The Seduction Vow by Bonnie Dee Page A

tonight, I
suddenly saw everything clearly. All that bullshit about rebound
relationships and spending time alone to discover myself doesn’t
mean anything. Love doesn’t work on a schedule. It comes when it
comes. I love Neal, but it’s too late. He’s with that…that
woman.”
    “ Just because they’re on
one date doesn’t mean they’re together. You need to talk to him,”
Tara said.
    Corinne held up her hand. “Wait. Back up.
What I don’t understand is why you decided you needed to screw
somebody like you were getting a booster shot. I thought you were
waiting for marriage. Isn’t that what you said?”
    Graci rubbed her eyes. “When I said that,
Joey and I were going to get married soon and I wanted to save that
final act for our wedding night. Maybe I’m more Catholic than I
wanted to admit. But now I think it was also about him. Somewhere
deep inside, maybe I didn’t trust him.”
    “ Well, that I can understand,” Corinne
said. “But what changed your mind about sex? Why did you think you
were ready now?”
    “ I wanted to prove to
myself I’m a fully sexual person,” Graci admitted. “I didn’t want
to show up at Bree’s wedding the lone virgin. I wanted to be
different, to be someone else.”
    Tara stroked her hair. “But Graci, you’re
fine just the way you are. We all love who you are. Trying new
things like you’ve been doing is great, but you shouldn’t change
just for the sake of change.”
    Graci threw up her hands.
“I see that now .
I’ve been an idiot, and now I’ve lost the only guy I’d
really like to go
to bed with.”
    There was a tap on the restroom door then it
opened. Neal entered, frowning.
    “ Oh Lord,” Corinne
muttered.
    “ Graci? I can’t believe
you’re here,” he said. “My friend Wendy told me some woman verbally
assaulted her in the john. She heard one of her friends call her
Graci, but I couldn’t believe it was really you. What the fuck is
going on?”
    The fires of hell consumed her. She wished
they’d burn her to ash just to make her disappear. Would this
horrible, humiliating night never end? And would Neal ever speak to
her again after witnessing her at her very worst—for the second
time?
    “ I am so sorry,” Graci said. “I didn’t
mean to insult your date. I just saw you two together and went
ballistic.”
    Neal stared at her like she
was some mystifying substance on the sole of his shoe he couldn’t
quite identify. “Are you serious? Wendy isn’t my date. She’s an old
friend I used to share a place with along with some other friends.
She’s back in town and…” He threw up his hands. “I don’t know why
I’m explaining this to you. Even if it was a date, why should you
care? You’re the
one who wanted to keep it casual, remember?”
    “ I’m sorry. If I could take
back the last few weeks, I would. The way I waffled back and forth,
getting close to you and then fighting against it. I’m a mess. I
told you I shouldn’t be with anyone right now.”
    “ Probably not.” His eyes
flayed her like a whip, stripped her raw, and she deserved it. This
was laid-back Neal in anger mode, something she hadn’t encountered
before. She felt ashamed and sorry and wanted to throw herself at
him and beg forgiveness.
    The restroom door opened again, and several
women came in, stopping short when they saw Neal.
    “ Um. I need to pee. Go
fight with your boyfriend someplace else,” one of them
said.
    “ I’m not normally unstable
and I rarely drink this much.” Graci straightened up and tried to
pull her whiny self together. “I want to make this right. Let me
apologize to your friend, and then can we go someplace quiet and
talk?”
    “ Not tonight.” Neal said
curtly. “I don’t think Wendy is feeling particularly forgiving
right now. Besides, I have to get back to work. We have another
set.”
    “ Right. Of course.” She
rubbed her eyes and took a step toward him. “Maybe after? I’d
really like to explain myself