Part 19 (1/2)

”Oh, just let us stay long enough to warm up,” Jennifer pleaded. ”We only wanted to come by and keep you company. You did say you were going to be alone tonight.”

He had said that, but hadn't thought it was going to be true. He'd been looking forward to a nice, relaxing evening with Sarah. Instead, he'd spent the night dialing the phone and worrying himself into a frenzy.

”Mind if we take off our coats?” Wendi slipped hers off without waiting for an answer. Beneath it she wore a s.h.i.+rt of some s.h.i.+mmery material that matched her skirt.

Alex blinked twice, slowly. Wendi wasn't wearing a bra beneath the s.h.i.+rt, which glimmered in the light just enough to camouflage the fact it was almost totally sheer. And she was cold; he could definitely see that.

”You have such a nice house.” Jennifer, too, slung off her leather coat. Though the s.h.i.+rt she wore wasn't as transparent as Wendi's, it left nothing to the imagination either. Her nipples were hard points poking through the silky white fabric, and Alex realized he could see the dusky ring of her aureoles through the cloth. He swallowed heavily.

”Thanks.” Suddenly, in his heavy layers of clothing, he felt much too warm.

Both women sat down--Jennifer at one end of the couch, and Wendi on the big, overstuffed chair beside her. Almost in unison, the tiny sc.r.a.ps of material they dared to call skirts rose up equally high on thighs tanned the golden color of wheat. Both crossed their legs at the same time, almost as though they had scripted every movement beforehand.

”Where were you going, Alex?” Wendi's voice was husky. She swung her leg up and down, up and down, displaying the sculpted muscles in her calves to perfection.

He loosened the scarf around this throat. ”To see a friend.”

He was being subjected to a double onslaught of predatory femininity, and he was feeling a little light-headed. He knew he should tell both of them to just get out, but he was having trouble forming the words. He felt like a snake fixed in a mongoose's glare.

”Ooh.” Jennifer breathed, wriggling a little on the couch. Her movement hitched her skirt up even higher. ”Anyone we know?”

”I don't think so.” He blinked, and suddenly the spell the two hot-to-trot vixens were trying to cast was broken. Of course they didn't know Sarah. Women like Jen and Wendi wouldn't know someone like Sarah. Women like the ones on his couch didn't deserve to know someone like Sarah.

”Why not just stay here with us?” Wendi suggested. ”It's too cold out there, Alex. It's nice and warm in here. With us.”

Her words made him wrinkle his mouth with distaste. They thought they were being seductive. They didn't realize they were only being ridiculous.

”It was nice of you to stop by.” His voice clearly showed he was being insincere. ”But you'll have to leave. I'm on my way out.”

Wendi and Jennifer exchanged startled looks. Obviously, they had overestimated their charm. Regaining her seductive smile, Jennifer turned to Alex.

”Are you sure?” She ran her tongue suggestively along her plump, glossy lips.

”Jennifer, I've never been more sure of anything,” Alex said grimly.

Now the looks the two women exchanged were more than startled. They were shocked. Wendi's mouth opened and closed like a codfish, and Jennifer's pretty features turned a bright red. Alex wagered to himself it was the first time the woman had blushed in years.

Wendi began to sputter. Jennifer, however, recovered more quickly. She hauled herself out of the depths of the couch, not bothering to pull her skirt past her thighs. The sight left Alex cold.

Jennifer didn't appear to notice because she insinuated herself into his arms before he could pull away. ”Don't be shy. We already decided we're more than willing to share you.”

Her glossy lips slid along his cheek, missing his mouth, but not by much. She reached up to run her hands through his hair, pulling it down over his eyes. Shaking his head, Alex grabbed her forearms and pushed her away, gently but firmly. ”I think you'd better leave.”

”Every man's fantasy,” Jen persisted, her voice a low, husky and s.e.x-soaked purr.

She refused to move far enough away from him, so he stepped back and let go. Without his hands to support her, she teetered on her stiletto heels. Jen flung her hair over her shoulder with the air of a haughty princess.

”Don't pretend you don't want it,” she snapped, using the tip of her finger to dab her smudged lips. ”There are men who'd give both their b.a.l.l.s to f.u.c.k me and Wendi.”

”Then I'd suggest you go and find one of them,” Alex replied. ”Because I'm not interested.”

That, finally, seemed to deflate her, but only for an instant. With another hair toss, Jen beckoned to her friend. ”C'mon, Wendi. It's obvious we're not wanted.”

She couldn't have been more right, but Alex had been raised better than to agree aloud. He stepped aside to let them reach the door and ignored Wendi's quivering lip and Jen's furious sniffs. Just as they were pulling up the zippers on their form-fitting jackets to their heavily made up chins, the doorbell rang. Alex groaned, glancing at the clock. It was eleven o'clock on Sat.u.r.day night. Time enough for all the sharks in the world to have slammed down a few margaritas and get sentimental about ”the one that got away.” Who was it this time? He flung the door open violently, prepared to tell the would-be seductress who awaited to stop wasting her time and go home.

It was Sarah.

* * * * ”Alex, I--” Sarah broke off as she saw he wasn't alone. Two sleek manes of hair, one blonde and one brunette, appeared in the hall behind him. Both were attached to pretty faces and knockout bodies dressed in little more than underwear.

”Excuse us. We were just leaving.” Jennifer pushed her way past Alex. She stopped when she saw Sarah, and a thin smirk curved her glistening lips. ”Oh, look, Wendi. It's Alex's charity case. Sorry, honey, he's already given at the office.”

Sarah looked at Alex's stricken face, the smudge of lip gloss, his disheveled hair. That, coupled with the women's smug looks and lack of clothes told her more than she needed to know. Without another word, Sarah turned and left Alex's front porch. She managed not to slip on the icy walk, got into her car, and put the key in the ignition.

Sarah stared steadfastly behind her as she backed out of the driveway. She guessed he was calling after her, but she couldn't hear him. Jennifer's words were ringing too loudly in her ears for her to hear anything else. She concentrated grimly on navigating the still-snowy streets. She had spent the afternoon wallowing in self-pity brought on by the blonde's nasty comments at The Foxfire. The phrase ”charity case” had brought back every awful memory about her time with William. It had taken an entire quart of Superchocolate ice cream and a long, hot bath before she'd been able to face the thought of confronting Alex.

She'd swallowed her fear and her pride and gone to his house to tell him she loved him. She'd been greeted by something out of her worst nightmare. Her mind told her to give him a chance to explain, but her heart had put petal to the metal and driven her away into the night.

She was only a few blocks from her house when she suddenly decided she didn't want to go back. Not to the empty house, where the temptation to give in to self-pity might overwhelm her. Instead of turning left at the traffic light, she turned right. The night was young, and so was she. She had soaked in a steaming tub, washed her hair, and put on makeup. She'd shaved her legs, for G.o.d's sake, and she wasn't going to waste her time at home watching bad movies on cable TV. She was going to go out and forget Alex Caine.

”This wasn't exactly what I had in mind when I decided to surround myself with good-looking men.” Sarah looked around the crowded club.

Darren laughed loud and hard. ”Honey, this is exactly the place you need to be. Ain't nothing more soothing than being surrounded by a bunch of super hot guys.”

Sarah couldn't help tapping her toes to the dis...o...b..at filling the nightclub.

”Yeah, that's such a problem for me normally.”

”Stop right there.” Darren snapped his fingers. ”I didn't fix your makeup and take you out just so I could listen to you be all nasty to yourself. If that Allan Cline--”

”Alex Caine.”

”Whatever. If Mr. Gorgeous can't tell a good thing when he's got it, then he doesn't deserve it.”

”Thanks, Darren. That's what I needed to hear.”

She leaned across her stool to plant a kiss on his caramel-colored cheek.