Sex Machine: A Standalone Contemporary Romance by Marie Force Read Free Book Online Page B

nostalgia about the playground years.”
    “What about the playground?”
    “He used to pinch me and make me cry, which he pretended to not remember, but of course he totally did. He said he pinched me because he liked me. Boys are so weird, and they grow up to be even weirder men.”
    “He’s one of the good ones.” Lauren’s expression is sadder than I’ve seen it since my Gran died. “Losing Jordan messed him up permanently. It’s like he’s broken on the inside or something. It’s such a waste of a good man. He’d be a wonderful husband and father if only he could find a way to forgive himself for something that wasn’t even his fault.”
    “It is sad,” I agree. “He’s a good guy who deserves better than the hand he was dealt by fate.”
    “You didn’t… You know… Start to think…”
    “No! I told you I wouldn’t, and I didn’t. It was just sex. I know that. He knows that. One and done.”
    “Oh good. Phew. I was worried all night that you’d get so wrapped up in The Cock’s magic spell that you’d forget.”
    “The Cock’s magic spell.” I sputter with laughter at her terminology.
    “Is it or is it not a magical cock?”
    “It’s quite magical in the moment. The day after?” I switch positions and nearly gasp from the shock of almost painful arousal that refuses to quit, even hours after I left his house. “Not so magical.”
    “A hot bath with Epsom salts. That’s what you need.”
    I nearly moan at the thought of my tortured lower half soaking in hot water, knowing I’m hours away from being able to do it.
    “I’ll drop some stuff off on your porch on my way home. It’ll fix you right up.”
    “You’re the best friend ever, but I blame you for my current predicament.”
    “Your pre- dick -ament. Ha-ha. You loved every second of it. Admit it.”
    “I really did.”
    “I knew it!”
    “It was like a light went on or something. I finally get why everyone else goes nuts over it.”
    “Praise the Lord. She’s seen the light.”
    “Yes, I have.”
    “So why do you seem so bummed? I thought you’d be all euphoric and glowy today, but you’re not.”
    “Glowy?”
    “After eight orgasms, there ought to be a bit of a glow to you.”
    “I’m not bummed. I’m…” I can lie to some people. Lauren isn’t one of them. “Okay, maybe I’m a little bummed.”
    “Why?”
    “Don’t get mad at me when I say I’m sad that all it can ever be is what happened last night. I knew that going in. You warned me. I warned myself. He even warned me. But that doesn’t stop me from wishing things were different, that he was different.”
    She blanches. “Honey, you promised me!”
    I hold up a hand to stop her from going off. “I know I did, and I still know the score. I only wish it didn’t have to be this way. That’s all. He’s so…”
    “Perfect in every way except for the hole in his chest where his heart used to be?”
    I sputter with laughter at her spot-on description, but just as quickly, my laughter turns to tears because it’s so true. I bitterly resent the tears.
    “Oh, Honey.” She gets up and comes around the desk to hug me. “I told you not to do this. I told you!”
    “I’m not doing it. I’m having a teeny, tiny pity party that will last an hour and a half max, and then I’m moving on. I swear.”
    “All right.” She sighs again as she pats my hair like the mother hen she is where I’m concerned. As a girl whose mother left her at a church to be raised by strangers, I drink in all the mothering I can get. “I suppose I can allow that after what you experienced last night.”
    She stays for a little while, long enough for me to mostly get myself together before my clients show up with a clatter and a bang and the ringing of the bells on the door. Why do they always make so much noise when they arrive?
    “Showtime,” Lauren whispers. “Are you okay?”
    “I will be. Losing myself in work for a few hours will help.” I call out to let the