Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 82186 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 411(@200wpm)___ 329(@250wpm)___ 274(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82186 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 411(@200wpm)___ 329(@250wpm)___ 274(@300wpm)
“Yeah, that’ll make them want to keep going,” I muttered under my breath.
In the van that still had the new-car smell, I drove over to Mulata, because Hannah wanted guava-and-cheese empanadas while we talked, and I never passed up an opportunity to stop by one of my favorite places.
Once we ordered and sat down, I asked, “So, how was it?”
She bit her bottom lip coyly, and my mind flashed to all the conversations Sam and I had while she and Jake were gone. Things like, “they’re going to want to move into the basement together” had been topics we’d discussed.
“I think maybe I’ve read too many romance novels.”
Lost in my own concerns, I’d misread her face, a face I knew as well as my own, and it was jolting. Because coy was not it. Grimace was closer. “What?”
The head tilt, the wince, both of those I read clear as day. “I mean, I’m not stupid, I’ve done my research, but it went from awkward to just…not good.”
“Not good?”
She put her hand up. “Aunt Aja already explained about all the things that can happen next time to make me more ready, and again, I’ve done my research. I’ve watched porn.”
“Okay, first off, porn is fake and doesn’t give any realistic gauge of sex. At all. Ever.”
She exhaled sharply. “No, I know, but the things guys do and girls do to get the other person excited, those are actual acts that can be performed.”
“Sure,” I agreed. “But not how they do it. When you’re doing it in real life, it can be messy, and not everyone smells like a garden and––”
“Stop, you’re gonna make me throw up.”
“I’m just saying that good sex requires a lot of conversation. It’s not like it is with the Scottish laird and his ingénue of a bride. You have to tell the other person what you want and what you don’t want.”
Her whine was soft. “I don’t think me and Jake are ready to have conversations.”
“Which is fine,” I assured her. “And you can try again, of course, without talking, but you might have the same experience, except without the pain this time.”
“Yeah, that didn’t help,” she sighed. “I think at one point I said, ‘just do it already.’”
“Ah, l’amour,” I teased her and got a smile in return.
“So foreplay is what I need, right?”
“Maybe,” I replied honestly. “And you can also think about when you masturbate, what you like.”
Hand over her face as she turned a bright and lovely shade of pink. “Ohmygod, Pa, you did not just say that.”
I chuckled. “Are we having an honest talk or not?”
She nodded.
“Okay. So you know what works for you, so now all you have to do is clue Jake in to what turns you on.”
Quick whimper.
“You have to be able to talk. And laugh,” I added, thinking about Sam Kage and all the times that sex had not been taken quite so seriously and how wonderful that was. “If you can’t talk to your lover, you have the wrong one.”
“I just… I don’t want to hurt his feelings, and he’s had all this experience, so clearly whatever the issues are that we had must be because he got stuck with a virgin.”
I nodded. “Well, I don’t know that I’d characterize him as stuck since he’s crazy about you,” I reminded her. “But you might consider the fact that he was probably very nervous, if not even more so than you.”
“More so?”
“Well, in this scenario, he’s the Scottish laird, right? He’s the one who’s supposed to know precisely what he’s doing, and if so, isn’t the fact that it wasn’t great all his fault?”
“Oh no, of course not.”
“And he knows that?”
She thought a moment. “Probably?”
I chuckled again.
“Pa!”
Putting both hands up, I waved them at her in surrender. “Listen, he’s feeling like a failure right now. We both know he is.”
“Yeah, that’s a safe bet, since he won’t even look me in the eye.”
“You need to have a long talk and clear the air, and you can’t be afraid of hurting his feelings. You’re not. You’re letting him know that it wasn’t great but you want him and you want to try again.”
“And that’s okay?”
“Of course it’s okay,” I promised her. “And you’re fearless. We both know you are. You can’t weenie out on this. You have to dive into the deep end and set the boy straight. Once he knows you want him, the rest is easy.”
“How is it easy?”
“He loves you. He wants to please you. He doesn’t want you to leave him.”
“Ohmygod, I would never leave him,” she said like that was the stupidest thing she’d ever heard in her life. “We can figure this out.”
“Ah, see, that’s what I’m talking about. You can fix it, but you have to talk.”
“That’s not so easy.”
“No,” I agreed. “But it’s worth it, right?”