The Backup Plan

The Backup Plan by Sherryl Woods Read Free Book Online

Book: The Backup Plan by Sherryl Woods Read Free Book Online
Authors: Sherryl Woods
she was taking advantage of him even now. “You make it sound as if Bobby’s nothing more than a last resort.”
    â€œIsn’t he?”
    â€œOf course not. I just want to get together with him and catch up.”
    â€œIs that some euphemism for getting him into your bed?”
    â€œYou’re being crass again,” Dinah accused. “It’s not about sex.”
    â€œThen you’ve given up fame and fortune and rushed home because you suddenly had an epiphany in the middle of Afghanistan and realized that you’re wildly in love with him?” Maggie asked skeptically. “Because that’s the only reason that would justify you getting that poor man’s hopes all stirred up again after all these years.”
    â€œI’ve always loved Bobby,” Dinah replied carefully. Not that he’d crossed her mind more than a half-dozen times in recent years and always with more fondness than passion. Good marriages had been built on a whole lot less, she told herself.
    â€œNot the same thing as being in love with him,” Maggie replied. “Does your heart go pitter-pat when you see him?”
    â€œI haven’t seen him in ten years,” she retorted irritably. The truth was her pulse had never skipped so much as a single beat at the sight of Bobby. He’d been comfortable and back then that’s all she’d wanted, a man who wouldn’t tangle her emotions into knots. That had left her free to pursue her own dreams.
    Deep down Dinah recognized that Cord had seen her intentions and had set out in his own way to protecthis brother, but Bobby hadn’t wanted his protection and she’d been shocked and angry that Cord would betray his brother’s trust the way he had.
    â€œHow would I know if Bobby turns me on?” she grumbled defensively.
    â€œMy point precisely,” Maggie said, clearly satisfied. She gave Dinah a knowing look. “I’ll bet Bobby has never once gotten you all worked up the way Cordell did just last night. Now there is a man worth throwing away a career just so you can have him climbing into your bed.”
    Dinah thought of the way her blood had sizzled through her veins within ten seconds of trying to carry on a sensible conversation with Cord Beaufort. That was irritation, plain and simple. He’d been annoying her like that since they were toddlers.
    â€œBobby is sweet and kind and smart,” she repeated emphatically.
    â€œAnd dull as dishwater,” Maggie countered. “You’ll be bored stiff in a week.”
    â€œAnd you think Cord would be an improvement?”
    â€œDefinitely.”
    â€œYou’re out of your mind.” The very last thing she needed in her life was a man who made her feel prickly and restless, the kind of man who prided himself on taking women on some sort of emotional roller-coaster ride. She’d given up danger when she’d left Afghanistan.
    Maggie grinned. “We’ll see,” she said with smug confidence.
    Dinah decided it was past time to turn the tables on her friend. “What about you, Magnolia?” she inquired, deliberately using her friend’s hated real name. “Anyone special in your life? Since you seem so fascinatedby Cordell, perhaps you should be encouraging him to give you a tumble.”
    â€œI tried, to be perfectly honest,” Maggie admitted. “He wouldn’t give me a second look. I’m far too tame for the likes of Cordell.”
    â€œAnd I’m not?”
    â€œYou play a form of roulette with car bombs and rebel gunmen,” Maggie replied. “I’d say that qualifies you for a man who likes living on the edge.”
    Dinah sighed. Though no one here knew it, she’d fallen for a man like that, a man who courted real danger every day. She’d wound up with a broken heart. Of course, there was a vast difference between physical danger and the emotional minefield a woman would have to tiptoe

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