Anya had placed a towel on the floor against the foot of the toilet and she was standing facing me. She wore, about her hips, something she had used a... number of times before, consisting of a narrrow, studded leather strap around her waist with two even thinner straps extending downward and running beneath her on each side of her mound. Way underneath, I knew, was a ring connecting to a second set of straps that attached to the back of the belt an spread her pretty bottom cheeks apart. She. ”“I think we all do.”“True. What do you need today?” I asked with a grin.That had become our running joke.“Same as every day! A good man in my life!”“What am I? Chopped liver?”“No, of course not,” she said, completing the sequence. “But IN my life means more than working together for three hours a few days a week!”I got to work and between my tasks and the steady stream of customers, I didn’t get a chance to talk with Paula until close to the end of her shift. There was a lull when literally. The funny thing is, overall, it worked out better this way because it forced me to reconsider my own path through life.“And it didn’t stop there. On Tuesday, Jeri handed me a copy of a press release naming me to the Lundgren Foundation Board of Directors. She and I had a bit of a debate about that, but, in the end, she made persuasive arguments. And that led to another discussion about inside information she had about something going on with NIKA. I wasn’t happy she’d withheld it, but, once. Giving her shelter made me feel good, though. I had done my part, and she rested safe in my arms.Still, I had to wonder if Amanda might be too messed up for me to handle. Sure, I had been quite pushy with her, placing her in awkward situations to check her reactions and make everything more intense. People bonded a lot faster that way, and I wanted her attached to me as soon as possible. She hadn’t taken it very well, breaking down twice in one day. Perhaps I should take things slower with her,.