A Few Good Men by Cat Johnson Page B

she should find herself a nice retired serviceman who was safely at home here in the US but still had all the same qualities. And maybe there was a similar gay ex-military man out there for Peter.
    No, that wouldn’t work. She’d emailed servicemen men for over a year now, and she’d never had a sex dream about any of them. She was beginning to realize it wasn’t just military men in general, but John in particular who tempted her body and mind and had her emotions so tangled up.
    Maureen was still obsessing over the lack of communication from John and what it might mean when she arrived at her desk at work. She was so caught up in her own thoughts she barely noticed when Tiffany strode over.
    She stood next to Maureen’s desk, arms crossed. “Hey, did you know there is an erotic romance author who is also named Summer who writes in her blog about the same kind of dating game that you and your gay friend are playing?”
    “Um, no. Is there?” novelist closet? Shit. Was this going to be her big coming out of the erotic
    Tiffany’s eyes narrowed. “You’re lying. You stole the idea for that whole dating thing from her, didn’t you?”
    How stupid could the girl be to think there could be two women and their gay best friends who were serial dating?
    Maureen hid the sigh of relief over Tiffany’s apparent lack of common sense as best she could. “You’re right, Tiffany. You caught me. That’s what I did. I stole the idea for the dating thing from her.”
    Tiffany nodded knowingly. “And the name Summer too?”
    Maureen hung her head in false shame. “I stole her name too.”
    Tiffany looked victorious. “That’s what I figured. It’s okay. I bet that’s not her real name anyway.”
    No shit, Sherlock . “Mmm. You’re probably right. Sounds fake to me. So how did you come across her blog? She’s not very well known.” Maureen’s heart beat a bit faster with excitement. Was she becoming famous?
    “My soldier told me about it. He and his buddies have read her book and now they read her blog too.”
    Tiffany’s soldier. Maureen’s heart began to pound. The only soldier she knew who’d read her book was Jazzy. Could it be? No. Jazzy would not cheat on his wife and especially not with Tiffany. Oh God, what if Tiffany was emailing John?
    She did her best to play it cool as her pulse sped. “Really? You’re still corresponding with those military guys you told me about? The soldier and Marine, was it?”
    Tiffany nodded.
    Maureen wrestled to control her voice as she asked, “What’s your soldier’s name? I’m uh…just wondering if maybe I’ve seen it on the support website, is all.”
    “Hector Morales. He’s a Texan. I’ve always wanted to date a Texan. And he’s a sergeant. That’s a good rank, right? It means he’s an officer or something, doesn’t it? Do you know him from the websites?”
    Maureen let that name sink in for a second as she tried to calm her nerves. Morales. Jazzy’s driver. She remembered Jazzy had written he gave the book to him.
    Jeez, what a coincidence. What were the chances of that? But at least Maureen could rest assured that Jazzy was the kind of guy she thought he was, totally devoted to his wife and too smart to fall for the likes of Tiffany. More importantly, the man of her dreams wasn’t Tiffany’s man either.
    She realized Tiffany was still waiting for an answer, probably hoping she had swooped in and stolen one of Maureen’s guys. “No. That name doesn’t sound familiar.” Then, feeling spiteful and wanting to burst Tiffany’s bitchy bubble she added, “And if he’s a sergeant, he’s still an enlisted man, not a commissioned officer.”
    Maureen shocked herself that she knew that. She’d picked up a lot of military knowledge on the support sites and from corresponding with the troops. Maybe she should write a military romance next. Hmm, there was an idea.
    Tiffany frowned for a second and then shrugged it off. “That’s okay. Doesn’t matter much