Pleasure for Pleasure (13 page)

“I guess that solves all your problems, then,” Trent said.

“Actually, everything is worse now than I thought. My mother doesn't want to run the center at all anymore!”

“She expects you to run it from now on?” His imag
ination automatically conjured the idea of a permanent sex-lessons-for-rent trade.

“Yes, and she's crazy. I'm awful at running that place.”

“You seem to be doing pretty well with a business that was in near ruins when you took it over.”

“It's still in near ruins—you call that doing pretty well?”

“You're not giving yourself credit. And maybe Rafaela will stick around as an advisor.”

Josie frowned. “Maybe, but she'll have to advise someone else.”

Trent shrugged. “Your decision.”

They fell into an awkward silence as they waited for a light to change so they could cross a street. Trent forced himself not to make small talk, to force Josie to address the subject they were dancing around. The light turned green and they crossed the street.

She finally spoke up. “I just want you to know, I'm sorry for what happened the other night. I should never had tied you to the chair and…and—”

Trent interrupted, his gut clenching at the thought that she considered the night an unfortunate accident. “It's not like you forced me. I was a consenting adult.”

“But still, I feel like I coerced you.” She watched her feet as she walked. “I hope this doesn't cancel our professional arrangement.”

“You mean, the sex lessons?”

“Yes.”

“Why would it? Like you said, I'll never learn anything without hands-on experience.” Trent was careful to keep his voice free of emotion.

“That's true, I guess.”

“You just helped me get past that hang-up I had, my fear of performing for you,” he lied.

Josie nodded. “Yes, you seem to have overcome the performance anxiety right away.”

Oops. Maybe if he hadn't been crazy with desire, he could have put on more of an act, but Josie had made acting difficult, if not impossible.

“Let's just say your, uh, lesson was exactly what I needed.”

“Good, I'm glad.” She paused, seeming to search for the right words. “And I'm sorry I slipped out without saying goodbye afterward.”

“Why did you?”

“I just woke up and…it seemed like the next morning could be awkward, us being student and teacher. It seemed like it would be unprofessional for me to spend the night, and I didn't want to wake you.”

Trent resisted pointing out that their entire arrangement was the polar opposite of professional.

“No big deal,” he lied.

“I should have left a note.”

“Maybe a little evaluation sheet, with grades for performance and effort.”

Josie smiled. “A-plus-plus.”

“For performance, or effort?”

“Both. You hardly seemed like you needed sex lessons.”

“I've got a great instructor.”

She laughed. “So we're still on for next week?”

“Of course.”

“And you'll still help me with the business assessment and the weekend retreat?”

Trent stopped walking and placed a hand on her arm. “We have a deal, and I won't break it.”

“I'm so glad you're okay with all this. The center would be financially ruined for sure without our arrangement.” She stood on tiptoe and placed a kiss on his cheek. “Thank you so much!”

“No problem.”

“I have to get back to the center. So I'll see you next Tuesday.” She was walking backward, getting farther away from him now. She lifted her hand to wave, and when he nodded she turned and walked away.

Trent stood alone on the sidewalk, suddenly aware of the salty fish smell coming from the sushi joint on his left. He watched Josie's retreating form, and with each step she took, the knot in his gut grew bigger.

Would Josie always retreat from him? Was she incapable of doing anything else? Would she ever have slept with him if not for financial necessity? Part of him wanted to hang around long enough to find out. Another part suddenly wanted to tell MegaBooks he was ready to accept their offer.

H
EAVEN HELP HER
, Josie was turning into her mother.

Her old fear came surging back, stronger than ever, only this time she knew it was completely warranted. She
was
capable of losing control, of letting her passions rule her, of letting desire for a particularly sexy man control her life.

She gnawed on a pen, staring at the syllabus in front of her. She'd written it up the day Trent had made his offer of trading sex lessons for the rent. At the time the solution had seemed ideal. Half crazed by her lack of a sex life, she'd designed every lesson to give herself plenty of opportunities to get Trent into bed for hands-on practice.

She saw now that she'd been doing the kinds of things she'd always disliked Rafaela doing. Chasing after men, thinking constantly about sex, letting her libido guide her decision-making… Was this kind of behavior genetically passed down from mother to daughter?

Suddenly the sex-heavy lessons she'd devised didn't seem like such a fabulous idea. She just wasn't cut out for casual sex.

She tried to close her mind's eye to the events of their last lesson, but every time she let her guard down, the erotic images replayed themselves over and over again in her mind. Her brain had become an X-rated movie theater.

She couldn't even recall why she'd thought she could pull off seducing Trent without a hitch. She'd let pure desperation blind her to the inevitable aftereffects.

She was no better than her mother. The thought filled her with the urge to change her name and move to Peru, perhaps to join an order of contemplative nuns.

Ah, but if she dwelled on thoughts of Trent for more than a few seconds, her entire body awakened to desire again.

Eros awoke from his favorite spot atop the leather sofa and came trotting over to the desk. He'd developed such a liking for living at the center, Rafaela had decided to leave him there until she could get the carpets in her condo cleaned. She claimed he always freaked out and hid in the closet for days after the carpet-cleaning men came with their noisy steam cleaners and she wanted to save him the trauma.

In one smooth, feline leap Eros positioned himself right in front of Josie on the desktop. And in an unprecedented show of friendliness, he began to purr in deep rumbles and to butt his head up against Josie's face. She sneezed and tried to pick the cat hair out of her mouth discreetly enough so as not to offend him.

“Does this mean you like me now?” Josie ran her hand along his silky back, but he ducked away from her touch.

When someone knocked on the office door, he bolted and disappeared under the sofa.

Josie blinked at the cat's odd behavior, then called for her visitor to come in.

Erika poked her head inside the doorway. “You have a few minutes to talk?”

Josie glanced down at the calendar on her desk, with its column of empty lines for Thursday. “Uh, sure.”

Erika stepped into the office and closed the door behind her. Today she was wearing lots of crushed velvet and gold jewelry, complete with sandals that wound their way up her calves, and toe rings on several toes.

“Please, have a seat.” Josie motioned to a chair across from her, but Erika had already flopped into it before she could finish the sentence. “What's up?”

“We need to talk about my future here at the center.”

“Is something wrong? You know you have a job here as long as we're in business.”

“I don't want to be a receptionist forever.” Erika crossed her arms over her chest and flashed Josie a look of challenge.

“I've learned a lot from Rafaela over the years, and I think I should get a chance to contribute something more than my phone-answering skills to this business.”

Josie tried to hide her surprise. She wasn't sure why she'd never considered the possibility herself, as desperate as she'd been lately. The only problem was, aside from her massage therapy, Erika didn't have any qualifications that she knew of—and Josie wasn't prepared to offer massage through the center. “That's an interesting idea. Where do you feel your expertise is?”

“My official title could be Sex Coach. I may not have formal training, but I know I have the necessary skills. And I've got a hunch this will be the next big thing in couples therapy.”

“
Sex
coaching?”

“There are already lifestyle coaches and weight-loss coaches. Why not sex coaches and marriage coaches? The idea of going to a coach attracts people who wouldn't want to see a therapist, either because of the stigma attached, or because they don't consider themselves that dysfunctional. But just about anyone could
see themselves using a coach for some area of their life.”

Wow, she really had something there. Josie sat back in her chair to consider the possibilities.

“Okay, let's say we start advertising your services through the center. What qualifies you to be a sex coach?”

“My expertise. I've got a sixth sense about how people are screwing up their lives, especially when it comes to issues of the bedroom.”

“Oh?”

“Let's take you, for example. I'd guess you're in desperate need of a sex coach.”

“What makes you think that?” Josie asked, sinking down in her seat a little.

“I see how distracted and flaky you've been lately. You've got major issues with our hunky landlord, much more serious than you first led me to believe.”

“Things between us are…complicated.”

“So try me. If I can give you some useful advice for your problems with Trent, you give me a chance as the center's first sex coach.”

Josie weighed the possible benefits against the humiliation of explaining her arrangement with Trent. She had nothing to lose except her pride. “Okay, you have a deal, but I like the title Sensuality Coach better. So how, exactly, do we get started?”

“Don't look so worried. It's painless. I just coach you on how to improve your sex life, then we develop a game plan on how to set things right, and you check back in with me periodically so I can make sure you stay on the right track.”

“You've got this pretty well thought out.”

Erika frowned. “Don't sound so surprised. I've been researching this idea for months.”

“I'm impressed.”

“Go ahead then, give me a summary of what's been going on between you and Trent up to this point.”

Josie hesitated. “I don't know. I think I can just work this out on my own.”

“Really?” Erika said as if Josie had just claimed to have written the Kama Sutra. “Going it alone is what got you into this predicament.”

True, but she didn't have to be so snide about it.

“Okay, fine.” Josie gulped. Could she really divulge every last pitiful detail of her relationship with Trent to a woman she had to work with day in and day out? Sadly, she was just desperate enough to try it.

After all, if Erika was really good, she could be the factor that put the center back on track. Who knew what the key to saving the business might be—even a self-styled sex coach.

Josie swallowed her modesty and began.

She started with the Ocean Beach incident three years ago, filling in the details Erika wasn't familiar with, then skipped forward to the day when Trent walked back into her life. She explained their arrangement, their series of near misses, and finally her hand-cuffing him to a chair and making love to him.

Erika listened intently, offering an occasional “Hmm” or “I see.”

When Josie finished her sad tale, Erika sat back in her chair and expelled a weary sigh. “It's even worse than I thought.”

“It is?”

“You, my dear boss, are a mess.”

“I think we've already established that. So fix me.”

Erika smoothed her green-velvet dress over her legs. She pursed her lips, apparently deep in thought. Either that or pondering how best to break the news that Josie was a lost cause.

“Let me make sure I understand this correctly…
He
asked
you
for sex lessons.”

“That's so hard to believe?”

“Men rarely admit inadequacy in the bedroom.”

She had a point there.

Erika stared at Josie speculatively. “It sounds to me like Trent is stringing you along. Is he the vengeful type?”

Trent? Vengeful? Not under ordinary circumstances, but…

Josie thought about their lessons thus far, the odd reasons he gave for backing out of sex at the last second, the amazing skill he'd demonstrated in bringing her just to the edge of orgasm before she'd taken control of the situation.

Vengeance. Josie rolled the concept around in her head. Could it be that Trent was getting even with her for Ocean Beach? Impossible. Or was it? Now that she thought about it…

It made perfect sense.

Yes. That had to be it. How could she have not seen it herself?

“Oh. Wow. You're right.” A stab of anger penetrated Josie's middle, but just as quickly as it appeared, it disappeared. How could she be angry at Trent for giving her exactly what she deserved? She was, after all, the one who'd ditched him in the first place, leaving him humiliated and without underwear on the beach. If she'd been in his shoes, she might have done the same or worse.

“I told you I'm good at this stuff.” Erika smiled triumphantly. “My talents are endless.”

“That must make life simple for you.”

She ignored Josie's sarcasm. “Now that you know his secret, you can use it to your advantage.”

“To what end?” Josie couldn't imagine what hope there was for her relationship with Trent.

“What exactly do you want out of your liaison with this guy you've forcibly seduced?”

“I didn't forcibly seduce him! I just sort of, well, encouraged things along a bit. With handcuffs.”

Okay, so she'd “forcibly seduced” him.

“Answer my question. What do you want from Trent?”

Oh, right. What the heck did she want from him? Hot sex obviously hadn't satisfied her the way she'd hoped it would. And the thought that he was trying to exact revenge on her changed everything. It had become all too clear that she could no longer continue in the present with Trent without facing their past.

“I suppose I just want to get through the remaining lessons with him without making a fool of myself or developing a sexual addiction to him,” she said, trying to ignore the vague feeling that she'd just told a lie.

Erika scrunched up her thin black eyebrows and frowned. “You have a young virile male at your command, and that's the best goal you can come up with? See what I mean? You're a mess.”

“He and I are all wrong for each other. I just don't want to string him along.”

“Why do you think he's all wrong for you?”

“I don't like gorgeous men. And I don't like men who make me think about sex all the time.”

“I suppose you also hate chocolate.”

Josie watched as Eros came slinking out from under the couch, crossed the floor to Erika, rubbing against her leg and purring like a sports car.

“You said his favorite word—chocolate,” she explained.

The cat settled in at Erika's feet and began kneading the rug with his paws.

She scratched his head. “Sorry, buddy, I don't have any of the good stuff for you.”

“I don't see what my taste in men has to do with chocolate,” Josie said, beginning to wish her new sex coach would get the hell out of her office.

“My advice to you is, let your libido be your guide. If you're strongly attracted to Trent, put aside your silly reservations and see what happens with him.”

“And then my sex life will improve?”

“He obviously has strong feelings for you or he never would have sought vengeance for your past misdeeds against him.”

Strong feelings? Trent? Impossible.

Josie laughed. “No, he's just competitive. He probably couldn't stand to have me one up on him.”

“Don't be so sure about that. His is a pretty elaborate scheme, too elaborate for simple competitiveness.”

“If you say so.” She knew Trent, though. In high school he'd always pursued girls until they'd fallen for him, then he lost interest. It was his game, and she knew better than to play along with it.

“It doesn't make you mad that he's out for revenge?”

“No… Well, maybe a little, but I can't say I don't deserve it.”

“You're sure you want him as a lover?”

Did she?

But no sooner did the question form in her mind than she knew the answer. Yes, yes, yes. She wanted Trent in her bed. Knowing his scheme only made her want him more. A perverse impulse, but there it was.

Josie had been trying to convince herself, ever since they'd had sex, that she didn't. That simply by denying her desire for Trent she could be nothing like her mother.

But she'd been lying to herself. “Yes, I do.”

 

T
RENT LOOKED
at his watch. He was supposed to be meeting Josie for their lesson tonight and here was his dad, Mr. Lonely Heart, camped out in Trent's kitchen, looking pitiful. He'd been cooking all day, judging by the state of the kitchen, a sure sign that he was still feeling blue. Now he was washing a sinkful of dishes Trent hadn't even been aware he owned.

Trent felt a pang of guilt for not spending more time with his dad lately, when he knew he probably needed some companionship. He'd let his lust for Josie dominate his waking thoughts and he'd been a lousy son. Even if his father did put a crimp in his plans when he'd shown up unannounced, Trent could have been more flexible. He could have been a hell of a lot more sympathetic.

Between Josie's mother and Trent's father, they were going to have to join a children-of-middle-aged-parents support group.

Her mother and his father…

There was an idea. Crazy, but still… The two were perfect for each other. Both single, middle-aged, eccentric, loved to travel, drove their kids nuts. Trent had always liked Rafaela. He wondered why he'd never
taken the match seriously before. The only problem was, how to convince the two parents to get together.