Free Stella in Stilettos by Jan Romes

awhile,” he said.
    “Agreed.”
    Next, Mr. Right started a humorous game of who-knows-the-most-useless-information. He spouted that a pig’s orgasm lasts for thirty minutes.
    Stella minimized the chat room long enough to research Trish’s new buzz word. “Did you know armadillos have four babies at a time and they’re always the same sex?”
    “Didn’t know. Thanks for bringing me up to speed. Ha. Ha. I read where seventy percent of women would rather have chocolate than sex. Is it true?”
    “What kind of chocolate?” Stella laughed herself out of her chair.
    “Good one.”
    The snarky game came to a close and Stella tiptoed away long enough to refill her coffee cup.
    “So this gray outfit, is it sexy?”
    She pictured the gray suit she’d hung in her closet no more than an hour ago. “About as sexy as knee-high hosiery. LOL. But my sister said it makes my green eyes stand out.”
    “You have green eyes?”
    Stella scooted to the edge of the seat. “Uh-huh. And you?”
    “A weird shade of blue.”
    Her curiosity took a forward leap. “Hair color?”
    “Black.”
    Dark hair and blue eyes? Maybe his nickname should be Mr. Perfect. “Nice.”
    “I was thinking the same about you. It’s hard to believe we’re just now getting to this. What color of blonde?”
    Stella hoofed it to the bathroom to look in the mirror. She’d seen her hair a million times, but never narrowed down the color.
    “Honey.” She backspaced over the word and went with, “The color of honey.”
    “Can’t wait to see. Are you tall or lower to the ground?”
    Stella chuckled. “Let’s just say I’m tall enough to ride the rides at Cedar Point. You?”
    “Yeah. I can ride them too.”
    Stella chewed on her thumbnail. They were getting a mental image of each other. She pictured tall, dark and handsome. She wondered what he pictured. She didn’t have to wait long to find out.
    “You sound stunning.”
    She couldn’t stop smiling. “I hate to yank that daydream out from under you, but I’m very plain.”
    “Doesn’t matter what you look like. You’re a fascinating woman, and I’d love to get to know you better over a cup of coffee, or on an express catamaran headed to Key West. Hint. Hint.”
    This guy knew which Stella-buttons to push. He was making her lower the fence so he could step over. “I have this huge grin on my face.”
    “Me too. I’m trying to keep the friend thing going, but when I see your name, my mind goes crazy and I want to meet up with you so I can kiss you.”
    Not one second’s hesitation. “I’d love to be kissed by you,” she said.
    “For the record, I’m no light-kisser. When I kiss a woman, I want her to know she’s been kissed.”
    Stella became a blend of panic and delight.
    “We’d better stop talking about kissing or we’re going to melt each other’s computer screens.”
    Thank goodness Mr. Right had a grip on things. A small part of Stella wished he didn’t. “Good plan.”
    “I’m sure I’ll fall asleep thinking about you. Any chance we could talk tomorrow night?”
    Stella’s heart engaged in a series of somersault. “Yes.” Yes. Yes. Yes.
    “Goodnight blonde-girl with green eyes. My friend. That I want to kiss.”
    “Goodnight hot guy who pays attention. My friend. That I will eventually kiss.” After clicking out of the chat room, she buried her face in her hands. There was something wild and wonderful happening and she felt powerless to stop it. The only thing that kinked the excitement was his friend-comment. How could they kiss and stay just friends? This was turning into the strangest relationship ever. No way would she allow it to become friends with privileges. That was just a bogus way of having it all without the commitment.

Chapter Eight
     
     
    Soft laughter floated from Stella’s cubicle. Alex leaned out for a look. His pulse went into a thumping frenzy when he saw those long legs twisted around the base of her chair. He frowned at his reaction and