Free Hold Me Down Hard by Cathryn Fox Page A

truth was, while she wanted a shot at a real relationship with her best friend, one that would eventually involve a white picket fence and a brood of kids, he seemed more than happy with the way things were between them. She loved hanging out with him, loved how he checked in on her every night, and especially loved lounging on the sofa and sharing a bowl of popcorn during one of their many weekend movie marathons. But as much as she pried, Jay never opened up on a deeper personal level and never shared his work life with her, even when she knew he’d had a bad day and needed to vent.
    Maria frowned. “Are you sure he doesn’t have a girlfriend somewhere?”
    “Positive.”
    Janie arched an inquisitive brow. “Maybe he just isn’t commitment material.” She rolled her eyes and added, “Typical playboy.”
    “You could be right,” Eden said, nodding in dismay.
    Maria blinked dark lashes over hopeful eyes. “Maybe you could reform him. Prove to him you’re the one and only girl for him.”
    Eden blew an exaggerated breath. While she would love to do just that, she wasn’t sure how to go about it. Nor was she even sure if she could tame him, considering the amount of women she’d seen coming and going from his place over the last three years. Maybe he just wasn’t interested in long-term with anyone.
    “Yeah,” Angie said. “ Show him just how good you two can be together.”
    “How? We’re friends and he just doesn’t seem interested in anything more.”
    “Then make him interested,” Janie said.
    Eden planted her elbow on the table and rested her forehead in her palm. “Make him? And how, pray tell, do I do that?”
    “He helps you rehearse your scripts, right?”
    “Yeah. What does that have to do with anything?”
    Across the table from her, Maria giggled and shared a conspiratory look with Janie. Janie winked at her as Angie reached over and pulled Eden’s palms from her face and handed her a much-needed drink.
    “It has everything to do with it,” Maria said.
    Wondering what she was missing, Eden took a big sip of her daiquiri and leaned back in her chair. “You two want to enlighten me?”
    Janie rolled her big brown eyes and her voice was teasing when she asked, “God, Eden, do I have to spell everything out for you?”
    “Apparently.”
    “Get your ass over there right now and ask him to help you rehearse.”
    Frustrated, Eden threw her arms up in the air. “He runs lines with me all the time and it’s never made him notice me before. What makes you think this time will be any different?”
    Janie leaned forward, a mischievous grin curling her painted lips. “Because this time, sweet, naïve Eden, you’re going to write the script.”
    Eden exhaled slowly and sank a little lower in her chair. Even though she couldn’t believe what her friend was suggesting, it didn’t stop her salacious mind from racing with devious plots, ones that involved Jay in his sexy uniform rescuing and cuffing an innocent—or not so innocent—damsel in distress.
    Her gaze shifted to Angie, the most logical and rational thinker of the bunch, but when Angie pointed one manicured finger toward her door and gave her an encouraging smile, Eden’s thoughts once again careened in an erotic direction.
    Shivers of anticipation trickled along every vertebra in her spine as she thought about playing out the role she’d been fantasizing over for months. Her breath came in shallow bursts and a low, needy moan lodged deep in her throat when her eyes strayed toward her door. She blew a wispy strand of hair from her face as basic elemental need took over, urging her to heed her friends’ advice and show Jay how good they could be together both in and out of the bedroom. Her body trembled almost uncontrollably as she visualized herself going over to his condo with her very own sexy script—before he climbed out of his uniform.
    But it was so risky. So outrageous. So downright naughty.
    Then again, hadn’t she just