space of a few minutes with a man she’d barely met. Talk about Em on the town.
“Got any more things you’re not good at?” he said.
“Oh, lots,” she said, gratified that this incredibly hot man seemed to think she was good in bed.
“Can’t wait for you to show me,” he said. “If you don’t kill me first.”
She rested her cheek on his chest and he held her snugly on him. They rested like that for a few silent moments, hearts beating as one, and then he slowly pulled out and headed to the bathroom.
She lay on her side, propped on an elbow, waiting for him, completely thrilled. She was so glad she’d been bold enough to take a chance. Not only did she have tons of material for her column—practically writing itself in her mind—but her sexual self-confidence had gotten a major boost.
AJ slid between the sheets again and she opened her arms to him, twined her legs with his. She wanted to thank him somehow. “That was really special. I have to tell you that I’ve never even slept with a man on the first date before, let alone picked one up in a bar.”
“You’re kidding!” he said, in mock amazement.
“Was it that obvious?”
“You did lock yourself in the bathroom, babble about condom selection and issue a disclaimer about how I should forget about your climax and go for mine.”
“That tipped you off, huh?”
He chuckled softly, tucked her hair behind her ear, then stroked her cheek with the backs of his fingers. “You’re a very sexual woman, Beth. If some man made you feel differently, he was an idiot.”
Or not as skilled as AJ. Sara was right about one thing—okay and sex shouldn’t be in the same language, let alone sentence.
“Though I wouldn’t brag about picking me up,” he said with a wink. “Technically, I picked you up.”
“No, sir,” she said in mock outrage. “I invited you to my table. All you picked up was a pen.”
“But I insisted,” he said, pushing her onto her back on the pillowy mattress and pinning her by the wrists, which made her feel very sexy.
“So, am I threatening your masculinity?” she teased.
“Nope. You make me glad I have it.” He kissed her softly, then released her wrists.
“I’m serious, though,” she said. “I was nervous and you made it so easy. Like I said, I’ve been out of circulation…and you helped me get my feet wet.”
“Your feet?” he asked, sliding his hand to where she was still slippery. “I’d say something way more fun than your feet got wet.”
“Oh, yeah. Very true.” Wow. She’d never felt like this before—in or out of circulation. The three men she’d slept with hadn’t been much interested in sex, now that she thought about it. Dan, in college, had been a virgin, too, she’d been sure. She’d gotten a book to help them, but he’d been embarrassed to admit his inexperience, so sex was always fumbly.
Mark had been a philosophy professor—very cerebral—and sex had been a low priority. And then there was Blaine. Blaine had been haphazard about sex, sometimes rushed and often preoccupied. Had she subconsciously chosen men who didn’t enjoy sex? Or maybe she hadn’t rocked their worlds. She could have made more of an effort, she guessed, but the awkwardness of the topic had intimidated her.
What a mistake, she realized now. There was way more to sex than she’d thought. And what a perfect time to find out—when she had a column where she could share all her insights. She had the tiniest impulse to slip into the bathroom and take notes, but then AJ touched her and her thoughts flew away like dandelion fluff.
Her notes could wait until AJ was finished with her. And she was finished with him. Who knew how long that would take?
A FEW HOURS LATER, Beth rested her cheek on AJ’s sweat-damp chest and listened to his heart thud steadily against her ear. He was dozing now. He’d earned a rest, having given her another amazing series of orgasms. Even in sleep, he held her close. She breathed in his wonderful smell and sampled his salty skin with her tongue. Mmm.
She would love to spend the night here, tangled up in sheets and man, but she didn’t dare. She had to let her dogs out to pee, and she itched to start her column. Plus, she didn’t want to spoil the moment with talk. AJ might have annoying opinions and she wanted to preserve the magic at all costs. For her column. And for herself.
Moving carefully so she wouldn’t wake him, Beth untangled her limbs from AJ’s, rolled over and slid out of the bed.
“Don’t go.” His sleep-fogged voice floated to her in the dark.
“I have to,” she said, grinning madly at the desire she heard beneath his slurred words.
“I’ll be back in two weeks,” he muttered so faintly he might have been talking in his sleep.
She grabbed her clothes bundle and ducked into the bathroom to dress. Her reflection in the mirror stopped her. Her face was soft, her lips swollen and her eyes gleamed. Freshly laid. That was how she looked. She’d had no idea sex could be so easy and so fun.
Dressed, she tiptoed out of the bathroom, then stood watching AJ sleep for a moment. He was a big man, a bundle of male power curved under the sheets, his muscular arm and chest slightly revealed, dark against the white sheets in the dim room. He didn’t want her to leave.
For a moment, she was tempted to crawl back in and go for more. Maybe she’d turn out to be good at oral sex, too.
No. She had to go. Her pets and her column were waiting.
I’ll be back in two weeks, he’d said. That was a lovely thought. She smiled to herself as she went to the desk and wrote, “Call me when you’re back in town,” on the hotel notepad. She left her number and signed it simply “Beth.” Easy-breezy.
Then she left, walking as silently as she could down the hall, in deference to the hotel’s sleeping guests. She was leaving a man’s room in the middle of the night like the “Sex on the Town” columnist would do, casually scribbling her number for next time. She tossed her hair, loose now, and waltzed to the elevator. In the lobby, she gave the sleepy desk clerk a jaunty wave, then bounded out to the late spring night.
The barest hint of dawn lightened the horizon, she noticed as she drove. She liked how few cars there were on the streets. She felt part of the secret society of middle-of-the-night lovers. Her skin felt so silky, her muscles were tired and she could still smell AJ’s cologne on her skin, hear his voice in her ear telling her how good she felt and sounded and tasted.
At home, she took her guys out back to do their business, then went straight to her computer. Four in the morning or not, she was wide awake, alive with sense memory. She would write about the sex she’d just had with the same confident verve she used in her entertainment column—leaving out the bathroom jitters and her orgasm disclaimer, of course. Otherwise, she’d be Em all the way.
Her animals sensed her excitement and jostled for position around her in her office. Ditzy curled up on her lap to sleep and Beth began to type.
