Free Smoldering Hunger by Donna Grant

vibrator.
    Then Claire batted her eyes and did her best Southern accent to mimic her favorite character, Kaylee, from the movie Serenity as she said, “Goin’ on a year now I ain’t had nothin’ twixt my nethers weren’t run on batteries.”
    Sophie had to grab her sides she was laughing so hard. Leave it to Claire to make her smile.
    “What?” Claire said with an innocent expression, keeping her Southern drawl. “Was somethin’ I said funny?”
    Sophie held up a hand when Claire started to continue with more lines from the movie. “No more, please.”
    “It’s all that coffee,” Claire said as she eyed the cup Sophie set down a moment ago. “Water, Soph, water.”
    “Yes, but water doesn’t have the caffeine I need to keep going.”
    “With Mr. Do-It-Right in your bed, I don’t think you’re going to need much caffeine.”
    It was a reminder that Darius had come into her life out of the shadows, and he’d disappeared back into them. Sophie tried to keep the smile in place, but Claire knew her too well.
    “What is it, honey?” she asked.
    Sophie waved her away. “Nothing. It was just sex, nothing more. And he’s gone now. He won’t be coming back.”
    “What a wanker. At least he wasn’t perfect.”
    Only Claire would immediately come to her side and find something wrong with Mr. Do-It-Right, as she’d called him. Sophie smiled wryly. “He was kinda perfect.”
    “Everyone has flaws. Did he snore?”
    “I’ve no idea.”
    “I bet he snored,” Claire said with a firm nod. “Was his thingy bent? It curved to the side, didn’t it?”
    Sophie shook her head.
    “Was he…” Claire trailed off and wiggled her little finger.
    “Mr. Do-It-Right?” Sophie asked with a flat look. “He certainly wasn’t small.”
    Claire rolled her eyes. “Hey, some small guys can do it right. It just feels better when the man is well hung. So maybe he couldn’t kiss. That’s it. He was a bad kisser.”
    Sophie shook her head again.
    Clair threw out her hands and let them slap her thighs as they fell. “I give up. Looks like he was perfect except that he left. That definitely makes him a wanker.”
    “It’s better that he’s gone.”
    “It’s absolutely not better if you think that. If you’re glad, then that means he struck a chord in you, Soph. And I’m sorry, but after seven years, you need several chords struck. Repeatedly. And often.”
    Sophie checked her watch and winked at Claire. “Thanks for the pep talk. Gotta run.”
    “We’re not done here,” Claire called as Sophie walked away.
    Sophie merely lifted her hand and waved, not bothering to look behind her. It was a conversation she and Claire had been having for years. She met Claire six months after moving to Edinburgh, and they had bonded during one incredibly long shift.
    During a girl’s night out a year later, Sophie had drank too much and ended up telling Claire the entire awful story. Claire was the only person in Edinburgh who knew the sordid details.
    No matter what Claire said, Sophie was happy with her life. She had everything she wanted. Her career was on track, she loved her job, and she had a close friend. It was all she needed.
    Except, with Darius, she’d begun to long for so much more. That dream of a husband and a happy life began to sprout again.
    It was a dangerous thing, hope.
    Especially to someone like her and all she’d endured. The humiliation, the shame.
    Sophie turned the corner and ran into a man. She bounced back, but his hands grabbed her by her arms to steady her. “I apologize,” she said and looked up into gold eyes.
    He smiled, though it didn’t quite reach his unique eyes. “It’s my fault. I wasna looking where I was going.”
    She recognized him from the day before. “It’s fine. These halls are very busy.”
    “I’ve a confession,” he said as she started to walk around him.
    Intrigued, she asked, “Oh?”
    “I put myself in your path. I’ve been trying to get your attention all