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The topic was making her squirm in her chair as she fought down her body’s response. “A fair amount. First women have to realize they’re entitled to good sex, and then they have to educate the guy. It’s an evolving situation, but I think the word’s getting out.”
“Thanks to people like you.” His blue gaze grew more intent. “Don’t you think helping couples find greater sexual satisfaction is important?”
“The column’s only a small part of the newsletter.” She couldn’t seem to stop staring into his eyes, eyes that made her feel sexually alive. She hadn’t felt that way in a long time. “Mostly it’s about restaurants, nightclubs, date-worthy attractions around the city.”
“And why do you suppose the newsletter is so popular? I’ll give you a hint. It’s not because of the date-worthy attractions, although I’m sure you provide a good service there, too.”
“Well, I’m sure people like the column, but—”
“Listen, I have two racing buddies who subscribe to Dateline: Dallas. They might tell everybody else it’s for the restaurant reviews, but they admitted to me that the first thing they read is your column. Guys don’t like to be obvious about picking up sexual information, so this is a way to do it on the sly. You tell one reader how to help her guy last longer, and a hundred guys will make a greater effort to do that.”
And if they kept up this discussion, she was liable to throw herself at him and beg for that do-over. He’d already promised to give her satisfaction.
She cleared her throat. “I think we’re getting off track.”
“Not really. You’ve spent ten years thinking I’m the kind of coldhearted guy who would take what I wanted and dump you. We can’t renew our friendship if that’s what you think of me. I need to clear up that impression.”
“I could simply take your word for it.”
He shook his head slowly and smiled. “What happened between you and me was physical. It’ll take a physical act to override our memory of it.”
Oh, boy, she was ready for that physical act. Fortunately her brain was still in gear. “Dustin, this is insane.”
“Why?”
“With all those expectations, sex between us would be a disaster.”
His smile broadened. “When it comes to physical challenges, I perform well under pressure.”
Her nerve endings hummed. “I can’t imagine how we could relax and enjoy ourselves, knowing that this was some sort of test, each of us trying to outperform the other.”
“You’d be trying to outperform me?”
Now there was a stupid slip. “Well, no, of course not.” Being around a jock must be awakening her competitive urges.
“Tell you what. Let’s go have lunch and you can think it over.”
“I have thought it over, and I think it’s crazy.”
He stood. “Think some more. In the meantime, I’m starving. All I’ve had to eat since five this morning is one Fig Newman.”
SEATED IN A SECLUDED little West End restaurant booth across from Erica, Dustin ate barbecue and Erica munched on a veggie sandwich. She’d told him that reviewing required her to taste a variety of things, so she’d eaten off his plate, too. She preferred the veggie sandwich.
He and Erica were different. He’d shrivel up and die on a diet of sprouts and tofu, while that was her favorite. She only ate meat because she had to, for the restaurant review. Although he didn’t always understand or agree with her preferences, he admired her convictions. He always had. In fact, he enjoyed playing Texas good ol’ boy, just to get her on a soapbox.
When she’d ordered a local microbrew made from organic grain, he’d deliberately asked for a Bud. At the moment, she was trying to convince him to invest Ramsey money in the microbrewery. He liked the idea of making a profit on beer, but he had his doubts about the organic part, which jacked up the price considerably.
She was persuasive, though, and he loved the passionate way she argued a point. The more time he spent with her, the more he became convinced that he’d done exactly the right thing by seeking her out. When they’d hooked up in chemistry class, she’d been the first girl to treat him as if he had potential to succeed at something besides football. Up until then, his ambitions hadn’t stretched much beyond winning chugalug contests and the state football championship.
But then he’d pushed his luck and taken her for a drive in the country. After that dismal failure he’d avoided Erica, which resulted in a return to his old lazy mental habits. Now his only option was to retrace his steps, get on a better footing with Erica and move forward from there.
She really was good for him. He’d like to believe he could be good for her, too. With her initiative, she could reap benefits from the economic system she liked to criticize. They both could reap benefits of a more personal nature if she’d allow it.
“Just try the beer,” she said, holding out the bottle she’d been drinking from.
He liked the idea of putting his mouth where hers had recently been. His fingers brushed hers as he took the bottle and awareness flashed in her eyes. Good. She was still thinking about his proposition.
Holding her gaze, he lifted the bottle to his lips and drank.
“Well?” She looked at him expectantly.
“I like it. Rich and good.” Exactly the way sex would be with her. He imagined he could taste the flavor of her mouth along with the beer. Handing the bottle back, he watched as she sipped from it again. Drinking from the same bottle was a start.
“So you’ll think about that as a potential investment?”
“Sure. I’ll look into it. But organic beer doesn’t have sex appeal. Your newsletter does. And you know what they say. Sex sells.”
She made a face. “I thought you wanted to educate people, not capitalize on the sexual content of the newsletter.”
“What’s wrong with doing both?”
“Spoken like a true capitalist. I just don’t happen to care about making gobs of money.” She took another sip of her beer. “And I honestly don’t see myself publishing this newsletter for much longer. Some job will open up for me in the next six months, as the economy improves.”
“You’re passing up a golden opportunity.”
She regarded him from across the table, her gray eyes sparkling. “Are we still talking about the franchise?”
He grinned.
“You’re such a flirt. I have to admit you’re arousing my curiosity.”
“And that’s all?”
She didn’t comment, just smiled back at him.
He was sure his sexual longing showed right on his face. Fortunately she couldn’t see under the table, where even more evidence lurked. He took another bite of his barbecue.
“I still wonder exactly how you found me,” she said. “I’ve lost touch with everyone in Midland. If the reunion committee couldn’t locate me, how did you?”
He chewed and swallowed the spicy beef, taking his time while he thought of how to answer. If he told her, she’d know how obsessed he’d been with tracking her down. He’d hoped to keep from mentioning the extent of his search, but now that she’d asked, he had to level with her. “I hired a private investigator.”
“Get outta here! You hired a P.I. to find me? I can’t believe that!”
Sometimes he had a hard time believing it, too. “When I get an idea in my head, I can be…stubborn.”
Her eyebrows lifted. “Apparently.”
“I’d hoped you’d be at the reunion, but when you weren’t, I had to figure out something else.”
“You really and truly had a private eye tailing me?” She looked intrigued.
Maybe telling her wasn’t such a bad thing. “I did.”
“This is beginning to sound like a movie.”
“Well, if you’re thinking of a guy wearing a trench coat and a snap-brim fedora, that wasn’t happening. Jennifer Madison operates out of Midland and she found you using the Internet, with her two-month-old baby asleep in the crib next to her.”
Erica frowned in concentration. “Jennifer Madison. I know that name.” Then she snapped her fingers. “She subscribes to Dateline: Dallas. I wondered why she be interested, living in Midland. So Jennifer Madison is a private eye.”
“Yep. And a good one.”
“A private eye with a baby and a computer. That is sort of anticlimactic. I was picturing reruns of Magnum P.I. It wouldn’t be so bad to be watched by the likes of Tom Selleck in his younger days. Actually, he’s still pretty cute.”
“Sorry.” Actually he wasn’t sorry at all. He wouldn’t have hired someone who looked like Tom Selleck in the first place. “It’s the electronic age.”
“Even so, it’s quite a concept, to think that you actually hired a person to dig around until they located me. I’ve never been tailed before.”
“So…you’re not upset?”
Leaning back in the booth, she gazed at him. “I suppose I could look at it as another example of how people with money operate differently from the rest of us. You wanted to find me so you thought nothing of hiring it done.”
“As a last resort.” And he’d considered the expense more carefully than she’d ever know.
“But the truth is, this is very good for my ego. I thought I was nothing more than a notch in your belt, and here you are hiring a P.I. to track me down ten years later.”
He winced at her interpretation of his behavior ten years ago. “I’m not a belt-notch kind of guy. That’s what I’m trying to—”
“You could be a scorekeeper, though.”
“Excuse me?”
“What exactly was wrong with the sex between us?”
“Well, um—” He took a fortifying swallow of his Bud. “It was over too fast, for one thing.”
Her gray eyes held his relentlessly. “Some people think quickies are great.”
“They are, if both people are satisfied at the end.” He was glad they were seated in a back booth and the place was nearly empty.
Still he didn’t feel totally secure about having this conversation right now. The restaurant owner, a guy named Henry, had popped back several times to make sure the food was good. He could show up again and catch part of what they were saying.
She continued to challenge him with her eyes. “And your point is?”
He leaned forward and lowered his voice. “You didn’t come, Erica. That’s what was wrong with it.”
She mirrored his posture, leaning toward him and resting her arms on either side of her plate. “And I suppose all the rest of your sexual partners have come?”
“Damn right they have.” He was proud of that. In some cases he’d given them the first orgasm of their lives.
She settled back with a victorious smile. “See what I mean?” she said softly. “I’m lousing up your perfect score.”
“That’s not the point, damn it.” Okay, it was a small part of the point. But not the biggest part of the point.
“I say it is. You’re a jock, and jocks can’t help keeping score.”
“That is not true. It’s not about the numbers. Every guy probably has one woman he didn’t have any success with, sexually. I could live with that. I just don’t want that woman to be you.”
“Why not?”
“Out of all the people I’ve had sex with, you’re the one I respected the most.” Until he said it out loud, he hadn’t realized how true it was.
Her gaze flickered. “Sounds like there’s been quite a lineup.”
“I didn’t mean to make it sound like that.” There had been quite a lineup, but none of the experiences had meant as much as that night in the back of his Mustang. And he’d botched that. “I just want to show you that I’m capable of doing it right.”
She leaned toward him again. “You know what? I think you’re turning this into more of a production than you need to. If giving me an orgasm is all you need to feel better about everything, we don’t have to stage an elaborate bedroom scene.”
“We don’t?”
“Nope. I don’t have time for that, anyway. I’m on a tight deadline for the newsletter and I have to work straight through until noon tomorrow if I expect to get it put together.”
“I understand that.” The gleam in her eyes made him nervous. “But I’m here through tomorrow night.”
“Why wait?” she murmured. “If this is so important to you, why don’t we take care of it right now?”
His mouth went dry. “What are you talking about?”
She moved to the far corner of the booth and patted the vinyl seat next to her. “Scoot on over here, cowboy. Let’s even the score.”
4
ERICA WAS REASONABLY SURE Dustin would back down before her challenge. He had a whole other strategy mapped out that involved both of them getting naked, and this suggestion wouldn’t fit his preconceived idea. So she’d get credit for being a bold, swinging chick without having to follow through.
All her years of debate strategy were paying off, judging by the startled look in his eyes. Do the unexpected and gain the advantage. His phone call had been totally out of the blue, so he’d had the advantage in the beginning. By confessing that he’d been thinking about her for ten years, he’d lost a good part of that advantage, though.
Now his advantage was completely gone. Obviously she’d shocked him down to the toes of his expensive snakeskin boots.
His throat moved in a convulsive swallow. “I…that’s not what I—”
“How are you two coming along?” Henry sauntered back to the booth. “Are you saving room for dessert?”
Erica felt a naughty thrill knowing what she and Dustin had been discussing right before the portly restaurant owner showed up. She’d bet that Dustin was dealing with a major erection right now. The thought made her go all squishy inside, but she didn’t really want to make out in a restaurant booth. Of course not.
Sliding back to the middle of her seat, she gave Henry a broad smile as she glanced up at him. “Dessert sounds wonderful.”
“Terrific.” Henry clasped his hands in front of him. “We have mud pie, an unbelievable hot-fudge sundae, a raspberry cheesecake that’s out of this world, and pecan pie to die for. Why don’t I bring all of them and let you sample to your heart’s content?”
“Sounds like a great idea.” Erica looked over at Dustin and somehow managed to keep her face straight. “Are you up for that?”
He coughed. “Um, sure.”
“May I clear your plates?” Henry asked.
“You can take mine,” Erica said. “And it was delicious, Henry. Even the barbecue, and you know I’m not much of a carnivore.”
“I thought I’d tempt you with that sauce,” Henry said. “Be sure and mention the sauce in the review. We’re known for that.”
“I’ll be sure and mention the sauce.” Erica reached over to Dustin’s plate, swiped up a bit with her finger and licked it off, totally on purpose. She’d never been this motivated to sexually taunt a guy. “A taste that yummy should be illegal.”
Henry beamed. “My mom’s secret recipe.” He turned toward Dustin. “Sir, do you want to keep your plate?”
“No, that’s okay.” Dustin’s voice sounded gravelly. “You can take it.” He cleared his throat again. “It was very good, though.”
“A positive review in Dateline: Dallas guarantees increased traffic.” He picked up Dustin’s plate. “I’ve been trying to get Erica in here for months.” He glanced at her. “And the review will be out Saturday, right?”
“Absolutely. I’ll write it this afternoon.”
“Cool. I’ve scheduled everybody to work Saturday night, to handle the crowd. More beer for either of you?”
“One beer’s all I can handle if I’m going to make my deadline,” Erica said, “but iced tea would be nice.”
Henry looked at Dustin. “And what can I get for you?”
“The same, thanks.”
“Good deal. Be right back.”
After he left, Erica gazed at Dustin in silence, waiting to see if he’d say anything more about her outrageous suggestion.
“You weren’t serious about it, were you?” he asked at last.
“What makes you think I wasn’t serious?”
“Well, for one thing, Henry keeps wandering back here.”
She’d honestly forgotten about Henry, but that didn’t matter, because Dustin wouldn’t take her up on her offer. “The possibility of discovery increases the excitement,” she said, continuing to have fun with him. “I did one issue on restaurants where it would be possible to fool around. I keep getting requests for reprints of that issue.”
“Did you test out the restaurants personally?”
“I’ll take the Fifth on that.” Sadly enough, the guy she’d been dating at the time hadn’t had an adventurous bone in his body. When she’d tried to fondle him under the table, he’d insisted they leave the restaurant.
“I’ll bet you did it. Which is exactly what I’d expect of you. You’re one gutsy woman.”
She was pleased with that assessment. Maybe Dustin would go back to Midland and think about her for another ten years. This time she’d be able to visualize him pining away, and that would be sweet, indeed.
“Here we are—decadence personified.” Henry appeared and unloaded three dessert plates, a tall hot-fudge sundae and two iced teas.
“Positively sinful.” Erica winked at Dustin.
“Use that in the review,” Henry said. “Just say my sauce oughta be illegal and my desserts are positively sinful. I’ll have a line clear down the street Saturday night.”
“I hope you do.” Erica surveyed the banquet of sweets and decided to put a little more pressure on Dustin. “Thanks, Henry. You know what else I like about this place?”
“The charming owner?”
She smiled at him. Henry was gay, so she knew he wasn’t even remotely hitting on her. “Definitely. And also the fact that the service is discreet. You don’t hover over us while we eat. You leave us alone to enjoy our food.”
Henry flushed with obvious pleasure. “I try to treat people the way I’d like to be treated. I make sure they don’t need anything, but once I’m sure they’re all set, I disappear. Most people like a little privacy to enjoy their meal.”
“You’re smart to realize that,” Erica said.
“That said, I’ll leave you two to your desserts.” Henry bowed slightly. “Bon appétit.”
Once he was gone, Erica trained her gaze on Dustin. “Take whatever appeals to you.”
His chest rose and fell rapidly. “Did you do that on purpose?”
She played dumb. “Order dessert?”
“Let Henry know that we wanted to be left alone.”
She pulled the hot-fudge sundae toward her and dipped a spoon into the whipped cream. “You seemed worried about Henry running back here all the time, so I decided to remove that obstacle for you.” She licked the whipped cream from the edge of the spoon. Then she waved it over the table full of goodies. “Have some dessert.”
Dustin pulled the cheesecake plate in front of him. “I’ll bet if I came over there you’d freak.”
“Try me.” She picked the cherry up by its stem and dangled it above her mouth before plopping it inside. She was giddy with power. Dustin was squirming in his seat and wondering if she was as wild as she seemed to be. Sweet.
He grabbed a fork and ate the cheesecake automatically, shoveling it in like a robot unaware of what he was doing. “I should call your bluff.”
Pulling the cherry with her teeth, she twirled the stem between her fingers as she chewed and swallowed. Her heart hammered, but she kept her tone casual. “Assuming I’m bluffing.” This was the most fun she’d ever had in her entire life. All this teasing was giving her quite a buzz.
“You’re bluffing. You might have done something in a dark restaurant at night, but this is the middle of the day.” He finished the cheesecake and started on the mud pie. “No way would you go through with it.”
“Whatever you say.” Digging out some hot fudge, she left the spoon poised over the dish so the warm chocolate dribbled over the whipped cream. “You’re the one who said we couldn’t be friends if you didn’t give me an orgasm. I’m only trying to accommodate you.”
He paused, his fork in midair, and watched the hot fudge ooze from the tip of her spoon. In what looked like an unconscious gesture, he ran his tongue over his lips. “Tell me again when you’ll be finished with the newsletter?”
“I have to put it to bed, as we say, by noon tomorrow. I got behind this week so I’ll probably pull an all-nighter to get it done.” She turned the spoon upside down and slid it into her mouth as she held his gaze.
“Will you be free after that?”
She sucked the hot fudge from the spoon and slid it back out of her mouth. “I’ll have to check my calendar. I might have a date tomorrow night.” She didn’t. She’d broken up with Brian two months ago, and nobody promising had appeared on the horizon since then. But she had to protect herself, or she was liable to end up in Dustin’s hotel room tomorrow night.
Although she’d been an easy conquest once upon a time, she wouldn’t make that mistake again. No matter what he might say to the contrary, this could be all about the chase. Once she gave him what he wanted, he could easily drop her again. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.
His voice was husky with leashed tension. “You’re torturing me on purpose, aren’t you?”
She gestured with her spoon as she leaned toward him. “I’m trying to show you that this is an impossible situation you’re trying to set up. You can’t ride into my life after ten years and expect me to fall into bed with you so that you can have a perfect record with the ladies.”
“So you won’t see me tomorrow night?”
“I might, if I don’t have a date. But we have to have an understanding that I won’t go to bed with you. That would put way too much pressure on both of us.” And might leave me open to another painful rejection.
“All right.”
She was a little disappointed that he’d give up the campaign that easily, but she smiled as if pleased with his decision. “Good. Then we understand each other. I think eventually you’ll see that—” She paused as he eased out of the booth. “What are you doing?”
“Move over. I’m taking you up on your earlier offer.”
“Uh…” The spoon dropped from her fingers and clattered to the table.
He sat on the edge of her seat, his thigh brushing hers, his arm over the back of the vinyl seat. His mouth was inches from hers, his scent surrounded her, bringing a surge of memories. “Lost your nerve?” he murmured.
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