Free Ugly Ducklings Finish First by Stacy Gail Page B

known his past would affect a far-distant future? When he’d been a horny kid looking for a warm body to scratch his itch, he hadn’t thought of consequences beyond the usual ones of safe sex. It never once occurred to him the reputation that had made him so appealing to so many of the girls he’d dated would actually become a handicap. How could he have known? And seriously, how the hell was that fair?
    Payton was being unreasonable, he decided, slowing for a hairpin curve, the ‘Vette’s engine growling in protest as he downshifted. He was a different man now, but apparently she couldn’t see that. All she could see was what he once was—the horny, shallow idiot he’d once been so proud of being. The relentless skirt chaser no self-respecting good girl would come near. The Coyote.
    Crap.
    The thriving square at the heart of Bitterthorn came into view, and as he braked at a stop sign he reached for his cell phone and hit a number on his automatic dial list. When the familiar, sunny voice of his best friend’s wife came through, he couldn’t help but smile.
    “Hey, Leslie Ann,” he said, taking a left as he decided on impulse to head home instead of back to the office. There was no point in working when he couldn’t pull a coherent thought together without Payton traipsing through his brain. “Is Donovan around?”
    “That meanie?” Leslie Ann Cross’s tone was bright and bubbly. “Why would you want to talk to him?”
    “Let me guess. He’s barricaded himself in his man cave to work?”
    “And left me to deal with the horrible offspring all by my lonesome,” came the cheerful response. “Maybe if I let them tear the house apart with their bare hands, he wouldn’t be so quick to hole up. Do you want me to go and bug him for you?”
    “No.” Wiley sighed, and even to his ears it sounded maudlin. “Not really.”
    There was a beat of silence. “What’s up, Wiley?”
    “Nothing.”
    “It sounds like something to me.”
    Wiley sighed again. This could get embarrassing in a hurry. “It’s no big deal, Les. I just wanted to see if Donovan was available, but if he’s working—”
    “He’ll be available in just a minute,” she promised, and he winced when he heard a quick knock on a hard surface—Donovan’s office door, no doubt. “My hubby told me you had your ten-year reunion last night. How’d that go?”
    “It was fine. Leslie Ann, don’t bug him—”
    “Just fine?”
    “More than fine. It was...” He groped around for the right words, only to find there wasn’t one big enough to describe its impact. “It was more than I expected.”
    “Is that a good thing?”
    Once again Payton popped into his head before he could slam the door on her. He probably wouldn’t be able to get that pain-in-the-ass woman out of his mind even if he were in a coma. “Leslie Ann, has your husband ever mentioned I used to have a certain...reputation?”
    He heard a faint murmur in the background, and he had a sinking feeling he’d been put on speaker. “Reputation?”
    “Um...with the ladies.”
    “The Coyote, you mean.”
    “So you have heard about it.”
    “Heard about it? I heard you were doing your best to break the world’s record when it came to getting into the pants of every female you came across.”
    Wiley swore. “Donovan’s a dead man.”
    “Dude, it’s not exactly a secret.” Wiley’s fear was confirmed when his best friend’s voice came through loud and clear, and he could just picture Donovan in his office, seated at his drafting table with his wife by his side. “You’re a local legend.”
    “Jeez.” He scowled as he slowed for a trio of kids on their bicycles. “Well, since that cat’s out of the bag, I guess I might as well go all in. Les, I have a question for you.”
    “Let’s hear it.”
    “If you were a woman—”
    “Gee, thanks, pal.”
    “An available woman,” he corrected while Donovan laughed in the background. Damn. Considering the roll he was on