to the end, Carrie went from excited to curious to suspicious. The banging and slamming stopped. “Why? What are you doing?”
“I’m chasing a guy.” Hoping that didn’t sound as silly to Carrie as it did to her, Marni bit her lip.
“A man...?” The last word was offered in a juicy whisper, with just a hint of as if thrown in. The skepticism didn’t just come from the fact that Carrie and Marni had been favorite cousins since they were babies, or that she’d heard Marni vow over and over that she wanted to be just like their aunt. It was that Carrie, like everyone else in the family, figured that Marni was just biding her time with this career until the right man came along. Oh, she could keep her job. The family considered themselves evolved enough to believe women could and should have careers outside the home. As long as the home in question included a husband and at least one darling tot. Which meant the careers had to lend themselves to taking good care of said husband and requisite tot.
Carrie had listened often enough to Marni railing against that family creed, sympathizing with her vow to someday, somehow, find the perfect guy. A sexy stud who’d be available when she wanted him, able to cater to all her sexual needs and happily slide back into obscurity when she was busy with her career.
“You found a boy toy like you’re always talking about?” Carrie asked in hushed awe. “A hot, gorgeous guy who will provide your every sexual desire, know where the G-spot is and why foreplay is vital, then quietly leave you alone in the morning?”
“I wish,” Marni muttered.
That was her ideal man. There to scratch that G-spot itch, dispose of ugly spiders, to be able to laugh at himself and, oh, if only, know his way around a dance floor. So, pretty much nonexistent.
But that wasn’t going to get her cousin packing any faster.
“Well, maybe,” she corrected more loudly. “I mean, I don’t know how good he is in bed or anything. But he’s got shoulders to die for, a body that won’t quit and oh, baby, his butt is so nice.”
Stopped at a red light, she squirmed a little in the seat of her car at the memory of the FBI guy’s back. A guy like that, sexy and strong, dedicated and focused? That kind of guy was dangerous. Not because he carried a gun. But because he was the only kind of guy she could ever imagine herself giving up her dream for.
Lucky for her, she was sure he didn’t have the rest of her fantasy guy requirements.
Great shoulders or not, no guy was that perfect.
Which made it easy to tell Carrie, “I’m going to chase him down and see, though. I mean, why not, right? I’m supposed to be on the great manhunt, putting every effort into pulling myself out of this shameful single life.”
“You saw a guy for the first time, what? Tonight? And suddenly you’re so hot for him, you’re hopping a train to chase him across the country?”
Marni scrunched her nose, wondering if that sarcasm was going to ooze some ugly substance out through the car’s Bluetooth speakers.
“Didn’t you chase Robert to Virginia?” she countered.
Carrie had followed her army paratrooper all the way to the altar. When he’d been deployed to the Middle East a couple of months after their wedding, she’d chosen to move back to New York to be close to family, with plans for Robert to put in for a transfer to Fort Hamilton when his tour was finished.
“You’re thinking marriage?”
Marni cringed.
“I never said that.”
“You compared chasing this guy to my chasing Robert. That means marriage.”
Maybe that’d been the wrong argument. Too late to change it now, though.
“Look, I’ve got to call the train station and make sure I can get a berth. Will you have my bag ready when I get there?”
“I’ll be on the front stoop in five minutes,” Carrie promised.
With a quick thanks, Marni gratefully ended the call.
Her gratitude, and good humor, were gone when she pulled up in front of the apartment building twelve minutes later.
“I’m late,” she said through the open window. “I’ve got to hurry.”
“I added a few extras from my closet, and borrowed some from Liza across the hall. She has better evening wear than either of us,” Carrie said before she hefted two suitcases and a satchel. “I wish you had a bigger car, though. I don’t think this is