Operation Date Escape

and she’s all confused.”
    He settled back onto the stool beside hers with a heavy sigh. “I was afraid his plan to prove to her that he’s not perfect might backfire. That’s too bad, because Cole really has a thing for her.”
    She spun on her stool to face her date. “I didn’t say that her confusion was a bad thing. For her maybe, but for Cole it’s a good sign.”
    “I don’t understand,” he said, reaching for his glass of wine.
    “She’s upset , because despite your friend’s attempt to be a bad date, Kelsie is hot for him.”
    “I’ll be damn, it’s actually working.”
    She reached into the lined basket in front of her for the last remaining hot wing. “Don’t get too excited. I’m not sure even Cole will be able to break through the wall Kelsie’s put up when it comes to men.”
    “ Sound like it’s a start. And Cole’s never been a quitter.”
    “I really hope not.” She wanted nothing more than to see her best friend truly happy again.
    “Her ex was a real jerk, huh?”
    “That’s putting it mildly.”
    “What happened?”
    She paused to lick some hot sauce off her fingertips. “Long story.”
    “I have all night. But if you keep licking your fingers that way we won’t be spending the evening here.”
    She smiled at him and sucked one more fingertip. “And the alternative would be?”
    “My bed.”
    “Tempting. Pity that was the last of the wings,” she said, wiggling her now clean fingers in front of him.
    “Bartender,” Joe called out. “Another order of wings. Extra sauce.”
    Nanci laughed at the urgency in his voice. The same urgency she felt at the thought of him taking her to bed that night.
    “Make it to go,” she added with a grin as the bartender headed for the kitchen.
    “My kind of woman.”
    “I guess we’ll find out.”
    “Seeing as how we have to wait on your wing order, how about that long story?”
    Why not? It wasn’t as if Kelsie wanted her divorce from Kyle the shithead kept a secret. “Okay, to make a long story short, Kelsie met her ex in college and he was everything she wanted in a guy - smart, attentive, career focused. Only he focused a little too much on the career part after they got married.”
    Joe listened intently. “So they divorced because he worked too many hours?”
    “It wasn’t the hours he was putting in, it was who he was putting them in with. He was screwing the office cleaning lady.”
    “Oh, hell.”
    “It gets worse. She walked in on them during one of their after hour sex romps.”
    His expression hardened into one of anger. “No wonder she’s so leery of relationships with men. So where’s the asshole now?”
    She shrugged. “I have no idea. She hasn’t had a thing to do with him since their divorce. Lucky for him. Because if it were me, I’d have bought a voodoo doll and seen to it that Kyle’s dick shriveled up and fell off.”
    Laughter rumbled in his broad chest. “Remind me never to piss you off.”
    “Your order’s ready,” the bartender said a few minutes later, placing a carryout bag on the bar in front of them.
    “Thanks.” Joe handed him a ten. “Keep the change.” Then he turned to Nanci. “You ready?”
    “I’ve been ready.”
    “Then what are we waiting for?” He grabbed the bag from the counter.
    “Joe...”
    “Change your mind already?” he teased as they stepped outside.
    “Not on your life. I was just wondering if you’d mind going to my place instead. There’s something I need to show you.” Better he see her collection for himself than hear about it from Cole which he was bound to now that his friend had learned about her ‘hobby’.
    “Don’t tell me you’re secretly a man,” he teased.
    She laughed, hitting him playfully with her purse. “This isn’t one of those crazy assed talk shows.”
    Grinning, he slipped an arm around her waist, pulling her closer as they walked. “You’re so damn sexy when you get stirred up.”
    “You haven’t seen anything yet. Now get me home and ‘stir’ me up some more.”

CHAPTER TWELVE

    “Going somewhere?”
    Kelsie froze, her hand on the cast iron handle of the large wooden door at the restaurant’s entrance. Slowly, she turned around, offering what could only be perceived as a thoroughly guilty smile.
    “Would you believe I was just stepping out for some fresh air?”
    The woman was a pathetic liar. “And a taxi, too?” Cole asked as he moved toward her.
    “No. I...well...”
    “No need to call for a