Wicked

He stared at Colin McKenna across the table from him even as he took a deep slug of a cold draught of beer. Harry’s Bar was their usual hangout of late. It was where, if he remembered correctly, he’d met Colin’s friend Lucky Clayborn for the first time. Well, right before she was fired as a waitress from the bar, became a patient of one of Colin’s colleagues, then became the love of Colin’s life.

“Right-o,” he commented dryly. “Thanks for that astute observation, friend.”

Colin chuckled and pushed aside the menu neither of them needed. “Dare I ask what’s behind this morning’s scowl? Or is it the same battle that’s been raging for the past five months?”

“Same old battle,” Will confirmed, downing half the ale and stretching his neck.

“Still not getting any from the new girlfriend?”

Will waved him away as he made room for the waitress to put down his fish-and-chips. Harry’s was the only restaurant that came close to offering up something akin to what he’d grown up on at home. Fast food British-style. “No, it’s not that.”

Colin raised his brows. “So you are getting some?”

Will scowled. “No, no. Unfortunately.”

“Then what is it if it’s not that?”

Will tried to pick up a piece of fish, found it too hot, and shook his fingers to cool them. “It’s just that…well, since my sex life is not quite up to par as of late, my fantasy life has geared up to take up the slack.”

“Ah. The lesbians upstairs.” Colin nodded.

“Actually, it’s not both of them, but just one, as luck would have it.” He chewed thoughtfully on a chip. “I had the most delicious encounter with Miss Renae Truesdale in the hall next to the mailboxes this morning.”

Colin hesitated where he had just picked up his own chicken burger. “Define ‘encounter.”’

“Oh, nothing out of the ordinary, mind you. Just some harmless flirting.” The fish was finally cool enough to eat and he bit into it. “Oh, and the most phenomenal kiss,” he said around a full mouth.

“You kissed her? Who initiated it?”

Will thought about it a minute. “I don’t know. It was more of a mutual thing, I guess.”

Colin’s grin was altogether too self-satisfying for Will. “I thought lesbians were considered lesbians because they weren’t interested in men.”

Will made a face and dragged his napkin across his chin. “Yes, well, maybe she’s one of those new-fangled lesbians. You know, bisexual instead of homosexual.”

He supposed he found the fact that Renae had kissed him a bit odd himself. While she’d played a starring role in his fantasy life, given her sexual status, he’d had no idea that she might be interested in him, no matter her playful flirting up until now.

“So what do you think I should do?” he asked.

“About what?”

The waitress supplied them with fresh draughts and made off with their empty glasses. “What do you mean ‘about what’? What should I do about the intriguing Miss Truesdale, of course?”

“Oh, no.” Colin put his burger down. “There’s no way I’m getting involved in this. Lucky works with Renae, you know.”

Will nodded, then shrugged. “Anyway, it’s quite possibly a nonissue already. The instant she walked away this morning she probably realized her mistake.”

“Mmm. Because it’s easy to mistake you for a woman, you mean.”

Will remembered the way she’d gripped his manhood. “No, I mean maybe she just…slipped or something.” He shrugged as he downed another half a draught. “At any rate, it should be relatively easy to avoid her.”

“If that’s what you want to do.”

“Are you saying it isn’t what I should want to do?”

“I didn’t say anything of the kind.” Colin opened the ketchup bottle and created a red puddle next to his perfectly good chips. “But I am getting a little tired of hearing about your empty bed.”

Will squinted at him. “So you think I should force the issue with Janet then?”

Colin took a deep breath then chuckled. “I think you should do whatever it is you need to do, Will.”

“A whole lot of help you are.”

Yes, he thought. He’d avoid Renae. Shouldn’t be too difficult. When he returned home from work in the mornings at the same time she normally left for work, he’d simply park in the far corner of the lot and wait until she left before going inside.

Yes. That should work out just fine.

And it wouldn’t have to be for long. After all, Janet would be home in a little over a week’s time.

“Now, how about we start up those tennis matches again?” he asked Colin, who was already shaking his head.

3

OKAY, SO SHE WOULD avoid Will.

When Renae knocked off work, she was happy with her plan, and decided it should be easy to implement. After all, they kept very different schedules, and if it came down to it, she could always park in an adjacent lot on the other side of the apartment building to avoid running into him coming or going.

Truth was, she hadn’t expected to feel so…attracted to Dr. Will Sexton that morning. Hadn’t anticipated that the light, flirty tone that had always existed between them would dive into something more palpable and solid. When they’d kissed, no one had been more surprised than her. Pleasantly—no, blissfully—surprised, but surprised. After all, she wasn’t in the market for a man just now, even for sex, no matter what her body was telling her—and what her growing budget for batteries to use with her private toys was telling her. It wasn’t that she was antiman; it was that right now she needed to concentrate on her career. More specifically, she needed to convince Ginger Wasserman to let her buy into Women Only. Become a more solid part of the venture, and as a result take home a bigger piece of the pie.

Not that she wasn’t being paid well for her work. She was. She shifted on the cracked white leather seat of her 1971 pink Cadillac Eldorado convertible. It was just that she wanted to feel more…connected somehow.

She was perfectly aware that she might not feel that way had it not been for Leah Westwood opening a Women Only shop in the west end of the city, then Lucky doing the same downtown. Had neither woman come into her and Ginger’s lives, she would very likely still be operating the way she had for the past five years.

But they had and as a result she felt different. Wanted more. Her mind was functioning with more of an eye on the future, her future, and the bottom line.

Truth was, she wanted a place of her own to hang her hat at night. Sure, she might be able to afford a comfortable if small condo, or even a house, but she’d like something a little bigger, a little nicer, maybe. And while she was happy living with Tabitha, her roommate’s girlfriend, Nina, made it clear she was very unhappy with the arrangement. Nina wanted Renae to move on, even though Nina had moved in three months ago while Renae had been there six.

She pulled her T-shirt away from her damp back, questioning the wisdom of driving with the top down when the August temperatures easily soared into the nineties at this time of day. Of course, Tabitha had no clue about the animosity that existed between the two women. And Renae didn’t think it a good idea to point it out to her. Male-female, female-female, the gender of those involved didn’t matter; a threat from the outside, from a friend or neighbor, perceived or otherwise, did.

She took a corner, the disks on the belly-dancer costume, wrapped in plastic in the back seat, jingling as she did so. She glanced down at the jeans, T-shirt and flip-flops she’d changed into at work, then back at the costume, a slow, easy smile turning up her mouth.

Will…

For a few sweet moments the tensions that littered her life melted away, leaving nothing in its wake but the memory of his skillful mouth and his hard, welcoming body.

Blame it on the heat, but she couldn’t remember wanting a man as powerfully as she’d wanted Will that morning. Given the way she was raised, men and relationships had always been something to question rather than to surrender to. That’s what she’d liked about Ginger Wasserman on the spot. Ginger understood her in a way that a Suzie Homemaker type never could.

And it’s why she’d instantly understood that dark, lost look in Lucky Clayborn’s eyes when she’d walked into the shop months back.