what? With your head thrown back, eyes rolling, sweating and moaning like a beast? Like that?”
“No, better than that. I was really, really sexy.” The memory made her blush. “And today I’m going to have to ask the guy whose hips I wrapped my legs around last night to quit belching the lyrics of songs over the office intercom.”
Tina opened the refrigerator for what Kara knew to be her usual morning pilfering. “God, nothing in here but Sampson’s peanut-butter celery that he never eats.” She emerged with a piece of it.
“Could I get some help here?” Kara said, calling her friend back to her problem.
“Just act normal,” Tina answered, waving the stalk in the air. “You have a double life. Last night you were an exotic stranger and he was Don Juan. Today you’re back to being a repressed account exec and he’s an overgrown kid who collects comic books.”
“I guess so. And last night did the trick. I can definitely see how sex without love works.”
“Poof!” Tina said, pretending to tap Kara’s head with her celery wand. “You’re sexually liberated.”
“It was nice of Ross to do that for me, don’t you think?”
“He got something out of the deal, too,” Tina said, then gave Kara a speculative look. “You’re not making too much of this, are you? No urge to register at Macy’s or anything?”
“Of course not. This was a one-time thing.” Except all she’d done for the past ten hours was relive the event and long for more. “So, you say, just act like nothing happened?”
“Exactly.”
She sipped her tea, clutching the warm mug with her nervously cold palms. “Speaking of nothing happening, how did it go with Tom last night?”
Tina blushed. Amazing. Tina never blushed. “It was bizarre. It started out like I planned—it’s two a.m. and I tell him my car won’t start and could he give me a ride home. He looks at me funny, but he says he’ll do it.” Tina tapped her lip with the jagged-ended celery stick.
“Then what?”
“So, I climb into his car, lean into him to free my seat belt, giving him plenty of thigh to ogle—and he ogled, all right. Good, I think, we’re getting somewhere. I’ll invite him in for thank-you coffee and we’ll see if he’s as attentive in bed as he is at the bar.
“He hardly talks in the car, but I drag out of him that he’s close to his family, and he’s taking classes to be an engineer. His eyes are so blue…. Anyway, we get to my place and I ask him to come in and you won’t believe what he says to me.” Pause. Tina was such a drama queen.
“What?”
She took a bite of celery and chewed slowly. “He says, ‘You need your sleep.’”
“What?”
“ Then he says, ‘Give me your distributor cap and I’ll put it back on before you pick up the car.’ Can you believe it? He was on to me the whole time. Then he offers me a ride to work this morning.”
“Wow. What did you do?”
“I gave him the cap, but I rode in with my neighbor.”
“So, are you giving up?”
“Are you kidding? I figure he likes to make the first move. Old-fashioned, but nice. He held the door for me and walked me up to my apartment, too. A gentleman.” She sighed, then tossed the stub of celery into the trash. “I’ll just play it his way. Let him come to me.”
“Maybe he’s not your kind of guy, Tina.”
“He’s hot. That makes him my kind of guy.”
“What if he wants to get serious?”
“No guy wants to get serious. Not if he has half a chance not to. That only happens in romance novels.”
“Just be careful.”
“Ditto,” she said, looking past Kara’s shoulder. “Miguel at twelve o’clock.”
Kara whirled to find Ross leaning against the doorjamb taking a swig from a quart bottle of V8 juice.
“Ross!” she said, too bright, too nervous.
“Have fun last night, Kara?” he asked, his expression neutral. “Meet anybody?”
“I, uh, I…actually, I did.” Her heart pounded in her ears at the sight and smell of
“No, better than that. I was really, really sexy.” The memory made her blush. “And today I’m going to have to ask the guy whose hips I wrapped my legs around last night to quit belching the lyrics of songs over the office intercom.”
Tina opened the refrigerator for what Kara knew to be her usual morning pilfering. “God, nothing in here but Sampson’s peanut-butter celery that he never eats.” She emerged with a piece of it.
“Could I get some help here?” Kara said, calling her friend back to her problem.
“Just act normal,” Tina answered, waving the stalk in the air. “You have a double life. Last night you were an exotic stranger and he was Don Juan. Today you’re back to being a repressed account exec and he’s an overgrown kid who collects comic books.”
“I guess so. And last night did the trick. I can definitely see how sex without love works.”
“Poof!” Tina said, pretending to tap Kara’s head with her celery wand. “You’re sexually liberated.”
“It was nice of Ross to do that for me, don’t you think?”
“He got something out of the deal, too,” Tina said, then gave Kara a speculative look. “You’re not making too much of this, are you? No urge to register at Macy’s or anything?”
“Of course not. This was a one-time thing.” Except all she’d done for the past ten hours was relive the event and long for more. “So, you say, just act like nothing happened?”
“Exactly.”
She sipped her tea, clutching the warm mug with her nervously cold palms. “Speaking of nothing happening, how did it go with Tom last night?”
Tina blushed. Amazing. Tina never blushed. “It was bizarre. It started out like I planned—it’s two a.m. and I tell him my car won’t start and could he give me a ride home. He looks at me funny, but he says he’ll do it.” Tina tapped her lip with the jagged-ended celery stick.
“Then what?”
“So, I climb into his car, lean into him to free my seat belt, giving him plenty of thigh to ogle—and he ogled, all right. Good, I think, we’re getting somewhere. I’ll invite him in for thank-you coffee and we’ll see if he’s as attentive in bed as he is at the bar.
“He hardly talks in the car, but I drag out of him that he’s close to his family, and he’s taking classes to be an engineer. His eyes are so blue…. Anyway, we get to my place and I ask him to come in and you won’t believe what he says to me.” Pause. Tina was such a drama queen.
“What?”
She took a bite of celery and chewed slowly. “He says, ‘You need your sleep.’”
“What?”
“ Then he says, ‘Give me your distributor cap and I’ll put it back on before you pick up the car.’ Can you believe it? He was on to me the whole time. Then he offers me a ride to work this morning.”
“Wow. What did you do?”
“I gave him the cap, but I rode in with my neighbor.”
“So, are you giving up?”
“Are you kidding? I figure he likes to make the first move. Old-fashioned, but nice. He held the door for me and walked me up to my apartment, too. A gentleman.” She sighed, then tossed the stub of celery into the trash. “I’ll just play it his way. Let him come to me.”
“Maybe he’s not your kind of guy, Tina.”
“He’s hot. That makes him my kind of guy.”
“What if he wants to get serious?”
“No guy wants to get serious. Not if he has half a chance not to. That only happens in romance novels.”
“Just be careful.”
“Ditto,” she said, looking past Kara’s shoulder. “Miguel at twelve o’clock.”
Kara whirled to find Ross leaning against the doorjamb taking a swig from a quart bottle of V8 juice.
“Ross!” she said, too bright, too nervous.
“Have fun last night, Kara?” he asked, his expression neutral. “Meet anybody?”
“I, uh, I…actually, I did.” Her heart pounded in her ears at the sight and smell of
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