BACHELOR NUMBER FOUR Read online

  She wanted to hear him say her name when he climaxed.

  "Say my name." The words floated from her dream lips.

  "No," answered the uncooperative lover. "I won't."

  "You will."

  And because this was her dream, he did. Moaned it, long and low, his voice a harsh and husky whisper that sent another orgasm spiraling outward from her clit to the rest of her body.

  She woke after that last one, a stifled cry on her lips. The blankets had tangled around her legs and she extricated herself while she peered at the clock. Fifteen more minutes until she had to get out of bed.

  Fifteen more minutes of sleep she wasn't even going to try and get. Her entire body still hummed with sexual tension, surprisingly unrelieved by the cascade of climaxes she'd experienced.

  There was really only one way to get rid of that feeling, which she'd grown accustomed to over the past eighteen months. She slipped from the bed and closed and locked her door, knowing both her girls wouldn't be up for another half an hour. She wouldn't need that much time.

  She pulled the small cloth pouch from her bedside table drawer and took out the plastic butterfly. It was meant to be worn with straps hugging the thighs and hips, and it had a remote control that meant it could be used with a partner, but she'd found it worked just as well alone. Like she had a choice.

  She thumbed the switch and started the quiet humming.

  * * * *

  "Dreams are just a manifestation of your subconscious desires becoming conscious." Lida stirred some sweetener into her coffee and snagged a bagel from the basket.

  "I dream about falling," replied Heather. "Does that mean I want to fall?"

  Arden refilled her friends' mugs and her own before sitting down. "I think what Lida's trying to say is that I keep dreaming about shagging Shane Donner because I really do want to."

  "Duh," said Lida.

  Heather laughed. "And he just messaged you out of the blue?"

  "You have to tell Heather your history with the guy. Racy stuff."

  Arden laughed. "It's not that racy."

  "Spill it. The kids are in school. It's morning Mommies' coffee and dirty secrets time." Heather sipped her coffee. "C'mon, I could use a few good stories."

  Arden quickly outlined her past with Shane--the whole brief but torrid affair.

  Heather nodded. "I had one of those. I call them the Open Doors. You know, sometimes they just don't close?"

  "Open Doors. Perfect description," Arden said. "But just because a door is open doesn't mean you have to go through it."

  "Doesn't mean you can't take a helluva peek at what's inside!" Lida laughed. "Arden, I keep telling you. You need to get laid. And yes, get a boyfriend if that's what you want, but satisfy the body's needs and maybe the heart will follow."

  Arden rolled her eyes. "You're backwards. Besides, Lida, after disaster dates one and two, I'm not so sure I have the energy to try again."

  "Girlfriend, you can't give up after only two tries," Heather said. "Do you know how many dates I went on before I met Leo?"

  "Luscious Leo." Arden grinned. "No, but I remember when you went on your first date with him."

  Lida rapped the table. "Don't tell me you waited to have sex until you met him, Heather."

  "Hell, no!" Heather laughed. "No way."

  "See, even Heather thinks you just need to get laid. Get it out of your system. Once you realize you don't have to be in love to have sex, the pressure will be off and you'll be readier to find the right guy."

  Something about that logic didn't sound right, but Arden was used to Lida's outrageous advice. "Why am I afraid when you say that? You're the same person who convinced me to wear a hot pink-and-lime green prom dress complete with matching shoes, right?"

  "Bad fashion advice is totally different than bad sex advice, Arden."

  "Lida, my love, forgive me, but when's the last time you had to wonder if you were going to have sex with Bill or how it would make you feel in the morning? Married sex is way different than single sex."

  Lida gave a dramatic sigh. "Don't I know it!"

  The three of them laughed around Arden's kitchen table, three friends enjoying what Jason had always called "female bondage time."

  Lida's expression got serious. "If you still want to take a chance, though, I have someone in mind."

  "No. No, Lida."

  Heather and Lida exchanged looks. Heather raised a brow at Arden. "I wouldn't pass this up, if I were you."

  "Why not?" Arden got up to take her empty mug to the sink. Watching her two friends working together to wear down her resolve was...well, wearing down her resolve.

  "Because Philip Davis is drop dead gorgeous, drives a kick-ass car, and has already said he's interested."

  Her mug clattered against the sink. "What!"

  Turning, she glared, arms crossed over her chest. Heather and Lida exchanged looks. Lida picked up another doughnut, but before she could bite into it, Arden yanked it from her hands.

  "No more sugar until you confess! What did you say to this guy! How can he be interested, and why? What have you done?"

  "Arden," Lida said in her soothing-a-frantic-friend voice. "Chill, baby. Philip works in my sister's office. I've known him for a few years. He's a nice guy, plays the field, but not in a sleazy way, and he's interested because I showed him your picture and he thought you were hot."

  "Hot!" Arden gasped. "Hot? Lida Crowley, you pimped me!"

  "No. I just happened to mention you were just getting back into dating and might be interested in having a good time."

  Heather and Lida laughed. Heather said, "Philip is a good time, or so I've heard."

  "What?" She couldn't believe this, she really couldn't. And yet, she mustn't have been totally soured on the idea of dating and/or sex because she heard herself saying, "He really wants to take me out?"

  "Saturday." Heather giggled and Lida slapped at her. "We've already arranged for your parents to take the girls."

  This made Arden sag against the counter. "Is this some sort of conspiracy?"

  "A conspiracy of love," Lida said. "We just want to get you back on your feet. Or back on your back, as the case may be."

  "You guys!" Tears clogged her throat and burned in her eyes. "You're crazy!"

  "That's what friends are for," Lida said in a mock-sage tone of voice. "Carry your burdens, share your joys, get you laid."

  The kitchen rang with laughter, and though she couldn't believe she was actually saying yes to another date, Arden laughed too. "I guess he can't be any worse than Shark Boy or Sad Sam."

  "Not Philip Davis," said Lida. "He's a dreamboat."

  Arden sighed, loving her friends too much to be annoyed. "Let's just hope it's not the Titanic."

  "So what if it is?" Lida pointed out. "At least you know he'll go down."

  * * * *

  The week passed much too fast, but Arden filled it with work and her girls. Before she knew it, Saturday had come, and with it, a few extra appointments. Arden didn't usually work on the weekend, but her parents had arranged to pick up the girls early, and she'd needed something to keep her mind off the night ahead.

  She was immersed in a froth of lace and satin when the bell on the shop door twinkled and jangled. Mouth full of pins, Arden pointed to an empty chair when she saw it was Lida, then turned her attention back to the bride who stood, hands clenched, on the stool. A few more pins and the hem no longer dragged behind the petite woman.

  "That should do it," Arden said. "You can change now. I should have the last of these alterations done for you by the end of next week. Then we can schedule your last fitting in plenty of time for the big day."

  The bride let out a low moan, then nodded, eyes wide as she stared at her reflection. "I look like a huge, fat cow."

  "You look beautiful," Arden reassured, though in truth she was more than a little tired of this particular Nervous Nellie's insecurities. She'd already changed her mind half a dozen times about the headpiece and ve