Meant To Be Yours. Susan Mallery

      His tone was low, sexy and intriguing. Renee felt herself flushing. Stupid red hair, she thought with a sigh. “A woman does. As does a man.”

      “Yes, that’s true.”

      She kept her gaze on his, even though she desperately wanted to look away. “But, ah, I’ve never really done anything like this before.”

      “Had a sex-only relationship?”

      She winced. “Could we not call it that?”

      His voice turned teasing. “But you do want me to be your booty call.”

      In for a penny and all that. “Yes.”

      He nodded slowly. “So you’d be using me for sex?”

      “I could say the same thing about you.”

      “I didn’t ask you to be my booty call. I don’t know.” He raised and lowered his shoulders. “I’ve never been anyone’s sex toy before.”

      “You didn’t really just say that.”

      He dropped his gaze to the floor. “I feel used.”

      “Just stop it. No one believes that for a second.”

      He looked at her again and grinned. “Sex without the promise of anything more,” he said. “I’m in.” His smile faded. “Having said that, I’d like to keep things exclusive. Otherwise it gets confusing. Unless you want to invite one of your friends to join us.”

      “What?” she shrieked.

      He stood and pulled her to her feet. “I’m kidding. I know them too well. Worse, I know the men in their lives. It would be weird. So just you and me, for as long as it’s good for us, then when it’s over, we walk away. No regrets, no bad breakup.”

      It sounded so mature and modern, she thought. And was exactly what she wanted. And while she was fully aware that it could all end horribly, because her boy-girl things always did, at least she was starting from a position of clarity and honesty.

      “Agreed,” she said firmly, raising herself on tiptoe so she could kiss him. “Now, if it’s been long enough, I think I should let you use me for sex. To keep things fair.”

      “I like how you think.”

      He pulled a condom out of his jeans pocket and tossed it onto the coffee table. “I grabbed that from your bedroom. I say that so you don’t think less of me.” He grinned. “Your sofa is very comfortable. Why don’t we start here and see where things go.”

      RENEE HAD BEEN HEALED. Despite her lack of sleep and the generally achiness from unused muscles getting a workout, she felt happy and energized and just a little bit weightless. It was amazing what a night of great sex could do for a woman. And with a little luck and some schedule planning, it was exactly what she intended to experience again and again. Yup, she would be enjoying her booty call bonanza for as long as it lasted.

      Jasper had left around two in the morning. Even though she technically could have slept in, she’d been awake by six, happy and practically humming with the glory of the day. After clearing up her work emails, she’d gone to the grocery store for ingredients for one of her favorite pasta salads. She’d fixed that, showered, done a little more paperwork, then just before noon she headed for Willow Gallery, where she would meet her girlfriends for lunch.

      She had a large group of friends in town. Their schedules were complicated and everyone was busy, so the weekly lunch was a priority. They rotated locations and whoever hosted provided an entrée. Everyone else brought whatever they were in the mood for. Mostly the menu worked out but every now and then they ended up with three veggie plates. Still, Renee was far more interested in the conversation than the food. She enjoyed the chance to hang with other women. In the past, she’d worked hard to keep herself a safe distance from the people around her. But since moving to Happily Inc, she’d realized it was safe to connect and fit in. She could relax here and that felt good.

      Willow Gallery, a beautiful venue close to the river, housed amazing art pieces. Happily Inc was home to several successful artists. Renee had moved to town in time to see her friend Natalie grow from struggling unknown to rising star. Natalie had been able to quit her office manager job to concentrate on her art full-time.

      Renee pulled in next to two familiar cars. Pallas and Carol were both already inside, and if previous lunches were anything to go by, they would have brought their babies with them.

      Just as difficult as accepting she would never have love in her life, was the realization that she would never have a traditional family. While children weren’t an impossible dream, if she wanted kids, she was going to have to go it alone, and being a single mom wasn’t an easy road. Renee had watched her own mother deal with being both parents while raising a child and it had been hard for her. On the flip side, Renee also knew what it was like to be left by a father and that was a pain that didn’t go away. So while she could have a child on her own, she didn’t want to go that route, and what with her finally accepting she was never going to trust her heart to a man again, she was stuck.

      “I’m not going to think about that,” she said aloud as she got out of her car. She’d had great sex the night before, she was going to enjoy hanging with her friends and she would hold Devon and Ryan as much as she could until the other women wrestled the sweet infants from her arms.

      She was still smiling as she walked into the gallery. Natalie already had Ryan, so Renee dropped her tote on the buffet table set up by a display of a massive blown glass garden filled with exquisite glass flowers.

      “How’s my best girl?” she asked, gently taking the sleeping baby from Carol.

      “I’m fine,” her friend said drily. “Thanks for asking.”

      Renee grinned. “Good to know.” She gently rocked Devon, enjoying the weight of her and admiring her rosebud mouth and velvety soft skin.

      “We need more babies around here,” Pallas said as she unpacked Renee’s insulated tote. “Pasta salad. At some point I need to get off carbs, but I’m not quite ready. What’s in this?”

      “Cheese tortellini, bacon, tomatoes, diced cucumber, broccoli all tossed with an avocado ranch dressing and sprinkled with cheese.”

      Pallas raised her eyebrows. “That’s a lot of work, young lady.”

      Renee thought about her early start and good mood. “I was inspired. It’s a recipe my mom used to make, only she used regular ranch dressing.”

      “Sounds delish. I brought brownies,” Pallas said with a sigh. “It’s the carb thing. I can’t help it.”

      Silver and Bethany walked in together. Silver dumped her container on the table and headed for Natalie.

      “Hi, everyone. Pass him over.”

      Natalie reluctantly passed Ryan to Silver.

      “I guess we really do need more babies,” Natalie admitted, pushing up her glasses.

      “You first,” Silver, a pretty platinum blonde and the owner of a mobile bar called AlcoHaul, told her with a grin.

      “Not me.” Natalie shook her head. “I want another year at least before I get pregnant. I’m working on my art and enjoying being married to Ronan. I’m more interested in aunt status right now.”

      Renee looked at Bethany, expecting her friend to hurry over and claim Devon, but Bethany stayed by the buffet.

      “Hi, everyone,” Bethany said with a wave. “The lunch looks great. I brought a veggie plate.”

      Pallas made a face, then forced a smile. “It’s always good to have something healthy on the table.”

      Renee lowered her voice and whispered, “Liar.”