Free Just One Look (Women of Substance) by Marilyn Lee Page B

see myself out.”
    You do that.
    “Goodbye.”
    I swallowed the urge to ask her not to go and inclined my head instead.
    She bit her lip, met my gaze briefly and turned away.
    The moment I heard the entrance door open and close, I slammed my fist down on top of the table so hard, my hand stung. Oh fuck! I felt a knot of rage in my gut I found difficult to contain. I’d ended my relationship with Caren for a damned one-night stand with a woman who clearly possessed unreasonable expectations. What the hell had I been thinking?
    While I felt certain Caren would welcome me back into her bed, I knew doing that wouldn’t be fair to her. Why had I allowed my lust for Narena to lead me into trashing a perfectly good relationship with Caren? Overcoming the desire to follow her yet again, I went into my bedroom, kicked off my shoes, and fell across the mattress.
    Lying on the bed I’d shared with Narena the night before, I couldn’t suppress memories of eating her pussy and later making love to her. Recalling the taste of her lips…the tight heat of her pussy encasing and massaging my cock aroused me. And the was no forgetting the incredible sense of delight I’d felt lying with my body curled behind hers that morning. Last night was a mistake. Last night was a mistake. I told myself knowing she viewed one of the most sexually fulfilling nights of my life as a mistake wounded my masculine pride. But I think part of me knew even then that the disappointment and anger I felt had little to do with pride.
    I was angry with her and myself. I should have insisted on taking her home. If I had, I might have been able to change her mind. Of course there really was nothing stopping me from following her and attempting to change her mind. I’d done it before and now that we’d made love, I knew I could do it again.
    But it will be a cold damn day in hell before you do that! She walked away and she can keep on walking. There are a lot of other women who will gladly sleep with you without expecting you to fall for her and want to marry her after one damned night. She’s nuts and if you follow her—you’re just as crazy as she is. Besides, she’s not your type and she couldn’t have held your attention for long. This way is better for you both.
    Yeah. Right.
    I got through the rest of the day but slept badly that night. Each time I woke, bile rose in my throat when I thought of the possibility that she might be sleeping in another man’s bed. Why the hell did you let her walk out without making even a token effort to stop her?
    After one of the longest and most frustrating nights of my life, I woke Sunday morning with the rest of the weekend I’d expected to spend with her stretching emptily ahead of me. I couldn’t concentrate or keep my thoughts from lingering on her.
    After spending several hours thinking about her and wondering what she was doing and who she might be doing it with, I decided seeing her again would be a mistake we would probably both regret. And one or both of us might end up hurt.
    So stop thinking with your dick and move the hell on already, Prescott.
    I managed to get through the rest of the weekend and the following one until I finally convinced myself that our night together was a semi-bitter memory I had no desire to hold onto.
    Although I felt horny and had several dates, I never took any of the women I met home—even though a number of them came onto me. I spent most nights away from home. I had guys’ nights out and got blind drunk several times. After I called Manning to pick me up for the fifth time in three weeks, he told me I needed to get a grip.
    I told him to fuck off and called him again three days later for another pick up.
    He came and drove me home without a single lecture. That’s when I knew he was worried about me.
    And I admitted I had cause to worry about myself as well since I knew I couldn’t continue to keep thoughts of Narena under control by drowning my blues in liquor. That