Definitely Naughty by Jo Leigh

her.
    “I love my tree. You’re amazing.” He squeezed her shoulders as he bent to kiss her. Only this one wasn’t a quickie. Tasting her again brought back the ache in his chest, the twitch in his cock. Before he went nuts, he pulled away. “I’ll go make that call.”
    “I can’t believe you guys.” Aubrey took another bite of the falafel Sanjula and Caro had brought to Le Muse even though her appetite wasn’t happening. She’d spoken maybe five words to Caro in the cab ride from Liam’s, but her two friends had still shown up, dinner and strong shoulders at the ready.
    “You’re such an idiot,” Sanjula said in her most sympathetic voice. “Seriously. Aubrey, I love you, but you’re a moron.”
    That brought a smile. Unfortunately, Sanjula was right about her being a dope, but not for the right reason. “I should have known the minute I met him. I mean, you’ve seen his trading card.”
    “Yes, we have,” Caro said. “And being gorgeous doesn’t automatically make him the wrong guy.”
    Caro didn’t get it, either. “It’s not the pretty that’s wrong.” Aubrey stood up, walked away from the blank sketch pad on her desk. She hadn’t put one mark on it, and she’d had thirty-five minutes to work before the troops arrived. “He’s a detective for the NYPD. It’s what he lives for. He wants to be the chief of police someday. I mean, come on. I know us both, and I can’t even imagine us together.”
    “You’ve only known him a couple of weeks. No one said you have to marry the guy,” Caro said. “But you also don’t have to throw him to the curb because you guys made love.”
    Aubrey shook her head, wishing they’d brought a bottle of vodka instead of a venti latte. “I didn’t kick him to the curb. We agreed that this thing between us was only until the window was done. Christmas Eve Eve comes, and he’s gone.” Damn it, even she could hear the catch in her voice. She stared at a box instead of at her friends. “That’s the only reason he’s with me in the first place. Remember ‘lots and lots of sex with a time limit’? The part that’s screwed up is that it was only supposed to be sex. Not…not what happened tonight.”
    She sighed as she turned back. Who was she kidding? Her friends had seen her drunk off her ass, sick as a dog, crushed by jobs, by unrequited lust, by her own weaknesses. There was no use trying to pretend she wasn’t exactly as crazy as she was.
    “Let me get this straight,” Sanjula said, putting down a too-cute-for-words baby-doll nightie that was supposed to be on a mannequin. “You had an amazingly hot quickie, then he changed things up and took his time, and now you’re convinced that the whole thing is the worst mistake since denim shorts with black tights.”
    “He didn’t just take his time.” Tears threatened, but Aubrey didn’t care. “The way he looked at me was…I mean, he was probably just looking at me all normal and stuff, but I took that look and ran with it all the way to church. I mean it. Whatever the switch is that flips from a simple hookup to a major mistake? That’s what happened. I know, because I’ve been there before. Do I need to remind you both of Phillip? I was practically picking out wedding dresses before I overheard him talking about his ‘freshman piece.’”
    The girls groaned in stereo.
    “Well, this is Phillip times ten.”
    “Oh,” Caro said. “Wow.”
    “Yeah, wow.” Drinking the last of her cold coffee, Aubrey ran her hand over her sketch pad, knowing she wasn’t going to be inspired tonight. “Somehow, I have to turn that switch off. Right now. Before I see him again. Or else, I can’t see him again.”
    Sanjula jumped down from the shelf where she’d roosted. “Wait just a sec. Before we go flipping switches all over the place, let’s think this through. So, you got more invested in Liam than you’d meant to. Why is that such a bad thing?”
    “Detective for the NYPD, Sanjula. Serious