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He took out his wallet and flashed his driver’s licence then flipped to his carpenter’s certification while fishing out a business card. “I know I’m a rat and you probably want to karate chop me but please, give me another chance.”
“I’ve got to hear what you can possibly present in your defence,” she said, sighing. “Come in.”
“I’ll try to explain.”
“You have a lot of explaining to do … or … not. If you’d rather just admit you misrepresented yourself I’ll confess I was a fool and we can part ways. Now.”
Rick followed her into the living room. At least she was willing to talk so maybe … maybe she wanted to settle this amicably as much as he did. Black slacks hugged her trim derriere and she wore a silky white blouse. She must be dressed for work. He hoped she’d just gotten home and wasn’t ready to leave.
Monica perched on the edge of a chair, leaving him the sofa. “First of all, why did you come to my house last Saturday?”
“You called and asked for my services. I’m a carpenter and I work half a day on Saturday.”
“But you were supposed to show up on Thursday and if you weren’t trying to fool me, why did you come in carrying baskets?”
“I didn’t until later. Those were Christmas gift baskets for my sister and sister-in-law. In the beginning I came to the door with a toolbo
x and wearing a tool belt. I would have thought that would have identified me as a carpenter. But by the time I figured out that you thought I was the Fantasy Man I’d gotten in pretty deep. You’d told me your fantasy and I was so attracted to you I gave in to temptation.”
“How could you? How could you come in here and take me to bed without setting the record straight? I realise I made a mistake. A big one making that assumption, but I made a bigger one going to bed with a liar.”
“You wanted to go with some stranger and when I realised that, I wanted it to be me. I figured you were safer with me than with the kind of perverts a kink-based company would hire.” He hung his head. “I apologise.”
“How’s that going to help? We had wild, fantastic sex, and how are you going to erase that from my mind?”
“Or mine. It was out-of-this-world, wasn’t it? I really didn’t intend to go all the way but you were such a temptress, I couldn’t stop.”
He saw her eyes flash and her mouth fly open and he knew he’d done it again. Said the wrong thing. “Not temptress. Tempting,” he muttered, grabbing her and kissing her still open mouth. “I wanted you so much.”
Dipping in his tongue, he slid his hands down to her tush and squeezed. She pushed her hands against his chest but he held on, and slowly she stopped fighting and kissed him back. “I still do,” he said.
When they were both totally breathless Rick whispered in her ear. “I had to come back, Monica. I had to see you again. In those few short hours, I think I fell in love with you.”
“You do? You did?” She smiled and he knew she felt something for him too. Something more than lust.
“I hope you feel the same way … enough to give me a chance. Please?”
Chapter Five
Monica was mentally fighting herself for letting him sway her into forgiving him when he said, “I think I fell in love with you.” Hearing those words, she was totally floored because she thought she loved him too, and the reasoning side of her brain was declaring her insane and saying it wasn’t possible.
“Say something,” Rick said, a touch of desperation in his voice. “Your silence is killing me.”
“I’ve missed you,” she said softly, leading the way to the couch and patting the cushion for him to sit down. “Angry as I was with you, I prayed you’d call.”
“Does that mean that you feel the same about me as I do you?”
“It was a low-down thing to do, you know. Deceiving me to satisfy your desire.” She looked up at him and saw the pain in his eyes before he turned away.
“Sweetie, I also did it to satisfy your desire. You let me in with sex in mind, and after you confessed your fantasy I’d have had to be crazy to walk away.”
For the first time Monica admitted to herself she was just as much to blame as he. “Put that way, I see what you mean,” she said quietly.
“Just the same, I’m not proud of what I did,” Rick said, “but dammit, I can’t honestly say I’m sorry. I’ve relived every moment we spent together, and I wouldn’t have wanted to miss out on any of them. I knew it was wrong, but there you were, handing me a menu, ready to take off your clothes.” He smiled and she swatted him on the arm.
“I thought I should be a good sport since Julie sent me a gift.”
“A gift you’d always wanted, and I’m glad I got here first.”
