanted me and my brother to do whatever we wanted.”“How is that weird?”“I guess it’s not. But they’re very accepting of who I am.”“Why wouldn’t they be,” George asked.“Well, they were always fine with the fact that I identified as transgender.”“That’s what’s up!”“Really,” checked Shay. “Yeah! I don’t judge,” George offered.“My parents. His voice came across the line like a cool breeze, “Miss Abernathy, I am afraid I neglected to sign one of the contracts, and you will need that before you can submit them. I am leaving my last meeting in 15 minutes, I could drop them by your office?” Rayne was secretly both excited and afraid. She felt like the wolf was coming to her door suddenly, there was something in his tone that was menacing. A little frightening even, though his words were of a mundane business nature. She hesitated. I’d felt fine before I went to sleep, so what had changed that made me feel so self-conscious now?He finally spoke and his voice startled me. “Why don’t you come over here and sit down so we can talk,” he said in a low tone.The tension was thick. I hated that I felt tense around him. It shouldn’t be like this, it can’t be like this, I thought. Why do I feel so unsure of myself?I began to speak hesitantly.“May I use the bathroom first?” I said as if I was verbally walking on eggshells.“Of.