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I nodded.

“They are. I got them for free,” I informed him. “I’m a product tester. My blog is a women’s lifestyle blog. I discuss everything from romance novels to consumer products aimed at women. I have a pretty large following, and I kind of got into product testing, now, too.”

“Like what?” He wondered. “What was the weirdest thing you ever tested?”

I pursed my lips.

“I get weird things all the time,” I pursed my lips. “But the most recent one was this little device that allows women to pee standing up.”

His mouth twitched.

“How’d that work out?” He wanted to know.

I shrugged.

“I read some previous reviews, luckily, and tried mine out in the shower the first time. However, the first time I tried to use it while wearing pants, I ended up peeing all over myself,” I admitted. “Which was one of the things I mentioned in my review.”

“Do you still use it?” He asked, shuffling the cards loudly.

I shook my head. “No,” I admitted. “I don’t have much use for it. I’ve never gone anywhere that didn’t have a restroom.”

“Never?” He asked.

I shook my head. “Never.”

“Not hunting?” He wondered.

Another shake of my head.

“Nope,” I said. “Dad was a little busy with his empire, and I didn’t rate on his scale of people that he wanted to spend time with.”

“When’s the day you get out of your prison?” He indicated the walls of my house.

“I have two more months before they’ll review my case for early release. It’s kind of like being on a probationary period for probation,” I sighed. “Then I get re-evaluated, and if I’m a good girl, I might get released. I was told that early release rarely ever happens, though. So it’s likely that I will have five more months.”

I nodded. “I sometimes want to put one of those on my daughter.”

I shot him a look.

“Don’t,” I blurted. “This is the best time of her life and she doesn’t even realize it. She’ll forever have these memories to fall back on…to wish that this time in her life was still her present instead of her past.” I continued. “When I was sixteen, I had the best of all worlds. My brothers loved me. My parents loved me. I was sheltered from everything that could ever do me harm. All my bills were paid, and the only thing I had to worry about was what to wear to school the next day that would make my boyfriend want to kiss me.”

He shuddered. “I don’t want to think about my daughter kissing anyone.”

I laughed.

“You know she’s most likely already done that, if not even more,” I observed dryly.

He shot me a look.

“Take it back,” he ordered.

I laughed at him.

“You’re deluding yourself if you think those thoughts haven’t crossed her mind,” I teased.

“She’s fifteen!” He boomed furiously. “She shouldn’t be having those kinds of thoughts.”

“I thought you said she was sixteen,” I challenged him.