Flirting with Temptation - By Kelley St. John Page 0,26

and strolling in the sand. Babette sighed. She really liked Jeff’s mother, but since their weird split, she’d only spoken to Olivia that one time at Richard and Genie’s wedding. Maybe she should call her up and say hello.

She laughed. Jeff would probably die if she called Olivia. But the truth was, Babette had connected with Olivia, and she shouldn’t lose that connection because her son hadn’t ever called her back—or because he’d picked a prominent socialite over Babette.

What did he see in Kitty?

Attractiveness. Intelligence. Success.

No, she wasn’t going there again. She and Kitty were night and day, no doubt about it, but she remembered a time when Jeff had liked the night portion of that pair.

She glanced down at the emerald green “frock” that she’d decided to wear out of the store, in case she happened upon Jeff when she arrived in Destin. Everyone knew green was the best color for redheads. If she only had green eyes, rather than plain brown, then everything would be perfect, but hey, she was as close as she could get without colored contacts.

The outfit was meant to be a cover-up, but Babette was wearing the gauzy all-in-one as her main attire. Her only attire, truth be told, since she’d forgone a bra and panties, not wanting strap lines and panty lines messing up the “look.” And this was a very good look, if she did say so herself.

Basically it was a top and shorts made together, buttoning up the front and reminding Babette of the rompers that she and Clarise had worn as little girls. It didn’t look all that impressive on the hanger, but due to the saleswoman’s persistent urging, Babette had tried it on, and she was glad she had. The hanger had disguised the way the sheer fabric played peek-a-boo with tiny pinpricks dotting the cloth. And the waist was tapered, fitted so it created curves that were nonexistent in Babette’s usual clothes. Wonder of wonders, she actually had hips. The shorts were extremely short and flared to give the appearance of a teeny, tiny skirt.

A teeny, tiny skirt that would make Jeff’s jaw drop.

Exactly the effect she was going for.

She turned off of Highway 98 and made a beeline for Jeff’s condo at the White Sands resort. It was six-thirty, due to her shopping spree in Montgomery, but that was okay. The new clothes were a necessity. And the fact that she’d arrived a couple of hours after the check-in time wasn’t a huge issue. She’d worn the sexy outfit on the off-chance that the two of them ran into each other when she was checking in, but the truth was she didn’t expect to run into Jeff today. She remembered his usual schedule, and at six-thirty, he’d either still be working at one of the Eubanks stores nearby—Panama City, Fort Walton, or Seaside—or he’d be cooking an early dinner while he worked from the computer in his condo. So, chances were he was indoors somewhere and would stay there until the sun set, when he’d go for his usual evening walk on the beach.

Jeff was business-oriented and did his job well, but he rewarded himself by ending his workdays with nightly walks on the sand. Babette had enjoyed those walks too, and the way they’d occasionally take an evening swim.

Babette shook off that image. She so did not need to go there now. Yes, she was glad Jeff was a creature of habit and probably wouldn’t be outside when she arrived. She wanted a good night’s sleep and a little more time to prepare before she saw him. Walking up and stating, “Hey, I’m here to get you back with the ex-fiancée who dropped you for a sailorboy,” didn’t quite take the ticket. Sailorboy? Yachtboy? Richboy? Samuel Farraday qualified as all of the above, but it didn’t matter; Babette would not use that particular icebreaker.

No problem. She’d figure out what to say, after some sleep. Last night, Cecile had kept her up well past midnight curling, conditioning and coloring the red spirals that now whipped madly around her face due to the breeze blowing through her car windows. They’d attacked her eyes like wild red whips from Birmingham to Montgomery, so naturally she’d purchased a pair of really amazing sunglasses at TJ Maxx; and they did their job, kept her hair out of her eyes while she was driving and made her look ultra-cool in the process. Not bad. They also disguised the hint of puffiness and