What's Life Without the Sprinkles - By Misty Simon Page 0,61

would like him to be available for.

“As long as I don’t have anything going on, it should be fine. Why isn’t he taking you, like he has every other year?”

“For some reason I’m not enough, and he asked for you.” It still broke her heart a little, but the way Nate stepped up to the plate immediately warmed those broken pieces. “It’s on Friday. Will you pick him up? I’d like to get pictures of the two of you.” She’d almost said her two handsome men, but stopped herself at the last second. That was close.

“Let me look at my calendar here a minute.” He made humming noises low in his throat that came shooting through the phone and right down into Claudia from her ear to her toes. He’d made the same noise with her nipple sucked into his mouth.

Who knew humming could be such a turn-on? And since when did everything Nate did make her gooey inside? They’d been friends for years and she’d never had a dirty thought about him. Well, maybe one or two, but she’d never been this focused on him and aware of his every breath.

Fortunately, he broke her out of her lustful haze by talking. “Actually that’ll be fine. It should be a blast. What time, and what do I have to wear?”

How about right here, right now, and absolutely nothing but a big old smile? She tried to regulate her uneven breathing when it threatened to chuff out of her with the force of a steam engine. “Great. Justin will be so pleased, and it’s suit-and-tie. Thanks for doing this.”

She said goodbye before she could get all sappy about him and the way he thought about Justin’s needs and participated in his life. Or before she asked again if he wanted to be her cake. Maybe she had completely disgusted him with her suggestion and he really wasn’t ready to buy into it. But that kiss he’d laid on her kept popping back into her head, too, and so did the way she’d screamed his name. There was no denying he’d had an erection that would no doubt satisfy her like nothing else. But couldn’t guys get it up for almost any female? Way too much to think about.

If nothing else, at least she’d get to see him in a suit. The last time had been at May’s wedding, three years ago, and she hadn’t fully taken the time to truly admire him. She wouldn’t miss out again.

After raiding the refrigerator looking for something to cool her off a little, Claudia sat at the kitchen table sipping a glass of iced tea. The shower down the hall had turned off some time ago, and now she could hear Justin knocking around in his room. The ceiling fan whirred in the relative stillness as she contemplated the darkening sky in the distance.

Her thoughts whirled and twirled in her head. What was she doing, looking for icing after all these years? She’d done fine for herself, even if she’d had little love outside of her family. Justin and she hadn’t suffered much for it. Life went on, even if you had no one in your bed.

“Bring your homework out to the table,” she called to Justin, more to distract herself than to make sure he actually did it. She wondered what torture she would have to endure in the name of schoolwork this evening as she threw a bag of popcorn into the microwave.

He was like a herd of elephants tramping down the hallway. Zoe was out this evening, doing heaven only knew what on her date. Claudia hadn’t had time to talk to her, either. She was feeling out of sorts without that contact, especially after her conversation with Nate. There was something about his easy acceptance of taking Justin to the dinner that spoke to her heart—and to her libido.

And she needed to get her mind out of the gutter if she wanted to concentrate on whatever torture it was Justin needed to work on tonight.

He trundled toward the living room, books in hand. Following more sedately with the steaming bag of popcorn, she tried, again, to remember what kind of homework Justin had this evening. And when it came to her, she shivered with dread.

Long division.

With books already spread out in a jumble on the low coffee table, Justin pulled his assignment from the bottom of a hopelessly messy backpack and smoothed it flat with his small hands. Hands so much