Read Online Dark Valentine by Jennifer Fulton - Free Book Online Page B

should hit a bar and find a woman to have sex with. Obviously the encounter with Kate had triggered a hunger she’d been smothering for too long. Jules often neglected her personal needs, prioritizing work ahead of all else. Gym workouts did not substitute for physical contact with another woman. That was why she’d decided to go to Palm Springs almost as soon as she’d returned from England.
    While she was overseas she was living in a college town, but very few of the lesbians she met were available. Everyone seemed to be in relationships. Jules wanted to avoid complication, and she was busy in her spare time anyway, studying and traveling. Somehow she just didn’t get around to having sex with a succession of women, as she’d anticipated.
    A disconcerting thought crossed her mind. What if her preoccupation with Kate wasn’t about sex, or even strong attraction? Another plausible explanation presented itself. Ego. A woman had said no to her and all hell was breaking loose. It would have been funny if her work wasn’t affected.
    Jules laughed. Was she so competitive by nature that she had to have a rematch? She wasn’t used to rejection, and she didn’t like it one bit. How often did she offer a woman something more, after they’d slept together? Never. Jules seldom had girlfriends and her recent attempts at “long-term” relationships hadn’t made it past their first anniversary. She liked to believe that she didn’t have the time or energy to keep a partner happy, but she knew there was more to it than that. If she was completely honest, her failures came down to making poor choices.
    It was one thing to avoid settling down in her twenties, but Jules was thirty-three and she wanted to be a success in every aspect of her life. Having the perfect relationship was an essential ingredient. With that goal in mind, she had stumbled into several live-in relationships with women who seemed to have the makings of good corporate wives. She hadn’t been in love with any of them, but that detail hadn’t bothered her. She didn’t suffer from illusions about love and romance. If magic happened that would be a bonus, but she didn’t expect any lightning bolts, and so far none had materialized.
    Jules was convinced that if two people shared similar goals and ideals they could build something worthwhile together. Her parents were a perfect example.
    She had once asked her mother about their early married life, whether they were madly in love and couldn’t keep their hands off each other. Clarice Valiant had looked at her like she’d lost her mind and said her marriage worked out fine because she and Jules’s dad had an understanding. Love had grown between them over the years, they had mutual respect, and they were good companions. Neither of them had expected fireworks when they married, so they had not suffered the disappointment that could afflict couples drawn together by mere animal attraction. One could not build a solid future on such shifting sands.
    This philosophy made sense to Jules. The Valiants were pragmatists and she was no exception. She owed her parents a great deal and had always been guided by their common sense. The opportunities she had in her own life were the result of their sacrifices. The very least she wanted to offer them now, having built the successful career they’d dreamed of, was the possibility of a grandchild. They had been devastated when she came out, not because they were homophobic, but because they believed their hopes of grandchildren were extinguished.
    They had never spoken a word to her about their disappointment, but Jules saw it in their faces whenever they mentioned new additions to the family. Nieces and nephews with new babies. Cousins marrying. Jules had a picture in her mind, a Thanksgiving where she was at the table with an amazing partner and they announced that they were expecting a baby. Her parents would be ecstatic, and so would she. Jules liked kids and wouldn’t