In Her Wildest Dreams by Farrah Rochon Read Free Book Online

breath.
    Despite strong resistance from him, Erica had managed to extract the story behind Whitney’s treachery from Gavin a while ago. The woman had hurt him. Terribly. The thought of Whitney sinking her claws back into him brought out a possessiveness in Erica that she had no right to feel.
    But she did have a right , her brain argued. It was only natural that she’d want to protect her friend from pain.
    Was that all she wanted, or was there something more? a nagging little voice asked. Erica slammed the lid closed on that voice. She wasn’t ready to face that question.
    With her sounding board otherwise occupied, the only thing left to do was head back out to finish her errands. Before leaving, she picked out a few truffles and treated herself to a shot glass of Decadente’s rich drinking chocolate that probably had enough calories to kill a poodle. Erica rarely indulged in the sinfully good treat, but this was a special occasion.
    She handed Tonya her credit card, trying to recall the last time she’d actually laid money on the counter in this place. Gavin never let her pay for anything. Tonya, being a businesswoman, gladly accepted the money.
    “Do you want me to call him?” Tonya asked.
    “No, just have him contact me as soon as he gets back. I don’t want to interrupt his lunch,” Erica said, though a part of her wanted to do just that, especially if he was at lunch with Whitney.
    Gavin was a big boy. He could take care of himself. She needed to concentrate on the clients who were counting on her to create one-of-a-kind experiences for Valentine’s Day that they would remember for the rest of their lives. She would not allow Hilton Banks’s call to distract her any more than it already had, just as she would not allow thoughts of Gavin at lunch with his ex-fiancée to distract her either.
    “Yeah, right.” Erica snorted.
    She didn’t want to think about the obvious reason why the thought of Gavin and Whitney Parker together made her stomach hurt, but she couldn’t deny that it did.
    A lot.
     
    ***
     
    “I thought this was supposed to be lunch?” Gavin said as he reached up to block a shot.
    “We can eat later,” Dalton said, laying the ball into the hoop despite Gavin’s defensive efforts.
    “Shit.” Gavin grimaced at his old college roommate and ex–business partner.
    “Looks to me as if working around all that chocolate is starting to have some negative side effects.”
    “Kiss my ass,” Gavin returned. He tossed the ball to Dalton and signaled for a time-out, reaching over for his water bottle. “Now, what’s so important that we had to meet right this minute? I know you didn’t call me for a pick-up game of basketball.”
    Dalton shrugged as he tried to twirl the ball on the tip of his finger. “Maybe I just wanted to hang out.”
    “On a Monday afternoon?” Gavin’s brow furrowed with suspicion. “I don’t think so.”
    “Yeah, all right.” Dalton set the basketball on the asphalt and reached for his own bottle of water. He took a generous swig before pointing the uncapped bottle toward Gavin. “I’ve got a proposition for you,” he opened. “You know that I’ve been volunteering as a mentor for the MBA program at Tulane, right?”
    “Yeah, you told me about that.”
    “A couple of the guys I’m mentoring have an idea that is going to turn the computer gaming industry on its head. I’ve never seen anything like it. It combines gaming, social networking, and peer playing across the Web.”
    “Okay.” Gavin used his shirt to wipe the sweat trailing down his face. “And I come in where?”
    “What do you think? I need you to develop the software and Web interface,” Dalton said.
    Gavin shook his head. “I don’t deal in computers anymore. You know this.”
    “I know that you’ve been playing around with this chocolate stuff long enough. It’s time for you to get back in the game, man.”
    “I don’t want to get back in the game. I’m happy making