Free The Care and Feeding of Unmarried Men by Christie Ridgway

him. Those spectacular kisses? She probably doled those out the way a Mexican restaurant served up tortilla chips—anytime and as many as you wanted. He should be glad she was moving away from him.
    Except he didn’t feel happy. He felt frustrated and irritated and still aroused. As she sauntered off, the cat snuggled closer to her neck so it could silently laugh at Nash over her shoulder as he stood there alone in the dark.
    His calf started stinging like a bitch and he felt more blood roll. Good, he told himself, you deserve it. Maybe then you won’t forget that taking pleasure with the superbeauty can only end in pain.

Chapter Eight
    â€œYou Should Have Seen the Way
    He Looked at Me”
    The Dixie Cups
    â€œA” side, single (1964)
    O nly her younger sister showed up for their wedding-planners’ breakfast the next morning. Since it was rare that Téa would be late for any obligation, let alone miss it altogether, Eve expressed concern.
    Joey lowered her latte cup to one of the small tables set up outside the spa dining room. The rain appeared gone for good, and it was a typical winter day in the desert—which was like early summer most anywhere else in the Northern Hemisphere. “You’re kidding, right? Don’t you remember that Johnny’s been out of town for a week? Last night was his and Téa’s first chance for catch-up nookie. I imagine they’re sleeping in.”
    Eve frowned. After yesterday’s disturbing meeting with the SEC, she wanted as much normality as possible. “Still, she could have dragged herself out of bed.”
    Rolling her eyes, Joey picked up her coffee again. “Have you forgotten the morning after a lover’s absence? When was the last time you had sex, Eve?”
    She wondered what her sister would say if she told her last night, on the grounds of the Kona Kai, with all her clothes on.
    Her hand moved up to touch the collar of the sleeveless turtleneck she was wearing with an old linen skirt and embroidered espadrilles. Goose bumps prickled there, just thinking about the beard burn Nash had left behind. She’d tried calling all the shots, but he’d turned the tables and controlled her instead. What he could do by just tugging on her jeans should be outlawed.
    That was another reason why she wished Téa were here this morning. One glimpse of her overorganized, über-punctual older sister and perhaps Eve would wake up to find that the world hadn’t taken yet another wild left turn and that yesterday was only a bad dream.
    Last night, she hadn’t nearly orgasmed from the simple sensation of a man’s stubbled chin against the side of her neck.
    Yesterday afternoon, she hadn’t agreed to cooperate with the SEC by getting close to Vince Standish again.
    â€œHey, no need to look so freaked out,” Joey said. “If you want to see Téa so bad, why don’t you go over to her office after breakfast? She’ll show up there eventually.”
    â€œNo!” If Eve wasn’t waking up from this nightmare, then she was going to manage it the best way she could think of—by staying safe within the confines of the Kona Kai.
    Closing her eyes, she drew in a deep breath of the warm, dry air, scented by green and gardenia and afaint tinge of chlorine from one of the many pools. The soothing trickle of water from a wall fountain sounded in the distance, and she thought she could even make out the light drone of a blue-winged dragonfly flitting over the surface of a birdbath. She’d be sheltered here. If she played sick and didn’t venture beyond these walls, then she couldn’t be faulted for not following the SEC’s plan for her to make contact with Vince Standish.
    That was the deal Eve had made with Sandy. The SEC wouldn’t prosecute her for insider trading—no jail time!—if she would get a taped admission from him. Their strategy was for her to first gain his trust