After Hours Bundle by Karen Kendall

time—I have another appointment at 9:15. Do you mind rescheduling?”
    â€œI don’t care, as long as it’s you who does the massage.” And with a last kiss, Troy disappeared into the showers.
    Â 
    L ATER , AS P EGGY CLEANED UP after Pilar Morales’s seaweed wrap, she felt like a time bomb. A bomb in a too-tight bra, with no panties on. She’d buried the ripped ones in the trash long before Pilar had arrived.
    She still couldn’t quite believe that she’d allowed Troy Barrington to seduce her on the job! She could sterilize and disinfect the place to her heart’s content, but her actions didn’t change the facts.
    It’s been a year since Eddie, she told herself. I have a right to a normal libido, especially when a man who looks like Troy comes on to me. Any other woman would have done the same thing….
    But it didn’t square her conscience completely. She’d failed miserably at impulse control, yet again.
    Peg finished work by throwing the sheets and towels into the wash. She tossed in some soap and started the machine, which made a groaning, churning noise—exactly the way she felt inside. If only she had a rinse cycle to filter out her emotions and fears.
    Troy Barrington was probably waiting for her outside already, so they could go have that drink. But after she ditched her white lab coat and threw it into the machine, too, she grabbed her tote bag and ran for the bathroom. Peggy splashed cold water on her face, brushed her teeth and fixed her hair.
    She cast a last dissatisfied look into the mirror, pinched her stupid pug nose in a futile attempt to make it narrower—why had he kissed it?—and slung the tote over her shoulder. She took a deep breath and marched out of the bathroom, hoping Shirlie would be gone.
    She was, but Marly pounced on her before she could get out the door. “What’s going on, Peggo? Troy Barrington left two hours ago, but he’s now waiting for you outside.”
    Peggy became fascinated with the array of nail polishes on the wall behind Marly. “I’m, uh, going to have a drink with him.”
    Her coworker stared at her. “What happened to inner balance and a year alone and Peggy Power?”
    â€œIt’s just a drink.”
    â€œUh-huh.” Marly smirked. “Then bottoms up, hon! But I want to hear all about it tomorrow.”
    â€œJust do me a favor, will you? Don’t tell Shirlie.”
    â€œShirl has a nose like a bloodhound. She’ll sniff it out within seconds.”
    â€œWell, try to keep it from her as long as possible, okay? I think she has a crush on Troy.”
    Marly nodded.
    â€œAnd it’s just a drink.”
    â€œRight.”
    â€œIt’s not even dinner.”
    â€œI hear you.”
    â€œI coach his nieces, so we’ll probably just talk about them and how I can help improve their game.”
    â€œPeggy, just shut up already and go meet the guy? He’s right outside the door.”
    And he was. With her heart sitting on her tonsils, Peg opened it, walked out tentatively and said, “Hi.”
    He seemed amused. “Hi.” Then he reached out and took her hand. “Do you want to go to a bar?”
    â€œWe could. Or we could just go to my place or yours and get this out of our systems.”

7
    T ROY ’ S JAW DROPPED OPEN . This woman was nothing if not direct. “Get it out of our systems?”
    â€œYou know,” Peggy said, “this lust thing. We both want to act on it. So we should just get it out of the way and move on, don’t you agree?”
    Troy stared at her. “No, I don’t agree. I’d like to get to know you.” The words surprised him as much as they seemed to surprise her.
    She stared back at him, seeming perplexed, while he felt the same way. This obviously wasn’t the answer she’d expected—and quite frankly it wasn’t the answer he normally would have given.