Damaged Goods by Lauren Gallagher Read Free Book Online

for him to
    know their names and remember their likes and dislikes. Was I really the kind of
    woman who"d do that sort of thing? Hell, what did I care what kind of woman did or
    didn"t? I loved what he did to me. I could afford it. Why should I give a shit what
    anyone else might think if they somehow found out?
    I let the water rush over my face. No, this wasn"t something I could keep
    doing. Maybe every once in a while, when I really needed something to take the
    edge off. Then again, when Sabian took the edge off, it only served to raise the bar
    for any man who came along after him. Too much of a good thing, and I"d end up as
    picky as Kim when it came to men.
    Kim, who used Elite Escorts quite often as far as I knew and hadn"t had a
    relationship in years.
    I had no regrets. Tonight wasn"t a mistake, but I definitely couldn"t make a
    habit of this. Tomorrow, I"d go back to normal dating, with all of its requisite
    bullshit, and eventually, I"d find what I was looking for.
    I hoped.

    Damaged Goods

    25

    Chapter Four

    Dating sucks. That"s all there is to it.
    I couldn"t decide which was worse: meeting people online or playing Dance
    Club Roulette. The former meant false advertising and creepy come-ons. The latter
    was the same, minus the misleading profile pictures and with the additions of
    alcohol and being way, way too close for comfort.
    Occasionally, I met some great guys that way, but they usually turned out to
    have some sort of fatal flaw, such as an absolute and misguided certainty they were
    God"s gift to women. Or a belief that kissing involved trying to wrap one"s tongue
    around my tonsils. Once in a while, a lethal case of halitosis.
    If they were still Mr. Perfect, they ran screaming for the hills when they found
    out about my kids. I guess I couldn"t blame them. Not everyone wants to be a
    parent, and the prospect of an instant family was more than a little intimidating.
    Legitimate concerns or not, there was still nothing quite like being relegated to a
    category of dating prospects akin to dented soup cans, especially when some seemed
    less concerned with the kids and obligations as they were with what having two
    children had done to my body.
    And I wondered why I"d resorted to a prostitute.
    That had been fun, of course, but it was time to return to the real world and
    try to find someone more permanent and less expensive.
    Between my kids and my job, the time I had available for dating and all its
    headaches was limited. At least my custody arrangement with Michael made things
    easier. We lived less than a mile apart, and since the kids went from one to the
    other every weekend, every other week was mine.
    When the kids were at their father"s, I tried to get out at least a few nights a
    week to meet people, plus an evening out with friends to commiserate about the
    results of our respective prowls. Those evenings with friends were a double-edged
    sword. On one hand, they offered some hope. Janie had finally found a great guy a
    year or so ago, and she"d recently seen him looking at the jewelry store inserts in
    the Sunday paper. Laura"s latest boyfriend seemed like he might stick around for a
    while.
    On the other hand, it could be a rather depressing reminder that Sarah,
    Vanessa, and I were all still single.
    As much as it had its drawbacks, the online dating thing certainly had the
    advantage of being more efficient. I made far more connections than in person, and

    26
    Lauren Gallagher

    could tactfully bow out of awkward situations with a bland response or a blocked
    screen name. On a good week, I could “meet” a dozen or so guys and get two or three
    date nights out of it. With only every other week available for this, I tried to fit as
    many in as I could, especially since the vast majority didn"t go beyond meeting for
    drinks or dinner.
    In theory, meeting more guys meant more opportunities to click with someone,
    but usually it just meant an evening of conversation, maybe a good-night kiss