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even doing anyway? Haley wanted more. She wanted

reciprocation. She wanted the sweet things that lovers did for

each other. She wanted a relationship. Claire could give her

none of those things. Maybe, if Haley saw that, she’d give up

all on her own.

But no. That would be the coward’s way out, and Claire had

spent years not only hardening herself, but proving she was

brave enough to pick up the pieces of her life and keep moving

forward.

She knew she’d find Haley waiting for her in her room,

sprawled out on her bed, naked. Before she even pushed open

the door, she had that vision, and her palm was so damp that

she could barely turn the doorknob. She was exactly right, but

her mind had conjured up a barely real image, and Haley was

very real.

Her lush body was on display, her dark hair spread over

Claire’s pillows. She was on her back, her pert breasts with the

dark pink nipples in the air, her feet planted on the covers, her

knees raised. She was the most glorious, tempting woman that

Claire had ever known, and seeing her that way, stripped down

and ready on her bed, her mouth watered. Not to taste her, but

to consume her. Every bit of her, including all the parts she

shouldn’t want, including her heart and soul.

When the door closed, Haley didn’t scramble up. She didn’t

adjust herself on the bed. She just stayed that way, waiting for

Claire to tell her what to do.

Except that she wasn’t going to do that this time. She was

going to give Haley what she wanted. She needed to prove to

herself that she couldn’t do it as much as she needed to prove

it to Haley.