Flirting with Temptation - By Kelley St. John Page 0,23

a very similar experience he’d had. Except in his case, the female had been the one distributing the tanning oil. Babette had also heightened the interaction by whispering what she’d do to him as soon as they were away from watchful eyes.

He turned his attention away from the couple. No need for reminders of sex with Babette now. Soon he’d see her, and that’d be plenty reminder enough. He hadn’t spoken to or seen Babette in a year, and he was fine with that. In fact, from the day Kitty had entered his world, the two of them had been so “into” each other that he’d hardly thought of Babette. Kitty, quite frankly, hadn’t given him time to think of anyone else. And, unlike Babette, didn’t leave anything to the imagination. Jeff knew from the first date that she was “smitten” and that she could see herself with him for a “long, long time.” Her words. Before Babette, he’d have been long gone if a woman came on that strong, but after years with a woman who seemed to forget he was alive, who could take him or leave him, having someone like Kitty dote on him was exactly what he needed.

Of course, the fact that Kitty ended up sailing away with Farraday merely a month before their wedding didn’t exactly make for the ending he’d planned. He smirked. At least he was back in the realm of reality again. Women couldn’t commit, a fact proven by Babette and Kitty. And he’d finally worked his way back around to the life he’d lived before them, the life where he enjoyed the moment and whatever female happened to be sharing it with him. No strings, no commitment, no headaches. Or heartaches.

He left the balcony, returned to the condo and glanced at the clock. He’d left work early, opting to spend the afternoon working at the condo and enjoying the beach scene. Little did he know that Ethan’s call would cause his traditional viewing of the beach to be jolted by memories of sex with Babette. At least he didn’t have to worry about beach sex memories with Kitty. Kitty was Kitty Carelle, socialite, after all. And while she never minded grasping his arm in public, or smiling at his side, or broadcasting that she’d “love this man until the day she died,” she wasn’t the type to do anything that would get her name in the paper in an unflattering light.

Ethan had mentioned that their broken engagement had finally hit the Birmingham papers. No doubt Kitty would cringe at the negative publicity. He wondered if that was what had prompted her to enlist a love doctor to mend their relationship. And he wondered what she’d do if she knew that the love doctor she’d selected used to sleep with him.

He laughed. He couldn’t help it. To have been a fly on the wall and have watched Babette’s face when Kitty asked her to get him back. Surely Babette knew him well enough to know his response to Kitty’s request would be something along the line of, “Go to hell.” No, he wouldn’t be that cruel, but a firm “not interested, not now, not ever,” would sum it up.

Turning on the television, he decided to relax for a while. Work would keep, and he had a few hours before his date with Kylie Banks.

Unfortunately, the commercial in progress was advertising the most notable Day Spa in Destin, and more specifically, the current special they were running for Buff and Bronze sessions.

He flipped the channel, but it didn’t matter. In his mind he still saw Kitty on the day of their engagement, when she’d returned to the condo after a celebratory shopping trip.

“After I finished shopping, I went to the spa for a buff and bronze,” she’d said.

“A buff and bronze?” Jeff attempted to sound as though he didn’t know what was involved with that procedure, even though Babette had described it to him in detail, and that description had led to one of their hottest afternoons ever. He waited, wondering if Kitty would describe it too.

“Yeah,” she said, smiling. “So I need a shower, but after I’m done, why don’t you meet me in the bedroom and we’ll celebrate our engagement properly?” She closed the distance between them, kissed him softly, then turned and retreated to the bathroom.

Jeff had started to ask her to stop, forgo the shower and get started with their celebrating right there in the living room, with the