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“Do you want me to leave?”

She shook her head. “No. Not at all. I’m just not sure—”

“What?”

“What the rules are here? I’ve entered uncharted waters.”

He grasped her hand and tugged her closer. “There aren’t any rules, Laura. What do you want?”

“I want you to spend the night.”

His smile was genuine and made Laura’s heart skip a beat. “Then I will.”

He kissed her gently as he made short work of her skirt. She joined the undressing game, unbuttoning his shirt, then leaning forward to kiss each inch of bare skin as it appeared. Once they were naked, Bryan led them to her bed and pulled down the covers.

She crawled in, claiming her usual side. Bryan joined her, wrapping his arm around her shoulders to pull her into the crook of his arm. She rested her head on his chest, marveling at how natural the position seemed.

They lay there in the quiet for several minutes as Laura relived every moment of what they’d just done. Then a light went on.

Laura lifted her head. “You asshole.”

He chuckled. “Wondered when you’d realize.”

“You just completely took me through my ex-husband’s sex routine. Doesn’t that seem the least bit twisted and wrong to you?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know. Did you like it?”

God. There wasn’t any comparison. Laura had viewed sex with her husband as a chore, something she had to do. Going through the blow job, missionary, doggie-style positions had seemed like a checklist that she worked her way through.

Bryan had blown those feelings out of the water, shown her exactly how hot the same thing could be with the right man.

Smug bastard.

She smiled. “I loved it and you know it. But my admission does not give you permission to gloat.”

He tightened his embrace, kissing her on the top of her head. “I think it does. You ready for the other shoe to fall?”

She looked at him. “Lay it on me.”

“I was in complete control of everything we did. And you loved that too.”

Laura started to refute his comment, but the truth had a way of crashing down hard. He’d tied her up, issued commands and played her body like a concert pianist. Through it all, she’d followed his lead, let him call the shots. Instead she giggled.

“What’s so funny?”

“I’m thinking it’s a shame we never hooked up in high school.”

Bryan shook his head. “Jesus. You, me and teenage hormones? We would have fucked like bunnies.”

She closed her eyes, soaking up the warmth Bryan provided as exhaustion began to win out.

“Yeah,” she whispered. “Just like bunnies.”

With that, she fell asleep.

Chapter Four

Laura Sanders

Anybody up for the Time Warp again?!

Laura was just about to turn the light off and head to bed for the night when she heard a knock at the door. She glanced at the clock. It was nearly eleven.

“Who on earth?” She walked to the door, but hesitated before opening it.

Bryan was out of town again. His job kept him on the road a couple of weeks each month as he traveled from worksite to worksite. He once described his role in the engineering company as the starting pistol. He helped work crews and their foreman lay out a game plan before they started a new job. It was up to him to determine what got done when and by whom. Once the construction was started and things appeared to be running smoothly, he would return home to work on plans for the next project coming down the pike. Because he worked for a large company, he was in charge of covering four states and that large territory kept him hopping.

“Who’s there?” It was times like this when she hated living alone. It had taken her three months of living in the townhouse on her own before she stopped jerking awake in the middle of the night, terrified by every creak and groan. For her own peace of mind, she’d bought a baseball bat that she kept tucked under her bed.

“It’s me.” Bryan’s deep voice didn’t stop her heart from racing, but at least it was excitement, rather than fear, now driving the quick beat.

She answered the door, surprised to find Bryan standing on the threshold with a bag in his hands. She had missed him. Since their first date in March, they’d gone out three more times, each date ending with him in her bed. Sex with Bryan was never boring, never the same. She suspected she’d already had more orgasms in the past month with Bryan than in the entire twenty-three years of her marriage.

Laura started to hug him, delighted to see him, but pulled up short. She laughed. “What are you wearing?”

“I’m Brad.”

She slowly shook her head. “And I’m not following.”

“I believe the correct thing to say after hearing
Brad
is
asshole
.”

“Wow. Have you been drinking?”

Bryan laughed and walked into her townhouse. Laura closed the door, hard-pressed to hide her smile. Five minutes ago, she’d been exhausted and dragging herself to bed. Now it was as if she’d been given a shot of adrenaline.

Fortunately, Bryan hadn’t forced her to face what it was between them yet. For now he seemed content to go with the flow. They were friends who had a lot of fun and amazing sex. It was all Laura felt capable of giving. She was still leery of entering a real relationship, terrified of losing herself again.

“I was hoping I could convince you to help me check an item off my list of regrets.” Bryan had gotten a kick out of Laura’s resolution to try things she’d always wanted to do, and was determined to go along for the ride with her.

“And what would that be?”

“
The Rocky Horror Picture Show
. The local movie theater is doing a one-night showing.”

“Tonight?”

He nodded. “Starts at midnight.”

Laura grinned, thrilled by his suggestion. “I’ve never seen it, but I’ve always wanted to.”

“Me too. I didn’t mention it before because I wasn’t sure I’d make it back in time. Busted my ass—and the ass of every guy on the crew—at that last worksite, determined we weren’t going to miss it. I called Trina this afternoon from the road when I realized I was cutting it close. The Conservatory does a lot of theatrical productions and she interns in the costume department. As luck would have it, they’ve performed
Rocky Horror
before and she was able to borrow a couple of outfits for us.”

Laura narrowed her eyes. “My costume better be as conservative as yours.”

Bryan’s nerdy appearance in his blue sweater vest, old-fashioned khaki jacket and black-rimmed glasses was a far cry from the provocative outfits she’d seen other characters wear. “Trina actually wanted to put me in Tim Curry’s sexy lingerie, but I told her I preferred to ease into things since it was my first time. Then she suggested we play the Brad and Janet roles. We had two choices. The first was to go in our underwear—which I knew would be problematic for you.”

Laura laughed. Bryan took great pleasure in her panty-less state.

“Or we could go with the wholesome look.” Bryan spread his arms out, showing off his seventies-style clothing. “I have a hideous light pink dress, white cardigan sweater, barrette and really awful purse in the bag for you.”

Laura reached for it. “Sounds perfect.” She headed for the stairs. “Give me a few minutes to change and we can go.”

Bryan started to follow her upstairs, but she turned and put her hand on his chest. “You come with me and we’re going to miss the movie.”

Bryan didn’t appear to mind taking that risk. “Well…”

She shook her head. “Hell no. We’re going to that movie. Five minutes. That’s all I need.”

“Fine.” Bryan headed back toward the living room.

Laura was true to her word and soon they were pulling up in front of the movie theater. Her eyes nearly popped out of her head as she took in the other attendees, all decked out in some of the most revealing lingerie Laura had ever seen. She would have blushed wearing some of the costumes in the bedroom with just Bryan to see. She couldn’t imagine strutting around in public in so little.

A few people waiting in line laughed when she and Bryan joined them.

One man waved at Bryan, saying, “Hey, Brad,” as the other people around him shouted, “Asshole!”

Laura laughed, thrilled by Bryan’s invitation. “This is going to be insane.”

Bryan nodded. “I can’t wait. I missed you the past couple weeks.”

She tried to ignore the schoolgirl giddiness his confession provoked. She’d had a heart to heart recently with Josie. She’d always felt like she and Josie were kindred spirits. The only two wine girls who’d ever been married—and divorced—Josie tended to view relationships and love with the same bruised heart and jaded vision Laura did.

Or had.

Josie was falling for a new guy, Jake, the owner of Blue Moon. She’d called Laura earlier in the week for advice. Laura knew what answer Josie had wanted. After all, in the past, Laura had been infamous for her
guard your heart
speeches. This time, though, she hadn’t been able to offer it. Instead she’d told Josie to take a chance at happiness.

Laura realized that was easier said than done. She looked at Bryan and tried to sort out her own feelings. It was easy to put their relationship in clearly marked boxes—friends, lovers. Unfortunately, when trying to label the emotions, it got harder. She’d lay claim to lust and caring.

However, she was struggling with the deeper feelings. She’d realized lately that a lot of her depression during the previous year wasn’t based on sadness over the divorce. She was lonely. Terribly, painfully alone. She’d left her parents’ house and immediately moved in with Mason. Within a year, they’d created a family. For forty-two years, Laura had never spent a single night of her life alone.

She’d fought to adjust to that state for a year. Now Bryan was filling some of the empty spaces. Problem was she wasn’t sure what she meant to him. They’d fallen back into the friendship, but he hadn’t alluded to wanting more than that and sex.

He’d been a bachelor for the past five years, and she knew he hadn’t been celibate during that time. Fact was he’d call her for a date, she’d say yes, then they’d end up having sex.

Shit. Does that make me a booty call?

“Earth to Laura. Line’s moving.”

She blinked, focusing on Bryan, who was several feet away and reaching out for her hand. “Where did you just go?”

She brushed off her thoughts and his question. She didn’t have any answers. For now she was going to go with the flow. Maybe she’d get lucky and somehow, somewhere down the line, everything would just magically fall into place.

She did a mental eye-roll.

Yeah. That’ll happen.

“Janet!” someone yelled when it was apparent she was holding up the line.

She moved forward, laughing as the chorus of moviegoers behind her followed up with a very loud, “Slut!”

Before long, Laura forgot about every worry and concern as she dodged flying bread and playing cards, got sprayed by water guns and covered her head with newspapers. Bryan had definitely done his homework, carrying in a backpack filled with all the props they needed to participate.

Laura laughed until her stomach hurt. Toward the end of the movie, she turned to Bryan and leaned closer. “Thank you,” she whispered.

“What for?”

“Tonight. The dates. The sex. I don’t know. I guess for everything.”

Bryan’s gaze darkened with lust and Laura suddenly wondered about the wisdom of coming to such a sexually charged movie after two weeks of abstinence. Maybe she should have dragged him to her bedroom for a quickie before the movie after all.

He reached for her, pulling her toward him for a kiss. She expected it to be a quick, hard peck, so she was surprised when his lips lingered and his tongue stroked hers. She understood now why he’d elected for seats in the back row. She jerked slightly when his hand caressed her breast.

The crowd around them continued to scream and sing along with the movie, but Laura wasn’t interested in playing anymore. Bryan was offering her a much more tantalizing game. She ran her hand along his upper thigh, relishing his sharp exhalation.

Laura giggled like a naughty teen on her first date as she and Bryan pushed the sexual tension higher. He cupped her breast, squeezing it firmly as she slipped her hand under the jacket he’d placed over his lap.

His cock was thick and hard, straining against his polyester pants. His jaw tightened when she reached for the button and slipped it free.

“How far will you go?” he whispered into her ear. They’d given up their kisses, focusing their attention on the gauntlet he’d just thrown down.

Bryan sucked in a quiet breath when she slowly slid the zipper down. Once his pants were open, she removed her hand, resting it on his thigh, daring him to take a turn.

He grinned, a sexy smile that told her he was more than up to the task. He slid one hand under her dress, tugging on her knee until her legs were open. She was in the corner seat, so Bryan had an easier task at keeping his actions unseen.

Laura glanced at the couple sharing the back row with them. The man sitting next to Bryan seemed unaware of the sex play unfolding right next to him. He was laughing loudly, enjoying the movie.