I'll Be Seeing You by A.P. Hallmark Read Free Book Online Page B

someone love her.
    How do you tell someone that has never had the experience of love that you want to be her first? I want to be the one to show her what it feels like to have someone hold her, protect her and make her feel safe.
    "I can't imagine what that is like, Joy," I say, thinking what my life would have been like without my parents and sister. "But I'd like to be the one to show you."
     

CHAPTER FOUR
     
    After Matthew and I hang up, I pick my phone back up. I need to talk to Laura and quick.
    "Hey, Joy. What's up?" Laura answers.
    "Hi. I was wondering if you could come over for a little while tonight. I need a girl talk."
    "Sure, babe. I'll be there in fifteen minutes. Ice cream?"
    "I think so. It’s about sex," I answer, hearing the trembling in my own voice.
    "Uh oh. Mint Chocolate Chip?"
    "Yep."
    "Oh, no. I'll be there in ten." After we hang up, I sit frozen in place waiting to hear her key in the door, but instead I hear the buzzer.
    "Laura, why don't you ever use your stupid key?" I mutter to myself unlocking the security door downstairs. When I hear her getting close, I unlock it and let her in.
    "Um … because I lost it, okay?" She blurts out before I can say a word. "I can't find it anywhere, and I didn't know how to tell you."
    Damn, that's her third one.
    "Okay, I'm changing my locks and sending you the bill," I say, sounding crankier than I should.
    “I'm sorry, Laura. I don't mean to be a shrew. I just need someone to talk to and help me sort some stuff out." I say, feeling completely confused.
    "What's going on, babe?" Laura asks from the kitchen while dishing up the ice cream.
    "Well, Matthew called me a little bit ago, and while we were talking, I mentioned that I have never been with a man." Laura suddenly stops banging around and when it gets quiet, I realize how odd it must sound that this subject would even come up in conversation. "He asked me if I've ever been loved, and when I told him no, he said he wanted to be the one to show me," I explain, wringing my hands on my lap. "What does that mean, Laura?"
    "It means he really likes you," she answers matter-of-factly, as if I should know this already.
    "Joy, I know you haven't had a significant man in your life other than your father, but do you know anything about sex or intimacy?" she asks, touching my hand with a cold bowl of ice cream. I reach out and take it from her, stabbing my spoon into the creamy goodness and stuffing a spoonful into my mouth. Pausing to contemplate my answer and enjoy the mint flavor of the ice cream, I realize there is nothing to think about; I don’t know anything about sex or intimacy.
    I'm screwed.
    "You know my history. You know about Mike. He wasn't very nice about it at all and even with him, it was limited to just kissing," I remind her.
    “I'm in trouble, aren't I?" I ask.
    "Well, what about all that reading you do, you must have read something about sex?" she asks, talking through a mouth full of ice cream.
    "No, not really. I mean, I've read the romance novels; how the women are all desirous of the hero in the books, and the men are all muscular and well endowed. What does that even mean?” I ask, feeling extremely naïve. "I mean, I know what the word means, and I think I know, but … the women are always virgins and they have to learn about sex from their new husbands.”
    Our question and answer session goes on well into the night, and by the time the night is over, Laura has fallen asleep on my couch. She has given me a newfound knowledge of love and sex. I now know what to watch for when I feel I want to become physical with Matthew. First, though, I need to see what he looks like.
    Friday was going by quickly; I finish the first book and start the second in the same series. Knowing I won’t be meeting Matthew at the café this morning, I stay home all day to get these books narrated. It seemed a perfect opportunity to make the day go faster.
    Having tossed and turned all night in anticipation of