Monroe, Marla - Hot and Bothered (Siren Publishing Classic) (14 page)

Savanna kicked herself for letting him get under her skin. They were supposed to be fuck buddies and nothing else. She needed to remember that and quit thinking about him. She was just about to fix a salad when the phone rang. She checked caller ID and found it to be Karen’s cell phone.

“Hello, Karen.”

“Caller ID. I hate it.” Karen laughed.

Savanna was relieved to hear her friend laugh. She hadn’t done that in a long time.

“So, what’s going on? Are we on for tomorrow night?” Savanna asked.

“Yeah, I’m looking forward to it. Let’s go somewhere different. How about Dizzie’s?”

“Haven’t been there in a long time. That should be fun,” Savanna said. “How about meeting at Applebee’s for dinner then?”

“That sounds like a plan. Look, I better go. I’m still at work,” Karen said.

“What are you still doing at work? It’s Friday night, for Pete’s sake.”

“Yeah, I’m working on an important presentation. I want to make sure it’s perfect.” Karen sounded a little worried again.

“You make copies of everything and take it home with you. I think that is one of the reasons Martin couldn’t do anything before. It was smart to let him know you had copies.” Savanna hoped this one would be okay.

“Don’t worry. That’s why I’m here late. I’m making copies.”

“Good. Be careful, and I’ll talk to you tomorrow.” Savanna hung up and breathed a sigh of relief. Karen sounded better than she had in weeks.

Thinking about Karen had taken her mind off of missing Dustin for a little while but not for long. What was she going to do about missing him? A night out was a good idea for her, as well. She didn’t need to moon over him. He wasn’t her idea of a steady boyfriend. She had to keep telling herself that. The only thing was, she wasn’t buying it.

* * * *

The next night, she and Karen met up to eat. Her friend looked a little better than the last time she had seen her, but she’d obviously lost weight. Savanna hugged her, and they sat down to peruse the menu. Karen chose an apple-grilled chicken breast. Savanna ordered a steak. She waited until the waitress had served their drinks to approach Karen about how she was doing.

“You’ve lost weight. How are you really doing, Karen?” she finally asked.

“I’m okay. I’ve just been under a lot of stress with everything that’s happened. I guess not knowing what Martin will do next has me on edge. I mean, he hasn’t approached me about anything other than work.” Karen sipped her drink.

Savanna bit her lower lip and said, “How is he behaving about your work?”

“Like nothing happened. I don’t get it. He was so upset about the project before, and now he acts like everything is okay. It has me worried.”

“Well, don’t think about it tonight. Tonight we are going to have fun. No bad thoughts, okay?” Savanna said.

“Okay.” Karen eyed her over her glass. “So, what about you and lover boy?”

“What about us?” Savanna couldn’t help the silly grin on her face.

“You know. Spill. I want to hear all about him.” Karen’s eyes sparkled.

“Well, he’s a good cook, and he cleans up afterward. We like some of the same things, with the exception of movies, of course. You and I will have to have a movie day one day soon. I’ve been watching action films.”

“Enough about all that. How is he in bed?” Karen asked.

Savanna ran a finger around the rim of her glass. “Hot, hot, hot. Did I say hot?”

Fanning herself, Karen laughed, and Savanna joined in.

“So tell me. Is he big?”

“Oh, yes. Thick and long,” Savanna said. “Enough about size now. I’m getting all hot and bothered.”

Karen giggled and gave Savanna a push. “Oh, come on. You can tell me anything.”

“Yeah, but I’m not talking any more about cock. How about the fact that he went grocery shopping with me?”

“Ben does that with me. We’d play with the vegetables. He’d make obscene suggestions.” Karen stopped and looked sad. “Well, he used to anyway.”

“Oh, honey. Are you sure you two can’t patch things up?”

“I don’t think he will ever forgive me about Martin. I mean, it isn’t like we had sex, but I still cheated on him.” Karen sighed and took another sip of her drink.

The waitress interrupted them with their meals. They spent the next few minutes eating. Savanna hesitated to bring up the subject again, but she wanted Karen to seriously think about talking with Ben.

“Why don’t you call him and ask if he would meet you somewhere tomorrow and you two talk. Tell him what’s going on at work—tell him everything. Tell him you’re sorry, and see if you two can’t work things out. Karen, you’re miserable without him. I can tell. I hate seeing you this way. The two of you were a great couple.”

“I don’t know. I don’t think I can bear having him tell me no or that he doesn’t love me anymore. That would be more than I can handle right now,” Karen said. There were tears in her eyes.

Savanna didn’t want her to cry or get upset. They were supposed to have a good time tonight. She searched for something else to talk about. She decided on an episode at work that had the entire spa in stitches.

“Let me tell you about a customer I had the other day. She’s from out of town and comes to visit her daughter once a month. This time, she wanted to try a bikini wax. I wasn’t sure she really knew what it entailed, so I explained it to her. She seemed a little embarrassed, but she said she understood, so I had Sandy get her ready.”

Savanna continued the story, and soon they were both laughing about the woman screaming through the entire episode.

“You would have thought we were torturing her.”

“Yeah, I want to remind you of that the next time you get your wax done. You complain about it for days afterward.”

They settled up with the waitress and headed to the club. Since they had each come in their own car, they decided to drop Karen’s off at her apartment. It was close by and they could go together in Savanna’s car. She figured that way if Karen wanted to drink a little more than was safe to drive, she’d be covered. Savanna would only have one drink tonight.

The club wasn’t as busy as some of them tended to be. Savanna was grateful. It meant there would be less fuss with getting a table and less crowded on the dance floor. Right off, they got pulled out there. Karen seemed to be having a good time. Savanna danced but felt odd doing it. She felt like she wasn’t supposed to since she was seeing Dustin. She told herself they weren’t an item and didn’t have an exclusive relationship. They were just fuck buddies. Right?

Karen danced most of the night, which meant she didn’t drink much at all. Savanna was glad. It would only give her a hangover the next day, plus she tended to get overly friendly when she drank too much. That had seemed to be the beginning of her and Ben’s trouble. Of course, the biggest part had been Karen’s refusal to settle down and marry Ben. She said she wasn’t ready to be tied down, but Savanna wondered if it wasn’t that she was scared. Scared of getting older and scared that she couldn’t have fun once she got married.

Savanna spent a good portion of the night watching over Karen’s drink. You didn’t dare leave your drink unattended. Not in today’s world. Rape was an ever increasing problem among the club goers. It was fine with Savanna because she didn’t really want to dance too much. She kidded herself that she didn’t feel like dancing, but deep down, she knew it was because of Dustin. What was she going to do about them?

* * * *

Dustin sat back in his seat on the plane and relaxed for the first time in days. Business had kept him busy for the last four days, but it hadn’t been enough to take his mind off of Savanna. When he was supposed to be focusing on a presentation or a conversation, he was thinking about her—thinking about her smooth skin and pert breasts, remembering how it felt to sink into her hot body. Now that he was on his way back home, he could think all he wanted.

The prospectus that Martin Sherman had screwed up was correct on one thing—the business he was looking at investing in needed a lot of work. What he’d been wrong about was how much debt the company was in. He could take it over and make it work, but it would be a big investment. Still, it might be worth it in the long run. It would get his foot in the door of a major wholesaler on the west coast. Something he wanted to do.

His mind turned to Marty Sherman and the screwup. He claimed his assistant had messed up the numbers. If that were so, he needed to get rid of her. That sort of error could have cost him a lot of money if he hadn’t already done some of his own digging. He didn’t always do that. This was the first time they had given him a bad prospectus. He would give them one more chance.

He put business behind him and focused on what he had planned for Savanna. He wondered what she had been doing while he was gone. He had planned to call her every day he was gone, but it had been too late by the time he reached the hotel each night. He should have made time to call her during the day sometime. Then it dawned on him he didn’t have her work number and didn’t even know the name of the day spa she managed. He would have to remedy that when he saw her again.

He wondered if whatever had been the problem with her friend was okay now. He hoped so. It had really bothered Savanna. He also hoped the couple would accompany them to dinner and out dancing, as well. They had seemed like a nice pair. There had been undercurrents the last time he had seen them. Maybe that was what had been bothering Savanna’s friend. Couples had fights.

The stewardess announced they were making their final approach to the Dallas-Fort Worth airport. The flight had passed quickly. He couldn’t wait to get home. Dustin carried his luggage inside and sat it in his bedroom. He loosened his tie and grabbed his phone. He dialed Savanna’s number and listened to it ring and ring. When her answering machine picked up, he hesitated about leaving a message. Maybe he should try calling her again after he unpacked. He looked at his watch. It was only eight o’clock. She might have gone out to eat and just hadn’t made it home yet.

He sighed and returned to his bedroom and the luggage that needed unpacking. He made two separate piles, one to go to the laundry and one he would wash. He couldn’t help wondering where she was, though. He realized that he was treating them like a couple. He considered them to be one and, as that, exclusive. However, they hadn’t talked about it, and she might not see it that way. The idea that she might see someone else bothered him. Had she gone out over the weekend while he was gone?

Dustin didn’t like that idea at all and decided right then and there he would have a talk with her about their relationship. He wanted to be sure she knew he considered them a couple. He would never dictate to her what she could and couldn’t do, but she needed to know how he felt about her—about them. Sure, it had only been a few weeks, but he admitted to himself that he was serious about her.

* * * *

Savanna had only been home for about fifteen seconds when the phone rang. She almost let it go over to the answering machine. She was exhausted from dealing with a broken water pipe in one of the treatment rooms. Even after they had it fixed, she'd spent much of the evening mopping up water and washing and drying towels. At the last minute, she decided to answer the phone in case it was Karen. She hadn’t spoken to her all day.

“Hello?” She was out of breath after rushing to catch the phone.

“Savanna?” Dustin’s voice reached her ear.

“Hey, yeah. Sorry, I just walked in the door.”

“Do I need to let you go?”

“No, that’s okay. Are you back in town?”

“Yep, got in about eight. I tried calling earlier, but you must have been out.”

“I just got home from the spa. We had a busted water pipe. I spent the last four hours mopping and cleaning up.”