A Man For The Night

Was it her? Was she really jinxed? Or did she just want too much in a man?

Probably, Josie decided. Hadn’t she always? But the truth was she simply couldn’t bring herself to settle for less than what she’d always dreamt about, which was true love, plus her concept of a great sex life.

Not that she talked about this last part of her wish list anymore. Josie had come to the conclusion that her notion of a great sex life was outside the norm. So she kept the extent of her desires a deep dark secret. No way did she want her friends looking at her the same way her ex-husband had on their honeymoon, like she was some kind of raving nympho. When her girlfriends asked her what she wanted in a man, she now just said commitment and caring.

Even with this abbreviated wish list, Deb and Lisa said she was looking for something that didn’t exist. Which might or might nor be true. Josie was loath to take her two late-twenties-and-still-single roommates’ word for it.

Deb—a stylish blonde, but boyfriendless for over a year now—was the most cynical of the two. She thought all Australian men were selfish, and their idea of commitment and caring was remembering their current girlfriend’s name while they were bedding her. Lisa, a curvy bottle redhead who’d only recently split with her latest boyfriend after finding him in bed with his next-door neighbor, was going through an I-hate-all-men phase.

Josie was infinitely grateful that she was house-sitting at the moment while her parents were away, which meant she wouldn’t see Deb and Lisa till Wednesday, on their weekly girls’ night out. She simply couldn’t have coped with their toxic mixture of sympathy and sarcasm today. She could hear them now, spouting a fresh load of cutting comments about Aussie men and their shortcomings.

Thank goodness Kay didn’t talk like that, Josie thought as she spotted her co-worker up ahead, waiting by her car. Kay Harper believed in Aussie men, plus their ability to truly love a woman. An understandable point of view, considering Kay was married to one fantastic man, Colin. Josie might have been jealous of her one and only employee if Kay hadn’t been such a nice person.

Sliding her silver car into the blessedly empty spot behind Kay’s navy two-door, Josie waved over at her through the windscreen. Kay waved back, a ready smile on her cutely pretty face.

Although thirty-five, Kay was often taken for much younger, courtesy of her elfin features, slight figure and short, layered blond hair.

Not that she’d been born a blonde, like Deb. Kay was a believer in the adage that what you didn’t like about yourself, you changed. She’d also had a nose job in her twenties.

“Sorry I’m late,” Josie said with an apologetic smile as she jumped out from behind the wheel. “Slept in.” Too late, Josie realized that was a leading thing to say.

Kay’s blond tinted brows lifted in a suggestive fashion. “Really? That sounds promising. Do I take it you had a good night with Angus?”

Josie winced. What to say? Stupid to lie. But truly, she didn’t want to have some lengthy postmortem over what had happened with Angus, even with Kay. Best she get this over and done with as swiftly and painlessly as possible. “Actually, no, I didn’t.”

“Oh? What happened?”

“We ran into a former lover of his.”

“Oh dear. How awkward.”

“You have no idea. The former lover was a man.”

“What?” Kay looked almost as shocked as Josie had been at this discovery. “But…but I didn’t know Angus is gay.”

They’d both met Angus when Josie sought his services a couple of months back to revamp her company’s Web site. And both had thought him a hunk of the first order.

Kay’s shock quickly gave way to outrage. “If he is gay, then what the devil was he doing asking you out?”

“He claims he’s not gay,” Josie said dryly. “He’s just bisexual. Likes both gals and guys, often at the same time, and was I interested in a little threesome?”

Kay grimaced. “Oh, yuck.”

“My sentiments exactly.” As wild as some of Josie’s sexual fantasies were, they were always one-on-one with a heterosexual partner. Still, she had to wonder what it was about her that made Angus think she would be interested in that kind of thing. Perhaps it was the enthusiastic way she’d kissed him back on their last date. Whatever else he had been, Angus had been one very good kisser.

“I’ll bet you’re glad you kept to your no-sex-before-your-third-date rule,” Kay said ruefully before flashing Josie an alarmed glance. “You did keep to that rule with him, didn’t you?”

“Yes. Thank heavens. But last night was our third date and I was considering it. I shudder now just thinking about how close I came to an even greater disaster than my usual. I mean…I’ve picked some dud boyfriends in the past, especially in the bedroom department, but I’ve never picked a risk to my health!”

“A miss is as good as a mile.”

Josie rolled her eyes. “I’m finding it difficult to play the glad game this morning, Miss Pollyanna.”

“It’s the only way, sweetie. After all, there’s no real harm done, is there? It’s not as though you were in love with the man.”

“How do you know?”

“I remember what I was like when I first fell in love with Colin. You haven’t been like that with Angus.”

“Like what?”

“Distracted from your work. You’ll know when you’re truly in love, Josie, and so will I. Because your head will always be somewhere other than on the job. So far, in the time I’ve worked for you, that hasn’t happened.”

“No, I guess it hasn’t,” Josie conceded. “And I’m beginning to doubt if it ever will.”

“It will. There are plenty more fish in the sea.”

“That’s what you always say. But I have a feeling all the really attractive guys in Sydney are gay.”

“Rubbish! Sydney is chock full of good-looking straight guys.”

“Yeah. But they’re already married to clever women like you. And speaking of your being clever,” Josie swept on, deciding a change of subject was called for, “you’re going to have to be a very clever little decorator with this job I’ve lined up for us.”

“Oh-oh. That sounds ominous.”

“I have every confidence in you. After you’ve finished with this place, I’m sure it’ll sell for well over the reserve. Come on. Let’s go inside and I’ll show you our new challenge firsthand.” And she shepherded Kay into the square three-storey red brick apartment building which housed PPP’s new project.

“What’s the reserve price?” Kay asked with worry in her voice within a minute of stepping through the second floor apartment’s front door.

Josie gnawed at her bottom lip. She had to confess that the place looked much worse today than when she’d inspected it on Saturday. Of course, at the time, she’d been in a state of pre-date excitement. On top of that the sun had been shining, making the most of the ocean view and brightening up the starkly empty rooms.

Today was overcast in more ways than one.

“Josie?” Kay prompted as she opened and closed one of the battered kitchen cupboards.

Josie shrugged off the gathering clouds of pessimism, determined not to fall victim to such self-destructive emotion. She’d been there, done that after her divorce, and she didn’t want to go down that road again.

Admittedly, it was hard not to feel some dismay over her personal life this morning. She wouldn’t be human if she didn’t wonder and worry if she’d ever find someone even remotely close to her ideal man.

But no way was she going to let negative thinking creep into her working life. Work was the one thing she knew she could depend on. Work had always boosted her self-esteem and it gave her considerable satisfaction. Which was a lot more than any man had ever given her.

This project had been a good idea on Saturday, and it was still a good idea!

“Four hundred and ninety-five thousand,” she said with renewed conviction.

Kay swung round with wide blue eyes. “You have to be kidding. For this dump?”

“It’s not a dump in the real estate world,” Josie pointed out firmly. “It’s a two-bedroom apartment overlooking Manly Beach. A similar property sold at auction this last weekend for five hundred and seventy thousand.”