Free Seduce Me by Jo Leigh Page A

her floor and waited impatiently for her to open it, peeking inside the box she thrust in his hand.
    Once inside, Natalie flicked on the light and dropped her shoes by the coatrack and went straight into her long galley kitchen. She gathered the whiskey, two glasses and two forks, and met Fred at the table parked at the end of the room. After shoving everything but her fork toward him, she stared at what was left of the decadent cheesecake and knew she wouldn’t be able to eat a bite. That alone told her she might be in for trouble. Even worse, if Fred noticed... She tried not to whimper.
    “Okay, now you’re making sex noises, and I thought we agreed never to do that.” He’d poured the whiskey and was digging in to the dessert.
    She simply waited, taking a small piece of cake to avoid unwanted questions.
    Fred was making yummy noises, but then he pointed his fork at her and said, “Enough foreplay. Tell me what happened tonight.”
    She began at the beginning. The restaurant, the revelation, the aborted escape. On to restaurant two, the conversation, the dessert invitation...
    Fred knew her well, and when she stopped talking, he stared at her with equal parts disbelief and oh, my God. “You didn’t.”
    She pressed her lips together.
    “Holy shit!” His gaze still locked on her, he shoveled in another forkful. “It’s too late to play coy now,” he said. “What’s his place like?”
    “Sort of what you’d expect.” She shrugged, deciding how much she wanted to tell him. “Giant TV, masculine colors. Big, but nearly empty. It’s a loft, a nice one. Had to have cost a bundle even if he’d bought it during the days of real-estate bingo.”
    Fred looked at her as if the debate team were having it out in his head. “I can’t express how much I never wanted to know anything about your relationship with Oliver. There simply aren’t words. And since I’m not actually your best girlfriend, it’s probably inappropriate as hell for me to ask now. But was he amazing? He looked like he’d be amazing.”
    She felt herself blush for what had to be the hundredth time tonight. She and Fred were really close. He was like the brother she’d always wanted. But they’d never gone into details about intimate things. Of course she knew his history, that although he’d been single for a couple of years, he wasn’t anymore. His longtime friend Tony had become something more.
    Which didn’t change the fact that she and Fred filled the void for each other where more outgoing people would have a bunch of friends, people they’d call to go shopping or to movies or concerts. She knew a lot of librarians and archivists, but the only one who came close to being a real friend was Denise. They saw each other at book and film events and sometimes socially. But they were content to catch up with each other when it felt right and not just for the sake of touching base.
    It would cross a boundary, telling Fred more than she had. But this was evidently her night to leap. “Amazing doesn’t even come close,” she said, her cheeks reheating epically. She could have roasted marshmallows on them.
    “Good for you.” Fred squeezed her hand and smiled his real smile, the one that was a little asymmetrical, but endearing. The one he rarely showed in public.
    “It was terrifying. I hardly believed it was me.”
    “I’m so glad. You had to get Oliver’s fingerprints off you once and for all. Not just Oliver. You don’t need to settle. You’re a fantastic person. You don’t think enough of yourself, Nat, and it’s a shame.”
    “Look who’s talking.”
    Fred wasn’t grinning any longer. “I know. It’s how I can recognize it clearly in you.”
    “Well, this got awfully deep, awfully fast.”
    “Sorry,” he said, pushing the remaining quarter of the cheesecake toward her.
    “It’s fine. I honestly don’t mind. But you do realize this was a one-night thing. I’m not going to see Max again.”
    Leaning back in his