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want to see her again? That she’d actually hire her as what, a

companion? She’d said something and it had taken quite a

while for it to sink in. Cassia only realized then what Adalynn

meant. She was a lesbian. The raven goddess, the perfect,

beautiful, astoundingly amazing woman who’d shared a drink

with her was a lesbian.

She’d said she was lonely.

It was basically a straight up invitation and Cassia had sat

there, so naïve and green that she hadn’t realized what it

meant.

Could she really have wanted to sleep with me? To take me

back to her room?

It was too much. She couldn’t think about that here, in a

lounge filled with strangers. She couldn’t let her mind go

there, up to whatever room Adalynn had, where she was going

alone. She couldn’t spend time wishing and thinking,

fantasizing about something that was never going to be a

reality. She’d probably imagined it. There was no way

Adalynn had actually meant to invite her up there, had she?

She wasn’t even hinting at it. Cassia told herself she was just

being pathetic.

She should go home and get some sleep. Clearly, it was

much needed, because she was making things up in her head.

Things that didn’t exist. Things that could never exist. She’d

savor this as a memory, a sweet memory of a wonderful but

fleeting, completely unexpected connection. It was something

more than she’d ever had before.

She’d cling to it, whether it was real or not, and tomorrow

she’d go out and do her job, and the next night, and the next

night, and maybe one day, she’d have the courage and the