Free The One Who Got Away by Jo Leigh

my room. I’m in 1012. We have to talk.”
    â€œIs everything all right?”
    â€œAside from the fact that Lisa and her mother are taking us to some mystery location tonight after dinner? We’re supposed to be semidressed, whatever that means. And I just found out that her mother’s dressis pale blue with white lace, which sounds exactly like my dress, so now I have to go buy another one, and I have no intention of spending the kind of money they charge at the hotels. So you’ll have to come with me now so we can get back in time for dinner.”
    â€œMe?” Taylor asked, knowing it was a silly question. Her mother hated to shop, never trusted her own judgment. When Taylor had lived with her, she’d had to accompany her mom on all clothes shopping trips, and after she’d gone to San Francisco, her mother’s friend Beverly had taken over the task. Normally, Taylor didn’t mind, but she didn’t want to leave the hotel now.
    Her gaze went back to the bathroom door. Still closed.
    â€œPlease, honey, I want to talk to you about this whole mess. And who knows when we’ll have time alone.”
    â€œSure, Mom. No problem. I’ll be ready in about fifteen minutes, and I’ll come by your room. Okay?”
    Her mother sighed. “Thank goodness. I’m just so…”
    â€œGet some wine out of the minibar.”
    â€œIt’s three o’clock. What are you talking about?”
    â€œIt’s okay, Mom. I promise. It’ll calm you down. Besides, it’s Vegas. No one will think a thing about it.”
    A quiet “Humph,” was her only response, and then the dial tone.
    Fifteen minutes and she’d have to face her mother. Which meant she had to get into the shower, pronto. Maybe Ben could wash her back.
    No. Fifteen minutes wasn’t nearly enough time for that. She’d have to wait until later. Until tonight.
    Â 
    B EN WAITED FOR S TEVE at the lobby lounge, debating whether he should drop a few bucks into the video poker machine imbedded in the bar. His beer was cold, he was early, so what the hell? He took out a twenty and fed it to the hungry machine.
    He played double-double poker, one of the many variations of the game available on the machine. This one had no wild cards at least, and it was played like regular poker. The difference was in the payout schedule, and since it was highly unlikely that he would win, he didn’t give it that much thought.
    What he hadn’t been able to stop thinking about was his afternoon with Taylor. Good God. He felt as if he hadn’t been with a woman in years, not months. And that he hadn’t been with a real woman since he’d last been with her ten years ago.
    It should have told him something that he hadn’t been as excited about sex with Alyson. Maybe he blanked it out, maybe he assumed it would get better. It hadn’t. In fact, toward the end, the sex had disappeared completely. Of course, he was the only one who’d done without. Alyson had been with Gail, the woman who was now her life partner. And he hadn’t suspected a thing.
    Some private dick. Couldn’t even tell that his own wife was gay. It did appease him somewhat that she hadn’t known, either. Or at least she hadn’t admitted it to herself until after they were married. And he didknow she loved him. Just not the way a husband and wife should.
    There had been women after her, of course. In the beginning, he’d been something of a jerk, proving himself, he supposed. But that had calmed down, and in the past year there had only been the occasional liaison, nothing serious, nothing earth-shaking. Just pleasant conversation, nice naked tumbles, don’t let the door hit you on the ass on your way out.
    With Taylor, it was anything but pleasant. Or ordinary. And he sure as hell didn’t want to see anything hit her on the ass, with the possible exception of his palm.
    She’d lit him up