Good Girls Don't (15 page)
“All right then,” he said, and he lowered to his knees in front of her.
Erika stared at him, then looked around to see if anyone was watching the odd display. Embarrassed, she whispered, “What are you doing?”
“Isn’t it obvious? I’m proposing,” he said, then laughed at her dropped jaw. “I’m going to fix your cuffs so your pants don’t get wet.”
Then he moved his fingertips beneath the hem and slowly folded the fabric until the cuff was even with her calf. And until Erika’s heart attempted to beat right out of her chest.
How could the mere brush of his fingers against her ankle send that kind of tingle through her flesh? And how could she stand for him to do it to the other leg?
“Evan?” she asked as he turned his attention to cuff number two.
God help her.
“Yeah,” he said, stopping the motion with his knuckles gently grazing her leg.
She swallowed. This was the same reaction any woman would have to a guy fixing her pants for the water. Wasn’t it? “Nothing.”
That tempting grin flashed again; then he finished turning the cuff and stood. “Now you’re ready.”
Oh yeah, she was ready. But she had to remind herself what for. A walk on the beach. That was it. Butch would be back in a little while. Then she’d meet up with him in the room to talk about how much they missed each other tonight and to set things straight between them again. That’s what they would do.
And she’d be fine—as long as she remembered.
A
my slipped her heels off and wiggled her toes, then leaned back in her office chair. She’d had a heck of a day trying to determine the problems with Pinky. Closing her eyes, she concentrated on the product test results and tried to define the cause for the vibrator’s dismal performance. Could Wallace have been right? Did some women actually require a man?
Her phone rang, and her eyes snapped open. She punched the speaker’s button. “Amy Campbell.”
“Can you talk for a second?” Erika asked.
Amy picked up the receiver. “Of course.” She was more than willing to take a break from her thoughts to visit with her friend. Plus she was feeling antsy. Normally, she darted to and from her office all day participating in meetings and testing products. But today, she’d stayed holed up inside with the door closed. Not because she couldn’t have benefited by visiting some of the other departments, but because she wasn’t ready to face Landon Brooks after their heated exchange on the dance floor last night.
Could she see him, communicate with him, without showing how he affected her? Could she pull off the nonchalance after she’d had no less than three orgasms last night while calling out his name?
And if Pinky did that for her, why the heck didn’t it have the same effect on the test group?
“Things aren’t going so good,” Erika said, pulling Amy away from her own game of cat and mouse with the Texan and back to the game Erika was playing with biker dude Butch.
“What happened?” she asked. “Wait a minute. Aren’t you doing that all-day beach ride today?”
“We were supposed to, but he decided it was a man thing and went without me.”
Ouch.
“Oh,” Amy said, for lack of a better word. If she spouted he was the scum of the earth, or a sleaze, she might regret it later when Erika decided to keep the guy, no matter what. Then, thinking better of her decision, Amy figured she had nothing to lose. He shouldn’t hurt her friend.
“I’m coming to get you. I’ll be there in a few hours.” Tybee Island wasn’t that far away. She could have Erika out of there before dark.
Erika laughed. “No, don’t come. It’s okay. I can handle him, and besides . . .”
“Besides what?”
“It feels kind of awkward admitting this, but—”
“Go on,” Amy coaxed. “What happened? Tell me.”
“I met another guy.”
Amy sat forward in her chair. “There? When? How?”
Erika cleared her throat. “Butch has been kind of doing his own thing over the past day or so, you know, the biker stuff, so I had some time to hang out on my own.”
“And?”
“Last night I went to a pool party. Or I started to go to a pool party, but it was a bit wild and reminded me too much of the time right after . . .”
“After you lost your mom?” Amy supplied, knowing Erika had gone through a rough time, a wild time, after her mother had died. Although Erika didn’t talk about it much, she’d stated that if she never had another drop of alcohol again, that’d be completely fine.
“Yeah. So I ditched the party and decided to take a walk alone on the beach. The beach is breathtaking here, by the way, really incredible.”
“And you met someone?” Amy asked, trying to bring her back to the subject.
“Yeah,” Erika said dreamily.
Amy couldn’t hold back a grin at her friend’s tone. Erika had seemed happy about Butch, but she’d never sounded this . . . smitten. “Well? Tell me about him.”
“His name is Evan. He asked if he could walk with me, and I let him. Actually, he was one of the college guys throwing the party, but he wasn’t drinking. See, his dad is an alcoholic, so Evan doesn’t touch it. He’s afraid he might like it if he does.”
“Sounds like you two had a pretty deep discussion during your walk.”
“We did.”
“And there’s more,” Amy deduced.
Erika exhaled. “He’s nice.”
“Nice?”
“Yeah,” Erika admitted. “Strange, huh? I mean, I don’t like nice guys. Or I didn’t think I liked nice guys. I never have before. But he was so sweet, and he seemed really interested in me. We ended up talking about everything, where I’m from, where he’s from, his past, my past, going to college, you name it.”
Amy focused on the biggest item in that list. “You talked to him about your past?” Erika hadn’t talked to
any
guy about her past, particularly about the loss of her mother, or the difficult time she had after she died. If that was what she referred to, that said plenty about this “nice guy” she’d met on the beach.
“I couldn’t believe it either, but he asked me if I wanted to go for a walk, and we did, and one thing led to another. . . .”
No way.
“You slept with him?”
Erika laughed. “Are you kidding? I barely know him. But what I was trying to say is that one thing led to another, and I ended up telling him my life story. Now I feel, well, connected to him.”
“What about Butch?” Amy asked. Merely a week ago, Erika swore Butch was her soul mate.
“I don’t know. I mean, the thing with this other guy was more of a friendship kind of deal. Gotta admit, it caught me by surprise that I could talk to Evan about everything.”
Amy drummed her fingers on the desk. “You can’t talk to Butch?”
“We’ve never really gotten around to it,” Erika admitted.
“Did you kiss him, the guy on the beach? Evan?”
Erika didn’t answer.
“Erika?” Amy prodded. “Did you?”
“Yeah, we kissed.”
“And?” Amy continued, suspecting it was no ordinary kiss, especially when she heard Erika’s sigh through the line.
“And he’s leaving tomorrow. So that’s the end of it, I’m sure. Butch will get back from the beach run; then we’ll work out this friction we’ve had the past couple of days, and everything will be fine.”
“Will it?” Amy asked. Was Erika trying to convince Amy? Or herself?
“Sure. Anyway, I just wanted to talk to someone about last night.”
“Right. And you don’t want me to tell you to go ask this Evan guy to hold off leaving for a few days so you two can see what happens?”
“No. Definitely don’t tell me to do that,” Erika said.
“Sorry. I think you should figure this out. Look what happened to my sister and your uncle when they stuffed their feelings under a rug. Twelve long years of both of them being miserable.”
“Hey, he hasn’t been miserable raising me. I’ll have you know I’ve kept his life plenty exciting. And they’re making progress, aren’t they?”
“I’ll say. But this alibi thing . . . she’s really torn up over knowing the truth about your training seminar.” Amy swallowed. She’d already told Lettie she would convince Erika to tell him when she returned; unfortunately, she hadn’t yet told her friend. “Have you thought about telling the truth to Bill?”
“No,” Erika blurted. “No way. It’d kill him to know I lied.”
Amy frowned at the phone. “Well, I’ve gotta tell you—it’s killing her to lie to him. Lettie really cares about Bill and wants to tell him the truth.”
“But she won’t, right? You said she promised you.”
“She did,” Amy said. “But she says she won’t keep lying to him, and I believe her. What’s more, I think she’s right. If the two of them are going to have something long-term, she has to tell him the truth.”
Erika groaned dramatically into the phone. “How long do I have before she tells him?”
“She said she’d wait until you come home.”
“So, what should I do now?” Erika asked, her dread evident.
“You want to come on home and get it over with?”
“No. I’m not at all ready for that. I promised my mom I wouldn’t hurt him, and I can’t see any way that this won’t hurt him. Man, this is
so not
the way I planned this week.”
“Like you said, there’s a reason all of this happened,” Amy reminded. “Your uncle and Lettie are getting hooked up because of your trip, and you met Evan.”
“I didn’t say Butch wasn’t my true love,” Erika reminded. “Just that Evan is very . . . nice.”
“Well, maybe you should take advantage of this chance to see how things stand with Evan. Go see the guy,” Amy said. “Find out what’s happening with him, so you can figure out if you really want to keep this thing going with Butch.”
“You know what?” Erika asked.
“What?”
“You’re right.”
“I usually am,” Amy said, laughing. “Now keep me posted on what’s happening.”
“Will do.”
Amy disconnected and stared at the phone. Yeah, she was usually right when it came to other people’s relationships. Her own, however, was another story.
Who was she kidding? She’d never had a “relationship.” Sex, yeah, she’d tried it. Big deal. She got way more out of Pinky and the remainder of her never-ending stash of Adventurous Accessories products. But there was something to be said about the emotional involvement with a living, breathing partner. Granted, she didn’t know what she’d say about it, necessarily, but there was
something
to be said.
She’d definitely felt emotionally charged last night, and Landon hadn’t even kissed her. How would she handle their upcoming date? Or seeing him at the office, for that matter.
The hard rap on her door made her jump. She looked at the clock. Four forty-five. Fifteen minutes and she’d have made it scot-free without seeing Landon Brooks today. She’d be fine tomorrow, but everything was still too fresh today.
Still too hot.
Dare she hope it wouldn’t be Landon on the other side of the door?
“Come in,” she said, then relaxed in her chair when Wallace Baker entered.
Thank goodness it wasn’t Landon.
But why hadn’t it been? She’d totally expected the cowboy to visit her office today, to tease her about their dance last night and their upcoming date this weekend. However, she wasn’t disappointed he hadn’t shown.
Was she?
“I wanted to let you know the results are in for the second round of tests on the new product,” Wallace said, extending a handful of papers toward Amy.
“And?”
“Same outcome. I’m afraid you’re going to have to market it as an enhancement product for couples, rather than a singles deal.”
“Super.” She’d truly hoped the new tests would nullify the previous results. Amy hated changing the marketing strategy for her baby. The whole purpose of Pinky was to provide a surefire way of hitting the G-spot without a man. How the heck were all those women missing the bull’s-eye? “How many did you test this time?”
“Fifty.”
She shook her head in defeat. “All right. Thanks for letting me know.”
“Sorry it wasn’t the news you wanted, but it really isn’t a bad thing. The product still works. It just works better if there is actual stimulation from a partner as well.” He gave her an awkward grin, which pushed an extra batch of wrinkles into his right cheek. “Guess you could say
man
-ual stimulation helps.”
“Right. Thanks again, Wallace,” she said, ignoring the pun and dismissing him in as nice a way as she could muster, given her disappointment with his findings.
“I’ll see you tomorrow then,” he said, and left her office.
Amy dropped the graphs, charts and reports on her desk. No need to hope he’d missed a factor. Wallace Baker was notorious for including all pertinent details, which meant Pinky would be marketed as a couples product.
But she’d been using it solo. And she’d hit the mark. Every time. With thoughts of a cowboy in his Stetson on her mind, every time, unfortunately.
She looked at the clock. Five minutes past five. The day was over, and she hadn’t seen one glimpse of the dancing cowboy.
Fine. She’d been hiding from him, hadn’t she?
Dismayed at her disappointment, she propped her bare feet on her desk, leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes. So he hadn’t stopped by her office to flirt. No problem. She hadn’t wanted him to, anyway.
“That good of a day? Or that bad?”
Amy jerked upright, slamming her heels against the desk on their way to the floor. “Ouch.”
Grimacing at her stinging feet, she straightened in her chair and faced Landon Brooks, standing dead center in her office. Had Wallace forgotten to close the door? And why hadn’t she noticed? “I didn’t hear you come in.”
“I gathered.” He stepped closer, and Amy waited for him to sit in one of the chairs facing her desk.
He didn’t. Instead, he moved around the desk, propped a hip, clad in pleated black pants, against the edge and appraised her. “Wanna talk about it?”
“About what?” she asked, hoping her speeding pulse wasn’t evident in her neck. Because she would swear it was beating harder than humanly possible. Heck, she could feel it in her ears.
“About whatever has you looking so flustered. Or is it me?”
If she were an honest woman, she’d tell him it was her newest product
and
him.