In Bed with the Bodyguard by Lynne Silver Page B

relegate Lance to the minions who’d gone before. She shouldn’t have even mentioned she’d seen Lance naked.
    “Whoa,” Valerie crowed. “He got to you. You can’t even talk about it.”
    “Of course I can. I’m being discreet since Lance is Jason’s good friend. You’ve never had to have dinner with one of my lovers,” she said.
    “Sure I have. We’ve gone on lots of double dates.”
    “Yes, while I was dating the guy, but never after we’d broken up, and you’d have to do that with Lance, since he’s yours and Jason’s friend.” Valerie needed to drop the subject. Ari slipped a look at her cell phone clock. Why had she let Lance borrow her car? Now she was stuck until he showed up.
    “That’s a good point, but what makes you think you’re going to break up? Maybe he’s the one,” Valerie said.
    Oh, Val the optimist. God love her.
    Ari rolled her eyes. “You know how I feel about ‘the one.’ It’s a myth, a Hallmark, Disney Channel, Harlequin novel invention. There are lots of ones in real life.”
    Valerie hugged her knees. Ari barely noticed the burn scars on them anymore, but she still took a silent second to thank Jason for getting Val comfortable enough to reveal her legs. “Not true. For me, Jason is the one.”
    “Yeah, well, you got lucky.” Until he leaves you for another woman , she finished in her head. She believed Jason was one of the good guys, but she’d thought that about her father and look where that got her: two stepmothers and an FBI escort. There was no such thing as a perfect man, and to prove it… “Fine, you want details about last night?”
    Valerie nodded, but then held up her hand. “No body descriptions, please. You’re right about the dinner party thing. I don’t want to be imagining what’s in his tighty-whities.”
    “Nothing. He’s a boxers man.”
    Her friend laughed. “Thanks for the image. Sexy boxers or silly ones with animal prints and cartoon characters?”
    “Um, plain gray or black.” Why did she feel like she was being disloyal to Lance by sharing? Valerie was her longtime best friend, not him. She took a deep breath. “He likes dirty talk.”
    A blush infused Valerie’s cheeks. “Dirty talk? What do you mean?”
    “Garbage, toilet, mud, banana peels,” she said sarcastically. “What do you think I mean by dirty talk? ‘Squeeze my cock, tight pussy,’ stuff like that.” As soon as the words left her mouth, she resolved to shut the heck up about last night. It was none of Val’s business. Her mind left Valerie’s den for a few lovely moments as she relived last night’s highlight reel.
    It was the one time the after was as spectacular as the during . They’d snuggled in bed, her back pressing against his front until they’d fallen asleep intertwined. Usually she invented any excuse to get her lovers dressed and out the door. Lance was the first man invited to spend the night.
    She’d even enjoyed this morning, waking up in his arms and doing the whole morning ritual interrupted with little kisses and intimate caresses. Lance had made a Starbucks run while she got dressed. Perfect. Speaking of Mr. Perfect, where was he? It was nearly lunchtime and she had phone calls to make.
    “But was it good?” Valerie asked, interrupting her reverie.
    Ari thought a long moment about that. Good seemed too banal a word to describe the sex. Amazing, spectacular, terrific, even, but she needed to remember Val was married to Jason, Lance’s friend. Anything she shared could potentially get back to Lance. No need to puff up his already healthy ego or make him think she was gaga for him. “Yes, it was good,” she said and hopped off the couch. “I’m going to the kitchen to get a glass of wine. Do you want one?”
    Valerie’s head jerked up, then down to look at her lap with a secret smile. “No thanks, but I would love a glass of OJ, if you don’t mind.”
    “Uh, sure,” she said slowly. Holy moly, was she imagining things or had