Free Pure Lust (Lust for Life) by Jayne Kingston Page A

when she and Diego had
gotten home from Chicago. Claire knew full well Lin wanted all the juicy
details of the night with Diego, but Claire wasn’t sure she was ready to
divulge any of that just yet. It still hardly seemed real, but then, the entire
last few days had a surreal kind of feeling.
    It had still been light outside when she and Diego had
fallen asleep, so when she woke up with sunlight streaming through her
windows—covered by a blanket, a pillow under her head—it had taken her a long
time to realize she’d slept through the night.
    Diego had left while she’d apparently been dead to the
world, but not without leaving her a note on her kitchen table saying: Feel
free to use this again. Soon. XX—D with an arrow pointing to the business
card offering her the night of her life.
    “ Claire ,” Lin gasped as the stepped into the kitchen.
“Please tell me these are from him,” she said as she gently touched one of the
deep-purple irises in the large bouquet sitting next to the pink roses on her
kitchen table.
    “They came this afternoon while I was hauling the old vanity
out to the driveway for the reclaimed furniture guy to pick up.” She couldn’t
help the grin on her face.
    She’d been completely floored when the florist’s truck had
stopped at the end of her driveway. The card simply read XX— D .
    Lin turned to her, looking mildly astonished. “So how does
it feel to finally have a man wooing you?”
    Claire turned away so she wouldn’t see her blush and
shrugged, because she still didn’t really know what to think. Mostly it
felt…pretty great.
    “Well, I’m taking it as a good sign that his car was still
here at six yesterday evening, long after my husband and his guy had installed
the cameras and left,” Lin said as she got two wineglasses out of the cupboard.
    Facing the refrigerator as she got out a bottle of white
wine, Claire laughed. “It just about killed you to keep it in this long, didn’t
it.”
    “I had to let it out. I was about to burst.” She leaned into
the corner of the sink and counter and crossed her arms. “So you let him show
you the night of your life?”
    Claire nodded. “Chicago was a lot of fun. I mean, what kind
of guy does that, whisks a girl off to another city because the one they live
in is boring?”
    “A really freakin’ cool one. And one that’s apparently
loaded, or did he ask you to start helping pay at any point in the night?” she
asked with a derisive snicker.
    During Claire’s brief stint with an online dating service,
two of the three men she’d gone out with had either expected her to split the
bill or pay altogether. The one who’d wanted her to pay had actually commented
that because she was a medical professional she could afford it more than he
could.
    Call her old-fashioned, but Claire considered the rule that
whoever asked was the one who should whip out the card at the end of the night
was more than fair.
    “He did not,” she raised her glass to Lin’s as a toast to
that happy bit of news. “In fact, he seemed slightly offended when I offered to
help pay for dinner.”
    “Gorgeous, sexy and a gentleman.” Lin whistled low and shook
her head. “I think you should figure out how to keep him ay-sap .”
    “He’s moving to San Francisco permanently in two weeks,”
Claire said, not expecting or liking the sinking feeling in her stomach at the
thought of him leaving. She put the bottle back in the refrigerator and led
them both to the back patio.
    “Whatever. They have midwives’ offices there.”
    Claire gave her a bland look as she sat. “This is only
supposed to be me getting back on the horse, having a little fun, remember?
Plus, he told me flat out that he sees a lot of women.”
    Lin sat across from her. “What’s a lot?”
    “I didn’t ask for a specific number,” she said, turning her
chair slightly so she could put her feet on the seat next to her.
    “Well, when he realizes you’re worth keeping, he’ll