Brazen (Book 2)

"Because you're a nice girl and he's hell-bent on staying single," Vic added.

"Who says I'm looking for anything more?" Lila shot them all a wicked grin and continued, "I mean, come on. Sometimes nice girls just have to have really good, down-and-dirty sex too, you know."

Josie laughed and shook her head, unable to deny that. Not that she'd ever experienced really good, down-and-dirty sex before, considering she'd only slept with one guy in her entire twenty-six years. He'd been a gentle lover, considerate enough, she supposed. The fact that he'd never once brought her to orgasm in the three years they dated back in college, however, did have her thinking she might be flawed in some way.

Lack of orgasms aside, Josie also knew that the fire was missing from their relationship. Plus, he'd never once attempted to tap into or satisfy any of her secret fetishes. Not that she'd ever had the nerve to tell him what they were, or anyone else for that matter. Heck, she doubted she'd even tell J.A.D. about all the scintillating things she'd love to experience. After all, she didn't want anyone to think she was some sort of sexual deviant. But she couldn't help it that she found the idea of having sex outdoors with the chance of getting caught, or having her lover spank her, utterly exciting. Just considering it now had blood rushing through her veins and her body hungering for so much more. She clamped her thighs together as her mind drifted in an erotic direction.

Okay, so she might not be a one-night kind of girl, but if Mr. Right didn't soon appear and help soothe her aching libido, she just might have to rethink her lifestyle choices, because the truth was, she'd gone without sex far too long and was in desperate need of a man's intimate touch-whether he could bring her to orgasm or not.

After Lila turned her attention to the table beside them, Tabby and Vic leaned forward, and from the conspiratorial looks on their pretty faces, Josie braced herself for an inquisition.

Tabby lowered her voice. "So," she said, "since there are no signs of any man with the initials J.A.D., do you think you should forget about what Madame M said and start dating the local men from Whispering Cove?"

Josie grabbed a French fry and dipped it into the ketchup. "The only problem with that idea, Tabby, is that you gals just snagged the last two decent men in town."

With that they both smiled, then Vic said, "Okay, so who says you have to date a decent man?"

Josie jabbed her thumb into her chest. "Uh, I do."

"Why?"

"Why?" Josie asked, dumfounded by the question. Her friends knew her well enough to know that she wasn't about to settle for anyone less than her perfect mate. "Because I want a nice respectable guy and don't want to end up married to anindecent man."

"Who says you have to end up with him?" Tabby asked.

A mischievous look came over Vic's face. "Indecent men do have benefits too, you know."

"Oh really, Vic, and how, pray tell, do you know this?"

Vic pointed a finger and redirected the conversation. "This is about you, remember."

"Okay, fine, so what are you getting at?" Josie asked, deciding to humor her friends.

"Well, while you're waiting for Mr. Decent to come along, why not have some fun with Mr. Indecent?"

Josie's eyes opened wide. "What exactly are you suggesting?"

"I'm suggesting that you need to get out and have an orgasm or two. Look at you. You're all tense and stressed out about finding this guy with the initials J.A.D. While you're waiting for him to come along, why not have some fun? Like Lila said, sometimes nice girls just have to have really good, down-and-dirty sex, too."

Shocked at her friend's scandalous suggestion, but unable to deny that her body was aching for the erotic touch of a man, she asked, "And exactly who do you think I should have this fun with?"

"How about with someone who is always up for a good time? Someone who isn't going to go all serious on you and want more than you can give him?"

"Okay, I'm listening."

Victoria pointed a finger and Josie followed the direction. "How about someone like him?"

"Adam Collins!" Josie blurted out.

"Yeah, why not?"

"Ah, didn't you just warn Lila to stay away from him?"

"That's because they're all wrong for each other."

Josie's head jerked back. "Oh, and you think we're right for each other."

"I didn't exactly say that."

"Then what exactly are you saying?"

"That he's the perfect guy to help you pass the time until Mr. Right comes along."

Josie let her glance wander to Adam as he made his way across the fairgrounds. Oh yeah, he was perfect all right. From his thick hair, his sun-kissed skin, his lean, fit body and size-twelve shoe, the man had perfect written all over him. Perfect trouble, that was.

She swallowed and asked, "What makes you think Adam Collins is the perfect guy for the job?"

"Because you're sweet, Josie. The kind of nice girl that respectable guys want to marry and bring home to their mothers."

Josie rolled her eyes. "And where might I find these respectable guys?"

"With Adam you can have a little fun and not risk him falling for you or making things awkward while you wait for Mr. Right."

Josie took another long pull from her straw, trying to wrap her brain around the idea of her and Adam Collins-together in bed. But when she realized it wasn't all that difficult to imagine, she swallowed hard and said, "Vic, I don't know how you come up with this stuff."

Vic's eyes widened. "So you think it's a good idea then?"

"No, I don't. Besides, Adam has never even given me a second glance. At least not since I've returned from college."

Tabby arched a perfectly manicured brow and questioned, "Oh, so you've noticed him not noticing you then, have you?"

She took a moment to think about Adam, about how his rich, earthy smell reached her nostrils and brought on a shiver when she'd walked past him earlier. Thought about how athletic and sexy he looked standing there outside the sultan's tent, hands jammed deep in his pockets and pulling his jeans low to expose tight, oblique muscles-muscles Josie would love to run her hands along, as well as her tongue.

As heat moved into her stomach, she gulped air and wondered what the hell she was doing. She shouldn't be fantasizing about Adam. She should be concentrating on finding her Mr. Right, because everything about the hot, sexy man who undoubtedly knew his way around a woman's body screamed wrong, with a capital W.

When she realized her friends were waiting for an answer, she blew out a breath and said, "Come on, Tabby. He's a little impossible not to notice, don't you think?"

Tabby sat back in her chair. "So then why don't you go for it?"

"Because whenever he sees me coming, he goes the other way. Clearly I'm not his type. I'm a kindergarten teacher looking for everlasting love. He's a playboy looking for lust, and the kind of girls he goes out with are brazen women, women who are only in it for the sex."

"And that's the only reason you'd be in it too, Josie."

As Josie's body quivered in sensual delight, she bit her lip as thoughts of sex with Adam pinged around inside her brain. Her skin flushed, her sex ached and everything inside her urged her to go for it, to have a little fun with the town's playboy until her future husband came along. As a tremor raced through her blood, her pu*sy fluttered in anticipation and she took a moment to think about what it would take to gain his attention, to get him to finally notice her.

Dear God, she couldn't believe she was actually thinking about it, thinking about having a scandalous affair with Adam Collins.

"So you're going to go for it then?" Vic asked.

"No. Never. And this conversation is over," Josie announced, slamming her palms on the table. But the truth was, now that the two had planted that outrageous idea in her head, it was all she could do to keep her salacious gaze from straying to Adam, Whispering Cove's most eligible bachelor-a man who, according to his reputation, knew how to light a fire in a woman, and, more importantly, knew how to tamp said fire out.

Maybe he really was the guy who could get the job done.

Good Lord, what was she doing? She really, really shouldn't be thinking about Adam like this, thinking about how perfect his hard body was, how his raw sexuality reached out to her and stimulated her body like a lover's caress, or how that sensuous mouth of his would feel on her flesh...

Then again, she was growing tired of waiting for J.A.D. to come along and maybe, just maybe, a little afternoon delight with a hot guy like Adam, a man who was anything but a one-woman kind of guy, was exactly what she needed to help her pass the time, soothe her raging libido and get her through the lonely, cold nights ahead.