There's Always Plan B

by Susan Mallery

  Steve had nailed it. In two words, he’d summarized her mother in a way she’d never been able to do. Of course—a professional victim. That explained so much. Everything really.

  “Are you all right?” Steve asked when the waiter had left.

  “What? Oh, yes. I was thinking about what you said. You’re so right—she is a professional victim. Why does being able to name the condition suddenly make it easier to deal with?”

  “Not a clue,” he said.

  “Maybe it makes me feel I’m less crazy.”

  “Are you crazy?”

  “Sometimes.”

  “Then I’m glad I could help.”

  Whatever concerns or tensions she’d had about the evening faded away. Suddenly she wanted to know everything about him.

  “Okay, enough about me and my mother,” she said. “What do you do for fun around here?”

  Nearly two hours later Carly set down her fork and groaned. “I ate way too much. I’m going to have to make up for this by never eating again.”

  “I’m glad you liked everything,” Steve said, looking amused.

  “What?” she asked.

  “I never thought you’d get through that whole slice of prime rib, let alone the banana cream pie.”

  She glanced down at her empty plate. “Yes, well, I was hungry.”

  “Apparently.”

  Oh, no. Had she broken a dating rule? “Do women still not eat when they go out with men?” she asked. “I remember that from high school, but I figured because we were older, it didn’t matter.”

  “I’m glad you enjoyed your meal, and of course you’re allowed to eat. Not enough women do.”

  Oh, great. “So your other women are superskinny?”

  Steve paused in the act of pouring them each another glass of wine. “Okay, I sense several potentially dangerous pitfalls in that sentence. Number one, I don’t have ‘other women.’”

  “That’s not what I’ve heard,” Carly said breezily. She could certainly feel the two glasses of wine she’d already had and was about to indulge in a third. So not like her, but then it felt fun to be someone else for the night.

  “I’ve heard you’re quite the ladies’ man. I was even warned about you.”

  “Really? What was the warning?”

  “That you’d probably try to seduce me, but not to expect a real relationship.”

  As soon as the words were out, she covered her mouth with her fingers.

  “I did not say that,” she mumbled.

  Steve grinned. “I’m afraid you did. Interesting. I didn’t realize I had such a reputation. I don’t know if I should be flattered or insulted.”

  “Flattered,” she said, dropping her hand back to her waist. “That’s how it was meant.”

  “Why don’t I believe you?”

  “Not a clue.” She did her best to look completely innocent. “So, why don’t you tell me more about your summer trips to that village in Mexico? I think it’s so great you take those teenage boys with you and then you all build housing for the poor.”

  “There’s nothing more to tell. Let’s stay on the subject of my seducing you.”

  “Not a good idea.”

  He looked at her as if trying to decide if he should pursue it or not. Carly crossed her fingers that he wouldn’t. Right now she was a little drunk and very confused. She’d come into the dinner with clear-cut ideas about not being attracted to Steve, and now she found she was. The feelings were different from her wild, visceral reaction to Adam, but still intriguing. Jeez, who would have believed that less than three months after her divorce she would have thoughts about getting involved with two different guys? Not that either had actually asked, but there were possibilities, and she liked that about them.

  “I didn’t realize you were such a lightweight,” Steve said. “You’re swaying in your seat after only two glasses of wine.”

  “Three,” she said, pointing at the full glass in front of her.

  “You haven’t drunk that one yet, and I’m thinking you probably shouldn’t. Who knows what would happen?”

  She grinned.

  He shook his head. “That does it. Less liquor for you.”

  “I would have thought you would like me drunk.”

  “I like to think I’m the kind of guy who can get his girl without help from alcohol.” He flagged down the waiter and asked for the check.

  “What about our walk on the beach?” she asked. “You said we were going to do that.”

  “I think we should save that for another time. I don’t want you falling in.”

  “I’m not that drunk.”

  “You could have fooled me.”

  Carly didn’t remember much about the drive home. She enjoyed her buzz and her newfound interest in Steve. When he parked in front of the B and B, she turned toward him in eager anticipation of his kiss. But instead of pulling her close and laying one on her, he lightly touched her cheek.

  “Thanks for dinner,” he said.

  “That’s my line. I had a nice time.”

  “Me, too. We’ll have to do it again.”

  He smiled at her and got out of the car.

  Carly blinked in confusion. That was it? He wasn’t going to kiss her? Why? Hadn’t he had a good time?

  He opened the passenger door and she stepped out into the cool night.

  “You didn’t kiss me,” she said before she could stop herself.

  “I know,” he said with a chuckle. “This is your first dating experience since the divorce. I thought I’d take it slow.”

  That was so nice, she thought happily. He was really nice. She liked nice. And him.

  “Okay,” she said. “It’s not like I’m going anywhere.”

  “Good to know.”

  He walked her to the front door, lightly kissed her cheek, then opened the door and gave her a little push inside.

  “I’ll give you a call in a couple of days,” he promised.

  She waved her fingers at him and wondered if men calling when they said they would really happened these days, or if the male of the species was as undependable as she remembered.

  She stepped into the empty parlor. The wine buzz had faded enough to make her rethink her question about him kissing her, and she was grateful that he’d held back. She didn’t know what, if anything, could happen with Steve, but whatever it was wouldn’t be helped by rushing. Far better to—

  “How was your evening?”

  She turned toward the voice and saw Adam sitting on the bottom stair.

  The buzz returned, but it had nothing to do with wine and everything to do with the man.

  Funny how it didn’t matter that he was casually dressed or slightly rumpled or even too young. Just looking at him made her all soft and wet and wanting. As if she were melting from the inside out.

  “Dinner was good,” she said, trying not to stare, yet not able to look away.

  “Steve, huh? So there is competition.”

  “Oh, there’s not,” she said before she could stop herself, then figured she might as well dig the hole deeper. “I mean I like Steve. He’s a really great guy. But it’s not the same.”

  Adam rose. “How is it different?”

  “He’s the kind of man women want to marry, and you’re the kind of man women want…”

  “Want? Want to what?”

  She could get lost in his dark eyes. She heard the phrase a hundred times, read it a thousand, and it finally made sense. She wanted to lose herself in him, in what he could do and how he could make her feel.

  “There’s no ‘to,’” she whispered. “That was the end of the sentence.”

  “Oh.”

  He moved closer, until she had to tilt her head back to meet his gaze.

  “So you want me,” he whispered, even as he bent down and pressed his lips to the side of her neck.

  She’d planned to say no. She’d planned to tell him that she meant women in general, not her in particular. But instead she closed her eyes as s
he felt the warmth of his firm, yet soft mouth brush against her sensitized skin.

  Shivers and tingles and goose bumps raced all over her body. A moan started low in her chest and gradually rose until she had no choice but to let it out. She swayed, reached out for something stable and encountered…him.

  The second she put her hands on his shoulders, he surged forward and wrapped his arms around her. He pressed his mouth to hers in a demanding kiss that had her clinging to him even as she parted her lips and circled his tongue with hers.

  Passion didn’t begin to describe the need that exploded between them. One second there was rational thought, with her worries about her saggy breasts and dimpled thighs, the next nothing mattered but Adam and his touch. She didn’t care about her appearance, or the fact that his last lover had probably been a twenty-two-year-old supermodel. She didn’t think about appropriate or inappropriate or right or wrong.

  “Come to my room,” he murmured as he kissed his way along her jaw.

  Carly felt too aroused to play hard to get. She had a brief thought that she couldn’t remember the last time she’d shaved her legs, then she figured she couldn’t worry about that now.

  “Okay,” she breathed.

  He led her to the elevator. The short trip allowed them to hold on to each other, even as they kissed over and over. When the doors opened, she was conscious enough to make sure there weren’t any other guests in the hallway before following him to his room.

  Adam unlocked the door and motioned for her to precede him. When they were both inside, he turned on a lamp and turned off several complicated-looking pieces of equipment.

  The video camera! He’d taped Jack and her mother moving furniture around.

  “Are you—”

  “All off,” he said as he flipped the last switch.

  She watched monitors, lights and displays go dark.

  “But just so you don’t worry.” He walked to a long power strip and pulled the plug out of the wall.

  His genuine concern made her smile, while the lingering effect of his kisses made her want him. She walked over and wrapped her arms around him.

  “You’re one of the good guys,” she said.

  “I try to be.”

  He cupped her face in his hands and began to kiss her again. Even as he slipped his tongue inside her mouth and made her squirm, he urged her backward. She went with the movement until she felt the bed behind her.

  Before she could actually think about what was happening and get nervous, he dropped his hands to her waist and his mouth to her neck.

  There was something to be said for a patient man, she thought, as he licked and nibbled his way down the V of her dress. Neil always acted as if the preliminaries were simply something he had to get through so that he could get off, but Adam took each step with enthusiasm. He moved slowly down her chest until he reached the curve of her breast, then he lightly kissed the sensitive flesh.

  He shifted to her other breast, then moved higher and higher until she had to let her head fall back so he could nibble along the other side of her neck.

  While his mouth kept her gasping and lost in sensation, his hands began a dance of their own. He stroked up and down her back before slipping down to her fanny. He cupped the curves and squeezed. She instinctively arched her hips forward, which brought her in contact with his body.

  He was hard. She felt the thick ridge against her belly. Delight filled her.

  “You want this,” she said as she opened her eyes and looked at him.

  He frowned. “Why wouldn’t I?”

  “Oh, give me a minute and I’ll give you a hundred reasons.”

  “Carly, you’re beautiful. You move with a sensual grace that leaves me weak. I love your face, your body, the feel of your skin.”

  Her heart stopped. No one had ever said anything like that to her before. Not even as a joke.

  “Okay,” she said breathlessly. “We can do it now.”

  He chuckled. “Not yet.”

  He kissed her. She let herself get lost in the pleasure of what he did to her. When he reached for the zipper on her dress, she silently urged him to go faster. When the garment fell to the ground and he cupped her breasts in his large hands, she gave a sigh of thanks.

  He moved with the confidence of a man used to pleasing women. He circled her breasts, exploring them through her bra, nearing the nipples, but never touching them. Closer and closer until she finally grabbed his wrists and moved him into place.

  His thumbs swept over the tight peaks. They both moaned. Heat made her ache and swell until she thought she couldn’t wait another second.

  “Adam,” she breathed.

  “Me, too.”

  He stepped back and reached for the hem of his T-shirt. While he peeled it off, she stepped out of her sandals, then sat on the edge of the bed to take in the show.

  He was as beautiful without clothes as she’d imagined. Hard muscles made him look more like a perfect sculpture than a man, right up until he pulled off his boxers and his large erection jutted out toward her. That looked real enough.

  In that moment, as she stared at his nakedness, she realized she’d only been with one other man. She’d gotten close with a few guys at college, but she’d been a virgin when she’d met Neil. There had only ever been that one penis in her life.

  She reached out to touch Adam. He stood perfectly still as she brushed her fingers against the hard tip, then stroked the length of him. So smooth, she thought. Soft, soft skin surrounding hard desire.

  He looked different than Neil had. About the same length, but thicker. The hair at the base was dark instead of red. She leaned in and licked the head of his arousal.

  Different taste, she thought even as Adam sucked in a breath.

  “You probably shouldn’t do that again,” he said in a strained voice. “I’d rather not lose it.”

  She laughed. “As if that’s a danger.”

  He crouched down in front of her. “Don’t say that. Don’t even think it. I want to be with you. Believe that.”

  Before she could figure out what to say in response, let alone speak it, he stood and moved onto the bed, pulling her with him.

  Then they were a tangle of arms and legs and his hands were everywhere. He unfastened her bra without looking. Even as he slipped it off, he bent down and sucked on her nipples.

  Fire raced through her in flames of need. She forgot to be unsure or embarrassed or even wonder if she’d been doing it wrong all these years. She held on and tried to catch her breath when he slipped off her panties and eased his fingers inside her.

  Too much, she thought hazily. Too much felt too good. He explored all of her, pausing at the parts that made her gasp and cling and squirm. He rubbed faster and faster until the ground gave way and she flew into her orgasm.

  It went on and on until she wondered if it would ever stop. Then he was kissing her and shifting. He grabbed a condom from the nightstand and slipped it on, even as he kept kissing her. Then he was inside and she felt herself tightening, pushing, reaching.

  She came again. He pumped in and out of her, each thrust filling her with more pleasure. She wrapped her legs around his hips, urging him deeper. It was too good. It was incredible. She couldn’t breathe, couldn’t speak, couldn’t do anything but feel him on top of her, in her.

  At last he gave one hard pulse and stilled. Every muscle in his body tensed.

  “Carly,” he gasped as she felt his release. He stared at her and she would swear she could see into his soul.

  It had been the best sex of her life. Okay, sure that was probably due to a long stretch of doing without and the thrill of a new partner. Or maybe it was turning forty and that sexual peak thing she was always reading about in magazines. Whatever the cause, she felt content and boneless.

  “I have to get back to my own bed,” she said after Adam had rolled off her and pulled her close. “Either my mother or my daughter finding me here would raise too many questions.”

&n
bsp; He kissed her shoulder. “I promise you that neither of them make regular appearances in my room.”

  “Good to know, but I still should be going.”

  The thing was, she didn’t want to move. She wanted to make love again, this time more slowly. She wanted to feel those sensations again. She wanted him inside of her, claiming her with a mastery that made her feel both feminine and empowered.

  He placed his hand on her breast and rubbed his fingers against her nipple.

  “What about round two?” he asked.

  There was a round two? She hadn’t experienced that since the early days with Neil.

  “I was thinking about it,” she admitted, “but I wasn’t sure you’d be able to, um, well…”

  He leaned over and kissed her. “And if I can?”

  He shifted slightly. Something very hard and promising poked her thigh.

  “I can go back to my room later.”

  “That’s my girl.”

  CHAPTER 14

  Carly spent the next morning walking around trying not to grin like a fool. She was relaxed, refreshed and delightfully sore. Could life get any better?

  Adam cornered her in the laundry room, where she was doing an inventory count on sheets. He came up behind her and grabbed her by the waist, turned her in his arms and kissed her senseless.

  “Last night was incredible,” he murmured. “When can we do it again?”

  “What are you doing at midnight?” she asked.

  He grinned. “Your room or mine?”

  “We could try my bed this time. I think it’s been a long time since it’s seen any action.”

  “I’ll be there.” He kissed her again. “I told you I have to run into San Francisco, right? I’m meeting a guy from work for lunch. He thinks he’s made a couple of important breakthroughs.”

  “You mentioned it, yes.”

  “Good. I don’t want you thinking I’m bailing on you.”

  He was so earnest, she thought happily. As if her feelings mattered. Okay, this could never last, but she had a feeling it was going to be really good in the short term.

  “You’re sweet to worry about me. I’ll be fine.”