wanted within an inch of his life the night before but whom he wanted nothing more than to run from the next morning. That’s why he’d decided five months ago that in the future he would conduct his relationships with his head rather than with his Johnson.
Or in this case his Ben.
He stared down at the traitorous body part that was just begging to be touched. The problem was, it didn’t want his attention. Rather it was more interested in seeing if the oral talent Renae had demonstrated with her kissing extended to oral sex. He ran his soapy hands over his stomach and arms, then lathered up again. He reached for his rock-hard arousal at the same time he imagined Renae’s decadent mouth closing over the tip…and he came with the power of a twelve-year-old experiencing his first orgasm.
Oh…oh…oh.
When the spasms finally subsided, Will instantly released his erection and stared down at it with all the disgust of a man at war. This was not happening. He had not just masturbated. He’d merely been washing himself and…well, Ben had taken over from there.
“You and me,” Will said to the faithless organ that even now seemed to be grinning at him in sated bliss. “We have to have a chat. A nice long one.”
And not once, he decided, would the name of Renae Truesdale come up.
“YOU LOOK LIKE HELL.”
Just what Will needed to be told in that moment.
He stared at Colin McKenna across the table from him even as he took a deep slug of a cold draught of beer. Harry’s Bar was their usual hangout of late. It was where, if he remembered correctly, he’d met Colin’s friend Lucky Clayborn for the first time. Well, right before she was fired as a waitress from the bar, became a patient of one of Colin’s colleagues, then became the love of Colin’s life.
“Right-o,” he commented dryly. “Thanks for that astute observation, friend.”
Colin chuckled and pushed aside the menu neither of them needed. “Dare I ask what’s behind this morning’s scowl? Or is it the same battle that’s been raging for the past five months?”
“Same old battle,” Will confirmed, downing half the ale and stretching his neck.
“Still not getting any from the new girlfriend?”
Will waved him away as he made room for the waitress to put down his fish-and-chips. Harry’s was the only restaurant that came close to offering up something akin to what he’d grown up on at home. Fast food British-style. “No, it’s not that.”
Colin raised his brows. “So you are getting some?”
Will scowled. “No, no. Unfortunately.”
“Then what is it if it’s not that?”
Will tried to pick up a piece of fish, found it too hot, and shook his fingers to cool them. “It’s just that…well, since my sex life is not quite up to par as of late, my fantasy life has geared up to take up the slack.”
“Ah. The lesbians upstairs.” Colin nodded.
“Actually, it’s not both of them, but just one, as luck would have it.” He chewed thoughtfully on a chip. “I had the most delicious encounter with Miss Renae Truesdale in the hall next to the mailboxes this morning.”
Colin hesitated where he had just picked up his own chicken burger. “Define ‘encounter.”’
“Oh, nothing out of the ordinary, mind you. Just some harmless flirting.” The fish was finally cool enough to eat and he bit into it. “Oh, and the most phenomenal kiss,” he said around a full mouth.
“You kissed her? Who initiated it?”
Will thought about it a minute. “I don’t know. It was more of a mutual thing, I guess.”
Colin’s grin was altogether too self-satisfying for Will. “I thought lesbians were considered lesbians because they weren’t interested in men.”
Will made a face and dragged his napkin across his chin. “Yes, well, maybe she’s one of those new-fangled lesbians. You know, bisexual instead of homosexual.”
He supposed he found the fact that Renae had kissed him a bit odd himself. While she’d played a starring role in his fantasy life, given her sexual status, he’d had no idea that she might be interested in him, no matter her playful flirting up until now.
“So what do you think I should do?” he asked.
“About what?”
The waitress supplied them with fresh draughts and made off with their empty glasses. “What do you mean ‘about what’? What should I do about the intriguing Miss Truesdale, of course?”
“Oh, no.” Colin put his burger down. “There’s no way I’m getting involved in this. Lucky works with Renae, you know.”
Will nodded, then shrugged. “Anyway, it’s quite possibly a nonissue already. The instant she walked away this morning she probably realized her mistake.”
“Mmm. Because it’s easy to mistake you for a woman, you mean.”
Will remembered the way she’d gripped his manhood. “No, I mean maybe she just…slipped or something.” He shrugged as he downed another half a draught. “At any rate, it should be relatively easy to avoid her.”
“If that’s what you want to do.”
“Are you saying it isn’t what I should want to do?”
“I didn’t say anything of the kind.” Colin opened the ketchup bottle and created a red puddle next to his perfectly good chips. “But I am getting a little tired of hearing about your empty bed.”
Will squinted at him. “So you think I should force the issue with Janet then?”
Colin took a deep breath then chuckled. “I think you should do whatever it is you need to do, Will.”
“A whole lot of help you are.”
Yes, he thought. He’d avoid Renae. Shouldn’t be too difficult. When he returned home from work in the mornings at the same time she normally left for work, he’d simply park in the far corner of the lot and wait until she left before going inside.
Yes. That should work out just fine.
And it wouldn’t have to be for long. After all, Janet would be home in a little over a week’s time.
“Now, how about we start up those tennis matches again?” he asked Colin, who was already shaking his head.
3
OKAY, SO SHE WOULD avoid Will.
When Renae knocked off work, she was happy with her plan, and decided it should be easy to implement. After all, they kept very different schedules, and if it came down to it, she could always park in an adjacent lot on the other side of the apartment building to avoid running into him coming or going.
Truth was, she hadn’t expected to feel so…attracted to Dr. Will Sexton that morning. Hadn’t anticipated that the light, flirty tone that had always existed between them would dive into something more palpable and solid. When they’d kissed, no one had been more surprised than her. Pleasantly—no, blissfully—surprised, but surprised. After all, she wasn’t in the market for a man just now, even for sex, no matter what her body was telling her—and what her growing budget for batteries to use with her private toys was telling her. It wasn’t that she was antiman; it was that right now she needed to concentrate on her career. More specifically, she needed to convince Ginger Wasserman to let her buy into Women Only. Become a more solid part of the venture, and as a result take home a bigger piece of the pie.
Not that she wasn’t being paid well for her work. She was. She shifted on the cracked white leather seat of her 1971 pink Cadillac Eldorado convertible. It was just that she wanted to feel more…connected