Just for Fun by Erin Nicholas Page B

like…something more. Which was not a good idea, she knew. She needed him for a couple of days for very superficial—and naughty—things. Period. He wasn’t someone she intended to date. Definitely not. She needed to date men she could, at some point, take to dinner with her boss. Hell, she needed to date men she could leave alone in a hotel suite and not worry about noise complaints or spilled grape soda.
    “Right. You’re here to keep me from doing something stupid with Todd,” she said resolutely. She was going to simply ignore the risk of doing something stupid with Doug.
    Doug frowned and moved in closer. “Something stupid? Like sleeping with him.” He touched her shoulder with an open palm and dragged his hand down her arm.
    Oh, yeah. His hand needed to keep up with that—in lots of places.
    “Like sleeping with him,” she admitted.
    “I’m sorry he sucks in bed,” Doug said.
    She grinned. “He doesn’t suck in bed. That’s part of the problem.”
    Doug scowled, running his hand up and down her arm again. “But he’s married?”
    “He’s not married.”
    “He’s a dumb ass?”
    She raised an eyebrow. “No. He’s intelligent. In fact, that’s also part of the problem.”
    “So what’s the deal? Did he dump you?” He shook his head in disgust. “What an idiot.”
    She appreciated his opinion. She didn’t appreciate his assumption. “He didn’t dump me. I broke it off. I haven’t returned a phone call or e-mail for almost four months.”
    “Then what’s the deal? He likes to wear women’s shoes? He’s a racist? He has no sense of humor?”
    She sighed. “He’s a good-looking, charming, smart guy who’s amazing in bed.” She lifted a shoulder. “He’ll be putting the moves on me. So I need a very potent Todd-suppressant. That’s you.”
    Doug’s frown grew darker. “So he’ll be trying to get you into bed?”
    She sighed. “It’s possible, yes. He doesn’t know why I stopped communicating with him.” She studied the whiskers on Doug’s chin instead of meeting his eyes.
    “Are you going to tell him?” Doug asked.
    “Maybe.” But probably not. She still felt like an idiot for letting it happen in the first place. Confronting him about it would be admitting she’d been fooled.
    He tipped her chin up. “You don’t have to tell me. I’m here with you no matter what. I’m more than happy to be your Todd-suppressant for the weekend. More than happy to keep you out of another man’s bed. But I think you should tell him what he did wrong.”
    She took a deep breath. “What if he apologizes? What if he makes me see his side? What if I’m tempted to forgive him?”
    Something flickered in Doug’s eyes. “I sure as hell don’t want that to happen,” he said. “Not if it increases the risk of him getting you naked. But—” he moved his hand from her face and tucked them in the pockets of his shorts, “—you deserve the chance to tell him off. It might help you get him out of your system. Especially if he’s not apologetic. Then you won’t need a suppressant. I’m a short-term fix, you know?”
    She did know that. Even if she didn’t like it.
    “He’ll be apologetic,” she said. “He won’t want me to be pissed, because he’ll hope he can get even more ideas out of me.”
    “Ideas?”
    “Ideas for the hotel. I haven’t talked to him in four months because he stole my ideas.” It would be helpful if Doug agreed with her, shared her outrage, even got her a little worked up against Todd before dinner. She needed as much armor against Todd’s effect on her as she could get.
    “Ideas for this meeting?” Doug asked.
    “No, our hotels. He’s the manager in Minneapolis. He took my ideas and implemented them in his hotel. Then took credit and got recognition from Mr. Britton and the company.”
    “He claimed they were his?” Doug asked.
    “Yes.” She hated thinking about how dumb she’d been to trust Todd when she’d barely known him. But great sex