Free Fearless by Tawny Weber Page A

you have.”
    Knowing they were about to launch into an oft-repeated argument over what love really was, Gia let out a loud dramatic sigh.
    Sara and Caryn gave their own sighs, then both shrugged.
    “Okay. So I’ve been searching for love for most of my life,” Sara corrected herself with a defiant tilt of her chin. “But I still know it’s more than just getting naked and rolling around together until you come.”
    “Not if it’s the right guy,” Jessa insisted. “You can roll around naked with a million guys. Nice ones, sexy ones. Cute ones and rotten ones. But if they’re not the right guy, it won’t matter.”
    “Well, a million guys means a lot of orgasms, so at least it wouldn’t be a waste of time,” Gia joked, hoping to lighten the mood. And, maybe, change the subject. Because talking about love made her stomach ache and her head hurt.
    “What scared you off?” Caryn asked quietly.
    Gia looked down at the table.
    “It was too much. He was too perfect. It was like finding my other half, the part I didn’t even know was missing. He was more than just fantasy sexy. He was, well, he was perfect,” she repeated quietly. Then, her words setting off the same alarm bells she’d heard in Vegas, she sniffed and gave a bright smile. “But that’s just the sex talking, right? I’m sure it’s all afterglow and lack of sleep and orgasm overload or something.”
    Nobody said a word.
    They just stared.
    Gia shifted in her chair, trying one cheek and then the other. But it was still like sitting on fire.
    “Look, it’s not love. It’s probably more like separation anxiety. You know, bumming hard because I know I’m heading back to my average, mediocre life—I mean sex life—again,” she said, quickly correcting herself. Gia gave her friends a reassuring look and added, “It was really fabulous sex.”
    Thankfully, their waiter chose that moment to deliver another tray of drinks, so the other women kept their responses to themselves.
    Giving him a trembling smile of thanks, Gia took the fresh margarita and chugged it down in one gulp.
    And took no comfort from the sight of her three companions chugging, too.
    How freaking great was this?
    She’d kicked off the weekend excited about living out a sexual fantasy.
    And ended it terrified she’d fallen in love.
    It was enough to make a woman cry, dammit.
    “Dude, way to score.”
    Halfway down the hall toward his office, Luke froze. Tension tight in his shoulders, he wiped off the frown he’d been sporting for three days and turned to face Matt.
    “Score?” he asked, his tone chilly. He had no interest in discussing his sex life.
    Luke wasn’t into bragging, but he had never been the shy, humble type who hid behind false modesty or denied his prowess with women either.
    Then again, he’d never had a woman leave him naked and wanting before.
    Just thinking about waking up and finding Vanna gone made him want to pound on something. He rapped his clenched fist against his thigh.
    “I heard the news. So what do you do? Roll in glitter every morning to make sure you’re always dubbed the golden boy?”
    “What?” He’d rolled in whipped cream, but he blamed that on the blindfold. Glitter? Where did Matt come up with this shit?
    “The job offer?” Matt prompted.
    What job offer? Clueless, Luke shook his head.
    “You mean Kettlemens?” He’d been dodging their calls since he’d come back from Vegas. He knew they wanted an answer, but until he got his head straightened out, he wasn’t green-lighting any life decisions. Not even ones he’d been so sure he was ready to move on.
    Yet another thing to thank Vanna for.
    “No. Here. Tri-Solutions. I heard from Lacy, the secretary I’ve been, um, seeing.” Or in Matt speak, doing in the supply closet during breaks. “She said the powers that be are so hot to keep you on here, they’re offering you anything. You can name your terms. Set the pay, choose the position.”
    Quite a change from a weekend