Just One Look (Women of Substance)

by Lee, Marilyn

  “If I know you, you’re not going to hop into bed with him the first night. So you’ll need more than one night.”

  “Will you give it a rest?” I snapped.

  “Excuse me for breathing,” she said.

  I rolled my eyes. “One day or six, I can pay for my own meals.”

  “Are you sure? You’re only going as a favor to me.”

  “I know that but I can pay for my own meals.”

  “Okay. Well…do me proud and let him down gently. Then fuck me right out of his mind during the week.”

  Wouldn’t I love to do just that? I outlined my top lip with my tongue. “I have no interest in staying more than one night.”

  “Use the time to sightsee. The Liberty Bell and the Constitution Center are within walking distance of your hotel. The Reading Terminal Market has to be seen to be believed. It’s historic and filled with all kinds of restaurants. Taylor and I enjoyed going on horse-driven carriage rides too. We visited the Betty Rose and the Poe House. There’s a lot of history you’ll enjoy exploring with or without.”

  “With or without what?”

  “Taylor. He’s a bit of a workaholic but with the right incentive, maybe you can convince him to take some time off.”

  “Did you?”

  “No,” she admitted. “All our sightseeing took place after work or on the weekends.”

  “I doubt he’ll want to spend any quality time with me after I’ve delivered the bad news.”

  “Maybe not but if he wants to bed you, go for it. Just do me a favor and make sure you don’t fall for him.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because I might decide I want him back and I don’t want any problems between us if that happens. Fuck him but do not fall for him because I might want him back.”

  I frowned. Sometimes Jasmin had a habit of treating her lovers like possessions rather than equal partners. “There’s not much chance of that happening,” I assured her. “Anyway, have a great shoot and a wonderful time, Jas.”

  “You too, Shana. I’ll see you when I return.”

  “I’ll be here, girl,” I said and hung up.

  I went home to have dinner, pack, and call my son and daughter to tell them I’d be heading out of town for a while. My twenty-year-old twins, Jassy and Jimmy, would start their senior year of college in the fall.

  Jassy urged me to have a wild time. “Let your hair down, Mom and live a little.”

  I knew what she meant by live a little. Like Jasmin, she thought I was taking too long to get over Tremain. “We’ll see,” I said. “I’ll call you when I get back. Now I need to call your brother. Love you.”

  “I love you too, Mom,” she said.

  Smiling, I dialed her brother’s number.

  Jimmy listened in silence before he spoke. “Despite the advice I know Jassy gave you, please be careful, Mom. There’s no rush to start a new relationship. You can take your time and get it right.”

  Oh but I was more than ready to take another lover. “Don’t worry about me, sweetie.”

  “I do worry,” he said. “It’s part of my job.”

  Since my divorce, ten years earlier, despite my assurances, Jimmy had felt he had to look after me. “Don’t worry,” I said again.

  “Promise me you’ll call me if you need anything.”

  Hell would freeze over before I burdened either of my kids with my problems. “Of course, sweetie. I’ll see you soon.”

  “Call or text me to let me know you arrived safely.”

  “I will. Love you, sweetie.”

  “Love you, Mom.”

  Later that night I fell asleep and had a series of erotic dreams where a faceless man with a big shaft cocked me all night long until I nearly screamed the place down. My heart thumped and my panties were wet when I woke because I knew the faceless man of my dreams had been Taylor Raymond.

  Get a grip, girl. You cannot start thinking with your pussy.

  Groaning with frustration, I rolled onto my stomach and drifted to sleep again—and dreamed of Taylor Raymond again.

  A day later, I arrived in Philadelphia after a six-hour flight from San Francisco. At the last moment, I’d decided to take Jasmin’s advice and packed enough clothes for a week’s vacation. After I saw Taylor Raymond in the morning, I’d get down to some serious sightseeing. And just maybe I might even let my hair down enough to get my freak on in a one-night stand. Or two. Hell, maybe three. But not with Taylor Raymond, girl. Not with him. That would create too many problems.

  Hoping I’d wrestled my emotions and fantasies under sufficient control that Taylor Raymond would not know I’d been spending far too much time daydreaming about him; I collected my bags and boarded the airport shuttle to my Center City hotel.

  I was pleasantly surprised to find that Jas had booked me a small suite. Placing my bags near the closet, I sat down to send a quick email to Jimmy and Jassy to let them know I’d arrived safely and would see them in a week.

  Then I went down to the hotel restaurant. While having a salad and a beer, I noticed a lone handsome man with dark skin and eyes seated at a table facing mine giving me a fair amount of attention.

  Lonely and ready for a little male companionship, I would have been receptive if he approached me. He didn’t but I left the restaurant confident that there was always tomorrow. Hopefully, his stay would extend long enough for us to meet before I went home. And maybe the next time we met, I’d make a move if he didn’t.

  Back in my suite, I undressed and took a long soak. Lying in the warm, soothing water, I closed my eyes and imagined myself wrapped in the arms of Mr. Dark, handsome and sexy. I allowed my imagination to weave a super sensual dream around the man from the restaurant before the cooling water spurred me to get out of the bath and go to bed.

  Relaxed by the soak, I fell asleep almost immediately but woke in the middle of the night longing to feel a big, hard body pressed against mine. Despite my efforts to corral my thoughts, I couldn’t stop thinking about Taylor Raymond. His was the body I wanted to feel crushing mine to the bed. I wanted to explore the mystique of the Native American lover with him.

  If you’re going to develop a thing for a Native male, it can’t be Jasmin’s. Despite her encouraging me to sleep with him, neither of us had ever crossed that line. We were too damned close to risk our relationship over a man. I sighed and rolled onto my side and tried to clear my thoughts of hot sex with Taylor Raymond until I finally fell asleep again.

  Shana Mine is available from Marilyn Lee Unleashed

  Marilyn’s booklist:

  Marilyn Lee Unleashed

  Women of Substance: Just One Look

  Shana Mine

  Dream Lover

  A Cheating Situation

  Any Time Any Place

  Beauty Is Alisha Hoover?

  Blue Desert Heat 1

  Blue Desert Heat 2

  Blue Desert Tales: Courtesan Seduction

  Daughters of Takira: One Night In Vegas

  Daughters of Takira 2: Kyla's Awakening

  Daughters of Takira 3: Revelations

  Falling Hard

  Fantasy Knights

  Fantasy Knights 2: Endless Love

  In Blood 2-Lost Without

  Large, Shy & Beautiful

  Loving Large—Yours, Only And Always

  Loving Large 2—Yours, Now And Forever

  Marilyn Lee Omnibus I

  Marilyn Lee Sampler

  Marilyn Lee Sampler 2

  My Mother's Man

  No Commitment Required: Naughty Girls

  Primal Lusts

  Secondhand Lover

  Secret Lover

  Some Like It Male

  Soul Mates

  Taking Chances: Falling For Sharde

  Taking Chances 2: Nice Girls Do

  The Dare

  The Quest 1: Hunter's Passion

  Torn By Love

  Where You Find It

  Yesterday's Secret Sins

  Red Rose Publishing


  Sweet Surrender

  Sister’s Keeper

  Finding Love Again

  Betrayed By Love

  Song of Desire

  It Had To Be You

  One Sweet Night

  Tempting Neal

  In Blood And Worth Loving

  Eye of the Beholder

  Night Heat

  A Thing Called Love

  Summer Storm

  Skin Deep

  Ellora's Cave

  Night of Sin

  Bloodlust series:

  Conquering Mikhel Dumont

  The Talisman

  The Taming Serge Dumont

  Forbidden Desires

  Nocturnal Heat

  Midnight Shadows

  All In The Family

  Moonlight series:

  Moonlight Desire

  Moonlight Whispers

  Long Line of Love series:

  Night of Desires

  Love Out Loud

  Only One Love

  Teacher's Pet

  Trina's Afternoon Delight

  Branded

  Road To Rapture

  The Fall of Troy

  Full Bodied Charmer

  Breathless In Black

  Playing With Fire

  White Christmas

  Quest II—Divided Loyalties

  Quest III—Return to Volter

  Changeling Press

  Moonlight Madness

  Bloodlust—Nighttime Magic

  Marilyn’s homepage: http://www.marilynlee.org

  Email: marilynlee@marilynlee.org

  Marilyn’s Bio:

  Marilyn Lee lives, works, and writes on the East Coast. In addition to thoroughly enjoying writing erotic romances, she enjoys roller-skating, spending time with her large, extended family, and rooting for all her hometown sports teams. Her other interests include collecting Doc Savage pulp novels from the thirties and forties and collecting Marvel comics from the seventies and eighties (particularly Thor and The Avengers). Her favorite TV shows are forensic shows, westerns (Gunsmoke and Have Gun, Will Travel are particular favorites), mysteries (loves the old Charlie Chan mysteries. Her all time favorite mystery movie is probably Dead, Again), and nearly every vampire movie or television show ever made (Forever Knight and Count Yorga, Vampire are favorites).

  Marilyn has won numerous writing accolades, including a CAPA award for Bloodlust: Conquering Mikhel Dumont and the following Lub-Dubs Awards for 2009: Lifetime Achievement Award, In Blood And Worth Loving (Best erotic novel and best sci-fi/fantasy/paranormal Award.

  She loves to hear from readers who can email her at Mlee2057@AOL.com or who can visit her website, http://www.marilynlee.org. She has a Yahoo! Group called Love Bytes that readers can join by sending an email to: marilynlee-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  http://www.marilynlee.org