Читать книгу About Last Night... - Samantha Hunter - Страница 7

“SO WHEN ARE YOU GOING to jump Colin?”

Her friend Penny’s voice was loud, and the women sitting nearby in the beauty salon had ears like bats. Miranda Carter cringed, praying that Penny’s voice had been drowned out by the sound of the blow dryers and the salon’s Muzak. Otherwise, word would be out all over the small seaside city of Portland, Maine, that she was after Colin Jacobs even before her gold highlights took.

“Shh! Like that’s going to happen anytime soon. Or at all.”

“You can do anything you set your mind to. I have faith in you.”

Before Miranda could reply, Penny had pushed her whole head up under the dryer, so she wouldn’t be able to hear Miranda’s objections anyway.

Oh, well. It still felt good to be able to spend time with her friend and pamper herself. The highlighting was expensive, but she deserved a treat. It had been a tough year: she’d kicked it off by almost dying, and now she was opening her own business. Not to mention she was living back in Portland again after being gone for almost ten years. Sure, she’d come back for holidays and the occasional birthday, but she hadn’t lived here since she’d left for college. It was kind of weird. Nice, but she was still getting used to the idea.

She flexed her leg, stretching it as best she could in the chair. Penny’s head popped out again, her usually impish eyes concerned. “Leg hurt?”

Miranda nodded and rubbed it, gesturing to Penny to get back under the dryer. She was fine, the pain was just a residual effect of a compound fracture that was mostly healed but would take much more time to mend completely.

Six months ago she’d been in Denver, where she’d lived since graduating from Colorado State. She’d thought she knew the lower trails by Gray’s Peak well enough to risk a weekend hike by herself. A violent autumn thunderstorm had sent her sliding down a slippery slope, proving how wrong she was with a vengeance.

The accident had shaken her badly. The two days of struggling in the cold and rain were thankfully a painful blur. She’d dragged herself over the dirt and rock, searching for her cell phone to call for help, unaware of the extent of her injuries. Apparently she had passed out while trying to call 911, but the signal, though weak, had led an emergency rescue team to her.

When she’d awakened in the hospital her parents had been there, worried to death. When she was out of critical condition, she’d been transported back to Maine, where her folks had helped her to recuperate. At first she’d planned to return to Denver, but she discovered she’d missed Portland more than she’d thought.

Besides, there was nothing really keeping her in Denver. She’d ended a romance that was going nowhere a year before her accident, so there wasn’t anyone there waiting for her. But there was someone here in Maine, and that had influenced her decision to stay, though she wasn’t ready to admit it, not even to Penny.

Looking out the window at the fading snows of early April, she found it hard to believe her life had changed so much so quickly. She was almost completely healed and happy to be alive, period, but a near-death experience changed the way you looked at things, corny as it sounded. She deeply appreciated simple joys, like getting her hair done with her best friend, in a way she never had prior to the accident.

Her thoughts about things like falling in love felt more urgent. Though she’d always been one to try new things and believed in living life to the fullest, her accident had somehow unleashed a passion for living. That passion was particularly powerful when she thought about Colin Jacobs, and she wanted to do something about it—something that she’d failed to do such a long time ago.

The tumble down the side of the mountain had also shaken more than her romantic sensibilities. She’d been drifting through life, working odd jobs since college, not really knowing what she wanted to do. While in the hospital she’d had a lot of time to think about it, and she knew she wanted to make a difference. The sight of the big brown eyes that were the first thing she’d seen when the rescue team found her—the dogs had reached her first—had inspired her to open her own dog-training school.

It was surprising she hadn’t thought of it before. For years she’d been volunteering at animal shelters and with dog trainers, helping to train abandoned pooches to behave better so that they could find homes. She loved working with animals and was good at it. She read about animal behavior, but also followed her instincts, and she’d done pretty well. She’d never thought of combining that experience with her business degree.

Her own two dogs, Chuck and Lucy, were so well trained that people always commented on how nicely behaved they were, and she was proud of that. Not being one to move slowly, once the idea struck her, Miranda had practically cleaned out her bank account to open a small office close by the veterinary office where Penny worked in south Portland. Open for just a little more than two months now, she was receiving referral customers steadily. The accident had nearly killed her, but in many ways it had gotten her to focus on just what her priorities were.

Turning her attention again to the magazine she was holding, she smirked at the cover story—“The Total Seduction: A Five-Step Plan to Jump-Start Your Love Life (or Your Lover).” She didn’t even have a lover to seduce—yet—though she had plenty of fantasies rolling around in her lust-saturated brain. She knew that what she needed was a plan to make those fantasies reality. No more waiting around for love to happen.

Colin was an old friend, true, but he also could melt her bones with just a glance. His sparkling golden eyes seduced her constantly and he didn’t have a clue. But things between her and Colin were…complicated. At least for her. They’d known each other since kindergarten; they had a lot of history, and that history had a habit of getting in the way of something more developing between them. When she’d come home, it was very much like old times—she and Penny, Colin and Travis, all back together again. She saw Colin all the time; in fact, he’d helped her move her mammoth desk into her office. The four of them usually got together at least once a week. But he didn’t really see her as a woman, certainly not as a lover—just as his old pal Miranda. It was beyond frustrating.

The hairstylist returned, lifting the hot dryers off their heads. She checked under the foil, blessedly proclaiming them both “done.” Miranda grimaced inwardly. She hadn’t been done in quite a while. Looking down at the magazine, she knew that one way or another she was going to have to change that. And soon.

COLIN BARELY AVOIDED the ball that whipped by his face and smashed into the wall behind him. He nimbly ducked, swung around, sweeping his arm in a powerful arc that sent the small blue ball whizzing across the court and back at Travis, who made an expert corner play back in Colin’s direction. Sweat soaked his shirt, and he dragged the back of his fist across his forehead, squinting to focus. Travis was on a brutal tear, and Colin knew he wasn’t going to win this one.

Travis, recently returned from medical school in New York, was almost a full-fledged doctor now, and pulling long shifts in rotating departments at the hospital. Colin was amazed that his friend had time or energy for things like racquetball, but Travis never seemed short of energy.

Sometimes their games of handball were low-key, a friendly volley with casual conversation, and other times, like tonight, they were all-out war. Jumping up, Colin fiercely pursued the ball, slamming into the scuffed white wall but missing the shot by a hair.

“Ha! Game! You suck!” Travis had won and, in keeping with tradition, he continued with the humiliating “I won, you lost” song and dance around the court. Colin chuckled, thinking Travis’s dance was more embarrassing for himself than it was to Colin—not that Travis was ever embarrassed about anything.

Colin was competitive, too, and he liked to win, but tonight he’d just wanted to push his body to exhaustion to loosen tense muscles. Teaching psychology to undergrads at the university along with doing his own research projects often left him feeling like a spring that had been wound too tight by the end of the day. So he pursued several physical activities to unwind. The body had to be exercised as well as the mind.

He slumped down to the floor and watched Travis boogie around. Colin looked skyward after hearing giggles floating down from the ceiling. About a dozen female undergrads were watching them from the observation deck. He waved a tired salute, recognizing one of the faces from his freshman psych seminar, and the giggles increased. Great. Travis looked up and then extended a hand to him. Colin grabbed it, pulling himself up.

“They want you, man. They’re hot for teacher.”

Colin laughed and ducked as Travis chucked the ball at him, hitting the wall to his side.

“Yeah, right. I don’t think so.”

Travis smacked the ball again, glancing up at the girls. “Chicks that age dig older men, especially their professors. It’s all that power and mystery. Haven’t you ever been tempted?”

Colin jumped forward, swiping at the ball before Travis could hit it.

“Making time with a student? God, no. For one thing, I could lose my job, and for another, well, you know, it would be like you looking at your patients as prospective dates. I just don’t see them that way. They’re just students.”

Travis grunted as he lunged for the ball.

“I knew some students who dated professors in school. Seems like it goes on a lot, even though they have the so-called rules. Academic policy doesn’t really restrain human nature or raging hormones. Depending on the circumstances, I don’t see the problem with it, as long as it’s mutual.”

“Yeah, well, it’s not my thing. I prefer women my own age.”

“Graduate students, then?”

Colin grabbed the ball out of midair before Travis could pop it back against the wall and pinned his friend with an inquisitive stare. “Why all this sudden curiosity about whether I’m letching after my students?”

Travis looked up again, smiling at the girls, setting off another wave of bubbly laughter. “Just curious. I mean, look at them. They’re cute. It’s not the same as me with patients. My people are sick, and they are coming to me for help. That’s totally different. Even if you don’t do anything, I can’t believe you don’t look. I mean, even think about it.”

Colin rolled his eyes, giving in. “I might notice if they’re pretty, sure—”

“Ha! Dawg! I knew it!”

Colin chucked the ball at Travis, bouncing it off his forehead. “But I’ve never thought about a student in a sexual way. I like women who have lived a little, you know, who have more life experience.”

“I’m willing to bet some of those girls have had considerable experience.”

“Is your mind always in your pants? Or someone else’s?”

Travis laughed and shook his head. “Only when I’m off duty.”

“And only when you’re around Penny?”

Travis’s jaw dropped, and he stared at Colin. “Huh?”

“Well, it’s obvious you’re totally into her. Might as well come clean.” Colin grinned and watched Travis shift uncomfortably. He rarely got Travis on the ropes, and it was fun.

Travis didn’t answer right away as they exited the court, and Colin was even more intrigued. When he looked over, his friend’s face was as serious as he had ever seen it.

“Okay, yeah. I’m crazy about her. When I got back I asked her out once and it didn’t go well. She freaked, so I backed off and we never talk about it.”

“Why’d she freak?”

“I don’t know. She just got all stressed and I told her not to worry about it. Though now I wish I’d pushed it a little more. I guess it was because of her father leaving them, and her and her mom being on their own, or whatever. I don’t know. She can be crazy sometimes, but it’s cute.”

“You know it’s love when crazy is cute. How come you never said anything about asking her out?”

“I only like to brag about my conquests, not my rejections, dude. How about you? Any non-student hot-ties I should know about?”

They walked through the gym doors and grabbed towels from a fresh stack by the door. Colin sat down on the wooden bench, shaking his head.

“Too busy. I was seeing that woman I told you about in the anthropology department, Sophie, for a while, but she took off to Europe on a grant project, and since then, well, no one’s really caught my eye.” Except for Miranda, the little voice in his head taunted him. He ignored it.

“You know, I always thought you and Miranda would get together.”

Colin nearly choked as he heard the words come out of Travis’s mouth.

“Excuse me?”

They headed to the showers, and Travis shrugged. “No reason, just that it would be cool if we ended up as couples, you know, me and Pen and you and Randi. We would get married and then our kids would all play together like we did.”

Colin turned the shower on full blast, enjoying the wash of heat against his sore shoulders. “Maybe you and Penny could work, but Randi and I could never be more than friends.”

Travis tossed him the soap, his brow furrowed inquisitively. “Why not? Are you interested?”

Colin shrugged. “Even if I were, it’s out of the question.”

Travis shut off the water and grabbed his towel, cinching it around his waist. “Hey, if you want her, man, you should go for it. You guys would be good together. Randi’s a doll.”

“She is, but it’s not in the cards. Besides, I could never know for sure.”

“Know what?”

Colin scrubbed the towel over his body, looking away at nothing in particular. “If she was with me or if she was with Derek’s brother.”

“What the heck does that mean?”

“Think about it. She was in love with Derek. You know that. She was devastated when he died. We all were. I figured that’s why she left and never came back much. Even if it were a remote possibility for us to get together, I would always be second string, Trav. That’s not good enough.”

“I don’t know, Col. I may be off base, but it seemed that when we got together the other night there was definite chemistry working between you two. We were all dancing, but you two kept gravitating back to each other. High school is a world away—you’ve barely seen each other for years—you’re like brand-new people now.”

“You can’t just erase the past, Trav. I mentioned something about Derek to her, and I could see it in her face. Something changed in her eyes. I don’t think she ever quite got over him. If we danced a lot together the other night it was just because you kept trying to maneuver Penny into that dark corner.”

“Yeah, not very successfully. I do like watching her dance, though.”

Colin smiled at Travis and turned back toward the lockers. In spite of the vigorous exercise, talking about Miranda had stirred up the feelings he was trying to exorcise. As his skin heated with familiar waves of desire, he wondered if being second best would be better than nothing at all, or if it would be worse.

MIRANDA AND PENNY SAT crunched into a small booth at their favorite waterfront pub. The place had been around when their parents had been kids and was still going strong. The heady aroma of garlic and freshly baked pizza permeated the air and had made Miranda’s mouth water as always when she’d walked through the door. Though she’d sat in this booth a hundred times, everything seemed sweeter, more pungent now.

She looked around, soaking up the atmosphere. They had been working on a large pizza for the past hour, and finally the subject that had been left behind at the salon reemerged.

“So, what’s your plan for dealing with the Colin situation?”

“I don’t know. I haven’t really thought about it.”

Penny sent her a definite “oh, c’mon” look across the table, and she caved.

“Okay, I have been thinking about it, but thinking and doing are two different things.”

“The other night you two seemed to have some real sizzle going. He asked you to dance.”

Miranda shrugged. “Yeah, but the four of us danced together. I danced with Travis as much as Colin, so did you. Colin and I are close, and he’s been great since I’ve been back.” She sighed, shaking her head. “Every now and then I do think I catch a little sense of something more, something different between us, but I think it’s just me and wishful thinking.”

Miranda looked intently at the pizza and seriously considered another slice. Nerves made her want to eat and she had plenty of them. Thank God for elliptical trainers and a fast metabolism.

Grabbing the slice, she took a bite to avoid continuing and then reached down into her bag, taking out the magazine from the salon. She met Penny’s questioning eyes squarely. “What? They said I could take it.”

“Did you tell them you wanted it for a recipe?” Penny’s eyes danced with evil mirth as she glanced over the cover story. “Or is this research?”

“It was an interesting article.” Miranda slumped back in her seat, pizza forgotten. “Yeah, okay. It got me thinking about Colin. What doesn’t? I want to do something, but I don’t want to lose him as a friend. It’s driving me crazy. I would have thought I was over this a long time ago. Then wham, since I’ve been back it’s been full-force adult lust. Very frustrating.”

Penny squeezed her hand and smiled before she resumed eating her pizza. “You’re such a romantic. It doesn’t surprise me that you feel this way. You were crazy about him then. Going out with Derek was a mistake.”

“I know. I guess I just thought since one brother wasn’t interested, maybe the other one would do. Or in truth, I was hoping to make Col jealous, though I know it was awful to use Derek that way. And I know he used to rub Col’s face in it, but I thought maybe that would jar him, make him come around, but I guess he really didn’t have those feelings for me. Then or now. But I look at Colin still and it’s like…”

“Everything else disappears?” Penny finished her sentence, and shared her own insights.

“Colin always had that extra, I don’t know what to call it. He was just…deeper. I mean, he’s gorgeous, but he’s also a nice guy. Rare combination.”

“I know. He’s almost too nice, though.” Miranda grimaced. “I wish I could get him to be a little naughty.”

“I think he was always trying to make up for Derek. Derek was great, but he was such a bad boy. God, remember how he gave Joyce and Ed fits?” Penny laughed softly, remembering the good old days. “He was always in trouble. And he was just as gorgeous as Colin, but I can see how Colin would have felt like he had to behave, you know, to balance out Derek.”

Penny sighed, tipping her empty bottle at the server to indicate she would like another before continuing. “You know, after you left, it was so sad. He got sucked up in school and taking care of his parents. He and I hung out a little, but we didn’t have much in common.”

“Why not? You’ve known him as long as any of us, and you were in school, too.”

Penny’s mouth twisted self-derisively. “Hardly the same as what you guys were doing.”

“Penny, you got a good two-year degree, you graduated at the top of your class, and you’re doing a job you love, not to mention you’re great at it. You’re amazing with those animals. And with the people, too. Don’t sell yourself short.”

“Yeah, being a vet’s assistant is fun, but it’s hardly like being a doctor or a professor. Or having your own business. Speaking of which, how’s that going?”

“Good so far. Starting up is slow, but I owe my ability to pay the rent to you. With the clients you’re sending my way, I’m getting more referrals and business is picking up. It was a good idea to set up shop so close by the vet’s. A lot of folks seem to walk their dogs in that area, too.” She lifted her beverage in a salute to Penny, and continued. “I think I may start some group classes at the shelter, and split the proceeds with them. I need to do more formal training in some advanced techniques, though, so I can maybe pick up some contract work with the police, or search-and-rescue teams. Then maybe I can afford to do some free classes for people who can’t afford to pay.”

“That’s good thinking. I’m glad it’s going well for you—you deserve it. If you could get things going with Colin, life would be almost perfect, huh?”

Miranda considered what Penny had told her about Colin. “I hate it that he sees me as Derek’s girlfriend instead of just me.”

Penny nodded. “Then I guess you have to tell him. I can see why you wouldn’t have said anything right away, but I think it’s time to tell him you’d actually broken up with Derek the night of the accident and see if it makes a difference. It could clear the air for something to happen between you two.”

“Ha! Talking to him directly? I don’t know about that plan—far too much fall-flat-on-my-face potential. That would be too sensible and straightforward for me.” She smiled reluctantly over her drink. “Why do you always make sense?”

“Hey, that’s me. Sensible Penny. Just like the loafers.”

“Stop it. You are as wildly lacking in sense as the rest of us, and I won’t hear any differently. Hey, a couple guys at the bar haven’t been able to take their eyes off you all night. You are such a sex goddess.”

Penny grinned and looked toward the bar, her green eyes impish. She was cute—the type of woman men were automatically attracted to. A small, pixielike redhead, Penny had an innate, feminine sex appeal that Miranda sometimes envied. Miranda liked her own straight, statuesque build well enough—being strong and streamlined had its own advantages—but sometimes she wished she was curvier and cuter like her friend.

A laugh bubbled up from Penny when she waved playfully at the guys at the bar. Penny routinely underestimated herself, which Miranda found frustrating. She knew it came from the fact that Penny had grown up in less comfortable circumstances than the rest of them, but it bugged her that Penny insisted on downplaying herself much of the time.

“Yeah, I’m a real sex kitten.”

“Hmm. Maybe one who’s interested in curling up in the lap of one particularly cute resident doctor that we both happen to know.”

“Eww! Hardly. Though maybe I’d like to scratch him.”

“Why do you even bother to hide it? You guys are obviously hot for each other.”

“Um, Miranda, have you been in a room with us lately—or, come to think of it—ever?”

“Actually, yes. You argue like cats and dogs, but that is just the adult version of the playground-punch-in-the-arm. Face it, you’re a smitten sex kitten.”

“Puh-leese. Clever way to sidetrack this conversation, but let’s get back to you.”

“Coward. I still say if you made a move on Travis, he’d cave like a house of cards. I, on the other hand, am facing the sexual Berlin Wall with Colin.”

“Well, you know, they did tear that down, so there’s hope.”

“Okay, fine, Great Wall of China then, smart aleck.” She grimaced playfully. “I have to think of something. If I store up any more sexual energy I am going to explode. And it won’t be pretty.”

“So are you seriously thinking of implementing the five-step plan here?” Penny gestured at the cover story in the magazine lying between them.

Miranda took another bite of her pizza and chewed, mulling that idea. “Maybe. Some of the ideas were good. And if it doesn’t work, I can at least say I tried. Life’s too short to be wishy-washy about things. You just gotta jump in and see what happens.”

She didn’t really feel that casual about it—the feelings she had for Colin were strong, if confusing, and if he rejected her, it would hurt. But she’d survive. She’d discovered that about herself: she was a survivor.

There was something about quiet, responsible Colin that made her want to burrow down under the layers and see what was there. She wanted to release the wild man underneath all that calm. If she could do it, she had a feeling it would be worth the risk.

She couldn’t believe it when she’d returned home and he was still here and single. But he was different. Grown-up, a man now, and even more gorgeous than she’d remembered. Those tawny, hazel eyes seemed to stare straight through her, and though she knew it was corny, she longed for the kind of deep connection that she imagined a woman could have with a man like that. The kind that lasted forever.

Penny reached over and waved the magazine in front of Miranda’s face. “Earth to Miranda, so what’s step one?”

“They suggest a woman should take control of the relationship as a first move. No waiting around for the guy to decide, or to make up his mind about when and where. You decide how, you decide where, you decide when. Men have always been under pressure to make these big decisions, and they face rejection all the time. So, you relieve pressure by being the one to take control. It’s supposed to energize your relationship and push things to a new level.”

Putting the magazine back down on the table, Penny nodded approvingly.

“Sounds good. How do you do that, exactly?”

“They have several suggestions, from simply inviting him out on a date to doing a striptease, or setting up a seduction, including bondage and other kinky stuff that is control related. It depends on the existing relationship you have with the other person, and your personalities. Something tells me Colin would run for the hills if I pulled out the handcuffs.”

Penny’s eyes widened. “You have handcuffs?”

“I was speaking hypothetically, Pen.”

“Oh. Well, sounds like it’s worth a try.”

Miranda felt a naughty smile twitch at the corners of her lips. Her mind was made up. Her skin tingled with excitement. She had her plan in hand. She was going to seduce Colin Jacobs.