Kitabı oku: «A Man For The Night»
“You’d like to try all ten fantasies with me?” Callum asked with a grin
Josie’s blush was beautifully telling. “Well, I…I…”
He waved the racy magazine at her from where he sprawled naked on the bed. “We’ve covered number one already, sweetheart. Last night. Sex With A Stranger. I was your stranger—though we’re great friends now.”
Josie laughed even as she recalled every delicious detail of the night. “I guess that’s true.”
“So that leaves nine more fantasies—one for every night I’m still in town.” He paused. “Let’s see, I’ll pick you up at seven tonight. We’ll go out for dinner.”
“Out? Why don’t we just stay here?” In bed, she thought.
“Oh, no. Fantasy number two is Sex In A Public Place. Wear a dress. Something soft and floaty. And no panties.”
Callum loved seeing the mixture of shock and excitement in Josie’s eyes. By the time seven o’clock came tonight, she’d be almost unbearably aroused.
And boy, so would he!
Dear Reader,
I once read a fascinating book that listed and explored all sorts of female sexual fantasies. They were many and varied, and I couldn’t see some ever making the transition from fantasy to reality—physically impossible! When I sat down to write my second Blaze book about a frustrated girl who had a sexual wish list a mile long, I wanted her fantasies to be the kind that could be fulfilled, if only she could find the right man.
Of course, I was eager to supply Josie with her Mr. Right. Not a fantasy man, either. But a real flesh-and-blood guy with the expertise and attitude for a no-strings, fantasy-fulfilling affair. Callum McCloud fitted the bill perfectly. Up to a point. He warns our heroine up front he isn’t into Forever After. No way. Never in a million years! Yes, I can see you smiling. You know better, don’t you? But the road to romance is a wild one, and Josie and Callum have many nights of wonderful sex before they embrace love. Wow, do they have fun together! Hope you have fun, too….
Miranda Lee
A Man For The Night
Miranda Lee
MILLS & BOON
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Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
1
MEN WERE A LOST CAUSE, Josie Williams decided as she drove to work that Monday morning.
“At least where I’m concerned,” she muttered.
She should have known Angus was too good to be true. Past experience should have warned her to look for the hidden flaws instead of hoping that she’d finally found her rainbow pot of gold—male-wise.
All that glitters had certainly not been gold on this occasion. Angus had been fool’s gold, and she had been the fool. Again.
Josie sighed a weary sigh. At the rate she was going, she’d never find what she was looking for in a man. She was already twenty-eight, for pity’s sake, with one failed marriage behind her, plus a string of so-so boyfriends.
“I’m jinxed,” she grumbled as she turned her car into the suburban street where she had an appointment to meet Kay at nine-thirty.
A glance at the clock on the dash showed it was already nine-forty. She was running late, the result of an uncharacteristic case of Mondayitis. Usually, Josie couldn’t wait to get up and go to work on a Monday, especially now that she was working for herself.
But when the alarm went off this morning, she’d lain in bed for quite some time, thinking about the fiasco with Angus the previous night and trying to come to terms with the ongoing disaster of her personal life.
Was it her? Was she really jinxed? Or did she just want too much in a man?
Probably, Josie decided. Hadn’t she always? But the truth was she simply couldn’t bring herself to settle for less than what she’d always dreamt about, which was true love, plus her concept of a great sex life.
Not that she talked about this last part of her wish list anymore. Josie had come to the conclusion that her notion of a great sex life was outside the norm. So she kept the extent of her desires a deep dark secret. No way did she want her friends looking at her the same way her ex-husband had on their honeymoon, like she was some kind of raving nympho. When her girlfriends asked her what she wanted in a man, she now just said commitment and caring.
Even with this abbreviated wish list, Deb and Lisa said she was looking for something that didn’t exist. Which might or might nor be true. Josie was loath to take her two late-twenties-and-still-single roommates’ word for it.
Deb—a stylish blonde, but boyfriendless for over a year now—was the most cynical of the two. She thought all Australian men were selfish, and their idea of commitment and caring was remembering their current girlfriend’s name while they were bedding her. Lisa, a curvy bottle redhead who’d only recently split with her latest boyfriend after finding him in bed with his next-door neighbor, was going through an I-hate-all-men phase.
Josie was infinitely grateful that she was house-sitting at the moment while her parents were away, which meant she wouldn’t see Deb and Lisa till Wednesday, on their weekly girls’ night out. She simply couldn’t have coped with their toxic mixture of sympathy and sarcasm today. She could hear them now, spouting a fresh load of cutting comments about Aussie men and their shortcomings.
Thank goodness Kay didn’t talk like that, Josie thought as she spotted her co-worker up ahead, waiting by her car. Kay Harper believed in Aussie men, plus their ability to truly love a woman. An understandable point of view, considering Kay was married to one fantastic man, Colin. Josie might have been jealous of her one and only employee if Kay hadn’t been such a nice person.
Sliding her silver car into the blessedly empty spot behind Kay’s navy two-door, Josie waved over at her through the windscreen. Kay waved back, a ready smile on her cutely pretty face.
Although thirty-five, Kay was often taken for much younger, courtesy of her elfin features, slight figure and short, layered blond hair.
Not that she’d been born a blonde, like Deb. Kay was a believer in the adage that what you didn’t like about yourself, you changed. She’d also had a nose job in her twenties.
“Sorry I’m late,” Josie said with an apologetic smile as she jumped out from behind the wheel. “Slept in.” Too late, Josie realized that was a leading thing to say.
Kay’s blond tinted brows lifted in a suggestive fashion. “Really? That sounds promising. Do I take it you had a good night with Angus?”
Josie winced. What to say? Stupid to lie. But truly, she didn’t want to have some lengthy postmortem over what had happened with Angus, even with Kay. Best she get this over and done with as swiftly and painlessly as possible. “Actually, no, I didn’t.”
“Oh? What happened?”
“We ran into a former lover of his.”
“Oh dear. How awkward.”
“You have no idea. The former lover was a man.”
“What?” Kay looked almost as shocked as Josie had been at this discovery. “But…but I didn’t know Angus is gay.”
They’d both met Angus when Josie sought his services a couple of months back to revamp her company’s Web site. And both had thought him a hunk of the first order.
Kay’s shock quickly gave way to outrage. “If he is gay, then what the devil was he doing asking you out?”
“He claims he’s not gay,” Josie said dryly. “He’s just bisexual. Likes both gals and guys, often at the same time, and was I interested in a little threesome?”
Kay grimaced. “Oh, yuck.”
“My sentiments exactly.” As wild as some of Josie’s sexual fantasies were, they were always one-on-one with a heterosexual partner. Still, she had to wonder what it was about her that made Angus think she would be interested in that kind of thing. Perhaps it was the enthusiastic way she’d kissed him back on their last date. Whatever else he had been, Angus had been one very good kisser.
“I’ll bet you’re glad you kept to your no-sex-before-your-third-date rule,” Kay said ruefully before flashing Josie an alarmed glance. “You did keep to that rule with him, didn’t you?”
“Yes. Thank heavens. But last night was our third date and I was considering it. I shudder now just thinking about how close I came to an even greater disaster than my usual. I mean…I’ve picked some dud boyfriends in the past, especially in the bedroom department, but I’ve never picked a risk to my health!”
“A miss is as good as a mile.”
Josie rolled her eyes. “I’m finding it difficult to play the glad game this morning, Miss Pollyanna.”
“It’s the only way, sweetie. After all, there’s no real harm done, is there? It’s not as though you were in love with the man.”
“How do you know?”
“I remember what I was like when I first fell in love with Colin. You haven’t been like that with Angus.”
“Like what?”
“Distracted from your work. You’ll know when you’re truly in love, Josie, and so will I. Because your head will always be somewhere other than on the job. So far, in the time I’ve worked for you, that hasn’t happened.”
“No, I guess it hasn’t,” Josie conceded. “And I’m beginning to doubt if it ever will.”
“It will. There are plenty more fish in the sea.”
“That’s what you always say. But I have a feeling all the really attractive guys in Sydney are gay.”
“Rubbish! Sydney is chock full of good-looking straight guys.”
“Yeah. But they’re already married to clever women like you. And speaking of your being clever,” Josie swept on, deciding a change of subject was called for, “you’re going to have to be a very clever little decorator with this job I’ve lined up for us.”
“Oh-oh. That sounds ominous.”
“I have every confidence in you. After you’ve finished with this place, I’m sure it’ll sell for well over the reserve. Come on. Let’s go inside and I’ll show you our new challenge firsthand.” And she shepherded Kay into the square three-storey red brick apartment building which housed PPP’s new project.
“What’s the reserve price?” Kay asked with worry in her voice within a minute of stepping through the second floor apartment’s front door.
Josie gnawed at her bottom lip. She had to confess that the place looked much worse today than when she’d inspected it on Saturday. Of course, at the time, she’d been in a state of pre-date excitement. On top of that the sun had been shining, making the most of the ocean view and brightening up the starkly empty rooms.
Today was overcast in more ways than one.
“Josie?” Kay prompted as she opened and closed one of the battered kitchen cupboards.
Josie shrugged off the gathering clouds of pessimism, determined not to fall victim to such self-destructive emotion. She’d been there, done that after her divorce, and she didn’t want to go down that road again.
Admittedly, it was hard not to feel some dismay over her personal life this morning. She wouldn’t be human if she didn’t wonder and worry if she’d ever find someone even remotely close to her ideal man.
But no way was she going to let negative thinking creep into her working life. Work was the one thing she knew she could depend on. Work had always boosted her self-esteem and it gave her considerable satisfaction. Which was a lot more than any man had ever given her.
This project had been a good idea on Saturday, and it was still a good idea!
“Four hundred and ninety-five thousand,” she said with renewed conviction.
Kay swung round with wide blue eyes. “You have to be kidding. For this dump?”
“It’s not a dump in the real estate world,” Josie pointed out firmly. “It’s a two-bedroom apartment overlooking Manly Beach. A similar property sold at auction this last weekend for five hundred and seventy thousand.”
“I’ll bet it wasn’t in this condition.”
“No, of course not. Which is where we come in.”
“But you said the auction’s a week from Saturday. That hardly gives us much time. Less than two weeks…”
“It’s more than enough time,” Josie insisted. “And it’s not as though we haven’t done several similar jobs before. We have.” Property Presentation Perfect specialized in this kind of makeover.
Which was what Josie had told the real estate agent on Saturday, backing up her claims with PPP’s photographic portfolio of before and after shots. When he’d still looked doubtful, Josie had made him an offer any astute businessman could not refuse.
“If there’s no sale at the upcoming auction, there’s no fee. If the sale goes through, PPP gets a flat fee of five thousand dollars plus ten percent of the amount achieved over and above the reserve.”
Josie wouldn’t normally have offered such generous terms, but PPP was going through a bit of a slump during their second year of business. Which was one of the reasons she’d had their Web site revamped. Competition for the renovation dollar was very high in Sydney at the moment. With the proliferation of do-it-yourself shows on television, a lot of people now did their renovations themselves, rather than call in professionals.
Till business hopefully picked up again, Josie had started canvassing for work the old-fashioned way, calling on real estate agents face-to-face. She’d started with the major agencies on Sydney’s lucrative North Shore, on the assumption that each was sure to have a wealthy client or two off-loading run-down rentals which could do with a facelift. So far, however, she’d only found this one Realtor willing to give PPP a try. But he’d said if the idea worked out, he would be happy to recommend her to other clients and industry contacts.
“We need to make a success of this,” Josie told Kay. “Otherwise, you might have to find a job elsewhere and I’ll have to go back to working for Dad.”
Kay gasped. “Lord. The pressure! Well, it’ll certainly be a challenge,” she added wryly. “This décor is ancient. The tiles in the bathroom are pink and gray, for pity’s sake. As for this kitchen…” She waved a disparaging hand around the dingy and outdated layout. “It’s fit for the scrap heap.”
“Not after you’ve waved your magic wand,” Josie encouraged. The things Kay could achieve with a paintbrush were limitless. “With the right color scheme and furniture, this place will look like a million dollars.”
Kay laughed. “Who’s the optimist now?”
Josie shrugged. “No point in being otherwise. You said as much yourself. So stop being so negative!”
“Aye aye, Captain Courageous. But just remember, we have less than two weeks to achieve this miracle, meaning we have no chance of hiring our usual tradesmen. They’re booked up weeks in advance.”
“No worries,” Josie countered blithely. “We can’t afford too many tradesmen on this occasion, anyway. We’ll have to do most of the work ourselves. Our budget will just stretch to an electrician and a plumber, and the agent said we could use his. They’re on permanent standby to repair all his agency’s rentals. Otherwise, it’s just you and me, baby,” Josie said, linking arms with Kay and grinning down into her co-worker’s pained face.
Kay looked up at her much taller boss and laughed. “Like I said, you certainly weren’t in love with Angus. But speaking of that devil, what have you decided to do about next Saturday night? I mean…you haven’t got anyone to take to your class reunion now, have you?”
THE INSTANT and very intense dismay which claimed Josie’s face made Kay realize her boss had forgotten all about her class reunion. Which showed that underneath her boss’s let’s-get-on-with-life facade this morning, she was really quite upset.
Kay’s heart went out to her. She knew how much Josie had been looking forward to taking Angus to her ten-year class reunion. And she knew the reason why.
The last—and only other time—Josie had gone to a class reunion had been five years back, shortly after her marriage had broken up.
She’d confided to Kay how awful she’d looked—and felt—that night; like a total failure in the face of her other classmates’ seeming successes, especially this one girl, Amber, who’d made a grand entrance at the party on the arm of her communication tycoon fiancé.
Apparently, this Amber had been Josie’s nemesis at school, a snooty-nosed golden-haired rich bitch who never let a chance go by to make Josie feel like an inferior species. Given that Amber was hosting this year’s bash at her harborside mansion—she was now married to said tycoon—Kay could well understand Josie’s distress.
“I don’t suppose you could go alone again, could you?” she said without much hope of that happening. Yet really, Josie shouldn’t think she was a failure without a man on her arm. She ran her own business, for heaven’s sake.
Josie’s face showed horror at the suggestion. “I’d rather be thrown to the lions, because that’s exactly what it would be like. Being thrown to the lions. Or the lioness, to be precise.”
“You mean because of Amber, I suppose, the esteemed hostess of this masochistic do. You know, I used to work with someone like her. She hated my guts, mostly because I was a better interior decorator than she was. I dare say the same thing applies here, Josie. Your society princess felt threatened by you at school. You made her feel inferior, not the other way around. She saw you as competition.”
“Who, me? I can’t see how. Trust me when I say Amber Sinclair didn’t have any competition at school. Besides being the best-looking and most popular girl in our class, she was smart. The girl has brains, Kay. She’s not just some blond bimbo. The only thing I ever beat her at was math. But she beat me in every other subject. I can’t understand why I got up her nose so much. I really can’t.”
“Try looking in the mirror sometime, then.”
“But I wasn’t at all good-looking at school, Kay. Honest. I was gawky back then. Too tall and too thin, with a flat chest and far too big a mouth.” In every way, Josie recalled ruefully.
She’d had a tendency to speak her mind more than the average teenager, a consequence of being the only child of intelligent and loving parents. She’d joined in adult conversations since she was quite young and had been encouraged to have opinions.
Having opinions, however, guaranteed to make you an outsider at the rather old-fashioned all-girls’ school to which she’d won a scholarship. You got along much better if you were a docile little sheep, or the beautiful and brilliant daughter of a billionaire banker who’d donated a million dollars for the new science wing.
“Well, you’ve certainly grown into your looks now, girl,” Kay said, looking her boss up and down. “And your figure.” Josie was that rare creature, a natural beauty who would look good first thing in the morning or straight out of the shower, without any artificial adornment. Her long straight black hair needed no blow-drying to look fabulous. Her olive skin could easily go without makeup, as could her long-lashed, slanting, near-black eyes. And her mouth, which she claimed was too big, would be the envy of every model. Full lips were the in thing these days.
All in all, Josie presented an exotic and very striking package without having to make too much personal effort. She didn’t even exercise to keep her tall, just-curvy-enough body in shape.
Kay, on the other hand, had to work very hard to achieve her petite, fair-haired prettiness.
“My looks are not the issue here,” Josie pointed out wearily. “It’s my going alone.”
An idea came to Kay. “Then don’t go alone.”
Josie eyed her warily. “Why are you smiling at me like that? What are you thinking of, you wicked woman?”
“Something deliciously devious.”
“You’re going to lend me Colin for the night?”
“Do I look insane? Not on your life, girl! It took me thirty years to find my Prince Charming and he’s not for hire. But hiring is the name of the game. You’re going to hire yourself a drop-dead gorgeous male escort!”
“What? You’re not serious.”
“I am indeed. I can even tell you which escort agency to contact and who to ask for.”
“How on earth would you know that kind of information? You’re a happily married woman!”
“Yes, but I have a cousin who isn’t, and she’s the one who gave me the lowdown recently on Gentlemen Partners.”
“Gentlemen Partners! Don’t you mean Gigolo Creeps?”
“That’s what I thought when I first heard about this place. But Cora assured me it’s a very reputable agency with only genuine gentlemen on their books. Most of the escorts are aspiring actors or male models, trying to earn an extra dollar on the side till they make it in their field. Which is why they’re so good-looking. Cora’s used their services more than once.”
Josie laughed. “I’ll bet she has.”
“No, no, you’ve got the wrong idea. Sex is definitely not one of the services provided. Apparently, if there’s even a whiff of scandal, that particular escort—and client—is off their books in a flash.”
“Your cousin still must be a very confident woman to hire various men, even as just escorts.”
“She’s a rally-car driver, so she’s no shrinking violet. She’s also divorced, pushing forty and without a new man in her life as yet. She hates going to functions on her own, so occasionally she hires someone to go with her. Last weekend, she had to go to an industry awards dinner where she knew she’d run into her rally driver ex, so she hired this gorgeous young hunk—she said he was only in his midtwenties—and passed him off as her boy-toy lover. He’s one of the aspiring young actors’ brigade and had no trouble assuming the role. Cora said he enjoyed it. She also said her ex was as jealous as sin and she had the loveliest time.”
Kay was pleased to see that Josie was beginning to be intrigued by the idea. “Clearly this guy would have no trouble pretending to be your boyfriend,” she went on. “His name is Beau Grainger and Cora said he’s so good-looking, it’s almost criminal.”
“I don’t know, Kay. It doesn’t seem right.”
“What’s wrong about it?”
“I’m not sure….”
“It’s the perfect solution to your problem. You go to your class reunion and feel good at the same time.”
“But it’s not a real feel-good feeling. It’s only pretend.”
“So what’s the alternative? Staying at home and feeling sorry for yourself and knowing that have-it-all Amber is out there thinking you didn’t have the guts to face her? She wins. Again. Especially if she calls you later to find out why you didn’t show up.”
“She would do that, too.”
“What pathetic excuse will you use? Not the truth, I’ll bet. You’ll lie. You’ll pretend. Better to pretend my way than your way. Give your pride a break.”
Josie gnawed at her bottom lip as she often did when she was thinking, or worrying. Kay wondered if Josie realized that by the time she stopped, her bottom lip always looked fuller and sexier than ever.
Undoubtedly not. From what Kay could gather, Josie was unaware of the extent of her sex appeal. She never dressed sexily, or used her looks to her advantage. Not in the two years Kay had known her, anyway.
Frankly, the girl seemed to be a bit uptight about sex. She rarely brought the subject up herself, and she had these hard-and-fast rules about her sexual behavior, such as her no-sex-till-the-third-date rule.
That was fine as a rule, and possibly sensible in this day and age. But it did smack of a lack of spontaneity in that area. Kay could never imagine Josie coming on to a guy on a first date, for instance. Not like she had with Colin. Still, she and Colin had fallen in love with each other at first sight. Maybe, if Josie ever fell in love like that, she’d be a different woman.
Still, till then, she needed to loosen up a bit.
Daring to hire a guy as her boyfriend for the night, even on a pretend basis, might be a good start.
Josie kept looking doubtful, however. And finding excuses. “If this Beau Grainger is so good-looking, he’d already be booked up for this Saturday night.”
“Maybe, but there are still plenty of other gorgeous guys on their books. Cora said she was able to go through their photo files on their computer data base and pick whatever one she liked the look of. Sounds kinda kinky, doesn’t it?” Kay added with a cheeky grin. “Pity their services don’t extend to sex, in a way.”
Kay realized immediately that was rather an unwise remark. It seemed Josie’s sense of humor did not extend to the subject of sex.
Some assertiveness was called for, if they were to get over this hurdle then get back to work.
“Go on,” Kay urged. “Call information and find out the agency’s number right now. Then call them and see if the gorgeous Mr. Grainger is free. If so, book him. If not, then arrange to go in and pick out another handsome hunk who is.”
When Josie just stood there, looking blank, Kay took out her own cell phone. Truly, no wonder the girl hadn’t found Mr. Right. She didn’t have enough get-up-and-go in that department. Odd, really. She had plenty of get-up-and-go in every other way.
“I’ll make the inquiries for you,” Kay offered.
It didn’t take her long to get through, or to find out that Beau Grainger had no bookings for the following Saturday night.
“He’s free,” she whispered to Josie. “What do you want to do?”
“Huh?” Josie blinked. She could hardly think. Kay’s comments about choosing a guy off a computer had triggered a fantasy in her head unlike any she’d ever had before. In it, she’d hired a man whose looks she’d fancied, not as an escort, but as a lover. For one night. To do everything she’d always wanted a man to do to her.
For the first time in Josie’s life, love didn’t enter into her fantasy world. Neither did caring or commitment. Physical pleasure was the name of the game, with her partner a perfect stranger, a tall dark-haired stranger, with sexy blue eyes, a Bondi Beach tan and more bedroom know-how than Casanova. He was older than her, of course. Sex was his profession and his client’s satisfaction was his first priority.
“Do you want to hire this Beau Grainger to take you to the reunion, or not?” Kay demanded impatiently.
Josie dragged her mind out of the flames of her fantasy and back into cold hard reality, which was her class reunion next Saturday night, plus whether she should hire, not some gigolo to make love with her every which way, but a handsome hunk to salve her pride.
Not showing up was not a good option. When Brenda had called her just last week to check final numbers for the caterer—Brenda was this year’s class reunion organizer and Amber’s devoted dog-slave at school—Josie had stupidly boasted she’d be coming with her boyfriend.
The only positive thing about this awful situation was that she hadn’t mentioned Angus’s name. Josie supposed she could get away with showing up with any presentable male, as long as he was prepared to pretend he was her boyfriend. Which this Beau Grainger was obviously willing to do, since he’d been happy enough to pretend to be an older woman’s boy-toy lover.
“Josie?” Kay prompted.
Josie squared her shoulders. “Here. Give me the phone,” she said, and held out her hand.
Kay grinned and handed it to her. “Go for it, girl!”
Josie rolled her eyes. It wasn’t a question of going for anything. It was a question of pride.
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