Monroe, Marla - Hot and Bothered (Siren Publishing Classic) Read Online Free Page A

Savanna sighed. So she was boring now.
    “I didn’t mean it that way. Just that you’re happy owning your own business and all.”
    “But I’m bored with my sex life. So, how is your sex life?” She couldn’t help the sarcasm in her voice.
    “Great. It’s great. Ben is an out of this world lover.” Karen rubbed her hands over her face. “I shouldn’t complain, should I? I’ve got a great man and a good job. What more can a girl want?”
    “Excitement.” Savanna took her friend’s hands in hers and squeezed. “You got it in bed, and I don’t. I got it in my job, and you don’t. We always want what we don’t have.”
    “Yeah, I guess you’re right.” Karen pulled away, grasped her coffee in both hands, and took a sip. “So, let’s work on finding you a red-hot lover.”
    “I think I’ll settle for a lukewarm lover about now.” She laughed. “I’m presently without a lover at all.”
    “How about that guy who rescued you? Dusty or something?”
    “Dustin. He was really nice. Had a great body, too.” Savanna was tempted to confide in her friend that she had been dreaming about that body every night for the last week.
    “Maybe he’ll be there Saturday night. Wouldn’t that be great?” Karen grinned, much like her old self.
    “I don’t know. I’m not sure he really liked me, you know? He didn’t ask me to dance again. In fact, I didn’t even see him again until he got that guy to leave me alone.”
    “Hey, there were hundreds of people there. He might have been watching you all night and you wouldn’t have seen him. If he’s there, you have to dance with him.”
    Savanna laughed and shook her head. “Don’t worry, I’m not passing up the opportunity to get up close and personal with that body.”
    “There you go. We’ll have a blast.” Karen finished her coffee and looked at her watch.
    “Shit, I’ve got to go. I promised Ben I would be home before eight. I’m going to have to rush to make it.” Karen jumped up from the table and hugged Savanna when she rose as well.
    “I’ll talk to you tomorrow,” she said and sprinted for the door.
    Savanna sat back down to finish her coffee and think. All was not well between Ben and Karen. Her friend was feeling hemmed in for some reason. She couldn’t figure it out, though, because Ben had always been easygoing and let Karen do just about anything she wanted to do. They were the happiest couple she had ever been around. Or at least she thought they were. What had happened to change things?
    The coffee cup warmed her hands. It was still cool at night, though it was full spring now. The days heated up to a warm fifty-five or sixty degrees, but the nights still managed to hover around freezing. Maybe it was more an inner chill than the weather, she decided as she finished her coffee and prepared to leave. Maybe her cold love life and Karen’s rocky one were getting to her more than she realized.

    * * * *

    The club was about as crowded when they arrived that Saturday night as the last time, the only difference being they were earlier than before. Finding a table turned out to be just as difficult as the last time. After a good thirty minutes of circling the building, they located a booth against the wall opposite the bar. In order to keep the table, someone had to remain there while the others danced. She volunteered for the first shift and watched as Ben and Karen boogied on the dance floor.
    Karen seemed to be in a much better mood tonight than she had been the other day. Savanna sure hoped that had been just an off mood and not the norm for her friend. She hated to see her upset and certainly didn’t want her and Ben to break up. They were the two most stable people she knew.
    Savanna had come from a broken home where her father decided he didn’t like the responsibility of two kids and a wife, so he split when she was twelve years old. Her mom worked hard to put food on the table, but she kept dating the same type of guys. They