Guilty Pleasures by Bertrice Small Read Free Book Online

Sunday?” Tiffany responded. “With Rick away you don’t want to have to cook for just one.”
    “You could invite me for dinner,” Carla teased.
    “I don’t want to have to cook either,” Tiffany said with a laugh.
    “What time? Not too early. I’ll need to recover from Hawke’s playfulness,” Carla said with a grin. “Hey, it’s Saturday night, after all.”
    “You are going to be exhausted by the time Rick gets home,” Tiffany said. “He’s going to think you’re coming down with something.”
    Carla chuckled, and then she grew serious. “I’m still concerned about how this guy got into my fantasy. I did not think him, or anyone like him, up, Tiffy.”
    “But you were thinking that you wanted more excitement in your fantasy,” Tiffany reminded her friend again. “Maybe that translated into your pirate king.”
    “I didn’t think such a thing could happen,” Carla said. “With events maybe, but with people? I’ve always micromanaged my fantasy carefully. Pirates weren’t the nicest people in reality, as I’ve told you. I absolutely did not think up this Hawke character. So where did he come from, Tiffy?”
    “You got me, Carla,” Tiffany admitted. “Maybe you should call the Channel’s customer hotline and ask.”
    “Yeah,” Carla replied slowly. “Maybe I should.” She paused and added, “Just not yet. Since I didn’t program this, I’m curious as to how it’s going to play out.”
    “You’re braver than I am. I think when that pirate walked in, you should have said ‘Fantasy end.’ If you aren’t in control like you’re suppose to be, then something is wrong, Carla.”
    “I’ll call customer service after the weekend,” Carla promised. “It’s Saturday afternoon, and no one will be there anyway.”
    “They have service twenty-four-seven,” Tiffany said.
    “But what if they had to take me off-line until whatever is wrong could be fixed?” Carla murmured. “If I thought there was anything seriously wrong, I just wouldn’t access it, Tiffy. Who knows? Maybe my subconscious wanted an adventure with a bad boy, and the king of the pirates is certainly a very bad boy. Besides, I’m back in charge now, and I have some serious payback to deliver to his grace.”
    Tiffany shook her head. “As I said, you’re braver than me. Nora’s home, by the way. Why don’t you ask her if something could go wrong? She works for the Channel Corporation, and she’s pretty high up in the organization now.”
    “She’s the CEO of their development division,” Carla said proudly. “Who would have thought a woman who had the mind-set of a fifties housewife just seven years ago could have wised up and come so far? Yeah, I’ll go over and ask her if she’s ever heard of something like this happening.”
    “Good,” Tiffany replied. “I’ll feel better about it then. You going to the Blairs’ barbecue today?”
    “Yeah,” Carla answered. “I can’t get over how love found Kathy, and it’s all so perfect for them. See you there?”
    Tiffany nodded. “Ride with us,” she suggested.
    “Nah,” Carla responded. “I might want to leave before you do.”
    Tiffany shook her head. “You mean you want to get back to Amorata Cay and your big bad boy.”
    “Yep,” Carla agreed cheerfully, “but I promise to speak to Nora before I do.”
    When Tiffany hung up, Carla did just that, crossing the lawn in midafternoon to Nora Buckley’s big white Colonial. Despite her rise in the corporate world, Nora kept the house she had lived in for so many years with her unfaithful deceased husband and their two children.
    She called it her refuge.
    “Hey,” she said as Carla came in the kitchen door and walked into her den. Nora was an elegant, attractive woman with red-blond hair and gray-green eyes.
    “Hey, yourself,” Carla said, plopping down on the den couch. “I got a question for you. It’s about the Channel.”
    “Shoot!” Nora replied.
    “Did you ever hear of someone popping