Excerpt
“You can’t ignore the entire male gender, Tess. What will you do about sex?”
Tess Sheridan squirmed in her chair in the trendy Vancouver bar. “I’m not ignoring them all, just the—”
“Hot guys.”
Tess stared down her best friend sitting across the small table. “I will have sex again. Someday.” She tucked a stray hair into the low bun that had loosened after a long Wednesday perusing contracts. “But I’ve dated up a storm since ditching Warren. What do you want me to do? Send invitations to the whole bunch and stage an orgy?” Tess had dumped her manipulative ex-boyfriend a year ago tonight—in this same bar, in fact—inspiring Chloe Nichols to drop into the law firm and drag her to Danver’s Pub for take-stock-of-her-non-existent-love-life drinks.
Chloe laughed, her dark bob swinging. “Sleeping with one man would suffice. And I’m not talking a member of your guy-pal entourage either. Yawn.”
Tess sighed. Why, oh, why had she blabbed her decision to remain solo between the sheets? Chloe clearly thought she was nuts. And Tess might, too, in another life. One not influenced by her horrendous workload, her history of wrongwrongwrong, totally wrong relationships, and the biggie—fear of winding up like Mom.
She sipped her English Bay Pale Ale, the smooth malt flavor welcome after another warm mid-August day. “Don’t call them my entourage.” She hated the nickname.
Chloe shrugged. “That’s what they are.”
“They’re my friends.” And the thought of hooking up with any of the men Tess currently dated gave her hives. Not only because she considered them male counterparts of her type-A self, which was hardly lust-inspiring—she slept with herself every night.
No, sex spelled trouble, plain and simple. She lost perspective, put the guy’s needs ahead of her own. Or at least that was how it always seemed.
“Whatever.” Chloe drank her beer. “My point is, you’ve accomplished a great deal since passing the bar exam, yet all you do is work.”
“I have to keep working hard if I want to prove myself to Mr. Greenburg,” Tess said above the chatter and rock music filling the bar. Greenburg & Associates topped the list of Vancouver’s most successful corporate law firms. Tess had articled with Lawrence Greenburg upon graduating from the University of British Columbia’s competitive law school. Her boss had been so impressed with her diligence and enthusiasm that he’d offered her a position as junior associate. She owed him for the opportunity to rise quickly through the ranks and someday make partner.
And she owed herself that same chance to become both financially and emotionally independent. Self-reliant. Free and unencumbered.
Although maybe a little bit lonely.
She shook off a dull ache. “Mr. Greenburg has shown an enormous amount of faith in me by inviting me to sit in on the latest Halliday Enterprises’ consultation.” Graham Halliday, the city’s wealthiest entrepreneur, possessed a reputation for generosity and community spirit. Tess looked forward to meeting him at the conference table next week. “I could learn a lot from this acquisition, Chloe. I have to stay focused.”
“Focused and orgasm-free.”
“Chloe, I love you like a chocolate fudge sundae, but you’re trying to distract me. I can’t afford to fall for any guy right now.”
“That’s why you only date dweebs?"
"No.” Tess sniffed, feigning insult. “That’s why I’ve only dated casually since Warren.”
“Why you always break it off before the third date.”
“Why I won’t stay with any man long enough to form an emotional bond,” Tess corrected.
“Hmm.” Chloe drummed her fingers on the polished wood table.
“What?”“I think you’re afraid.”
Tess blinked. “Ridiculous,” she scoffed as their server approached. “I just happen to know what I want.” Chloe set aside her empty beer bottle. “Wanna bet?” |
Finalist, Erotic Romance, Bookseller's Best Award