Operation Date Escape

the coffee maker, she took a long, hot shower to ease her aching muscles. Who knew a person used so many making love? That had never happened with Kyle.
    With a groan, she turned the water temperature down and leaned under the spray , letting the water stream down her hair and face. She attempted to force Cole Maxwell from her thoughts by reading the shampoo and conditioner bottles and then shaving her legs – twice! Nothing worked.
    After her shower, she reached for the terrycloth robe hanging on the hook behind the bathroom door and slipped it on. Running her fingers through her damp hair, she made her way into the kitchen.
    Grabbing a brown sugar cinnamon Pop Tart from the cupboard, she popped it into the toaster and went to pour herself a cup of coffee.
    Mid-sip the phone rang.
    She glanced toward the clock on the microwave. Seven-thirty. Please don’t let it be her mother again. She’d had enough of the fifth degree for one morning.
    She checked the caller I.D. which displayed Nanci’s name instead. Reaching for the phone, she tucked her damp hair behind her ear and answered. “Hello?”
    “ Glad to know you’re alive,” her best friend said with more than a hint of sarcasm in her voice.
    “ You expected otherwise?”
    “ You never know. Cole Maxwell might be some sort of crazed killer who hides behind the guise of a hot, hunky, heroic firefighter.”
    Kelsie couldn’t help but grin. “Lucky for me he’s only hot and hunky. So what’s up?”
    “Me,” she replied. “I’ve been up since six a.m. waiting for your call to hear all about your night with Cole.”
    “Six? Since when have I ever gotten up that early?” she asked. “Wait, let me answer that for you. Never. And especially not this morning.”
    There was a moment of silence before Nanci spoke again. “Oh.”
    “Oh?”
    “You didn’t call me because you couldn’t. Cole’s there, isn’t he? I didn’t mean to interrupt anything. ”
    She rolled her eyes. What was this - Grand Central Phone Station? “You’re as bad as my mother. And, no, you’re not interrupting anything.”
    “Damn, that means he’s not there and your mother beat me to all the juicy info first.”
    “Why don’t you mind your own sex life?” she said in irritation. “Speaking of which, how did things go with you and Joe last night?”
    “Ah, changing the subject. A good sign,” her friend determined. “But if it’ll make you feel any better to start with me, last night was...well, it was...”
    “Nanci?”
    “Sexless.”
    “What?” Kelsie replied , certain she hadn’t heard her friend right.
    “Not completely,” Nanci explained. “Things got hot and heavy between Joe and me in the livingroom. Oh, were they heavy. One minute he’s giving me the mother of all orgasms. The next, he’s kissing me good night and telling me we’ll continue where we left off on our next date.”
    “ Are you telling me he left you high and dry?”
    “Far from dry,” Nanci admitted.
    “How do you feel about him doing that? Leaving before the two of you...?”
    “ A little confused and a whole lot hot and bothered. I’ve never wanted a man to make love to me so badly.”
    Kelsie arched a brow. “Make love?” That was not a term Nanci used in regards to her dates.
    “I didn’t say love. I said have sex.”
    “Oh, I beg to differ. I distinctly heard the other,” she argued with a smile. It was nice to know she wasn’t the only one feeling confused in regards to a relationship. Not that what she and Cole had was a relationship. It was sexual attraction and really great sex. Nothing more. Pushing Cole from her thoughts, she said, “You really like this guy.”
    Her friend let out a long sigh. “I do.”
    “So do you think he saw your collection in the curio and that’s why he bolted when he did?”
    “I know for a fact he saw it. I showed it to him.”
    “ I can’t believe you showed him your collection on the first date.”
    “ Well, I figured since Cole knew about it, Joe was bound to find out anyway. He didn’t have a problem with my vibrators. He made a few jokes about them, but didn’t let them deter him from proving he could give me more pleasure than any battery operated sex toy.”
    “I take it he succeeded.”
    “Oh, did he ever,” she sighed.
    “ Then why did he leave before the two of you finished what you started?” she asked, a little confused by Joe’s actions. Men never walked away and left Nanci wanting.
    “I’m still trying