what was wrong with wanting the best?
Angie didn’t want to settle. Her mother had settled. Wayne had married Maria after she’d gotten pregnant with Angie. Their marriage had sustained itself and they produced two more children. They owned two ranches. But Maria had freely admitted to both her daughters that they’d never been in love. They liked each other. Respected each other. Worked well as partners.
But no spark.
Angie wanted spark.
The sparks between her and Rafe Grayhawk this afternoon could have ignited a freaking forest fire.
Sex with Zach McCray had been great, no doubt. But he’d never adored her. She chuckled out loud as she realized why she hadn’t had sex since Zach and the creation of the list. Sex wasn’t even on the list! She only now realized it. All the guys failed one or more items on the list before sex even came into consideration.
Okay, new item on the list.
9. Great in bed
In fact, she’d move that to number one. No way was she going another five years without sex. She was thirty-two. Things might start to atrophy.
“Dump the list, Angie,” Catie was saying. “It’s the only way. Or have a few one-night stands if it’s just the sex you want.”
She’d come darn close to that with Rafe. A one-night stand—or rather a one-afternoon stand—had never been her style. Yet today she’d been ready to chuck it all and screw Rafe right on her sister’s deck. How completely slutty. The town might have a few things to say about Angelina Bay, but no one had ever accused her of being a slut.
“One-night stands are not my style,” she said.
“Have you ever had one?” Amber asked.
She shook her head.
“Then how do you know?”
She cracked a smile. “I guess I don’t. And I know Catie doesn’t either since Chad’s her one and only. Why don’t you tell us about one-night stands, Amber?”
Amber’s cheeks pinked. “They’re not really my style either, though I’ll admit to two of them. Both were back in San Antonio. I was pretty drunk during the first one, though at least I was lucid enough to make sure he used a condom. The second one was shortly before I came here. I met this totally hot guy at a bar a few nights before I left. Damon was his name. I never found out his last name. Blond, blue-eyed, and gorgeous. We went to his place and humped like bunnies all night. In the morning, he kissed me goodbye and I left. We didn’t exchange numbers or anything.”
Angie looked around the Bullfrog. Joe Bradley, the mechanic, sat with Sheriff Doug Cartright and the very married Dallas McCray. The rest of the crowd was younger. Not really any one-night stand material. Well, what did she expect on a Thursday night in Bakersville, Colorado? Hardly a thriving metropolis.
Didn’t matter anyway. The only one-night stand she wanted was with Rafe Grayhawk, and he’d turned her down.
Angie Bay didn’t usually get turned down. She did the turning down. Clearly she’d done way too much of that lately.
“God, I need some sex,” she said again.
“You’re sounding really desperate,” Amber said. “Exactly how long has it been for you?”
“Over five years.”
Catie and Amber spat their drinks again.
“The way my friends keep showering me, we’re going to need more drinks over here,” Angie said to the bartender.
“You haven’t had sex since Zach?” Catie shook her head.
“You’ve seen the list. I have standards.”
“Having standards for a relationship is one thing,” Amber said. “Sex is another thing.”
“I’m not sure I agree,” Catie said.
“You found your one and only love when you were five,” Amber said. “That’s great, but most of us aren’t so lucky. And it’s fun to test the waters sometimes.”
Oh, I had some serious fun testing the waters this afternoon.
Amber took a sip of her cosmo, this time without a spit take. “How are we going to get you some?”
“I’m sorry,” Catie chimed in, “but I refuse to help my sister get some.
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