Chapter One
Lexie Webster looked at the vast array of purses in the
department store display case and sighed. Turning toward
her best friend she said, "Darla, I don't need a new
purse."
"Of course you don't," Darla agreed, pulling her toward
the designer handbags. "I do. What you need is sex."
The sales associate glanced at them, and Lexie shot
Darla "the look."
"No, what I need is to get back to the resort. I have work
to do."
Darla held up a brown leather bag for inspection. "It's
Sunday. Your day off."
"I'm booked to teach a private scuba lesson at three
o'clock."
Darla set the brown bag back on the counter and crossed
her arms over her chest. Fashionably dressed in a pale
blue pin-striped Ralph Lauren suit, her shoulder-length
tawny hair pulled back in a chic chignon, Darla looked, as
she always did, as though she'd just stepped off a page
from Vogue. Lexie looked down at her own attire and
winced. Plain white tank top, faded jeans, and Nikes that
had seen better days. It wasn't that she didn't like to
dress up - she did. But one hardly wore Ralph Lauren to
read the newspaper on the deck, and that's what she'd been
doing when Darla had come by after spending the morning
with a potential buyer and commandeered her to go
shopping.
"That's exactly the problem, Lex," Darla said. "You're
working yourself into the ground. You need to take some
time for you."
"You worked today," Lexie pointed out.
"I'm a real estate agent. We work on Sundays. Except when
we need to have a serious conversation with our best
friend. Then we go shopping and talk."
Uh-oh. Based on Darla's earlier "what you need is sex"
comment, Lexie had a pretty good idea where this
conversation was headed. "Look, Darla, I know you mean
well, but -"
"No buts. Consider this an intervention." Darla planted
her hands on her hips and jutted out her chin at a
stubborn angle. With determination glinting in her green
eyes, she reminded Lexie of Xena: Warrior Princess - or at
least Xena's beautiful, tawny-haired, Ralph Lauren-clad
sister. "Here's the deal, Lex. I'm not letting you leave
the handbag department until this is settled."
"Great. I wouldn't mind so much if you'd picked the shoe
department instead," Lexie joked.
Genuine concern softened Darla's fierce expression and she
reached out to clasp Lexie's hands. "Lexie, I'm worried
about you. You're working yourself to the bone."
"I'm working extra hours because this is the resort's
busiest time of the year. I have to take on the extra work
while it's available. You know I need the money. When that
plot of land I've been saving for comes on the market,
I'll need all the cash I can lay my hands on to buy it."
In an effort to erase the worry still puckering Darla's
brow, she teased, "You realize the only reason I keep you
around is because I want that land and you've got real
estate connections."
"And the only reason I keep you around is because you get
me great discounts at the resort's spa." Darla's eyes
narrowed. "You know, the spa - a place where people go to
alleviate their stress. I would suggest you go, but in
your case, more drastic measures are needed. A simple
massage and a facial just aren't going to cut it. You need
a full-fledged, hot, steamy -"
" - sauna?"
"Fling." When Lexie didn't reply, Darla plunged on. "I
don't even want to think about how long it's been since
you've had sex."
Eleven months, two weeks and three days. Lexie didn't want
to think about it, either. And she sure wasn't going to
add fuel to the fire by reminding Darla.
"You're under a lot of stress, Lex."
"I'm busy."
"Working yourself to death for that piece of land."
"Because I want a home. A real home. On that cove."
"I understand. And I'll let you know the instant the owner
is interested in selling. But in the meantime you have got
to loosen up."
As much as Lexie hated to admit it, Darla had a point. "I
guess I have been sort of tense lately."
"Sort of tense?" Darla shook her head and made tsking
noises. "You're a volcano on the verge of eruption. If I
looked up `tense' in the dictionary, your picture would be
right there. You need stress relief like no one I've ever
met before. And believe me, the best stress reliever in
the world is sex. Why do you think I'm always so relaxed?"
"I thought it was all that time you spent in the spa with
my discount."
Darla laughed. "Facials and massages are great, but sex is
better. Trust me. A couple of bouts of steamy sex and
you'll be a new woman. Good Lord, your body must be
literally starved from all this celibacy. You are primed
for a fling."
Lexie sighed. "Maybe. But I don't want a serious
relationship."
Darla wrinkled her small nose. "Of course you don't.
Relationships are highly overrated, as you and I both well
know. I'm talking strictly a fling. No-strings-attached
sex to get you out of your rut. Fling rules apply."
"And what are those?"
"There's only three." She released Lexie's hands and
counted the rules off on her fingers. "It has to be fun,
wild and temporary. Think you can handle that?"
Fun, wild. She hadn't done anything like that in a long
time. And temporary? She'd never done that - at least not
in a premeditated fashion. It sounded ... intriguing. And
exciting in a way that had her hibernating hormones
peeking open their eyelids.
"You know what, Darla? I think I can handle that."
Darla's smile lit up her heart-shaped face. "Excellent.
Now all we have to do is find the right man."
Lexie groaned. "That's going to be a challenge. It's not
as if terrific guys are falling at my feet."
"You don't need a `terrific' guy. We're not looking for
husband material. He only has to be fling-worthy." She
leaned closer, as if she were about to impart some great
secret. "You're just using him for sex."
A grin tugged at Lexie's lips. "He might not appreciate
that."
Darla straightened then favored her with her best give-me-
a-break look. "Yeah, right. Men just hate it when
attractive women seduce them. Especially women who aren't
expecting hearts, flowers and diamond rings. Believe me,
we won't have trouble finding a willing man."
"But I don't want just any guy."
"Don't worry," Darla said. "You'll know the guy when you
meet him."
"How?"
A devilish gleam sparkled in Darla's eyes. "He'll be the
one you can't keep your eyes - or hands - off. Once you
see him, just let nature do the rest. Remember - fun, wild
and temporary." Darla held out her hand. "Agreed?"
Lexie took a deep breath. Darla was right. It was time to
take a break from her all-work-and-no-play life. Since her
breakup with Tony almost a year ago, she'd lived like a
monk.
Well, she wasn't a monk. She was a twenty-eight-year-old
woman who badly needed some fun, wild and temporary in her
life. And thanks to Darla's pep talk, she was primed and
ready to take the plunge.
Grasping Darla's hand, Lexie shook on it. "Agreed."
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