Fire And Ice. Tori Carrington

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СКАЧАТЬ style="font-size:15px;">      “It’s been awhile since we’ve had a chance to talk,” Dulcy said, “what with my commuting to the ranch every Wednesday night and returning Sunday.” She caught herself rubbing her stomach and smiled. She put her hand on the armrest. “So who’s the man of the hour?”

      Jena was still staring at her friend’s stomach.

      “Hmm?”

      “You know, who’s the hottie you’re dating now?”

      Now that was the question of the hour, wasn’t it?

      “Okay. Let me try to narrow the parameters of my question a bit. Last night, who did you go to the McClellan reception with?”

      Jena shrugged, attempting nonchalance although she was a little irked by the reminder. “No one.”

      “No one as in no one worth mentioning?”

      “No one as in…well, no one.”

      “You didn’t meet anyone there?”

      “Nope.”

      “You didn’t meet anyone worth pursuing?”

      “Not even worth a second glance.”

      Dulcy looked skeptical. “Okay, what’s going on? I haven’t heard you brag about any sexual conquests for at least a couple of weeks.” She made a face. “Actually, I think it’s longer than that. Odd.”

      Definitely odd, Jena admitted inwardly. In fact, she found it terrifyingly strange that she couldn’t remember one single male face from the McClellan reception. She, the woman who usually surveyed a room the instant she entered it, sizing up every male in the place then putting them into selection order. Choice number one. Choice number two.

      Jena felt Dulcy’s very penetrating gaze on her. “What?” she said in much the same way as she had to Mona.

      Dulcy shook her head, wearing the same amused expression Mona had. “Oh, nothing. It’s just that, well, your behavior lately has been a little outside the norm, that’s all.”

      Jena vaguely wished that Dulcy had reacted the same way Mona had, namely with a smile as she left her office.

      “Maybe I just need to get laid.”

      Dulcy’s bark of laughter made Jena smile. “God, that is such a man thing to say.”

      “Not something I could see Quinn saying.”

      Dulcy twisted her lips and tucked her pretty blond hair behind her ear. “No. But we weren’t talking about my man. We were discussing yours. You know, the type you tend to go out with.”

      “The type just looking to get laid.”

      “Uh-huh.”

      Jena squinted at her friend. “What’s going on? It’s not like you to fish for intimate details. You’re usually telling me when to stop—which, I might add, is the instant I get started.”

      Dulcy shrugged her shoulders and leaned back in the chair. “Yes, well, I was just noticing that you hadn’t even tried to share anything recently.”

      “And you missed it?”

      “No, I was just wondering what brought about the change.”

      Jena found her gaze drawn to the window and the nearby Sandia Mountains. “I wish I knew.”

      “Well, at least Caramel is keeping you company.”

      Jena gave an exasperated sigh. “No, Caramel is making my life a living hell,” she said of the four-month-old puppy Dulcy had given to her a month ago. A blond boxer, it had to be one of the ugliest dogs she’d ever laid eyes on. Then again, all dogs were ugly to her. They…drooled all over you. And Caramel also seemed to have a gastrointestinal problem that no food the vet recommended solved.

      It had taken her awhile to figure out that one. She’d suffered through countless noxious clouds before she’d finally determined the smell wasn’t coming from a backed-up sink or a neighbor’s garbage but was instead from the little dog that constantly panted at her feet.

      “Can’t you, please, please take her back to the ranch?” Dulcy was already shaking her head. “I just got her back from obedience school and she still doesn’t have a clue that ‘no’ doesn’t mean squatting on my bed.”

      “Maybe because ‘no’ is the only word you’re saying to her.”

      Jena made a face as the phone at her elbow chirped. “Ha ha. You, a comedian. Who would have guessed?”

      “Lunch?” Dulcy asked, getting up.

      Jena reached for the receiver. “Love to but I can’t. Meeting with a client,” she lied.

      She answered the phone and began talking to the secretary of opposing counsel in a third case, not lifting her gaze again until Dulcy was on her way out the door. The instant her friend was gone, she put the caller on hold, then flopped back in her chair. She’d never lied to either Dulcy or Marie before. And to get out of a lunch that the firm would probably pick up…well, that was another first.

      Yes, something was definitely wrong with her. And she wasn’t all that sure she wanted to find out what.

      No, she was positive she didn’t. And she knew the one, surefire way to put it out of her mind. Continue on with business as usual—not only at work, but in her personal life.

      Yes. That was it.

      She punched the button to bring the caller back. “So, Iris, what can I do you for?”

      “THAT DOES IT. I NEED A wife.” Jena stared into her empty refrigerator later that night, making a face at the container of half-eaten strawberry yogurt, the bottle of orange juice, and an unappealing container of Chinese takeout food. At her feet, Caramel looked from the refrigerator, to her, then back again, her tongue forever lolling out of her mouth. Jena asked her to move her tongue so she could close the refrigerator door.

      “Hmm. I don’t suppose you would know how one goes about getting a wife?”

      Caramel tilted her head, either trying to understand what she was saying or else questioning her sanity. It had been a month since Dulcy had dropped the little fleabag off with detailed instructions on how to care for her—too bad it hadn’t been an operating manual—and the number to a nearby vet.

      Jena stared at the smelly canine. Okay, so she was cute. And she did make the apartment seem less…empty somehow. Not that she’d thought it empty to begin with. She only wished Dulcy had given her a later model that was already properly trained. Between arranging for a neighbor to walk the boxer, and rearranging her own familiar routine to accommodate the animal, she thought that having the pet came very close to having a child. She depended on Jena for everything every moment of the day. And that entire concept had scared the hell out of her.

      But now that they’d both settled into a routine of sorts, it actually wasn’t so bad. If Caramel would stop mauling Jena’s favorite XOXO shoes, would СКАЧАТЬ