Sydney looked at her and smirked. “Do you have a booty call man you haven’t told me about?”
“No,” Alexa said sadly. “Not anymore, I gave him up too. He started talking about setting up a regular time for us every week. I stopped seeing him about nine months ago.”
“Bad call. Abstaining does not suit you, Alexa. You are a vibrant woman. You need sex,” Sydney argued. “I could hook you up with one of my straight friends. I have several who think you’re hot.”
“Good lord, you’re offering me a pity date?” Alexa laughed, shocked under her amusement. “Am I that bad off?”
Sydney nodded. “Your insecurity is showing, honey, which is so not like you. I think you need someone in your life who can make you feel young.”
“Thanks, but no thanks. I don’t even let Regina and Lauren fix me up with dates. I prefer to just meet a guy and follow a little feeling that says he’s worth getting to know.”
“Well, I hear you there. Certainly sounds like the best motivation, but when was the last time you had a feeling about a guy?” Sydney asked with a grin.
“Last month actually,” Alexa confided, revealing the truth to Sydney, who would never betray her, mostly because he valued his life too much. “It happened with Seth’s older cousin, but Jenna would simply kill me if I put any moves on him.”
“So don’t tell her,” Sydney said, laughing. “Swear the man to secrecy.”
The idea of asking the former Marine to indulge in a secret love affair with her struck Alexa as more funny than possible. What would Casey Carter want with an older woman like her when he could have any number of younger, more attractive ones?
And if she did get that far, what would she do with Casey when they weren’t in bed? There might be different problems dating younger men, Alexa concluded, but all dating had the same damn depressing outcome for her.
Not to mention, there would likely be hell to pay if Jenna found out.
“Right,” she smiled, drawing the word out. “You expect me date Seth’s macho cousin, and convince him never to mention it to Seth or Jenna? That’s a bold play, even with my dating history.”
Sydney stood and gathered their lunch trash. “Since when is Alexa Ranger afraid of being bold?”
Alexa shook back her reddish brown mane of hair, her eyes glittering in amusement as she laughed. If only she could find a straight man who understood her as well as Sydney. He knew just which buttons to press.
“What would I do without you, Sydney? You’re absolutely right,” she said nodding, not wanting to argue further about his plan.
“Of course I am. Now go be bold,” Sydney replied sternly. “And make notes so you remember the details. You know how forgetful people are at your age.”
Alexa swore at him, laughed, but ultimately blew Sydney a kiss as he headed back to his desk.
Even if Casey wasn’t a possibility, now that Sydney had all but dared her to date someone younger, the idea was churning inside her. However, a decision this important needed more than the sanction of a gay friend. It required the advice of female experts, Alexa decided.
Fortunately, she was already meeting her two favorite experts for dinner that evening.
*** *** ***
The food at Lucinda’s was always good. If it hadn’t been, Alexa would have rousted the manager for a heart-to-heart. Not just because she was part owner, but because she truly loved meeting there for dinner. Part of what she liked was that the management trained the staff well on deflecting unwanted attention from its more famous customers. Anyone with a press badge or camera had to check their electronics at the door.
Both she and Regina felt safe there.
“So when was the last time you felt a genuine interest in getting to know a man,” Alexa asked the two women seated at her table.
They had demolished three plates of appetizers in less than twenty minutes with no complaining about calories. It was a point of honor between them never to feel guilty about food.
Regina—aka Dr. Regina Logan—was polishing off the last of the veggie pizza.
“I love pizza. It’s such happy food. And all those carbs make for a good snooze after. Did you ask a question, Alexa? Sorry, I was in the middle of a pizza orgasm,” Regina explained.
Alexa laughed when Lauren McCarthy—one of The McCarthy’s of Falls Church, Virginia—rolled her eyes at Regina’s response. Lauren had the sexual sensibilities of a twenty-year-old and the sexual urges of a forty-year-old. It was not a happy combination in a woman who worried daily about what people thought of her. Stranger still, Lauren risked her reputation weekly by hanging out with Regina and Alexa, definitely two of the most sexually notorious women in Falls Church.
While she waited for them to think about it, Alexa thought about the differences between the women she trusted with her deepest secrets. Regina and her work as a sex therapist drew the interest of the press regularly. Fortunately, Alexa’s notoriety had dwindled when she’d stopped dating so much. Only Lauren avoided the press, rarely even making the society pages. They teasingly called her ‘Saint McCarthy’ because the woman never did anything even remotely scandalous.
The worst thing Alexa had ever known Lauren to do was buy a vibrator after her divorce, but what single woman didn’t own at least one of those?
Alexa looked at Regina, smiling as the woman licked cheese off her fingers.
“I asked when was the last time you felt a genuine interest in getting to know a man,” she repeated.
Regina frowned as she wiped her hands on a napkin.
“Wow. I just realized I don’t have an easy answer to your question. That’s so depressing. I guess it’s been almost a year for me,” she said.
Alexa looked at Lauren, who squirmed whenever any of them talked about sex. Only Lauren could make forty-two look as innocent as twenty, Alexa thought, amused.
“Like you want to get to simply know him, or you want to—you know, get to know him in the biblical sense?” Lauren asked.
“Biblical sense,” Alexa answered around a grin.
Lauren sighed, “I guess I’d have to say about two years ago and for yet another womanizing man. The one before him was six years ago when I first got divorced. I developed an urge to date my lawyer.”
Regina arched an eyebrow, “Your lawyer? Honey, that was gratitude, not a sexual urge. Haven’t you ever wanted a man so much you just went for it?”
“Absolutely not,” Lauren answered honestly and sincerely. “Technology is a much better solution and more satisfying.”
“No, it’s not,” Alexa said gently, but with great conviction. “There’s nothing like falling into a satisfied sleep after you’ve had a man inside you two or three times. There’s no substitute for that kind of connection.”
“True. Have you been connecting to someone lately, Alexa?” Regina asked, smiling at the thought of her gorgeous friend getting lucky.
Alexa laughed and sighed, “No. I’m just a little attracted to someone, that’s all. It’s been a while for me, too. It’s complicated because the man is a lot younger than me.”
“Younger can be good. How much younger?” Regina asked, inspecting the appetizer plates for any lingering bites.
“I don’t know,” Alexa said frowning. “Why?”
“Less than eight years makes you a Puma. Over eight years makes you a Cougar,” Regina said wisely, as Lauren nodded in agreement. “That kind of hookup is happening a lot these days and women are benefitting greatly. I wish I had an eye for younger men. I could have a lot more dates. Unfortunately, I get irritated with their conversation long before the mating urge can happen.”
“So who’s the younger guy you like?” Lauren asked, truly interested in the answer.
Both Lauren and Regina looked at Alexa, who just stared back silently, blinking. Alexa’s reluctance to share his identity had both of them giggling.
“Hmmm . . . this is interesting, Lauren. Alexa doesn’t want us to know. Is the boy-toy in question at least of lega
l age?” Regina asked Alexa, teasing.
“Of course. He’s around thirty-eight I think,” Alexa finally confessed.
“You’re a Cougar then, but honestly—thirty-eight is not that young,” Regina exclaimed, rolling her eyes. “When you said young, I was picturing a twenty-something who checked himself out in the mirror every two seconds.”
Lauren laughed at Regina’s description because it fit her own mental image. “I was thinking the same. Anyone over thirty-five is fair game, Alexa. Though I’m a bit like Regina, I like men closer to my own age. Younger men seem to be too anxious and needy.”
“Amen, sister,” Regina said, high-fiving with Lauren and making her giggle.
“So neither of you would pursue this if you were me simply because of his age,” Alexa repeated, wanting to make sure she understood.
Regina and Lauren looked at each other. Surprisingly, it was Lauren who piped up with “depends on the amount of attraction.” Regina just smiled widely and nodded in agreement.
Alexa closed her eyes and crossed her arms. “This is not helping,” she complained.
Regina removed the white linen napkin from her lap and folded it into a neat triangle before placing it on the now empty plate in front of her.
“Do not try to fool the sex therapist, Alexa,” she said ominously, making Lauren giggle again. “You’ve dated slightly younger men before. What’s the real problem with this guy?”
“The only younger man I ever dated was only two years younger than me. The term younger barely applies in that case. But you’re right, the real problem is he’s Seth Carter’s cousin Casey. He’s the older one that raised him,” Alexa confessed at last.
Conversation paused while Regina and Lauren absorbed the news.
“Jenna would probably kill you,” Lauren finally said, wincing at how dramatic that sounded.
“Yes, exactly,” Alexa agreed. “I’m not sure any man is worth risking my life.”
Regina squinted hard as she considered the frown on Alexa’s face and the disappointment reflected in Alexa’s gaze.
“I agree it’s a tough twist, but I wouldn’t let it be the deciding factor. Jenna and Seth might not work out anyway. If you don’t take this chance, then everybody loses. Sometimes it’s okay to be selfish, Alexa. This may be one of those times,” Regina told her.
Alexa nodded, but none of what they said made her want to call Casey up and ask him out. The idea of a fifty-year-old woman dating a thirty-eight-year-old man just smacked of desperation to her. If the press found out, she would make the headlines again—Aging Model Dates Young Marine. She wasn’t ready to deal with the public or private fallout that might happen. She liked being less notorious.
“Do you think fifty is old?” Alexa asked them sadly, knowing her age was the biggest reason she wasn’t even considering Casey as a potential.
“You’re kidding, right?” Lauren proclaimed, shocked at Alexa’s sad tone.
Alexa sighed. Talking to Regina and Lauren was turning out to be worse than talking to Sydney. No one seemed to understand her concerns.
Regina swore and got up from her seat to gather her things. “I have to go catch a plane, so I’ll be quick with my two cents on the subject. No, fifty is not old, and you make it look better than thirty anyway. Lauren and I are using you as our role model. You know damn well that at forty-seven, fifty’s just around a corner for me. Go have sex and shake this mood, Alexa. You need the oxytocin high from intercourse to fight the hormonally depressive funk you’re in right now.”
“Hormonally depressive funk? Is that a precise medical opinion, Dr. Logan?” Alexa asked sarcastically.
Regina just gave her a look that asked if Alexa needed a little more proof, or a lot more proof. She would happily give either to her friend.
“Fine. I’ll take care of it,” Alexa said sarcastically. “You’re probably right, anyway. Sydney said the same thing.”
“No, I’m probably right about the weather changing, and that the plane ride will be bumpy to Boston,” Regina told her. “I am always right about sex.”
As they split the bill and debated the tip, Alexa thought about how best to follow Regina’s advice. Instantly, Casey Carter’s image popped into her mind and her heartbeat picked up. No, she told herself, putting it away in the realm of fantasy and not reality.
Instead, Alexa made herself think about the ever-available Todd Lansing who was a friend-with-benefits as Jenna would say. A couple years ago her comfortable relationship with Todd had been okay with Alexa because it kept her from bed hopping while she casually dated other men. Now, the thought of using Todd for gratuitous sex held no appeal, much less desire.
The only man who sexually interested her at all was not a good possibility. Which was just as well, Alexa concluded. She didn’t need another empty sexual relationship without the remotest possibility of happily-ever-after attached.
Chapter 2
The moment Casey Carter walked through the door of the Eddy’s Bar and Grill, his attention zeroed in on Alexa Ranger sitting at a polished dark wood table with two other women.
Since meeting her a month or so ago, his body had developed a radar for her presence that refused to be ignored no matter how much his brain argued about it.
Looking around, he saw Seth was not waiting for him as promised—no big surprise there. Luckily he was having a good day and hadn’t needed to use the cane, so he chose a seat in a dark area of the bar near the door.
It was as far away as possible from Alexa’s table, but still with a view of her. Slipping off his sunglasses, he pulled the Marines logo ball cap lower over his eyes, not wanting to draw attention to himself while he studied her.
Casey guessed Alexa had to be at least forty-five years old despite the fact she looked much younger. The intensity of his attraction to the older woman was a mystery to Casey, but the reality was that when Alexa was within view, Casey couldn’t stop himself from meticulously planning what he would sexually do to her and with her if he ever got the chance.
And because Casey had that reaction even the very first time he’d met her, he had been avoiding even minor social contact with the woman for the last month. Jenna and Seth had finally given up trying to include him in family activities.
Not that Alexa seemed to have the same problem.
Looking at his watch, he saw thirty minutes had passed in the bar now without her even once glancing his way. Evidently, Alexa did not have the same physical radar for him, though he still believed she had been attracted to him too.
As Casey studied Alexa, he considered it a point in her favor that she didn’t constantly scan the bar for men like one of her companions was doing, or look around in disgust like the other one. No, Alexa just kept on talking, her focus completely on the conversation.
His phone buzzing with an incoming text message finally snagged his attention away from Alexa.
Can’t make it after all. Last minute problem keeping me here. TTYL.
He texted back a reply.
WTF? Drinking your beer and mine then. Your fault if I don’t make it home.
Seth’s obsession with work matched any Casey had ever had with the Marines. Only eight years older than Seth, Casey felt a couple decades ahead in understanding about what was important in life. There had been some rough times for him, but he hadn’t let a hip replacement or a wife dying of cancer take him down for good.
Casey watched Alexa shift her attention when the door to the bar opened. Even at a distance, Casey could read the depth of her concern in unsmiling lips pressed in a firm line.
He shifted in his chair, willing his body to relax when all it wanted was to get up and go to her—comfort her. It was the craziest reaction he’d ever had with a woman he barely knew.
Casey’s attention finally shifted to the person Alexa had watched come through the door when the woman in question passed by his table.
There was a blur of blue and a whiff of some expensive scent that made him think of silky she
ets, pulled blinds, and ceiling fans. From the tall heels all the way up the seamed stockings to the more interesting curves outlined in the skin-tight dress, the woman was a dream come true for the lucky guy she’d dressed to please.
Wow, Casey thought, that is a take-me-now-I’m-yours dress. Though it had been awhile since Casey had seen one, he still recognized them.
And thank God for that, he concluded.
Dragging his attention away from the woman, Casey noticed pretty much every man in the bar was watching her with great interest. Then he noticed she was heading directly to Alexa’s table.
When the bartender yelled the woman’s name, Casey swore silently. The woman was Alexa’s daughter—Seth’s girlfriend.
So where was Seth? Seth hadn’t mentioned anything about Jenna in his text. What detained Seth at home if it wasn’t Jenna?
Casey drummed his fingers on the table. Some clichés were truer than others, especially where military men were concerned. All Casey’s instincts were telling him—no, swearing at him—that this situation was not good. So Casey put his sunglasses back on, picked up his beer, and discreetly moved to the other end of the crowded bar nearer Alexa’s table where he could do some further reconnaissance.
Or in other words, where he could eavesdrop on their conversation.
*** *** ***
Alexa’s mother radar went on full alert when Jenna walked into the bar. Seeing Jenna in full-out woman gear was a thrill, but the look in her daughter’s eyes spoiled the perfect picture. Alexa sighed when Jenna frowned at all the males avidly watching her swinging curves move across the room.
Jenna stopped at the table and put her hands on hips, mirroring a physical gesture Alexa recognized as one of her own. Her heart contracted with love.
“Is there an age limit to join this hen party?” Jenna asked, her gaze meeting her mother’s.
“Yes. Lauren barely makes the cut, but at twenty-seven you’re good,” Alexa teased.
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