FOUR PLAY

by Myla Jackson

Copyright © 2011, Myla Jackson. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the author.

Manufactured in the United States of America

Editor: Layla Chase

Cover artist: Myla Jackson

This is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents and dialogues in this book are of the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is completely coincidental.

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"Three." Charli Sutton handed her boss the dress she'd loaned her. "Count them." She flicked out three fingers, a shiver of excitement slithering across the skin they'd touched, fondled and caressed. "Original Sin, Fake-cop dude, and the new guy, Fiddler. And did I mention, it was a date? A real sit-down dinner and dessert date."

"Oh. My. God!" Audrey Anderson wiped the sleep from her eyes and pulled Charli into her house. "You have got to be kidding me. Tell me everything." She glanced at the clock on the wall. "Is it really three o'clock in the morning?"

"I only have a minute. I need to get home and catch some shut-eye, before my lunch date with Connor Mason."

"Screw sleep, I wanna know what happened." Audrey tugged a bar stool up to the kitchen counter and forced Charli into it. "Speak."

Sliding an elbow onto the counter, Charli sighed. "The night was magical with the three men wearing tuxedos looking so very dashing and debonair, and me in that black gown you loaned me, showing just about everything the good Lord gave me." She hugged Audrey. "By the way, thanks. I don't own anything nearly as sexy and gorgeous."

"Three men?" Eyebrows raised, her friend shook her head. "Three?"

Charli frowned. Maybe that sounded worse than it what it was. "It's okay. The sex was all consensual. Nobody forced me to do anything. In fact, they gave me the whip."

"Sex with all three?" Audrey pressed a hand to her breast and whispered, "You had a whip?"

"Really, Audrey, you're repeating everything I say." Charli chuckled. "Got to play the dominatrix this time, giving out the orders, popping them when they didn't obey." Images from the night floated through her mind, and her lips spread into a grin. "And it was a riding crop, actually, not a whip."

"Like that makes a diff." Audrey's eyes narrowed and she peered behind Charli. "I just want to know who you are and what you did with my friend, Charli?" She crossed both arms over her breasts. "This is so not like you."

"If that's the case, maybe it's just as well." Charli tossed her hand in the air. "The old Charli was bored out of her mind. This new one is having the time of her life."

"Yeah, but how long can this last?" Audrey lifted Charli's hands. "What happens when the dirty tricks stop and you're back to normal?"

Charli jerked her hands free and pushed her hair back off her face. "I don't know, but I'm enjoying it while it lasts. Frankly, when it ends, I might get some sleep. All these late-night trysts are
exhausting
."

"You really need to stop this. All that sex can't be good for you."

"What's not good about it? We use protection, my vagina is getting a good workout, and I'm totally satisfied when it's over."

"Are you?" Audrey hugged her close, squeezing her tight. "I worry about you. This mystery thing can only go on so long before you realize it's not much of a relationship. Don't you want a happily-ever-after with a man who'll tell you his goddamn name?"

Charli pushed away and paced across the room. "I don't know. I'm liking the adventure." Though she would never admit it to Audrey, she had been feeling more and more frustrated at not knowing the identity of this mystery man with whom she'd had three nights worth of fabulous sex. The men he'd brought with him, while sexy, hadn't been the draw. The one she'd dubbed Original Sin held her attention and occupied most of her waking and sleeping thoughts since the dirty tricks had begun.

Coming to a stop in front of Audrey, Charli squared her shoulders and looked her friend straight in the eye. "I'm satisfied...for now. Isn't that all that matters?"

"Uh-huh, see?" Audrey pointed a finger at Charli's chest. "You
are
having doubts, and now you're beginning to wonder whether or not he has something to hide, thus the reason for the masks and mystery."

Mask
. Her skin heated and Charli grinned. "He was so sexy in his Zorro mask. I practically came when he said hello."

"God, you're pathetic."

"No, I'm getting some." Her chin jutted forward. "Which is more than I can say for you."

"Point taken. Still, you're having doubts about him. I can tell it in your face."

Charli touched her face. "That's lack of sleep. I am not having doubts. He's very good at providing the necessary entertainment to hold my interest," Charli defended. "The man knows me."

"Does he know you've been hurt before and that you swore you'd never give away your heart to another man?"

Her chest pinched. "No." Charli tucked her hands in the back pockets of her jeans. "It never came up in a conversation."

"Does he realize, a fact I've known for a long time..." With a narrowed gaze, Audrey planted both fists on her hips, "that you claim you don't want a relationship, but deep down, you really want the love of your life?"

Why did Audrey have to bring all this up now? She didn't want to delve into past heartache, she wanted to live for the day. Charli clamped her hands over her ears. "All right already. You can stop now."

Audrey pulled down Charli's hands and smiled sadly. "I was there when you fell to pieces."

"And you were there to pick them up for me." Tears welled in Charli's eyes. "You've always had my back."

"I would be no friend to you now, if I didn't play devil's advocate and point out what's all wrong with this situation."

"I know." Charli struggled to resist the truth of her friend's words. "But isn't it enough that I'm happy?"

"The question is...are you happy enough?"

"Maybe this is as good as my love life gets." Charli stared down at her scuffed brown cowboy boots. "Maybe I wasn't meant to have a happily-ever-after and I should go for a little of that happy-for-now stuff."

"Oh, honey." Audrey hugged Charli and then set her away. "I don't want to pop your bubble. I just don't want you to build a truck load of expectations only to have them dumped like so much garbage when your Original Sin stops coming around."

Charli sniffed, brushing an errant tear from her cheek. She swallowed hard before speaking. "I'll be careful not to get too involved." She didn't admit it to Audrey, but Charli suspected it was already too late. "I have to go now. Connor is picking me up at my place in less than eight hours."

"My point exactly." Audrey smiled. "Connor Mason is a man a girl can count on. You know his name and he's a real gentleman. The kind that picks up his date at her door, not expecting her to do all the work to get there."

Charli swiped at another tear and shook her head. "Keep this up and I'll start calling you Mom." She reached out and squeezed Audrey's hand. "Thanks for being my friend. I'll be careful not to get hurt. I promise, you won't have to pick up the pieces this time."

"Sweetie, I'm always there for you. It just hurts me to see you hurt."

"I know." Charli smiled over the lump in her throat. "Wish me luck with Connor. If I find him nearly as interesting as Original Sin," she shrugged. "Who knows?"

Audrey's eyes widened. "Remember you have to work with his sister Kendall."

"You do take all the fun out of a date." Charli hiked her purse strap up on her shoulder. "I'm off to bed, then lunch with Connor. I'll see you at work tonight."

"Remember, Connor is Kendall's brother and he's freshly back from the war in Afghanistan. Be gentle with the man."

Charli muttered under her breath as she left Audrey's house and headed home for a quick shower and a few hours of sleep before her lunch date with Connor.

# # #

An incessant buzzing jerked Charli from a wonderful dream where she was Cinderella, being whisked away in a sleek black Corvette by Zorro, his blue eyes flashing, the black mask and cowboy hat hiding his identity.

Charli reached out and smacked her alarm clock, but the ringing didn't stop. Another glance at the green digital letters made her sit up with a shriek.

"Holy crap! Eleven forty-five?" She wrapped the sheet around her naked body and ran for the front door, flinging it open.

Connor Mason stood there, his hand raised to knock, so handsome with the sun shining down on his brown hair, making his green eyes lighter.

Charli's heart flipped several times then settled into a speedy thump. "Connor!"

He smiled, his brows rising on his tanned forehead. "I thought we'd eat first, but have it your way." He reached for her and pulled her into his arms, his lips crashing down over hers.

Taken completely by surprise, Charli gasped, her mouth opening to Connor's tongue.

He swept in claiming her with long tender strokes, the kiss deepening until Charli's knees buckled, her hands releasing the sheet to wind around Connor's neck. Umm, he smelled of denim, leather and hay.

The sides of the sheet slithered down her body, the warm Texas air caressing her backside, along with Connor's rough, firm hands.

For a moment, Charli wondered if perhaps she still slept and this was all part of the erotic dream she'd been in the throes of when the doorbell had rung. Perhaps she'd projected her dirty little trysts onto her more sedate lunch date with Connor, and the resulting dream had taken a spin for the naughty and completely gratifying.

When a horn honked, Charli's eyes blinked open to the bright glaring sun shining through the door where she stood, naked as the day she was born, in the arms of a stranger. Add to it the angry glances of Old Lady Thornton driving by in her 1967 Cadillac. The heat of a Texas scorcher rose up Charli's neck and into her cheeks. She stared up at Connor, her eyes widening.

This was no dream, it was a freakin' nightmare.

He bent to retrieve the corners of the sheet, wrapping them around her, his gaze on her body, not her face. "My apologies. I guess you didn't mean to lose this." He turned and waved a friendly hand at the old woman who had brought her car to a halt in front of Charli's cottage and was in the process of cranking down the window, her face mottled red.

"Have you no decency?" the old lady said before the window was halfway down.

Connor tucked the sheet in at Charli's breasts and hustled her through the door.

"I take it you're not ready."

"I'm sorry, I just woke up." Charli fussed with the sheet, her gaze refusing to meet Connor's. "I don't know what got into me."

"My fault. I caught you by surprise." He kissed the tip of her nose, turned her and slapped her bottom. "Go get ready. I'll just wait here."

Charli ran for her bedroom, nearly tripping over the yards of sheeting before she could get there. Once inside, she slammed the door and leaned against it, her heart pumping like an old-time locomotive all juiced up with steam. What the hell had just happened?

"Do you always greet your dates in a sheet, or should I feel honored?" Connor chuckled from the other side of the door.