“Have you seen the man or haven’t you?”
“Okay. But is he that bad?”
Hailey thought about it. “I just think he doesn’t try too hard, or at least not with me.
And I like that. He doesn’t fake the way he feels. He’s not into games, and we have a
good time together.”
“Even without the sex?” Sydney looked skeptical.
“Well, I admit it’s been a week of frustration, but a fun week all the same.”
“So what are you saying, exactly?”
Hailey sighed. “That I’m going to put us both out of our misery, and maybe try out
the L-word on him soon.”
Sydney lifted her glass. “To the future, and to you and Mr. Tool.”
“To the Tools. I like that.”
Sydney rolled her eyes. “You would.”
www.samhainpublishing.com 73
Marie Harte
Gage slumped over his mother’s counter on yet another Saturday morning,
committed to the course he’d set. The past week had been surprisingly enjoyable, and
expectedly frustrating as hell. Having opened the floodgates on his libido, stopping sex
cold-turkey was harder to bear than going without for months at a time. But he couldn’t
deny the progress he thought he’d made with Hailey.
Instead of tearing each other’s clothes off each night, they’d learned something new
about one another. Hailey loved mysteries. He hadn’t known that. And she attended
aerobics twice a week, hated wearing pantyhose, and had a surprising thing for silk—
which he planned on exploiting just as soon as she put an end to this insane celibacy.
He’d been jerking off every night and finding less and less satisfaction. Coming in
his hands just wasn’t the same as releasing into Hailey. Hell, even the thought of getting
her pregnant made him harder than stone and shockingly content. Imagining a little
blonde girl with his eyes made his heart hammer, and he could all-too-easily envision
Hailey rocking his baby to sleep each night.
Damn, but she had him wrapped around her little finger. And he still didn’t know
