“Will Work For Sex.”

Maddie Saunders read the message stitched on the pink lace panties and grinned. “Oh, my.” She dangled a black thong before her girlfriend’s eyes. “And look what this baby says: ‘Just Do Me.’”

“Love it.” Reece Anderson picked up a pair of white panties from another bin. “Feel how soft these are.” She handed them to Maddie. “They’re made out of macrobiotic bamboo.”

“They should print ‘Eat Organic’ on them.”

Reece laughed and scooped up three pairs and dropped them into a shopping basket already laden with lingerie. “You never told me about your uncle’s dinner party. Did you connect with the guy he tried to set you up with?”

Maddie slipped a black camisole off the rack. “I couldn’t connect with that guy if he was a Snickers bar and I had PMS.”

“Ouch. Who was it? Anybody I know?”

“The new director of publications, Robert Neilson.” If Uncle G. weren’t her boss and publisher of New York’s Eye on the World magazine, she would have given him major attitude for trying to hook her up with the college-educated caveman.

“I met him last week,” Reece said with a thoughtful expression. “He’s kinda cute in a commitment-ready sort of way.”

“Yeah.” Maddie headed to the change rooms. “He made it very clear he’s ready for a Wilma to complement his Fred Flintstone personality.”

Reece followed her inside the large cubicle and shut the door. “Didn’t you say you were coming out of dating exile and gearing up for a relationship?”

Maddie took her brown leather jacket off, cloaked it on the back of a chair, and glanced at her blonde friend in the mirror. “I don’t want a relationship. I want sex. Sweaty, no-strings-attached sex. The kind that’s so freaking hot the neighbors will light cigarettes afterwards.”

“Good luck with that.” Reece laughed and shook her head. “My booty call runs a distant second to a Brad Pitt marathon and cheesecake.”

Maddie gathered her hair into a ponytail. “At least you have a booty to call.”

“He’s history.”

“I thought things were working out great with your arrangement,” Maddie said.

“For about five minutes.” Reece put her purse on the chair. “Our conversations consisted of him telling me what he likes in bed. When he called, he never asked how I was doing. He never picked up the tab or even offered to split for takeout. We had fun in bed, but that grew old real fast.” She sighed. “Last time we hooked up he told me to hurry because he wanted his turn.”

“He sounds like a selfish bore,” Maddie said. “No wonder you never introduced me to him. I probably would have told him so.”

“I know you would have.” Reece nodded. “I should have known better. With no strings in the relationship, it was always about him.” She unbuttoned her coat and slipped it off. “Still think you want casual sex?”

“Yup. I’ll take my chances.” Maddie took Reece’s coat and draped it over hers. “I’m sorry you met an insensitive he-man and I’m glad you didn’t put up with any more of his BS. But I’m long overdue.” She toed off her ankle boots. “I’ve ignored my lust life for way too long.”

Over the past few years, Maddie had been devoting herself to her career. Her twenty-eight-year-old hormones were now giving off signals like liquid gave off vapor.

She owed it to herself to embrace and liberate her inner sex siren. But not a one-night stand of meaningless sex with a plenty-of-game stranger⎯or a college-educated caveman. Not her style. Not that forever love was her style, either. How could the daughter of a flake who’d married half a dozen times even believe in forever love?

No, she wanted red-blazing sex, ripped from the pages of Venus Envy magazine, and then some with an experienced take-charge man. A guy she trusted and connected with on every level.

A flush of heat spread across her forehead at the thought of releasing her inhibitions. Maddie unraveled the scarf around her neck and gave her face a quick swipe. “It’s time I have a fling.”

“I’ve flung my last fling.” Reece emptied the lingerie items and placed them on the bench. “The big three-oh is just around the corner. Love and marriage is the answer for me.”

“If marriage is the answer then I’ll take another question.”

Reece tried on a peach sleep shirt over her clothes, moved side to side and examined herself in the mirror. “Not all marriages go south. Some are made in heaven.”
“So are earthquakes.”
 
“Okay, time to change the subject.” Reece removed the sleep shirt, hung it on a hook and slipped a black silk dress off its hanger. “When do you leave for your Hawaiian assignment?”

“In two weeks.” Maddie slid out of her jeans and T-shirt and sighed as she caught sight of herself. As much as she exercised, she still had generous hips. Curvy wasn’t too bad, she supposed. It had worked for Monroe and Loren.

Unfortunately, her breasts, although fine and firm, were small, which meant she wouldn’t be inducted into the bombshell hall of fame anytime soon. She’d have to buy a padded bra to impress the man who headlined her fantasies and turned her panties into an X-rated film festival.

“I should try to convince your uncle to send me with you. My comic strip needs new material, and a few weeks in the sun would chase away the February blues.” Reece gave Maddie a cheeky grin. “If he doesn’t bite, don’t forget to e-mail me the details of the trouble you’re sure to get into.”

Maddie rolled her eyes and threw a lace camisole over her friend’s head. “I’m not going to get into any trouble.”

“Knowing you, I’m sure something will happen on the island.”

“I’ve already written the headline for my article: ‘Gateway to the Seductive Tropics’,” Maddie announced with pride. “I intend to research the seductive part thoroughly.”

“I know that look.” Reece handed Maddie the black dress. “What are you up to?”

The designer silk number would cost Maddie more than one week’s salary, but she shrugged off the price and slipped on the dress. “I’m not traveling alone this time.”
“I heard Tim Graham is doing the photo shoot.” Reece pulled the zipper up on the back of Maddie’s dress. “Is this Dolce and Gabbana for his benefit?”

Maddie noticed a subtle blush bloom on Reece’s cheeks when she spoke Tim’s name. Hmmm, interesting. “No, not Tim. Even though he is cuter than a basket full of puppies.”
“Then I don’t have a clue who you’re talking about.”

Maddie wasn’t surprised Reece didn’t know who the lust-of-her-life was. She’d hidden her secret crush well for the past few years⎯had even fooled herself into thinking of him as a friend. She’d finally worked up the confidence to go after what she wanted.

“Since Flintstone’s off the table,” Reece tucked in the label on the back of the dress, “who’s the lucky guy?”

“I’ll give you a few hints. He’s about six-foot-two. He has dark hair and his eyes are the color of rich Godiva chocolate. Looks great in his faded-in-all-the-right-places jeans, especially from behind, and he resembles a young George Clooney.”

“Mmmm, I’ll have one of those draped in soft buckskin.” Reece adjusted the spaghetti straps on Maddie’s shoulders. “The only guy I can think of who fits that description is…” Reece stared in surprise. “Whoa, chica. Our hotter-than-a-sunburn reporter?”

“The one and only.” Maddie shot her friend a saucy wink. “I plan to model this dress and the sexy underwear for Alex.” She checked her profile. Oh, yes, he’d never know what hit him. She would do without groceries to buy this dress.

Reece planted her hands on her hips. “I hate to break it to you, but I don’t think it’s going to happen.”

“Why not?”

“Besides the fact that you two have never been on a real date, you mean? You’re total opposites. He’s as serious as a judge and you’re about as shy as a Girls Gone Wild video.”

“Sometimes he needs a little help to bring out his sense of fun.” Maddie dug out a red satin teddy from the basket. “I’m going to drive him crazy with this.”

“You do drive him crazy.” Reece tugged Maddie’s ponytail. “With aggravation. I have to hand it to you. You’re the only person who can get away with it.”

Maddie waved her hand. “A few little incidents he’s probably forgotten.”

“Have you forgotten he calls you the Green-Eyed Angel of Planet Crazy? Can’t say I blame him, considering those stunts you’ve pulled.”

“He also calls me doll.”

“Yeah, like that has nothing to do with the inflatable seven-foot thing you sent him on his birthday?”

Maddie exchanged a look of amusement with her friend.

“Yup.” Reece collected the scattered lingerie. “You two are definitely in platonic country.”

“I’m not in any such country.”

“You’re the president of that country.”

Maddie untied her hair and shook it out. “Alex is the logical choice. We don’t have to get into all the boring, get-to-know-you chitchat.” In addition, every time she saw him lately, she ended the night burning the batteries on her frisky finger while fantasizing about him. The hell with that. She wanted reality sex—the heart-pounding, crash-the-headboard-through-the-wall kind. “And he’s easy to talk to well, most of the time.”

“Sure.” Reece swung a scarlet bustier. “Conversation is what you have in mind, right?”

Maddie grabbed the bustier. “Pillow talk is conversation.”

“Seriously though, I’d hate to see you get hurt.”

“Ha, no worries there. I’m so flexible, Gumby’s rigid next to me.”

“You nut.” Reece snorted. “You know what I mean.”

“I do and I appreciate your concern, but it’s not as if I’m going to hop into bed with a random stranger.”

“True,” Reece said. “But you’re lacking a little in the experience department—”

“I’ve been around.” Maddie caught Reece’s smirk. “Okay, maybe not around, exactly, but I’ve been in the vicinity.”

“Reading my blog doesn’t qualify.”

Maddie twirled. “What do you think?” The silk hemline sashayed across her upper thighs. “Does this dress scream Maddie the Fellatio-nista?” In one of her fantasies, Maddie pictured herself licking Alex’s hardness like an ice cream cone—up one side, down the other and then sucking the head like a lollipop.

“Fellatio-nista? You slay me.” Reece laughed and hiccupped. “Add a pair of kick-ass heels and monks will hit on you.”

“I’ll show you the bikini I picked up on clearance when you come over.”

“You’ll be the island knockout with those long legs and killer complexion,” Reece said. “Hmmm. Is it a coincidence you’re both assigned to the same island?”

Maddie beamed. “Luck.”

“Holy crap.” Reece pinched Maddie’s hot cheek. “Look at you. You’re really serious about a friends-with-benefits arrangement with Alex?”

“Definitely.” In an attempt to move the conversation away from Reece trying to talk her out of a sexual connection with Alex, Maddie pointed to the peach sleep shirt. “Did you see the matching lounge pants for that shirt? They’d look cute together.”

“I’m not feeling this color.” Reece grabbed the sleep shirt, threw it over her arm and opened the door. “I’m going to look for a blue one and pick up some moisturizer. See you in a bit.” Reece left.

With a pert wiggle, Maddie checked the three-way mirror to see how the dress complimented her butt. Not bad. She turned and twisted, loving the way the sleek material caressed her skin—the same way she imagined Alex’s fingers, kisses and tongue would feel under every inch of the black silk.

Running her hand through her hair, she imagined Alex tangling his fingers in the long, auburn strands. She tossed her head side to side, fluffing and finger-teasing it into a messy wild style. With her hands on her hips, she scrutinized the look.

Hmmm-mmm, the freshly screwed hairdo rocks with this dress.

The Hawaiian assignment was about shifting her lust life out of neutral. Of course, she also intended on writing a killer article, not her usual travel antics, but still a stellar piece. With that in mind, she fished out the mini tape recorder she used for brainstorming out of her purse and pressed the record button.

“Prep notes,” she said in a quiet tone, testing her voice. “After reading exotic travel destinations or listening to your friends talk about their pleasure-seeking adventures, do you feel as if the world is throwing a party and you’re not invited?” Something Maddie could identify with, big time. “Get your sexy back. Ideas from a sensual tripper.”

“What’s going to make your gateway to the seductive tropics sexy, you ask?” She took a step back from the mirror. “One. Attitude.” With one hand on her hip, she practiced different poses. “Two. A plan.” She picked up the white lace, crotchless peek-a-boo baby doll and held it up, nodding with approval. “Three. A provocative imagination.”

Tossing the baby doll into her to-buy pile, she continued, “Imagine a ten-foot round bed draped with white netting in a candlelit private villa. Sheer curtains blowing from a tropical breeze and cooling your hot naked flesh.”

She visualized Alex naked and primed, sprawled on the made-for-bone-breaking-sex-bed. The stark-white Egyptian cotton bedding was a delicious contrast against Alex’s olive skin tone as he commanded her to strip for him. Machismo suited her desire to be taught—her nipples tightened and the mouth-watering visual enhanced all her senses.
Inhaling deep into her lungs she could practically smell the aromatic floral bouquets and refreshing citrus infused with the scent of pure lust. She imagined the sounds of the sea churning with waves crashing on the breakers and Marvin Gaye singing in the background, encouraging her and Alex to get it on.

She wanted to experience new, hot sex and falling asleep on top of Alex, their bodies touching from ankle to head. Lifting one leg on the chair, she imitated a seductive pose she had seen on the cover of Maxim.

“Alex waking me,” she whispered into her recorder. “Flipping me over, lifting my legs straight up in the air as I clench around him, and drink in the sight of his gorgeous face while he’s hammering an intense orgasm into me.”

Oh gawd, yes. She swallowed back the moan parked at the base of her throat. “I can picture it. I can feel it. I can almost taste it. Taste him.” She’d never tasted a man, but she was so going to make an exception in Hawaii.

Sweet Jesus. The scenario excited a fiery carnal sensation from deep inside her chest. Her pulse beat like a marathon runner at the base of her neck. She licked her dry lips and exhaled.

With an unsteady hand, she clicked off her mini-recorder, bent and grabbed her tote bag. She rifled through her bag and took out a couple of tissues. Twisting her hair and holding it with one hand on the top of her head, she blotted the heat across the nape of her neck.
Yanking herself out of her dreamlike state, she concentrated on cooling off. She heard music in the change room and glanced around to locate the source of the tune. My cell phone. Her foot had fallen asleep and her hands still trembled from her vivid fantasy. She lowered her now-rubbery leg from the chair, teetered to the side and lost her balance. She grabbed the doorknob behind her for support and managed to remain standing.

Digging the phone out of her tote, she caught the last ring before it went to voice mail. Her lips curved into an automatic smile at the name on the display. Pressing the talk button, she said, “Hi.” She sat on the chair, sounding breathless to her ears. “Hey there, Sergeant.” She drew a water bottle out of her bag and uncapped it.

“Hey, doll,” Alex said, in his deep, yet soft voice. “Are you out for a run?”

“No. Just busy rushing around.” She took a long swig of water. “And recording some notes.”

“Sergeant?” he said. “Should I ask what that’s all about?”

Shit, she didn’t want to explain it. Not yet. Not on the phone. “I wouldn’t recommend it.”

“Uh-huh.”

“Where have you been for the past week?” she asked.

“Meetings and conference calls,” he said, yawning. “How about you? Doing good?”

Good and horny. “No complaints.”

“Got your message,” he said. “What’s up?”

You in two weeks. “Reece is having a few of us over for pizza and a friendly game of Texas Hold’em tonight. You in?”

“Friendly?” His low chuckle felt like an orgasm for her ears. “Is that what you call it?”

“Okay, so we changed the rules a bit.” Like I’m going to change the rules to our platonic status. “And you didn’t lose that much.” If everything went according to plan he’d be losing his skivvies their first night in Hawaii.

“Right.” Another rich, deep chuckle. “As much as I’d like to donate to your junk food fund,” he said, “I have to take a pass. I’m flying out at midnight
.”
She straightened as cold disappointment slapped her chest. Was he bailing from the Hawaiian assignment? “Where are you going?”

“London,” he said. “I’ll be back on Wednesday.”

She resisted the urge to let out a loud whew. “How’s your week been?”

“Long. Frustrating.” She could picture him pacing and looking out the twenty-first floor window. “Glad it’s over.”

She leaned back and crossed her leg. “I’m all ears.”

He told her about the ass-numbing meetings and coma-worthy conference calls he had to endure for over a week. If Alex wasn’t in some godforsaken war zone on the front lines, hunting down a story, he was restless. The last time she caught up with him, he looked exhausted—still hot—but drained. Their joint Hawaiian assignment and her plan would dissolve his stress.

The sound of his voice and the memory of his default scent—soap and sandalwood trees—combined with her horny hormones and the earlier imagery, tensed her nerve endings like a strung bow, tight, contorted and only the sensation of being taken and filled—probably more than twice a day—would decompress her erratic sensual emotions.
She caught site of her flushed nose and cheeks freckled with perspiration. Her nipples—hard as granite pebbles—strained against the silk material. She touched them with the tip of her finger and imagined Alex’s tongue tracing the round outline of the small areolas.
The vision was so vibrant and strong she let out a wordless moan. Gawd, if the fantasy combined with his voice made her tingle in wet anticipation, naked reality with Alex would detonate a lust bomb inside her and she’d disintegrate.

Tiny white dots flashed in front of her eyes. Head rush made her moan. Again.

Holy seared estrogen. She was so turned on, she was afraid the heat inside her would melt her panties off. He’s gotta come through in Hawaii. And come with me. Many, many times. Another involuntary moan slipped out—a loud one.

Her hand flew to her mouth, she held her breath in hopes he hadn’t heard her.

“Mads?” he said. “Are you okay?”

Damn. He heard.

The persistent knocking on the change room door startled her out of her adrenalized state.

“Excuse me,” a woman said in a pack-a-day voice. “We do not allow inappropriate behavior in our dressing rooms.”

Oh, geeze. Shit. Damn. Was I that loud?

“Hello in there.” The woman tapped out each word on the door. “Did you hear me?”

“You still there?” Alex asked. “Something wrong?”

Embarrassment gridlocked her voice, hands and legs.

“I’m going to call security,” the woman said.

That unlocked Maddie’s senses. “No.” She jumped out of her seat. “Wait. Hang on.”

“What’s going on?” Alex asked. “Where are you? You okay?”

“I’m…I’m fine,” she said, unlocking the door. “I’m in the dressing room at Bloomies.” Covering the phone with her hand, she opened the door and smiled at the lined face, squinting, with a not-so-friendly pucker to her thin lips. “Hi, I’m in here alone.” She opened the door wider. “See, just me.” To her chagrin, her voice hiked to a high pitch on the last word.

The store clerk stuck her disbelieving head in the doorway and glanced around. Where could someone hide in here? Maddie wanted to ask. “I’m on my cell.” She held up the phone.

“Maddie?” Alex’s voice echoed through her fingers. “What’s going on?”

“I tend to talk loud. Sorry,” Maddie told the woman, lifting her foot. “And I…I stubbed my toe.” She cocked her head to the side. “I must’ve shrieked, huh? It hurt. The toe that is.”

“Do you need any help?” the woman asked in a hesitant, didn’t-buy-her-story tone.

“No thanks. And thank you for checking on me.” She dismissed the embarrassment out of her mind, closed the door, leaned against it and cleared her throat. “Alex, you still there?”
“What happened?” he said.

“Stubbed my toe.” She sipped water. “Store’s busy today. They’re short of change rooms and need me to clear out.” Blowing a strand of hair away from her face. “You were saying—”

“Why do I get the feeling you’re up to something?”

“Because you have issues,” she said, exhaling a forced smile. “Uptight, suspicious—”

“Yeah, that’s it, wisenheimer.” She could picture his patented eye roll. “Have a good weekend and try to stay out of trouble. I’ll give you a call when I get back.”

“Have a safe flight.” They said goodbye.

Maddie shut the phone and dropped it into her tote, stripped out of the dress and put it aside with the other to-be-purchased items. She dressed into her jeans and T-shirt, ran a brush through her hair, blotted her face and neck with a tissue and coated her lips with clear lip-gloss. A few deep breaths and her pulse and breathing returned to resting state.
“I’m back,” Reece said, knocking.

Maddie opened the door, peered out and noticed Miss Knock-at-the-Wrong-Time lingering and talking with two other store clerks.

“I gave my credit card a workout.” Reece held up a shopping bag. “You done?”

Closing the door, Maddie said, “I want to show you something before we go.”

“Why are you whispering?”

Maddie shrugged her response, sat on the chair and dug into her tote. “I bought research material the day I found out I’d be traveling with Alex.” She handed Reece a hardcover book.

Reece pulled up another chair and sat beside her. “Research material, huh?” Her manicured eyebrow registered curiosity as she read the title. “The Kama Sutra.”

With the tension from her earlier encounter evaporating, Maddie leaned back and relaxed. “You can borrow it when I’m done.”

Reece flipped through the glossy pages. “You’d have to be a contortionist to do that.” She pointed to a couple demonstrating The Lotus. The woman lay on her back, crossing her legs, and hugging them up to her chin. Her lover thrusting in and out of her, while she held the pose.

“Says here—” Reece ran her finger over the text, “—great for yoga lovers—”

“Right up my alley.”

Shaking her head, Reece flipped through the book. “You got kicked out of yoga class, remember?”

“That instructor didn’t have a sense of humor.”

“You’re not supposed to giggle or chat up the room during meditation or a pose.” Reece let out a teasing laugh. “And here’s a tip, not a good idea to do that during sex.”

“Well, duh. I have had sex.” In her early twenties with a couple of boyfriends. Vanilla and unimaginative—cursory kissing, no boob play, a hasty choochie rub, bypassing an expectant clit, a minute’s worth of pumping, ending with a jizz-busting grunt. It wasn’t entirely their fault, she hadn’t brought a lot of experience to bed and they hadn’t appreciated her desire to use her trusty vibrator afterward instead of indulging in the obligatory spooning session.

“Yoga’s boring,’ Maddie said. “I prefer mountain biking and zip-lining. Now, that’s endurance.” Stamina would come in handy for the bang-me-every-which-way-Alex marathon.

“Yeah, you can keep those thrills.”

Reece turned the page, illustrating a naked woman suspended in mid air, balancing herself with one hand on the ground, legs apart and her lover glued to her from behind. “I’m not athletic enough for some of these positions,” Reece said, flipping through a few more pages. “Give me good ole doggy with Stuart MacShortie Short.”

“You dumped him because he was lousy in bed.”

Reece turned to the last page. “No, he dumped me when I caught the bouquet at my sister’s wedding.”

Maddie stood and folded the lingerie into the basket.

“Hey,” Reece said, “What does this sticky note say?”

Maddie watched her friend’s reaction. “It’s my plan.”

“Your plan? Oh, this can’t be good.” Reece brought the book closer to her face to read Maddie’s scribbled notes. Her blue eyes widened and her jaw dropped. “A sexual what?”