“Don’t worry about that? What sort of date is this, Connor? You have me very, very intrigued.”
“Good. I’m glad to have you intrigued. Just be at Madison Avenue at three o’clock.”
“Okay. That doesn’t give me much time to get ready.”
“Like I said, it doesn’t matter what you wear, Gemma.”
“You’re not going to tell me what this date is?”
“No, I want it to be a surprise. I like surprising you, Gemma. You’ll find that that’s something I enjoy doing quite often with the women that I date.”
“So you’re telling me that you’re surprising women all over New York City?”
“No, that’s not what I’m saying. Right now you’re the only woman that I’m dating, so you’re the only one that I’m surprising.”
There was a deep husky sound to his voice, and while I knew I shouldn’t be turned on, I was. I was slightly ashamed of myself. I had just left Lucas’s house about two hours ago. Not that anything had happened since last night. We’d watched a movie, then gone to bed. We’d hugged for a couple of minutes, but then he turned his back on me and fell asleep. We woke up, had breakfast, made out a little bit, and now here I was walking along the street, going home to shower, and get ready for my date with Connor. Life sure was funny.
Lucas had already texted me since I left asking if we could make a plan for Christmas Eve. I was pretty sure I knew why he wanted to see me on Christmas Eve. I was pretty sure he figured that if he was going to get lucky, there was nothing more special than Christmas Eve. And it was true. I did have plans with my parents in the day, but I told him in response that I could possibly see him in the evening. I had to go to my parents in the day and then I’d go over to Lucas’s in the evening. It would be okay because my parents didn’t expect me to spend the evening, and I knew if I told them I had a date, they’d be really excited because you only saw someone important during the Christmas season.
You certainly didn’t see a fling, and Lucas was definitely not a fling, which made me question what I was doing going to meet Connor at some random address to do something I had no idea about. The only thing that made me feel okay about my decision was the fact that it was on Madison Avenue in the middle of New York City. It couldn’t be something too crazy.
“So I’ll see you at three, okay Gemma?”
“Yes, Connor, I’ll see you at three.”
And then we hung up. As I walked home, I breathed in the fuel and smoky air that surrounded me. It wasn’t the freshest of air, but it was familiar to me now. There were so many different people in Manhattan, living so many different types of lives, and now I was one of them. I was one of those women that could have been on Sex in the City. I was like Carrie. I had different guys after me that wanted different things, and I was just going with the flow, having fun, living my life. I was a modern, independent woman, and while that frightened the heck out of me, it actually made me feel really proud as well. I marched to no drum but my own, and I was having fun. I was living my life. I just needed to get rid of my Catholic guilt.
I grabbed my phone again quickly and called Sarah. I knew she was the only one I could talk to that could make me feel okay about my decision.
“Hey girl, what’s going on?”
“Hey, Sarah. Guess where I am?”
“New York City?” She laughed.
“Yeah. While I’m still in the city, that is true, but I’m walking home.”
“What do you mean you’re walking home?” Sarah gasped as she finally got it. “Oh my, did you spend the night at Lucas’s place?”
“Yes, I did.”
“Were you a very bad girl or were you a very, very bad girl?”
“I wasn’t very bad at all.” I giggled. “Hold on, I just reached my apartment, I’m going to go in the elevator. I’ll put you on hold for one second, okay?”
“Okay,” she said.
I walked into my building, nodded at the doorman, and then headed to the elevator. I smiled at my reflection in