Damaged Goods by Lauren Gallagher Read Free Book Online Page A

on the
    cheek, and once in a while, a one-night stand or a second date. I was picky; they
    were picky. Such was life.
    My dates were usually pleasant evenings, if nothing else. There were worse
    ways to spend a couple of hours than sharing some good wine and conversation,
    even if we never saw each other again.
    As I dipped my toes back into the dating world now, I wondered again if an
    escort had been a bad idea. Every man"s charisma and chemistry were measured
    against Sabian"s. My entire sexual world had shifted beneath the weight of those
    two nights, and everything was filtered through Sabian-tinted lenses. The
    butterflies in my stomach had been spoiled and wouldn"t even get out of bed, let
    alone give a half-assed fluttering, for anyone anymore. The mere thought of him,
    though, had them going wild.
    In the month or so after my second time with him, I managed two one-night
    stands, and they both left me feeling cold. One came well before I even stood a
    chance at having an orgasm. While he snored away beside me, I let my hand and
    thoughts of a certain escort carry me into something resembling satisfaction.
    The other was attentive and skilled, but the only chemistry we had was
    physical. I"m not even sure how we got into the bedroom. Conversation was stilted
    and forced, most of dinner was awkward, but then he"d kissed me in the parking lot,
    and what we lacked in conversation, we made up for in that kiss.
    That night was hot, but disappointing in a way.
    The fact was, I wanted Sabian. Sabian and his spectacular mouth. Sabian and
    his gold-foil-wrapped condoms. Sabian and his stamina that always outlasted the
    time I"d paid for.
    I wanted him, but I had to be realistic. I couldn"t just keep paying for sex to
    avoid the dating headache. If I wanted something in the long term, I had to stick my
    neck out there again and find someone. The occasional night with Sabian would
    only be salt in the wound, reminding me I only got that kind of sex if I bought it,
    and the price included waking up alone the next morning.
    So that was why I sat alone at a table in an intimate restaurant full of couples,
    waiting for my date to show up. I looked at my watch. Eight fifteen.
    Fifteen minutes after he was supposed to show up, and fifteen minutes before
    Sabian would have been arriving had this been that first night—
    “Stop it, Jocelyn,” I muttered into my water glass.

    Damaged Goods

    27

    Oh, but that was a train of thought that wouldn"t be stopped. While I wasted
    what precious little time I had for this, I could have had an evening of guaranteed
    orgasms without the need to put on a fake smile and pretend it was more than a
    one-night stand. Or, at the very least, I could have been certain of a knock on a
    hotel door at exactly eight thirty instead of twiddling my thumbs at a half-occupied
    table for two while the ice in my glass melted along with my patience.
    I glared at the door, trying to conjure Bill out of thin air and determination. It
    didn"t work. I gritted my teeth. Tomorrow night, the kids came back from Michael"s
    house. It would be another week before I could try this again, and I was not in the
    mood to be stood up. This guy was probably chronically on time to business
    arrangements. Seemed like that type was usually late to anything of lesser
    importance. Like dates.
    Maybe if I’d hired him for tonight…
    The air in the room changed as it had every time the restaurant door had
    opened, and just as I"d done every time, I looked up.
    This time, I was rewarded with a newcomer who actually looked like his
    profile picture from the dating site. Right around six feet, athletic build, dark hair
    that was forgivably longer than it had been in the picture. He was twenty minutes
    late, but he"d arrived and hadn"t lied about his appearance, so I"d let it go and see
    how the night progressed.
    It didn"t take him more than a few seconds to find me, and he hurried across
    the restaurant to our table.
    “Jocelyn, I