Match Me If You Can

'I'm his matchmaker! We're not having sex!'

'Which is a good thing,' Molly said. 'But Dean Robil-lard's a whole different matter. Talk about the ultimate boy toy.'

'We're straying,' Krystal said. 'Three of us have been married for a long time, and no matter how much we love our husbands, things can get a little stale.'

'Or not,' Phoebe drawled with her cat's smile.

They all snickered, but Krystal wouldn't be distracted. 'Molly and Kevin have young kids, and we know what a crimp that can put in your sex life.'

'Or not.' Molly offered up her own cat's smile.

'The point is… It's time we get more in touch with our sexuality.'

'I'm way too much in touch with mine,' Janine said. 'I just wish somebody else would touch it, too.'

More snickers.

'Go ahead and make jokes,' Krystal said. 'We're still going to watch this film. We'll be better women for it.'

Charmaine went on full alert. 'What kind of film?'

'An erotic movie made especially for women.'

'You're kidding. Really, Krystal.'

'The one I selected-a personal favorite-involves actors of various races, ages, and degrees of hotness, so nobody'll feel excluded.'

'This is your big mystery?' Phoebe said. 'That we're going to watch porn together?'

'Erotica. Made just for women. And until you've seen some of these movies, you shouldn't judge.'

Annabelle suspected more than a few of them already had, but no one wanted to put too much of a damper on Krystal's enthusiasm.

'Here's what I really like about this particular film,' Krystal said. 'The men are all gorgeous, but the women are fairly ordinary. No silicone.'

'That sets it apart from porn for men, all right,' Sharon said. 'At least from what I've heard.'

Krystal began fussing with the DVD player. 'There's also a story, and real foreplay. A lot of it. Kissing, slow undressing, lots of caressing…'

Janine buried her face in her hands. 'This is pathetic. I'm already getting turned on.'

'I'm not,' Charmaine said in a huff. 'I'm a Christian, and I refuse to-'

'Good Christians-good Christian women-are supposed to please their husbands.' Krystal smiled and hit the remote. 'And believe me, this'll please the hell out of Darnell.'

Chapter Fourteen

When Annabelle returned to the cottage shortly after midnight, her cheeks were still flushed from watching the film, and her sundress clung to hot, damp… very damp flesh. Seeing the light shining through the front window filled her with dismay. Maybe he'd left it on as a courtesy. Please don't still be waiting up. She absolutely could not face him tonight. Even without watching a dirty movie, she could barely keep her hands off him, but after what she'd just seen…

She tiptoed up to the porch, slipped off her sandals, and let herself in as silently as the squeaky screen door and wobbly doorknob would allow.

'Hey.'

She gasped and dropped her sandals. 'Don't scare me like that!'

'Sorry.' He lay sprawled on the couch, a sheaf of papers in one hand. He wasn't wearing a shirt, just a pair of faded black athletic shorts. His feet were bare, his ankles crossed on the arm of the couch, where light from the floor lamp turned the hair on his calves golden. Her eyes returned to the gym shorts. After what she'd seen on the screen, he was criminally overdressed.

As she tried to get her breath back, he lifted his head and shoulders, which, of course, contracted his abs into the gold standard of six-packs. 'Why's your face so red?' he said.

'S-sunburn.' She knew how vulnerable she was, and she should have thrown herself in the lake to cool off before she came back here.

'That's not sunburn.' He swung his feet to the floor, and she noticed his hair was damp. 'What's wrong with you?'

'Nothing!' She began inching away. It meant taking the long route around, but she wasn't turning her back on him. 'You took another shower.'

'So?'

'You showered after you swam. What are you, some kind of clean freak?'

'Ron and I went for a run after dinner. Why do you care?'

Oh, God, that chest, that mouth… those green eyes that saw everything. Except her naked. They'd never seen that. 'I'm… going to bed now.'

'Was it something I said?'

'Don't be cute. Please.'

'I'll do my best.' He gave her a crooked smile. 'But me being me…'

'Stop it!' She didn't intend to quit moving, but her feet went on some kind of labor strike.

'You need warm milk or something?'

'No, I definitely don't need anything hot.'

'I said warm. I didn't say anything about hot.' He set down his papers.

'I-I know that.'

She might be standing still, but he wasn't, and he took in her damp, rumpled dress as he approached. 'What's going on?'

She couldn't take her eyes off his mouth. It brought to mind all the mouths she'd seen on that small television screen so recently and exactly what they'd been doing. Damn Krystal and her movie. 'I'm just tired,' she managed.

'You don't look tired. Your lips are sort of puffy, like you've been chewing on them, and you're breathing hard. Frankly, you look turned on. Or is that my one-track mind taking over again?'

'Let it go, okay?' He had a small scar on one rib, probably a knife wound from a spurned girlfriend.

'What the hell did you women do tonight?'

'It wasn't my idea!' She sounded guilty, and her flush deepened.

'I'll find out. One of the guys will tell me, so you might as well fill me in now.'

'I don't think the men will be talking about this. Or maybe they will. I don't know. I have no idea how much you men talk.'

'Not as much as you women do, that's for damn sure.' He inclined his head toward the kitchen. 'Do you want something to drink? There's a bottle of wine in the refrigerator.'

'Oh, yeah… Wine's exactly what I don't need right now.'

'A mystery just waiting to be solved…' He'd clearly begun to enjoy himself.

'Leave it alone, will you?'

'Exactly what a nice guy would do.' He leaned down and picked up his cell. 'Janine'll tell me what happened. She seems like an up-front lady.'

'She's at the B &B. She doesn't have a phone in her room.'

'Right. I'll ask Krystal. I talked to Webster not half an hour ago.'

Annabelle had a pretty good idea what Krystal and Webster were doing about now, and they wouldn't appreciate being interrupted. 'It's midnight.'

'Your powwow just broke up. She won't have gone to bed yet.'

Don't bet on it.

He rubbed his thumb over the number pad. 'I've always liked Krystal. She's straightforward.' He pressed the first button.