Cosmo Red-Hot Reads Box Set: CakeFearlessNaked SushiEverything You Need to Know

by Lauren Dane

  “I’m not looking for a prince,” Gia protested, a little horrified at everything that would mean. Castles and forever and her as a princess? Yeah, right. As if that would fit. “I just want the fantasy.”

  “So is it the act you want? Great, kinky sex that pushes your boundaries?” Caryn used both hands to indicate explosions going off. “Or is there a specific guy you’re hot for that you want to make this memory of yours with?”

  Wetting her lips, Gia hesitated. An image flashed through her mind. The guy was gorgeous, with black hair, blue eyes, a man dimple and some sexy stubble to keep him on this side of pretty. His body, shown in great detail in the photos posted on his Facebook page by a beach babe he’d spent a week in Hawaii with, was a work of art.

  Throw in brains, a sense of humor, legendary stamina and a vivid imagination, and Gia melted a little just thinking about him.

  “Do you have a guy in mind?” Caryn asked again, studying Gia through narrowed eyes as though she were trying to see into her brain.

  Gia bit her lip.

  Her friends, sensing good dirt, pounced.

  “You do. You don’t want just anybody. You’ve got the hots for a specific body. That’s what this is all about.” Sara leaned forward, her long black ponytail sliding over one shoulder as she gave an excited bounce.

  “You want fantasy sex with a specific guy. Like it’s gettin’ it time?” Jessa’s voice rose with excitement.

  “Woot, gettin’ it,” Caryn and Sara echoed, referring to the ritual they’d all created using the Girlz Guide to brainstorm solutions. They could be solutions to guy problems, to diet frustrations or even to finding the perfect pair of shoes. When one Girl had a problem, they all chimed in to help her figure it out.

  “Wait, before we start, I’ve got to rinse my face,” Jessa exclaimed as she launched herself out of her chair and hurried to the bathroom.

  “I’ll mix another batch of martinis,” Caryn declared, hobbling into the kitchen on her heels, her still-wet toes in the air.

  Sara was already digging through her duffel bag–styled purse for one of her ever-present notepads and a pen.

  Holy crap, what’d she done?

  It was one thing to entertain the fantasy. To wish in her head for great sex with a guy she was crushing on. It was another to invoke a gettin’ it session. If they just talked about it, she could dismiss it all as chitchat. She could say it was just talk, not something she really wanted. In other words, she could wimp out. But if they brainstormed a plan, they were going to make her go through with whatever they came up with.

  Gia chewed on her thumbnail, a little worried about what she’d started.

  Because she had no doubt she’d be dealing with the results. Usually fueled by vodka and chocolate, the women had come to believe by using their Girlz Guide they could do anything they set their minds to.

  Like the time Sara, brokenhearted over his cheating, had wanted revenge on her boyfriend. The women had made a video from all of the Skype sessions he’d had with Sara, pasting his words together into a confession of his sins, and posted it on YouTube. It’d gone viral in two days.

  Or when Jessa had wished for the perfect wedding but hadn’t want her wealthy husband-to-be paying for it. The four of them might not have had a lot of money or major connections, but when she walked down that aisle, they’d made sure she had the fairy-tale princess wedding she’d always wanted.

  Gia wondered if it was too late to run.

  “Ready?” Jessa asked, her face glowing clean and her auburn-streaked blond hair loose again. She stopped in the kitchen to help Caryn with the tray of martinis; then both settled around the coffee table. The three women lifted their glasses, toasted the gettin’ it game, then gave Gia a “let’s go” look.

  Gia bit her lip.

  She wanted this.

  Didn’t she?

  A wild sexual fantasy might not change the world. But it’d sure as hell change her love life from average to awesome. And maybe make her feel as if she was a fully qualified member of the Girlz, instead of the tagalong buddy.

  “Okay, questions. I’ll start,” Caryn said, to nobody’s surprise. “First off, what’s the fantasy? Remember, the more details, the better.”

  “Again, feel free to draw pictures,” Sara suggested with a grin, holding out her pen and paper.

  Gia pulled a face. Then, pretending the idea of sharing her sexual fantasy wasn’t weird—even with her best friends—she leaned her head back on the chair, closed her eyes and let her imagination soar.

  When inhibitions she didn’t even realize she had tried to drag her back down to earth, she mentally kicked them aside and blurted out the words before nerves won.

  “I want a weekend of totally uninhibited, totally fabulous sex. The kind you have with a guy you don’t ever plan to see again. The selfish kind, where you’re doing all the things you like and not worrying about swallowing just to keep him happy.”

  She didn’t have to open her eyes to know the snort of laughter came from Caryn, whose biggest pet peeve was guys with lousy aim and a penchant for women on their knees.

  “Question two,” Sara said over the sound of her pen scratching across the paper as she transcribed Gia’s fantasy in her handy-dandy notebook. “Who’s the guy?”

  Gia hesitated. It wasn’t as if there were anything to be embarrassed about. But she and Caryn both worked at the same company, although Gia was in tech and Caryn worked in publicity. Where, as it happened, Luke was currently spending most of his time as the systems liaison.

  Which meant Caryn would probably have a lot more insider info on him than Gia had gathered in her Facebook and watercooler stalking.

  A shiver danced down her back.

  This could really happen. And that was scary.

  Luke was the perfect guy to help turn her fantasies into reality. She just wasn’t sure she was the perfect girl. Still… There was something naughty, something freeing about the idea of anonymous, wild, once-in-a-lifetime sex.

  And if she wanted it to happen, she had to put it out there. She had to put herself out there.

  “C’mon, Gia,” Caryn prompted impatiently. “Who is it that flips your switch? What’s his name?”

  Gia took a deep breath, then confessed, “Luke Monroe.”

  “Oh, baby,” Caryn moaned, her eyes wide with admiration.

  “Is he hot?” Sara asked.

  “He’s hot enough to melt chocolate,” Gia said, imagining just that, then wishing she could lick it off his naked body afterward. “He’s gorgeous, has a body to die for, and he’s got that sophisticated sexy vibe going. Like he takes his sex cues from books and indie films instead of watching porn with the guys from the gym.”

  “If the rumor mill is to be believed, and I hope it is, he’s got stamina that’d put a horse to shame,” Caryn said, licking the edge of her martini glass and wriggling her brows. “I’ve heard he’s got a few other things in common with a stallion, too.”

  “Well,” Jessa said, fanning her fingers in front of her face. “I was going to ask what made him the perfect guy for your fantasy. But I think you just answered that.”

  “Okay, then here’s another question.” Sara set her pen down long enough to take a drink, then picked it back up to aim it at Gia. “He’s hot, you’re horny. What the hell’s keeping you from hitting on him?”

  Gia’s mind easily reeled off a dozen reasons. She couldn’t voice any of them, though. Not even to her best friends.

  She didn’t have any more self-confidence issues than the next woman. Sure, she’d rather her stomach were flatter, and she’d yet to find a pair of jeans that flattered her ass. But she was smart and cute, had a fun personality and had a lot going for her.

  She was pretty damned great.

  But pretty damned great wasn’t pretty damned wild.

  Every one of the other women in this room had a wild side. They had each had at least one sexual encounter like the ones in those erotica books.

  Acc
ording to gossip, Luke Monroe’s sex life was wilder than all three of her friends’. Combined. He wouldn’t go for boring.

  “Gia?” Jessa prompted from her perch on the huge lime-green pillow chair. “Why haven’t you gone for it?”

  “Tri-Solutions’ familiarity policy, probably,” Caryn guessed. “They have rules against intercompany dating. They figure it causes too much drama in the workplace.”

  Gia nodded, adding, “Sure, almost everyone ignores it. But even if management doesn’t crack down, gossip does major damage. You know how that goes.”

  Nobody could deny it. They all knew women who’d been fired or been made so miserable over work affairs that they’d quit.

  “What about the rumor that Luke’s being courted by that financial company as a permanent system consultant? The new position starts in two weeks. If he takes that job, he’s moving to the East Coast.”

  Gia grimaced. That reason, more than anything else, was probably the core of why she’d finally confessed her fantasy. Her crush was about to slip right out of her reach.

  “Great, you answered my question before I could ask, again,” Jessa said with a frown, as though they were cheating her. Then her face brightened. “But, really, it’s not the company policy that’s the issue—it’s timing. Once he leaves town, he takes the chances of your fantasy coming true with him. So you need to make this happen in the next two weeks.”

  “Which brings us to the final question,” Sara said, setting aside her glass and leaning forward in preparation for getting to the down and dirty. “What’s it going to take to make this happen for you? What do you need to go for it?”

  A miracle?

  Hiring a street gangster to kidnap Luke and leave him tied to her bed?

  A hell of a lot more vodka.

  “Las Vegas,” Caryn yelled out, clapping her hands together as if she’d just won a prize.

  Gia exchanged baffled looks with the other women before arching a questioning brow. “What about Vegas?”

  “Luke’s attending the CES convention in Vegas next weekend to work the Tri-Solutions booth and schmooze with potential clients.”

  “You want me to go to Vegas and seduce him?” Gia asked faintly. She’d rather crawl under her couch and hide. Talk about double intimidation. Vegas was the land of strippers, showgirls and pay-by-the-hour kink. Oh, yeah, she’d really stand out there.

  “It’s perfect,” Caryn insisted. “You can have your fantasy, with your fantasy guy, and not jeopardize your job. Or your ego if anything goes wrong.”

  “Are you throwing in fat-free chocolate and calorie-less whipped cream?”

  “I don’t have to. All you need is a makeover.”

  Two sets of jaws dropped right along with her own. Gia was glad to see the other women were just as baffled as she was.

  “Since when did makeover and orgasms go hand in hand?”

  “How will a facial and haircut get her fantasy sex?”

  “I don’t look good enough to get a guy like Luke Monroe?”

  “Don’t be silly. You’re gorgeous. But those silly rules mean you can’t haul the guy into the company supply closet and ride him like a wild stallion. So you need a cover. A fake persona. You can make yourself into the woman you are in your fantasies, and he won’t have a clue the woman blowing his, um, mind is someone he works with.”

  “Oh, I like this,” Sara said, all but rubbing her hands together. “It’s easier to get into the role if you’re in costume. The makeover not only protects your identity, it lets you shed your inhibitions. You can do anything you want, because you’ll be someone else.”

  Anything?

  Excitement flamed in Gia’s belly. Suddenly it seemed as if blurting out her secret had been a good thing.

  Nerves warred with the excitement, and doubts screamed warnings in her head. But the vision of being tied to a bed and having whipped cream licked off her body by a very naked, very aroused, very worshipful Luke Monroe made those easy to ignore.

  Well, that vision and the second chocolatini.

  “I could do it. I really could,” she said, pressing her fingers to her lips to try and hold back her excitement. “And, really, where better than Sin City to go wild.”

  Other than right here, in her mind, where she couldn’t be rejected or make an idiot of herself. Or worse, find out she wasn’t fantasy-sex material.

  “There’s no way we can pull all of this off before next weekend, though. Can we?” She didn’t know if she wanted them to say no way or that it was a slam dunk.

  But when the women started tossing around makeover ideas, everything from temporary hair color to extensions to wardrobe options, Gia couldn’t stop grinning.

  This was like her birthday, Christmas and a naughty-toy party all rolled into one. But she was going to be blowing something a lot bigger than a candle.

  Chapter Two

  Girlz Guide Words of Wisdom…

  Anyone worth doing is worth doing in sexy shoes.

  Thinking and plotting while surrounded by supportive friends was a hell of a lot more fun than standing alone, ready to launch the plan.

  And while passing out at a guy’s feet could get a girl some welcome attention, Gia was pretty sure throwing up was nowhere to be found in the Girlz Guide to Seducing a Hottie. She pressed one hand against her churning stomach, wondering how long she had before she was the first of her friends to inspire a new don’t list.

  Curling her toes into her sexy red leather Giuseppe Zanotti peeptoes, she forced her feet to stay still instead of hightailing it out of the nightclub.

  Maybe this was a crazy idea. She wasn’t seductive like Jessa or wild like Sara and didn’t even have a fraction of Caryn’s confidence. Yet here she was, trying to pretend she was all that and a cherry on top.

  A couple deep breaths got her past the hostess desk and to the entrance of The Bank Nightclub.

  The rockin’ vibe of the place actually took the edge off her nerves. The idea of getting out there, moving to the beat, just losing herself in the lights and crowd, held tremendous appeal. Music pounded a hard, fast invitation. Lights flashed to the beat. Even filled with people, the nightclub was so well laid out it didn’t seem crowded. Instead it was inviting, fun and the perfect setting for her fantasy seduction.

  She wanted to dance. She really did. But she couldn’t make her feet move.

  “Hello, gorgeous,” drawled a friendly voice at her shoulder.

  Well, that made her move. Gia damn near jumped out of her shoes. With a deep breath, she turned to brush the guy off, then pressed her lips together to keep from groaning aloud.

  Holy crap. Mark Lane from Marketing.

  Seriously?

  She’d been here less than five minutes, and she was already busted.

  Then she caught sight of her reflection in the mirrored wall behind Mark and blinked. That really was her?

  Thanks to extensions and Feria, her hair was a flowing mass of titian waves instead of her usual chestnut swing. Brown contacts, a painful squeeze of her credit card at the MAC counter and the removal of her lip ring ensured she didn’t look anything like her usual techie self.

  Her body, poured into a little black dress, the glittery fabric hugging curves made all the curvier by her Bombshell bra, had never looked this way at the Monday-morning meetings.

  But was it a good enough disguise?

  Did Mark recognize her? Other than a few casual comments at the lunch counter, they weren’t pals. But still…

  If she could fool him, she promised herself, she’d be able to nail this fantasy. And then, she hoped, she’d get to nail Luke Monroe, too.

  “Hi,” she greeted with a smile that was more a twitch of her lips than her usual full-on grin. She watched him carefully, as if he were a time bomb that could explode all over her life at any second.

  Her fingers itched for the phone that wasn’t in her purse, wishing she could warn Caryn to be ready to spin some damage control. If Mark outed her, within minutes every
one at Tri-Solutions would be tweeting, texting and posting on Facebook. Soon the sad, humiliating tale of that time Gia Renyard pretended she had what it took to be a bombshell in Vegas would go viral. She’d be mocked and laughed at for years.

  Panic slid down her throat with greasy fingers and fear crawled through her belly. Tiny white dots spun in front of her eyes until Gia realized she was holding her breath. She let it out in a huff, then forced her lips into a stiff, slightly painful smile. It wasn’t as though he’d caught her using Luke as a stripper’s pole.

  “I’m Mark.” He offered his hand.

  Her body almost hit the floor as tension poured away.

  He didn’t know who she was.

  Thank you, thank you, thank you.

  “Are you local?” he asked. “Or are you just visiting?”

  Like every other guy she’d ever known, instead of waiting for a response, he launched into a soliloquy about himself. Where he was from, why he was here, how cool the CES show had been.

  Gia was too excited to care.

  He really didn’t know who she was.

  He didn’t recognize her.

  She would have jumped up and down in delight, but there was a serious danger that her boobs would fly right out of their Bombshell bra. Which would probably make it harder to get rid of the guy.

  Not that he was a creep. And he was good-looking. A little more metro than masculine, he gave a smile that was pure flirtation, and the interest in his eyes was genuine. But he wasn’t Luke.

  And it was Luke she was here to do.

  “Looking for a dance partner?” Mark said, tilting his head toward the dance floor, then after a second tilting it the other way toward the exit and giving his brows a wiggle.

  Oh, cool. Because girls just loved tacky euphemisms. His smile was suggestive as he gave her another once-over. He ended the inspection with a wink, as if his approval were something she’d been standing there waiting to get.