Page 36 of Zane

"That's how I felt when I saw Hailey. One minute I was fooling around, just shooting the breeze, and then there she was. I felt as if something had poked a hole inside me."

"That's ridiculous," Zane retorted.

"Is it?" David parried mildly. "You're here torturing yourself over her. I bet that ever since you met her, you haven't been able to think of anything else."

Zane turned and walked back to the fire. Sparks flew upward from a fallen log. Flames, bright orange and red, reminded him of the highlights in her hair. He couldn't concentrate on anything.

She was in his thoughts when he was awake and in his dreams when he fell asleep. He had tried staying away from her to get some perspective and give himself time to come to terms with what he was feeling. Nothing was working. So he had ended up going to the courthouse, just to lay eyes on her.

"She said I'm not her type," he murmured as if to himself.

"But she has changed her mind."

"Why?" That was what was muddling his brain.

"Don't look a gift-"

"Oh, shut the hell up!" Zane growled, grinning when his friend burst out laughing.

*****

Kara alternated between giddy excitement and palpable fear, and wondered if she had gone off the deep end. Her mother had called and given her a stinging lecture on the folly of her ways.

"Mark my words, Kara Simone Saunders. You're going to be sorry for what you're doing. William is a very nice man and a catch. He would have made you a good husband. You cannot simply throw your future away like that. And he also told me you changed your appearance and went on a shopping spree. What on earth are you thinking?"

"That I'm an adult, an independent one who does not need anyone's approval. I see that you have William well trained. He keeps you up to date with the events of my life."

"He's concerned, and so am I. He's willing to look past all of this nonsense and give you a second chance."

"No, thanks. I'm not interested."

"You're making a mistake," she was warned.

"Then it's mine to make."

Sitting on the side of her bed, Kara wondered what her mother would think if she knew she had invited a man she had just met to come to her place for dinner and sex.

She would probably keel right over and die of mortification and puzzlement. Kara wasn't sure she was in the right frame of mind herself. Had Barry put something in the shampoo? Or had the ladies used a special oil to loosen her inhibitions while they massaged her? What on earth was she doing?

Rising, she went to the bathroom where the bath was set, the scent of lemon, rosemary and citrus filling the air. She had added bath salts and had time to take a long soak. Her legs were already shaved, and she had put out a pair of siren-red lace panties, a new pair to go under the almost see-through slinky black silk sheath she would be wearing.

Taking off her robe, she dipped her toe in and decided it was hot enough. There was no turning back now. Her mind was made up. Her sexual orientation would be tonight. She was attracted to Zane, had been from the very start. He was gorgeous, and from all appearances and from what she had read about him in the various magazines, he was highly experienced.

She wasn't looking for anything long-term. After what she had gone through, the ennui of being in a relationship for two and something years, she was determined to have some fun. That concept had been foreign to her before now. She had stayed on the straight and narrow all of her life. It was simply time to let loose and live a little. Picking up the sponge, she ran it over her arms and shoulders and down her breasts.

*****

Everything he had rehearsed on the ride over dried up as his brain turned to mush as soon as she opened the door to admit him. Her face glowed, her eyes and skin shimmered, and her lips were coated with a pale rose-colored gloss. A smile curved those sultry lips and made him want to lean down and take a huge bite.

When she stepped back to let him in, it was all he could do to keep from reaching for her.

"You brought me flowers."

Tearing his eyes from her face, he looked down at his hands as if puzzled to see the things he was clutching.

"Ah-" He handed her the flowers.

"And wine." She was secretly delighted to see how flustered he was.