Gage, Ronna - Send Her To Me (Siren Publishing Classic) by Ronna Gage Page B

“Everything.” Kelli bowed her head.
    “Don’t hide from me, Kelli. I’m not here to judge. What happened?”
    “I only slept with him, that’s all.” Kelli placed her hands on her face.
    “That’s a bad thing, how?”
    Kelli burst into a fit of sobs. “I feel so stupid and cheap,” she cried. “It’s not like me to unceremoniously jump into bed with a man.” She sniffed and wiped her tears.
    “I agree with that. It isn’t like you.
    “I wanted to take it slow on the first date, but we stayed at a casino in Oklahoma. Last night, I don’t know what came over me. I was like a woman willing to give him a blow job for a Big Mac.”
    “I wonder why you gave in to Carter so easily, especially after what you went through with Larry.”
    “Tell me when you find the answer,” Kelli whimpered.
    “I think it’s intrigue. You were so intrigued by Carter’s good looks, caring nature, and of course, your immediate sexual attraction to him that you acted on those feelings last night.”
    “Oh, God! I was a brazen hussy!”
    Tonya grabbed Kelli’s hand. “First off, no one says hussy anymore.”
    “I was being nice!”
    “Regardless, and may I add you weren’t alone in that bed. Now, without giving me a blow-by-blow, no pun intended, tell me what happened to make you think this is over.”
    “He won’t want to see me again,” she moaned and laid her head in her opened hand.
    “You don’t know that for certain.”
    “Why would he want to see me after I gave him what other women are willing to give him?”
    “What exactly? A night of passion?”
    “No, sex on our first, n–no, second date. It doesn’t matter if it’s the first or second. It was too soon, and I didn’t even show any resistance. In fact, you might even say I instigated the whole affair.” Kelli looked at Tonya with earnest eyes. “But Tonya, I couldn’t help myself. He looked so damn good, and he smelled even better, like a clean spring with an outdoorsy smell, and when he kissed me—” Kelli stopped talking.
    “Kelli, don’t leave me hanging at the good part. Geez!” she sipped her coffee, and then looked at her. “What can I say to you to make you feel better? I get the feeling you want assurance, but what are you wanting it for?”
    “I don’t know!” Kelli cried.
    “What did you feel last night?”
    Her eyes glazed over again. “I felt the earth move. I felt the awakenings of something deep inside me,” Kelli declared.
    Tonya’s heart squeezed a little. She knew exactly how her cousin felt.
    “I was way out of my league to think I had a chance at a relationship with someone as wonderful as Carter.”
    “Oh Kelli, don’t worry about last night. It will work itself out.” She gave her cousin a reassuring pat on the shoulder. “Did you take extra precautions?” Kelli nodded. “Good. I’m so glad that Carter is levelheaded enough to take care of the two of you,” Tonya complimented off-handedly.
    “I just hope that his hanging around celebrities hasn’t made him as jaded as they are about women.” Kelli sniffled.
    Tonya thought about it for a second. “He doesn’t strike me as the love-them-and-leave-them type. But he does hang around with celebrated sports figures.” How much did you tell Kelli about yourself last night ? “No, he’s just as cautious as you are in the relationship department.”
    Kelli stared at her in disbelief. “Why? He is so perfect. What would he have to be cautious about?”
    Tonya looked for the best way to explain the life of Carter Banks. “Let’s simply say, he is afraid of getting his heart broken.”
    Kelli looked at Tonya in skepticism. “That Carter worried about getting his own heart broken never crossed my mind.”
    “Although you make him out to be your hero, he is human, Kelli.”
    “I know that! But I can’t believe that someone as devilishly handsome as Carter. And as virile…and sweet.” Kelli swallowed. “And…sexy.”
    Kelli’s eyes became dreamy