Poolside Pleasure by Renee Ashley Williams Page B

open. “Honey, you’re late.”
    “Um…” She’d forgotten where she was. Her mind was still wandering beneath the covers with Cody touching her in the most erotic ways.
    “Dakota?”
    “Yes?” She blinked and focused on her friend’s long blonde hair and slim figure. Erasing the image of a certain sexy cowboy from her mind wasn’t going to be easy, but she had to…for now.
    “Come inside. Where’ve you been?”
    “I went home after work to shower.” She stepped over the threshold. If Jill had called while she was still at her apartment, she would have cancelled helping Addison fix her computer problem and indulged in a self-pity party. That was the last thing she needed.
    Right now she had a future to look forward to and a past she needed to put behind her. Closing the book on the life she’d known made a way for her to move on—starting tonight.
    “Is everything okay?”
    Dakota nodded. “Yep. So, how’s that honky-tonk in town for picking up a decent guy?” After three months of living in seclusion, now would be a good time to venture out to the local bars and meet new people—without her apron and her hair up in a bun.
    “No need.” Addison escorted her toward an oblong wooden table. She handed Dakota a glass of red wine from several that sat on a tray. “You’ve come to the right place.”
    “Your monthly party’s tonight?” It figured. The one time she might want to accept an invitation to one of Addison’s matchmaking parties, and she hadn’t been invited. How much fun would it be with Cody being at his regular Friday night poker game anyway? “You should have told me when I asked about coming tonight. Do you want me to come back tomorrow?”
    Dakota froze while admiring the tall, naked male strolling across the hardwood floor in the next room. Cody? She stepped behind Addison but continued to stare at the view from over her friend’s shoulder.
    Her hands itched to rake her fingers through his dark curls and align his square jaw and full lips between her thighs. Her eyes traveled south to where her fingernails would, if given the chance, ride a roller coaster over each defined muscle of his steely abs. She glimpsed his semi-rigid cock, then admired his tight ass as his long strides carried his stunning physique outside. He was so much sexier without his fitted jeans and chaps. But what the hell is he doing here?
    Her imagination had not led to him walking around bare-assed at his best friend’s poker party tonight. Had he meant “poke her” game and not playing cards as she’d thought?
    Good thing she hadn’t expressed to Addison her fondness for the thirty-year-old who had been invading her dreams and causing her to wake in the middle of the night with a need to pleasure herself.
    Could this day become any more depressing? The two men she’d ever had an interest in turned out not to be what she’d expected. Would this be her method of operation from now on, being attracted to the wrong guys?
    Addison faced her. “Honey, would you like to talk about why you’re upset?”
    Dakota forced a smile and shook her head. “Not now.”
    One day she could see herself and Addison bonding and becoming best friends. Currently, she wasn’t ready to trust her intimate feelings with another woman.
    She had wanted to share the phone call she’d received with Cody, but now more than that she wanted to find out why he had just walked through the living room wearing only a sexy smile.
    “Good enough.” Addison placed their drinks on the table then locked her arm with Dakota’s. “You’re more than welcome to stay. Not everyone who comes here walks around naked or hooks up. But truth be told, after a few glasses of wine, clothes do start flying.”
    “Are you serious?” Dakota had never been to such a party. She couldn’t imagine walking around naked in front of a bunch of strangers.
    Addison laughed and pulled Dakota closer. “Your routine since moving here has been all work and no