The Nights Before Christmas

Suzanne shook her head. “Nope, wasn’t kidding.”

“How do you keep from getting fat? No, don’t answer that. You’re one of those high-metabolism types I love to hate, and I don’t even want to hear about it.”

“I guess.” Suzanne eased onto the stool. Her whole body still vibrated.

“I ate two rum balls at the office Christmas party last night, and if I don’t put in an extra ten minutes on the stair-climbers, those rum balls will go straight to my hips.” Terri hopped on the stool next to Suzanne’s. “Get the mango-strawberry madness. It’s terrific.”

Suzanne ordered the mango-strawberry madness, and discovered it wasn’t bad, but a Baileys and coffee would have been ten times better. She tried not to think of the money she’d shelled out for a year’s membership at this torture club. She planned to spend two days downstate with her mother over Christmas, which was three weeks away. She hadn’t been looking forward to the visit, but now it gave her a legitimate excuse to skip an evening at the gym.

Terri patted her arm. “Don’t worry. You’ll get into the swing of it. And even if you don’t need the exercise to lose weight, you’ll feel tons better once you’re used to moving your body more. Deep breathing does so much for stress and anxiety, believe me. Desk jobs are not good for our health.”

“Being in this gym with all these machines produces stress and anxiety in me,” Suzanne said. “Maybe I’ll get back into coin collecting. I used to love that as a kid. Somewhere in my storage unit I should still have the—”

Terri groaned and dropped her head to the counter.

“What? I’m talking about a perfectly acceptable hobby here. Lots of people are into it these days, with the new quarters coming out. In fact, I’ve even started saving them.”

Raising her head, Terri gazed at Suzanne. “You do not need a hobby. You need a man.”

Sure enough, the concept made her stomach tighten, as it had ever since Jared’s departure. “I’ll get one of those, too, sooner or later. Right now I’d rather look for quarters.”

“How will you ever get a man at the rate you’re going? It’s been six months, and you refuse to let anybody fix you up. More than that, you walk around with this do-not-touch attitude that would warn off any guy but the terminally obtuse. I say you’re gun-shy.”

Suzanne opened her mouth to object.

“I don’t blame you,” Terri continued. “Jared wasn’t very sensitive about the breakup.”

“If you’re referring to his comment that I’m an anal-retentive ice queen, I guess you could say that.” Suzanne had taught herself to repeat the phrase with a smile to show that she wasn’t bothered by it anymore. Which, of course, she was.

“That comment only reveals Jared’s insecurities,” Terri said.

“Absolutely.” And hers, she thought. In the year she was with Jared she’d never been able to get into his rhythm. Her struggle to keep up with Jared’s expectations had been a lot like trying to keep up with the treadmill tonight. Jared belonged to a gym like this one. He liked loud parties, action-adventure movies and marathon sex.

They’d never been right for each other, but he’d convinced her that they would be once she learned to loosen up. She’d never learned. Having him gone was a relief, which told her that she’d never really loved him, just the idea of being in love.

But she missed little things, like the scent of his aftershave in the bathroom, the rumble of male laughter, the comfort of cuddling on the couch. Jared hadn’t been much for that, but he’d managed it on a few rainy afternoons.

Terri stirred her rosy drink with a straw. When she spoke, her tone was careful. “Have you ever heard anybody in our apartment building mention Greg?”

“The handyman? What kind of mention?”

“I mean, like, mention.”

“Uh, no.” Whenever she thought of the handyman, she always felt a thrill of forbidden pleasure. Her first glimpse of him shortly after moving in had sent a jolt of sexual awareness through her. She’d never had that kind of reaction to a man before.

Since then she indulged in a secret fantasy life with Greg, and that was so unlike her. Even when she’d become involved with Jared, she’d sometimes pretended that he was Greg. She’d had more than one X-rated dream about him, and lately they’d become more frequent. But she had no intention of acting on those dreams. She wasn’t the type to make the first move.

“You think I should go out with the handyman?” As if she could work up the nerve to ask him. Not in a million years.

“Not go out, exactly.” Terri studied her. Then she lowered her voice. “You have to promise to keep what I tell you absolutely confidential. Greg’s a nice guy, and he’d lose his job if his boss heard about it.”

“Heard about what?” A shiver of anticipation ran through her. Her latest dream had been the hottest one yet. They’d been in the shower…

“Remember when I had that nasty breakup with Lenny?”

Suzanne brought her attention back to the conversation. “Look, I agree you bounced back from that faster than I’m recovering from Jared, but it’s not the same—”

“I have Greg to thank for that miraculous rebound,” Terri said.

“You do?” The shiver became a delicious tingle in her belly. She’d assumed that Greg had a girlfriend. Anybody that good-looking was bound to be taken.

“Keep your voice down.” Terri leaned closer. “Jennifer, up in 24C, let me in on the secret. It seems that Greg specializes in mending the broken hearts of the career girls in our building.”

“You mean…?” So he wasn’t taken. Instead, he was something of a Casanova, which was disappointing. He looked more like a one-woman kind of guy. In her dreams, he’d vowed to love only her.

“I certainly do mean,” Terri said. “He’s great, Suzanne. The perfect rebound man. He’s gorgeous and understanding, plus he knows a relationship will never go anywhere considering the big difference in lifestyles. He seems to like it that way.”

“That’s totally amazing.” She would never have the courage to take advantage of the situation and go to bed with Greg, of course. A man with that much experience would intimidate the heck out of her. But knowing about his extracurricular activities put a whole new spin on her fantasies about him. Obviously he wasn’t her secret soul mate, which had been a girlish idea in the first place. “It’s like an urban legend or something.”

“I know. There’s a kind of sisterhood in the building, and we’re all sworn to silence, to protect Greg’s job. By telling you, I’m letting you into that sisterhood, and you must never, ever say anything unless you’re absolutely sure that you’ve found another woman in our complex who needs Greg’s services, someone you consider to be completely trustworthy.”

“I understand. And thanks for trusting me that much.”

“I do, or I wouldn’t have said anything. But you have to approach Greg and make it clear that you won’t put his job in jeopardy. He will never make the first move, which is understandable. The usual procedure is to ask him to fix something in your apartment, and while he’s there, you begin talking about your breakup. He’ll take it from there.”

“I can’t imagine.”

“Can’t you? Don’t tell me you haven’t noticed the body on that man.”

Suzanne blushed. “Oh, I can imagine that.” Actually, her dreams were very explicit, giving her the shape and size of Greg’s considerable endowments. “I can’t imagine making the first move with him, I mean. Initiating the contact. That’s not my strong suit, anyway, and in this case, I barely know the guy.” And he was way different from what she’d thought.

“That’s the beauty of it.” Terri shoved her empty drink aside. “We’re not talking about anything long-term, anyway. A quick repair, and you’re on your way.”

“No, I couldn’t.” It sounded somewhat shallow, yet thrillingly naughty, too. But sexual flings weren’t her style. Fantasies were one thing, but turning them into reality led to heartache, like her parents’ divorce.

“You don’t know what you’re missing,” Terri said. “Think about it. This has been going on for at least two or three years, which means Greg’s had an intensive course in how to patch up a girl’s ego.”

Not to mention his extensive experience in making the rest of her hum like a top. The concept turned Suzanne on, whether she wanted to admit it or not.

“You’ll never hear Greg saying that someone’s an anal-retentive ice queen,” Terri continued. “I’ll vouch for the fact that he’s incredibly romantic. I’m guessing he was before, but after hearing about the crummy things guys say and do, he really knows what makes women happy.”

Suzanne looked at her friend with her perky blond ponytail and her red and purple workout clothes. Terri was a take-charge woman if she’d ever seen one. Suzanne, on the other hand, let things come to her. She had to admit that some of the things that came to her weren’t always terrific, like Jared, for example. He’d initiated the relationship, probably because of his egotistic belief that he could change her into a sex kitten.

“It’s a good idea, Suzanne,” Terri said.

“You know, I can picture you following through with this, because you go after what you want. But I’m—I’m not that good at putting myself out there.”

Terri gazed at her. “I know, sweetie. That’s partly why I suggested the gym. There’s nothing passive about it.”