him again.”
“You mean you shouldn’t sleep with him. Yet you almost went for it in his office this morning. Correct?”
“A moment of weakness. I was still getting over the shock of seeing him again.”
“And in the diner?”
“I was making a point.”
“And did you make your point?”
“I sure did.” Below the waist anyway. “Why do I get the feeling I’m going to regret telling you any of this?”
“Because you know that if I think you’re acting like an irresponsible moron, I’m going to tell you.”
“And you think I am?”
“I think that you might be backsliding a little. Just remind yourself, you are no longer that lonely little girl who pulls fire alarms and stays out past curfew to get attention. You are a strong, mature woman who is in control of her own destiny.”
“I know.” But that little girl was still in there, and occasionally she persuaded the confident, mature woman to do some not-so-mature things. “The weird part is that I don’t even like him very much. But then I get close to him and I just want to rip his clothes off and touch him all over.”
“Probably not a good idea. You know, Rex and I used to have chemistry like that.”
Alice’s boyfriend, Rex, was an up-and-coming fashion designer whose rising star seemed to be keeping him out of the country more than he was in it lately. And even when he was in town, she didn’t seem truly happy.
“When will he be back in New York?” Carrie asked.
“Two weeks. This time he promised.”
He had promised her lots of things, and so far he hadn’t exactly come through. Alice was beautiful and sophisticated and smart, but had miserably low self-esteem. Because of that, she let the men in her life walk all over her. All types of men clamored for her attention, yet she always picked the aloof, distant ones whose attention she had to beg for. A fact she was quite aware of. But as Carrie had told Rob, a person could recognize the problem and still not know how to fix it.
“How’s the foot healing?” Carrie asked her.
“Slowly. The physical therapy is helping. My doctor assured me that I’ll be back on my feet before the shows next fall. It’s crazy how you can be walking down the sidewalk, minding your own business, then pow, out of nowhere everything changes.”
The pow in that scenario being the bike messenger who knocked her off the curb into the path of a moving taxi. She was lucky to be alive.
“And speaking of therapy,” Alice said, “I have an appointment in an hour, so I should let you go. But I want you to make me a promise. If you get even the slightest urge to jump Mr. Steamy Sex again, I want you to call me immediately so I can talk some sense into you. Anytime, day or night.”
“Okay.”
“You promise?”
She sighed.
“Carrie?”
“Okay, okay, I promise,” she said, hoping it wasn’t one of those promises that came back to bite her in the butt.
* * *
Two days later Carrie hopped in a cab to meet Nick’s wife, Terri, at the condo she hoped would be her new temporary home.
She was pleasantly surprised when the cab pulled up in front of a row of attached, newish-looking, charming brick homes with two-car garages. So far so good.
The homes were still decorated for the holidays. All but the one the driver stopped at. Which wasn’t so unusual considering no one was living there. Still, it looked so forlorn and neglected. But thankfully very well-maintained. At least on the outside.
She paid the driver, realizing that if she didn’t want to blow her entire earnings on cab fare, it might be more cost effective to lease a car while she was there. She didn’t exactly relish the thought of taking public transportation in the dead of winter either.
She climbed out of the cab and paused on the sidewalk to look up and down the street. All the residences were well-maintained, and a large group of children of various ages played in the snow several doors down, which led her to assume the
“You mean you shouldn’t sleep with him. Yet you almost went for it in his office this morning. Correct?”
“A moment of weakness. I was still getting over the shock of seeing him again.”
“And in the diner?”
“I was making a point.”
“And did you make your point?”
“I sure did.” Below the waist anyway. “Why do I get the feeling I’m going to regret telling you any of this?”
“Because you know that if I think you’re acting like an irresponsible moron, I’m going to tell you.”
“And you think I am?”
“I think that you might be backsliding a little. Just remind yourself, you are no longer that lonely little girl who pulls fire alarms and stays out past curfew to get attention. You are a strong, mature woman who is in control of her own destiny.”
“I know.” But that little girl was still in there, and occasionally she persuaded the confident, mature woman to do some not-so-mature things. “The weird part is that I don’t even like him very much. But then I get close to him and I just want to rip his clothes off and touch him all over.”
“Probably not a good idea. You know, Rex and I used to have chemistry like that.”
Alice’s boyfriend, Rex, was an up-and-coming fashion designer whose rising star seemed to be keeping him out of the country more than he was in it lately. And even when he was in town, she didn’t seem truly happy.
“When will he be back in New York?” Carrie asked.
“Two weeks. This time he promised.”
He had promised her lots of things, and so far he hadn’t exactly come through. Alice was beautiful and sophisticated and smart, but had miserably low self-esteem. Because of that, she let the men in her life walk all over her. All types of men clamored for her attention, yet she always picked the aloof, distant ones whose attention she had to beg for. A fact she was quite aware of. But as Carrie had told Rob, a person could recognize the problem and still not know how to fix it.
“How’s the foot healing?” Carrie asked her.
“Slowly. The physical therapy is helping. My doctor assured me that I’ll be back on my feet before the shows next fall. It’s crazy how you can be walking down the sidewalk, minding your own business, then pow, out of nowhere everything changes.”
The pow in that scenario being the bike messenger who knocked her off the curb into the path of a moving taxi. She was lucky to be alive.
“And speaking of therapy,” Alice said, “I have an appointment in an hour, so I should let you go. But I want you to make me a promise. If you get even the slightest urge to jump Mr. Steamy Sex again, I want you to call me immediately so I can talk some sense into you. Anytime, day or night.”
“Okay.”
“You promise?”
She sighed.
“Carrie?”
“Okay, okay, I promise,” she said, hoping it wasn’t one of those promises that came back to bite her in the butt.
* * *
Two days later Carrie hopped in a cab to meet Nick’s wife, Terri, at the condo she hoped would be her new temporary home.
She was pleasantly surprised when the cab pulled up in front of a row of attached, newish-looking, charming brick homes with two-car garages. So far so good.
The homes were still decorated for the holidays. All but the one the driver stopped at. Which wasn’t so unusual considering no one was living there. Still, it looked so forlorn and neglected. But thankfully very well-maintained. At least on the outside.
She paid the driver, realizing that if she didn’t want to blow her entire earnings on cab fare, it might be more cost effective to lease a car while she was there. She didn’t exactly relish the thought of taking public transportation in the dead of winter either.
She climbed out of the cab and paused on the sidewalk to look up and down the street. All the residences were well-maintained, and a large group of children of various ages played in the snow several doors down, which led her to assume the
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