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p; She sifted her fingers through his chest hair. “What’re you thinking?”
He glanced at her enthusiastic smile and his aching chest locked up. In another minute she’d rest her head on his shoulder, and he’d be confronted with all he wasn’t. Maybe he’d fooled her for the moment, but the truth always came out.
She wasn’t going to find his workaholic ways satisfying for long. Soon she’d be bopping on to new adventures and he’d be left just…left.
He opened his mouth to speak just as his phone went off in his jacket. He stood and walked over to where he’d dropped it, then snatched his cell from his pocket, never more grateful to hear his secretary’s voice. There was an issue at one of the rental properties and she couldn’t reach Dillon. Could he come in right away?
Oh yes, he could.
“I’m on my way,” he said, hanging up.
His eyes met Victoria’s. “I have to go. Dill’s unavailable and there’s an issue at the Rison. Nancy needs me to come in.”
She frowned and he swiped off the perspiration on his forehead. If only he could shed the guilt as easily. “Right now? Can’t you stay for a few?”
“Sorry, Nancy’s waiting. But I’ll see you Friday as usual. Okay?” He rose and dressed in his wrinkled suit, then left before he could make things any worse.
Like by having sex with her again.
…
The normal thing for a woman to do after having sex with a guy she’d sort of crushed on for years was probably to replay it over and over again, not try to block it out.
Vicky had never been normal.
In this case, she had good reasons for going into mental denial mode. It wasn’t because it had been bad. Oh no siree. Much as she hated to admit it, she’d never experienced anything even half as mind-blowing.
Which was most of the problem. She had a tendency to want to repeat amazing things. Or in the case of sex with Cory, repeat it until she couldn’t walk straight.
So she’d tried not to think about it. Much. Okay, not more than sixty-two times per hour. That had worked until this evening. How could it be Sunday already? Cory hadn’t even picked her up for dinner at his parents’ yet and she was damn near ready to jump him on sight.
See? She wasn’t at all freaked out about sleeping with him. Especially since right then she was too busy being freaked out by talking to Bryan.
Vicky shoved her cell into her bag and tried to shake off the conversation. Just what she didn’t need tonight—an interrogation by her older brother.
He’d heard about the photos from their sister and was afraid that she was doing something dangerous to her mental health by dating Cory. Which, of course, had reminded her of the secret she was keeping from him and Melly.
One day soon, she was going to have to tell him about their mom’s reentry into her life. Their lives, if he’d let their mom back in. And this time, she wasn’t going to take no for an answer if either of her siblings didn’t want to hear her out. She’d sit down with him and Melly after he had a firm diagnosis for his knee situation.
By then, the first issue of the magazine would be put to bed and her fake relationship with Cory would be as dead as her withered heart, if she didn’t get a handle on her mushrooming feelings for the jerk. Having fantastic sex with him hadn’t exactly been a cure for them, either.
Sap.
Why were men such stubborn pains in the ass? Was it in their DNA or their penises? Or just her bad luck?
One man at a time. First she had to deal with Cory. She’d vowed to save him from his workaholic tendencies by forcibly injecting some cheer into his world, and she would.
By ensuring that he kept his job and got his parents off his back by pretending to be his fake girlfriend.
Hmm, maybe he’d be better off if she left him in the lurch and he ended up jobless. Maybe then he’d relax once in a while. Though lots of sex had its therapeutic qualities as well. She grinned. She’d be happy to “heal” him however she could.
When his Lexus pulled up, she was ready. So ready, in fact, that she didn’t bother waiting for him to come up to the stoop.
“Are you okay?” he asked when she pulled open her door and slipped inside.
“Don’t I look okay?” Shamelessly fishing for compliments, she held open her thin coat and enjoyed his slack-jawed expression at her dress. The sweaterdress made the most of her curves, even enhancing ones that were barely there. She’d accessorized with subtle makeup, modest jewelry, and leather ankle boots. Very demure all the way around. “Do I look appropriate to be a hardware mogul’s girlfriend?”
“You look beautiful.”
