The Ladies' Man. Susan Mallery
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as she walked to the kitchen to start her morning coffee, she noticed that specific parts of her felt a little sore. Her hips and thighs had that stretched-too-far ache and there was a faint sort of throb in more intimate places.
No wonder, she thought with a smile. The first time had been all heat and speed, but the second had been incredibly slow and seductive and—
“Stop!” she said aloud in a firm voice. “No thinking, remember? This is thinking. Stop it.”
Right. She had to remember it had all been a big mistake. Not one she would ever repeat, under any circumstances. Carter could have been a serial killer. Right now her body could be in chunks all over the place. She’d been stupid and for reasons not clear to anyone, she’d gotten out unscathed.
As for calling Carter, that wasn’t going to happen. What was she supposed to say to him? How could she explain she wasn’t that type of woman, when as far as he was concerned, she obviously was. She hated that he would think she was slutty, but she couldn’t think of a way to change his mind. He was good-looking enough that this sort of thing probably happened to him all the time. He wouldn’t even give her another thought, just as she’d get him out of her mind immediately. Starting right now.
But when she reached for her coffeepot, she realized it was full and that the aroma of the fresh brew filled the room.
He’d made coffee before he’d left, she realized with a little sigh. Talk about thoughtful.
The phone rang. Rachel’s heart fluttered briefly before she consciously squashed the sensation. No fluttering, no anticipation, no hoping, no Carter. Besides, the man might know where she lived and be on very intimate terms with her body, but he didn’t know her phone number.
“Hello?”
“Rachel? It’s Diane. Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.”
Diane sighed. “I’m so sorry about last night. I can’t believe I took off like that and left you. I nearly had a heart attack when I got home and realized what I’d done. I came right back but the bartender said you’d already gotten a ride home. I would have called then, but it seemed so late. Are you sure you’re fine?”
“I am,” she said, determined to make it true by sheer force of will.
“Okay. Good. Obviously Eddy makes me crazy. I’m so not going out with him anymore.” Diane sighed. “I should be more like you. You’re so sensible when it comes to men.”
Rachel held in a wince. “I have my moments, like everyone else.”
Diane laughed. “Oh, please. When was the last time you did anything impetuous with a guy?”
Rachel wasn’t about to answer that question. “Thanks for checking on me. I’ll see you later at school.”
“Right. Bye.”
Rachel hung up the phone and poured herself a mug of coffee. It was a new day and she had a new plan. No more wild nights with men she didn’t know. She would go back to being the kind of woman Diane assumed she was. Better for everyone, especially herself.
The rhythmic click of the knitting needles was a good memory for Rachel. One of her years in foster care had been with an older woman who had taught her to knit. She associated the feel of the soft yarn and the sound of the needles with calm evenings spent by a fire with plenty of hot cocoa on hand.
“She’s going to throw me out of class,” Crissy said in a low voice.
Noelle grinned at Rachel, then turned to their friend. “She’s not. She likes you.”
“Ha. She has to.” Crissy tugged at her tangled knitting. “I gave her a free month at one of my gyms. I know it’s wrong to bribe people but I didn’t know what else to do.”
Rachel held in a smile. “Gee, Crissy, have you thought of actually paying attention to your knitting? It is why we’re here.”
Crissy laughed. “Oh, please. You know I only come here so we can go to dinner afterward. The first set of classes wasn’t too bad, but now things are so complicated. Who writes these patterns?”
“We could meet you for dinner after knitting class,” Noelle offered.
“This is fine,” Crissy told her as she held out her needles to Rachel. “I’ll muddle through.”
“Muddle being the key word,” Rachel said as she took the disaster and began unraveling it. “How can you mess up casting on? It’s just not that complicated.”
“I’m a businesswoman. I can run my company, but I’m not very good with my hands,” Crissy said. “Big deal.”
Noelle, ever the peacemaker, patted her arm. “You could try a little harder.”
“I could also wish to be taller,” Crissy said. “It’s not happening.”
Rachel looked at Noelle. “She’s hopeless.”
“Pretty much,” Noelle said cheerfully. “But we love her anyway.”
Noelle set down her needles and stretched her arms above her head. “I’m getting creaky,” she said. “I’m only twenty and I’m already stiff and old.”
Crissy leaned over and hugged Noelle. “You’re pregnant. There’s a difference.” She patted her friend’s round belly. “I can’t believe how long it took you to show. You’re into your sixth month and you’re not big at all.”
“I feel big,” Noelle said with a contented smile. “I feel huge. But it’s good.”
“Of course it is,” Rachel told her. “How’s Dev?”
Noelle’s expression turned dreamy. “Perfect in every way. He wants us to go away before the baby’s born. Sort of a belated honeymoon. But he doesn’t want me to worry about flying. So he’s been looking into a cruise on the Mexican Riviera. Maybe in late January.”
Rachel couldn’t help smiling at her friend. Noelle radiated happiness. Her marriage to Devlin Hunter had started out as a purely practical arrangement that had turned into something wonderful when they’d fallen in love. Even their brief scare that something might be wrong with the baby had ended well when the tests had come back with the good news that everything was fine.
Noelle tucked her blond hair behind her ears. “So, what’s new with you two?” she asked.
Crissy laughed. “Since last week? Gee, nothing. What about you, Rach? Any deep, dark secrets you want to share?”
“Not really,” Rachel murmured. She was still a little sore from her wild adventure three nights before, but she sure wasn’t going to mention that to her friends. While she didn’t think they would actually disapprove, she wasn’t ready to confess all. Maybe she never would be.
In truth, she couldn’t figure out why she’d allowed things to get so out-of-hand with Carter. Okay, he’d been funny and charming and sexy. In her line of work, she didn’t meet a lot of guys like that. Most of the men in her circle were married and fathers of five-year-olds.
And yes, it had been long time since her last relationship, so maybe she’d been in a weakened condition. But still—that was hardly an excuse for what she’d done.
Just as bad, she was starting to regret throwing away Carter’s note, which was crazy. It wasn’t as if she would have ever called the man. And say what? Invite him out on a date? He would think she was only interested in him for sex. How humiliating. Not that she wasn’t interested in him that way, but there would have to be more than just that. Just thinking about it all was confusing, which meant that a relationship would be difficult and if there were this many questions now, what was the point?
She knew better than to get involved. Caring meant losing and she’d already had enough pain in her life.
“Earth