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“So much the better.” Blake’s sideways grin screams of danger, and it makes my stomach flutter.
“He might refuse.”
“Then he doesn’t get the house.”
“We’re ready to go,” Claudia says, coming up behind us and throwing her pack onto her back.
Blake stands up and offers me a hand. I take it and let him pull me up like I weigh the same as a feather.
On our walk back down, I feel like a different woman. I have a purpose now. I love the idea of owning the agency on my own. I could finally do all the projects Ethan would normally veto. I could use our funds the way I see fit without having to compromise. I would be my own person again.
Claudia hangs back with me at the end of the line.
“Blake is hot, huh?” she says, loud enough so a few people look back at her with mischievous smiles.
The flask they were passing around probably wasn’t coffee. Claudia is married, and her husband is with her on this trip, so I know she’s not asking for herself.
My cheeks warm, but I want to play it cool.
“Yeah, sure.”
Blake isn’t pretty, but he’s got this sexy magnetism that draws you in. In all the years I’ve known him, he’s never had trouble finding women to spend time with… when he was in the mood, that is.
“You know, there’s no better way to get over a breakup than a rebound.”
Claudia winks at me and I nearly trip over a rock sticking out of the dirt.
Now I’m sure my entire face is flushed. “Oh no. We’re friends. Besides, Blake is strictly a one-night-stand kind of guy.”
Or a one-week stand. Rarely, one month. Basically, he’s in as long as it’s fun. The moment the girl falls in love with him, he’s out.
“So? Those kind of guys make the perfect rebound. I mean, did you see his hands? You just know that he knows how to use them. You have one great night with him, and then you feel better.”
Images of Blake’s hands pop into my mind uninvited. It’s getting warm out here.
My whole body comes alive at the thought of one great night of sex. I miss sex. It’s been several months since the last time Ethan and I had sex. And even then, there was nothing great about it. Ethan liked to keep it quick. I should have realized something was wrong. I just thought he was busy.
“Sex is nice. But how does getting dumped by a second guy make me feel better?”
Claudia shakes her head and gives me a you’re-so-innocent look.
“You know he’s a rebound from the start. You’re not looking for a relationship. But at the end of the night, when you lay your head on your pillow, your ex isn’t the last man you’ve slept with anymore, so he’s got a little less of a hold on you. You know you can have fun and be sexy with someone else. And it makes it easier to move on to the right guy.”
Huh.
I’ve been so busy being angry and feeling sorry for myself. It’s too soon for me to picture myself with someone else. I was in a committed marriage last month, and I’m not the kind of person who can change gears that fast and be in a new relationship next month. But Claudia makes a good point. I would feel better if Ethan wasn’t the last person I’d slept with. Not just the last, but the only person I’ve slept with in nearly twenty years. It’s hard not to feel like my body still belongs to him. And it might be a stupid way to get there, but it would help to bring me back to a mental state where my body belongs to me.
“Thanks,” I say.
And I mean it. I feel like I’ve got plans now. Plans to get my life back.
“I’ll think about dating casually. But not with Blake. He’s a friend.”
Claudia makes a tsk sound with her tongue. “Friends can help each other out.”
Chapter Three
Blake
