Too hot to sleep Read Free

“They all have hang-ups, babe. My old boyfriend liked Aerosmith on the stereo when we made love. Go figure.” She pressed fingers to her temples and closed her eyes. “Let me guess. Rob wants the lights off, and his socks on. ”
    Georgia gave her a wry smile. “I wouldn’t know.”
    Her friend’s eyes bulged. “You mean the two of you have never had sex?”
    “Right.”
    Toni pursed her lips. “Wow. How far have you gone? Second base? Third?”
    Georgia quirked her mouth side to side. “I’ve never been quite sure what constitutes second and third base.”
    “You’re stalling.”
    “Okay, we’ve kissed.”
    “No uncontrolled groping?”
    “No.”
    “No nipplage?”
    “Nada.”
    “No oral sex?”
    She shook her head.
    “Damn, no wonder you think he’s gay. But I have a lot of homosexual friends, and I’d bet money that Rob is not gay.”
    Georgia tilted her head and inspected her own reflection. “Which means he doesn’t find me sexually attractive.”
    Toni’s face appeared over her shoulder. “Look at you—great hair, great face and great body. I’m telling you, the man is probably intimidated.”
    She rolled her eyes. “Oh, yeah, that’s me, Miss Intimidation. I’m not exactly a siren, Toni.”
    “Precisely. Most of the time you look like Miss Untouchable.” The cigarette bobbed wildly. With a flick of her wrist, she removed the clip that held Georgia’s dark hair away from her face, then fluffed the long layers. “And here.” Toni removed a cranberry-colored lipstick from her purse. “Toss that brown stuff and try this.”
    Georgia applied the new color, then frowned. “It’s bright.”
    “Yes, ma’am.” She twisted Georgia sideways, then unbuttoned her white shirt until the little pink bow on her bra was exposed. “Do you have to wear the bra?”
    “Yes!” Bare skin under thin white cotton? Oi.
    “Okay, okay.” Toni pulled out Georgia’s shirttailand tied the front ends high enough to expose her navel. “There. You just need to loosen up. I’m sure all Rob needs is a signal.”
    She looked back to her reflection and pursed her mouth. “You think?”
    Toni dotted the cranberry lipstick onto Georgia’s cheeks, then blended the color with her thumb. Someday her friend would make a wonderfully smothering mother. “Definitely. Do something to shake him up a little. You know, show up at his place wearing nothing but a belt or something like that.”
    Georgia chewed on her lip. “And what if he turns me down?”
    Toni shrugged. “It’ll be his loss and then you’ll know where you stand. But trust me, he won’t turn you down.”
    Her friend had a knack for making things seem so black-and-white. And even as her tongue formed more words of protest, Georgia stared at her new wanton image in the mirror and warmed to the possibilities. She’d worked her way through college and three years of post-graduate work. Every day she handled life-threatening situations at the hospital. So why would she be worried about making a pass at a man she’d been dating for several months? Maybe because it was safer to let him go on thinking she was Miss Modesty than to risk unleashing the passion that boiled beneath the surface. She didn’t want to come across as some kind of…well, any of those names her mother had called her father’s string of faceless girlfriends.
    “Come on,” Toni said, snuffing out her cigarette.“Let’s buy Stacey a table dance—I saw her eyeing the pirate. Besides,” she added with a wink, “we have some planning to do.”
    Georgia followed her friend, rubbing the headache forming just behind her ear. While most people had a conscience, her conscience had a conscience—a something that reined in her urges, and kept her on her best behavior.
    She swallowed. At least so far.
     
    G EORGIA SLIPPED INSIDE her apartment door and swatted at the light switch. Still buzzing slightly from her last drink, she kicked off her shoes next to the couch and glanced at