Mara Fox - Letting Loose!

Letting Loose!

Mara Fox

www.millsandboon.co.uk

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I dedicate this book to Kate Schaefer, the strongest woman in my life—a mom who held it all together for her three kids, went to school at night, worked all day and still had time to make us feel as if we were the most important people in her world. She could do anything and she proved it whenever our lives got tough. When Lil Kate had cancer she never missed a surgery or a long day of chemotherapy—she fought for Lil Kate’s life by my side.

Mama—I can never give you what you’ve given me. But I can tell you how much you mean to me and how you inspire my writing.

I love you so much. This one’s for you.

Prologue

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Coming Next Month

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN you aren’t going to have a traditional bachelorette party?” Tina Henderson wiped the perspiration from her neck and nearly bare breasts with a swipe from her towel. “I’ve got the most magnificent stripper in mind for the party. He’s called ‘The Bandit.’” She leaned forward and added in a stage whisper, “And he’s hung like a stallion.”

“I’m not going anywhere near some naked male stranger when I’m about to be married,” Emma Daniels protested vigorously.

“Okay, okay, fine, Emma—though it’s too bad since you’re going to be stuck with the same sex partner for the rest of your life.” Tina shuddered.

“Just think how good we’ll get at pleasing each other sexually,” Emma said with a confidence she hadn’t had months ago, before her cruise of self-discovery. During a little jaunt to the Bahamas, she’d discovered her sensual self with the help of a handsome boy toy. A man who had turned out to be not just a toy, but Mr. Right.

Except, Tina didn’t really believe there was a right guy…only the right guy for the moment. Mr. Right Now. “You were coming out of your shell so well, having fun, meeting people. When you fell in love you reverted back to your uptight self,” she complained.

“No, I committed. And it’s amazing.”

But Emma’s bold talk was spoiled when a man entered the coed sauna and she immediately adjusted her towel to cover her thong.

Sometimes, Emma still acted like the girl next door.

“This stripper’s amazing,” Tina coaxed. “You’ll regret it if you don’t have him at your party—” she winked “—or just have him.”

“Even you wouldn’t do that.”

Tina mopped some sweat off her arm. “Be careful. You know that I’ll do just about anything.” Her attention wandered when a man stripped down to a thong and displayed a rather stunning set of abs.

“Hello? Tina, are you paying attention? No stripper. In fact, I’m having a coed bachelorette party.”

“It’s rather inconvenient, you acquiring a backbone now, when I’ve got my heart set on The Bandit.”

“Your heart isn’t set on anything, only your libido.”

“That hurts.” She shrugged. “But it’s true. Take that man who just came into the sauna.”

“The one you’ve been drooling over?”

“Absolutely. My libido is definitely set on that guy.” Tina smiled, and then slowly uncrossed her legs and casually adjusted her thong.

“You may have to cut short your own little striptease. It appears his girlfriend has come to save him.”

“Damn.” Tina shrugged as the woman settled herself beside the man with a proprietary air.

“You are so naughty. What have you got against relationships, anyway?”

“Have you seen the divorce statistics? Divorce is what keeps us lawyers in four-hundred-dollar shoes.” She wriggled her manicured toes.

“Stop being so cynical. If half of all marriages fail, that means half of them last forever,” Emma insisted. “Look at how understanding Tony was about my fertility problem. We’re going to last forever, for sure.”

“I guess that’s the glass-is-half-full way to look at the divorce statistics. And Tony was pretty good about that. Of course, if he hadn’t been, I was prepared to do something drastic,” Tina teased. She actually liked it when Emma stood up to her. “But it’s safer and a whole lot cheaper if you just play the field.” Tina preened for the man whose gaze kept straying to her toned body, despite that he was spoken for.

“I know you’re cynical because of your job,” Emma said, waving off Tina’s immediate protest, “and because of being bounced around during your childhood. But you had enough faith to put yourself through school, and then make something of your life. Why is it so hard to believe in love?”

“I could love an unlimited supply of designer shoes, I think, although my attention span is woefully short.”

Emma just smiled that annoying I’m-your-best-friend-who-knows-you-better-than-you-know-your-self smile.

Tina wondered how a loner like herself had ever ended up with a best friend. Emma had sort of snuck up on her.

“How is Tyler? What kinda cases is he taking these days?” Emma said with another one of those stupid smiles.

“Criminal cases, I imagine, since that’s what he does.” Tina gave the ab man a teasing smile, and then shrugged so her erect nipples pressed against the thin material of her top. She didn’t have many inhibitions: where she’d grown up there had been no privacy, no room to herself, no real parents to look after her. She’d had to fight for anything she’d wanted, using her brain, and later her body, to her advantage.

“Stop that.”

“Stop what?”

Emma straightened up. “Stop flirting with someone else’s boyfriend. She’s going to attack you with those lethal-looking fingernails.”

“I’ll bet my manicure against her manicure any day.”

“You won’t be as pretty with bloody gouges on your face. Besides, there might be a weapon under that towel.”

“The only thing she’s hiding under there is cellulite. What does she expect? She should go work out. Why should I sweat at the gym, and then hide my body just to make her feel good?” Tina’s voice got a little shrill. Lately, she’d been going to the gym just to kill time, and to try to get rid of the lethargy dogging her evenings.

Emma held up a hand. “Shhh. What’s wrong with you? Since when do you have to poach? You usually only act like that when you’re pissed off, and since talking about Tyler seems to piss you off, I think you might consider the ramifications, counselor.”

“Ramifications?” Tina rubbed her index finger and her middle finger together, a nervous habit she hated. She never thought about Tyler. He’d overstepped her careful boundaries, for which he’d been banished, and then buried, as deeply as all the rest of the shit in her past.

“Okay, ignore the obvious if you think you can. You may not care about romance, but I want it, all of it. And I don’t want to ruin this special time by spending the evening of my party watching some stripper and throwing up on my best friend.”