Serial Book 1- Tempted to Submit by Rob Page B

austere, so at odds with the sunset and the ocean, that the whole thing seemed rather silly.
    Still, it was the best picture that I had of us together. I was going to frame it and keep it on my desk at work. We had been dating for over a year, after all.
    “Hmm.” Before I could reply, Bernadette snapped her fingers, even as she expertly nipped my Surrender to Temptation Part I: Tempted to Submit / Jameson, Lauren 7
    credit card from my fingers and ran it through her point-of-sale machine. “Yesterday! He was in yesterday. Big spender.” When she caught what I’m sure was my surprised expression, she clapped a hand over her mouth and giggled sheepishly.
    “I probably shouldn’t have said that. Now I’ve ruined whatever surprise he had for you.”
    “Surprise. Right.” Brow furrowed, I took the candy-pink and cream striped bag that she handed me, nodding my thanks before walking away.
    I was quite certain that she was mistaken. I would have let it go at that, but the woman’s statement niggled at my mind all the way back to work, and then as I sat at my desk, slowly pecking away at the handwritten letter that one of the lawyers needed typed up.
    Never had Tom bought me expensive lingerie. He’d never bought me candy or flowers, either, for that matter. He just wasn’t that type of guy and, foolishly, early on in our relationship, I had told him that grand gestures weren’t important to me.
    I hadn’t lied—they weren’t important, exactly. But some soft inner part of my heart still craved some kind of sweet gesture from time to time—something that told me I was being thought of when I wasn’t there.
    I was fairly certain that I wouldn’t ever receive one of these gestures from Tom. Yes, Bernadette was mistaken.
    But another thought formed in my mind as I worked my way through the afternoon. What if . . .
    what if . . .
    No. Tom wouldn’t do that. Tom loved me.
    “Hi, Devon.” One of the senior lawyers chose that moment to walk by. Though quite possibly paranoid, I was convinced that she gave me a pitying glance, barely masked by her small smile. That was what settled my mind.
    Begging off early with the excuse of a headache, I hurried down to my car.
    I would just go home—the home that I had not yet moved into, actually—and see Tom. Once I saw 8 Surrender to Temptation Part I: Tempted to Submit / Jameson, Lauren
    him, all of this silliness would fly out the window, I was sure.
    And, I thought as I looked sideways at the Magnifique bag on my passenger’s seat, maybe I could model my new slip for him.

    ***
I almost felt as if I should ring the doorbell. Tom had given me a key the previous week, after we had decided that my moving my meager belongings into his place was a sensible idea, but I hadn’t yet used it. I suspected that I’d been clinging to my independence—I loved my little studio apartment, the one that I’d already given notice on, but Tom had pointed out that it wasn’t nearly big enough for two people. Plus, his was closer to the office.
    A shorter commute just made sense, after all, even to me. Sleeping in two separate rooms when we weren’t having sex did not make sense, and never would, no matter how many times Tom told me that it would provide a better sleep for both of us. The mere thought made me grind my teeth together.
    I would rather have a less-than-perfect night’s sleep, my partner by my side, than the alternative—
    sleeping down the hall from one another like a couple that had been married for far too long.
    I wasn’t going to give in on that issue.
    Sighing heavily, I again squelched the urge to knock at this place that was now supposed to be my home, and instead turned my key in the deadbolt. I had to fiddle with it, the way you do with new keys, before the lock gave way.
    “Hello?” I didn’t raise my voice. The apartment was dim, quiet, and though I hadn’t expected his presence—he was at a lunch meeting—I almost felt relieved that he wasn’t home,