Branded as Trouble. Delores Fossen

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СКАЧАТЬ herself, though. And she wondered about safe words. That wasn’t something she’d expected Belle to say, but Sophie’s mother was a little like Vita. You couldn’t be certain what would come out of her mouth.

      Like now.

      “Why would a man want whipped cream sprayed in his boxer shorts?” Belle asked.

      Mila was certain she got a deer-in-the-headlights look. “I’m not sure,” she settled for saying. “Why?”

      “Because that’s what Roman was going on about yesterday when he was waking up from surgery.” She took Mila’s hand, pulled her closer. “You think women have been doing that to him?”

      Mila suspected that women had done a lot of things to Roman. Probably whipped cream along with other edibles. She might be a virgin, but she wasn’t clueless.

      “That nurse, Alicia, has been flirting with him,” Belle went on. “I told her to take care of my bedpan. I didn’t have a bedpan, mind you, but I thought it would remind her that she’s not there to play under the sheets with my son. Will you talk to her about it?”

      Mila would rather eat a cactus. But she nodded. If Roman gave her any hint that it was a problem, she would say something to Alicia. What, exactly, Mila didn’t know, but Roman was here to recover. That might not happen if Alicia managed to give him an erection.

      “Now, to the fantasy,” Belle went on. “Did you bring me the webpage address?”

      Mila nodded and took the paper with the info from her purse. She didn’t hand it to Belle right away, though. She moved the woman closer to some chairs and sat so she could make eye contact with her.

      “Are you certain you want to do this?” Mila pressed.

      “Of course. Didn’t you hear what I said about wanting to live my life? Lordy, I can hardly wait to get started. I’ve missed so much.”

      Mila knew the feeling. But she also knew something else. “The fantasies can be fun, but they shouldn’t be a substitute for a real relationship. If you want to start dating, I’m sure there are several men in town who would love to go out with you.”

      One man, anyway. Billy Lee Seaver. Mila didn’t think it was her imagination that the man had stars in his eyes when it came to Belle. Probably the only reason he hadn’t asked her out already was because she’d been his best friend’s wife.

      Belle just stared at her. “You let the fantasy dating be a substitute for your life,” the woman pointed out.

      “Yes. But I’m not doing that anymore. I’ve put the fantasy dating on hold.” Maybe permanently. It only made her feel even emptier when she went through the motions.

      “Does that mean you’re going to date for real? I hope so.” Belle didn’t give her a chance to answer. “That’s why I copied this for you. One of the nurses let me use her computer. Not the one swishing her tushy around Roman. But one of the other ones.” She took a piece of paper from her pocket and handed it to Mila. “It’s three dating sites.”

      Mila recognized them since they were the very sites she’d recommended to Sophie a couple of years ago. Sophie had gone on one date, and it hadn’t worked out so well. Besides, Mila really wasn’t up to going out with a bunch of men with the hopes of finding a prince among frogs.

      “I don’t know about this.” Mila couldn’t have sounded more uncertain if she’d tried. But what she really felt was unconvinced, and nothing was going to get her to change her mind.

      “Well, how about someone local, then?” Belle asked. She smiled, a sneaky little smile. “There are plenty of men in town who’d love to go out with you.” Belle didn’t add gotcha, but she could have.

      “I’m thinking more about a hiatus from dating,” Mila said.

      “Or we could double.” Belle suddenly got very excited as if that were a wonderful idea.

      It wasn’t.

      Mila would rather eat two cacti than double date with her best friend’s mom.

      “And there’s Roman,” Belle added a moment later.

      Mila silently cursed, wondering if the woman was actually going to start playing matchmaker. But Belle wasn’t looking at her. Instead, her attention was on the room she shared with Tate and Roman.

      And Roman was there.

      In the doorway.

      Mila got another of those tingles again. An especially warm one that went all the way to places that should be no-tingle zones. Because Roman didn’t see her that way. He only saw her as Valerie’s and Tate’s cousin.

      “Oh, there’s Twila Fay Betterton,” Belle said. “Yoo-hoo, Twila Fay!” she called out, and waved at the woman. “She’s probably here because her hemorrhoids are giving her fits again,” she added in a whisper to Mila. “Why don’t you go check on Roman while I talk to her?”

      Again, without waiting for Mila to respond, Belle took off, wheeling her way toward Twila Fay, who did indeed look as if she were suffering from some kind of anal pain. Or maybe that was her usual expression.

      And speaking of expressions, Mila tried to fix hers before she started toward Roman. She went with what she hoped was a friendly but casual smile. It faded quickly, though, when Roman staggered a bit and caught on to the doorframe to steady himself. Mila shoved the dating site list in her purse, hurried to him, and just like that, he was in her arms.

      “Dizzy spell,” he snarled.

      “Then you shouldn’t be standing. Come on. Let me get you in bed.”

      Bad choice of words. Very bad. Because she went stiff, and there’s no way Roman could have missed that since they were touching in several places. Not the tingly place, thank goodness.

      He chuckled, all low and husky. It sent out a Texas-size amount of pheromones. Mila quickly tried to rein in any effect that might have on her.

      Too late.

      The effect was there.

      Roman put a stop to that, though, by brushing a kiss on the top of her head. It was the kind of thing a man might do to his sister. Or a friend. It was a kiss of death for any woman wanting romance. Which she wasn’t, Mila assured herself.

      She led him to the bed and had him sit. Again, not a bright idea because she ended up between his legs, too close to him and with their gazes practically colliding.

      “Thank you again for what you did for Tate,” he said.

      Another nail in her kiss-of-death coffin. He felt obligated to her. And he shouldn’t. “Tate wasn’t in any real danger,” she reminded him. Thank God. “Someone would have found him soon enough, or he would have woken up on his own.”

      Mila was about to add that when she took those particular meds the drowsiness only lasted a couple of hours, but she really didn’t want to discuss anything to do about the discomforts of her menstrual cycle with Roman.

      “So, did you give Mom those dating sites?” he asked.

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