Lost That Lovin' Feeling: A Short Prequel

  *****

  Upon opening her eyes next morning, Tierney immediately stretched her entire body. She expected her hands to make contact with Steven when she stretched them to the side. When her hands met with nothing but air and pillows, she turned her head in that direction and saw she was alone in the bed. She glanced at the clock on the side table, saw that it was ten minutes before eight and decided he must have gone for his early-morning run.

  She stretched again. It felt divine, working so many of her muscles. Muscles she thought slyly, that she hadn’t used much of late. They’d made love once more at some point during the night. Her diaphragm had never been so busy in all the time she’d been using it. She wasn’t even sure when to take it out; she was supposed to leave it in for eight hours.

  Tierney made a mental note to go see her gynie doctor and get a more convenient method of birth control. Who knew, maybe before too long they could think about having another baby…it would be a joy to stay at home in that case. She’d only taken three months off when she had Sienna, and she hated like hell to have to leave her in someone else’s care, but she couldn’t afford to take any more time off.

  Tierney smiled as she slipped back into her nightgown, then tied her robe around her waist and went to check on Sienna. Funny. The idea of going to L.A., while still a little scary—after all, she was a lifelong resident of the Midwest and feared she’d be out of her element—didn’t seem quite as objectionable as it had just yesterday…