Her Little Black Book Read online

  “I’m back and here you are,” Sonya said, coming down the stairs. She walked over to her and placed a small black book in Courtney’s hand. Courtney glanced up into her cousin’s smiling face, confused. “You’re giving me your little black book?”

  “Yes.”

  Courtney looked down at it. This wasn’t just any little black book. As far as she was concerned, it was legendary. For years she’d known it existed and had watched Sonya whip it out a few times to make a hit. She had even, on occasion, run into some of the men whose names had been plucked from the book for a date with Sonya. All the men had been tall, dark, and handsome. “Why are you giving me your little black book?” she asked.

  “Because I won’t need it anymore, and I can’t think of another soul I’d want to have it other than you. Besides, I don’t know of anyone who needs it more. You’ve denied yourself the chance to date as much as you could have, and now I want you to use it to get out there and have fun.”

  “But I’ve told you why I’m not dating as much.”

  “Yes, and you and I know there’s more to it. You’ve never opened yourself up to anyone and we both know why. I was exposed to Uncle Ron and my dad just like you. Instead of making me cautious, it made me into a bad girl. I’m not saying that you need to become a bad girl, but I think you need to have fun. I truly believe that you want to find love but are afraid to do so for fear of what type of man you might get.”

  Sonya didn’t say anything for a moment, wanting her words to sink in. Then she added, “Granted, you probably won’t like every guy whose name is in the book, but I think there’re a number of pretty good prospects. The names I’ve lined through are guys I’ve met and spent time with already. The rest are guys that I met but never got around to actually checking out, but there was definitely something about them that I found interesting enough to get their name in that book.”

  Curious, Courtney opened up the little black book and flipped several pages before coming to one where the names hadn’t yet been lined through. The first was Harper Isaac. Mmm, the name sounded manly. She closed the book and looked at Sonya, touched. Her cousin had to care a lot about her to pass on this very special book to her.

  “Like I said, Courtney,” Sonya was saying, “I was once where you are now. I kept thinking, what if this man is like Uncle Ron, and when Dad left Mom I wanted to hate the entire male population. I tried convincing myself that all men were jerks, and if you couldn’t beat them, you might as well join them. But even then, I longed for the man of my dreams to come into my life, take me away from being a bad girl, capture my heart, and prove me wrong. Granted, I had no idea he would be of the Caucasian persuasion, but if I had to do it all over again, the only thing I’d change is having Mike come into my life sooner. The first time he tossed one of those I’d-like-to-get-all-into-you looks at me, I was completely lost.”

  Courtney couldn’t help the smile that tugged the corners of her lips. “You truly do love him, don’t you?”

  Sonya nodded. “Oh, yes, with all my heart,” she said softly, her voice filled with emotions so deep, Courtney could actually feel them. “And I believe he won’t ever do me the way your dad did Aunt Barbara or Dad did Mom. I trust Mike completely. He has shown me that all men aren’t the same.”

  “I never said all men were the same,” Courtney said defensively.

  Sonya smiled. “No, but deep down you’ve thought it, and over the years you’ve operated on that theory, so have I. For me, utilizing that little black book was fun while it lasted, and now I’m passing it on to you with my blessings and best wishes. It’s time for you to get out there and have some honest to goodness fun. I want you to promise me that you’ll try it for at least a month—or until you meet someone that you like.”

  Courtney shook her head. “I don’t think that—”

  “No, Courtney. I won’t accept any excuses. It’s time for you to take the first step and I want to be the one who helps you take it. Please, let me do this for you. I don’t want to feel that I’m deserting you by marrying Mike when I know the reason you’re denying yourself the happiness I’m now sharing with the man I love.”

  Courtney thought about Sonya’s words. The last thing she wanted was for Sonya to worry about her. “Okay, I’ll do it.”

  “For at least a month or until you meet someone you like?”

  “Yes.”

  Sonya lifted a brow. “You promise?”

  Courtney rolled her eyes knowing Sonya wouldn’t let up until she promised. “Yes, okay, I promise.”

  A relieved grin covered Sonya’s face. “I’m hoping you’ll find your very own Mike among some of those names in that book.”

  Courtney hoped against hope that Sonya was right.

  2

  Lake Masters leaned back in his chair, ready for the show to begin. At thirty-nine, he’d basically seen it all, and this definitely wouldn’t be the first time he’d seen a display of this kind. In fact, just a couple of months ago, he’d attended his brother Shane’s bachelor party and witnessed basically the same thing—a nearly naked woman popping out of a huge fake cake.

  He took a sip of his beer—straight from the bottle—thinking there was nothing like a party with live entertainment. Besides, showing up for the bachelor party was the least he could do, since he wouldn’t be attending the wedding. He would be leaving for Paris in a few days, where he would spend two weeks negotiating an important business deal for the advertising firm he owned.

  When the woman burst out of the cake, his gaze automatically went to her plump, shapely, and well-rounded behind before drifting to the smooth lines of her bare belly. He would be the first to confess, without apology, that he was an ass man. For some reason, he would automatically seek out that part of a woman before looking anywhere else. And he had to admit that this particular stripper was well put together. A certain portion of his anatomy suddenly reminded him that it had been almost eight months since he’d slept with a woman. Expanding his advertising firm by opening the Orlando office had taken a blasted toll on his social life.

  He froze within seconds of raising the beer bottle to his lips when the woman bent over, giving every guy in the room a luscious view of her backside and the barely-there thong that indecently covered it. In fact, all she was wearing was a leopard-print bra, matching thong, and a pair of matching boots. In his opinion, she was making a statement: She could get as animalistic as any male in the room. The way she was moving her body all over the place made a believer out of him.

  “Your breathing has changed.”

  The whispered remark made him glance from the exhibition in the middle of the floor over to his brother Grey, who was less than a year his junior. “Yeah,” he confirmed. It would be a waste of time to deny it, since Grey, a former FBI agent, seemed programmed not to miss anything.

  “I’m surprised Brandy let you come to Mike’s party tonight,” Lake said. He adored his brother’s wife because of the happiness she had brought to Grey’s life. “I’m sure she knew what would be going on,” he added.

  Grey snorted. “Hell, I didn’t say anything when she went to Sonya’s bachelorette party last weekend. I understand some police officer showed up who bared all for the ladies. Brandy and I have this rule: We can look, but we can’t touch.”

  Lake considered Grey’s comment for a moment and then smiled. Sounded like a sensible rule, and knowing Brandy, he could buy them having made such an agreement. He shared a very close relationship with his three brothers—Shane, Grey, and Quinn—and would be the first to admit that they had hit gold when they married their wives. He considered his sisters-in-law—Faith, Brandy, and Alexia—savvy divas in their own right, although they constantly bugged the hell out of him with their reminders that he was now the last remaining single Masters brother.

  “Boy, she sure knows how to work it, doesn’t she?” whispered Jesse Devereau, who was sitting on the opposite side of him.

  Lake chuckled. He figured that, like Grey, Jesse also ha
d a hands-off rule in his household. Lake then looked over at the groom to see how he holding out, since the woman had her breasts all in his face. He couldn’t hold back his laughter. The usual calm and collected Mike Kelly was suddenly anything but that. And although Mike’s gaze had not once wavered from the tantalizing view in front of him, Lake was fairly certain that no matter how hot things got, his friend would not yield to temptation.

  Lake swallowed when the stripper took a step back and then slowly began inching her thong down voluptuous thighs before quickly yanking it back it up. She was a shameless tease who was wicked as well, if the blatant invitation she was making with her tongue was anything to go by. He could just imagine that tongue of hers wrapped around his—

  “I need a cold drink of water.”

  He glanced over at Grey. “If you leave now, you’ll miss the best part,” he said.

  “That’s not a bad idea, and I need that damn water.”

  Lake grinned when his brother got up and quickly headed toward the kitchen. He figured Grey needed more than a drink of water to cool off.

  “Where’s Grey going?” Jesse Devereau leaned over and whispered.

  “In the kitchen to cool off.”

  “I think I’ll join him.”

  Lake chuckled and shook his head when Jesse got up, too. They were cowards, the both of them. That left him, Cord Jeffries—a man he’d met and become friends with through Grey—and a few other guys whom he’d met that night, friends of Mike from Los Angeles, as the remaining fearless bunch.

  Pretty soon it seemed all the happily married men had deserted. Besides the groom, Lake was the only single man in the room. That meant he was the only one free to hit on the woman, make plans with her for later. He smiled at the idea.

  Starting with thoughts of a potential rendezvous with the exotic dancer, stripper, or whatever title she preferred, he opened his mind to all types of possibilities, especially the ones that indicated he might finally get some sexual release after eight months. It wouldn’t be his first one-night stand, and it most certainly wouldn’t be his last. He was old enough to know the score, was very selective in his dealings with the opposite sex, and took the practice of safe sex seriously.

  His breath caught when the stripper crouched down to remove her boots with her bare butt pointed toward him. Oh, God, he could feel his heart rate increase, his pulse getting erratic. He was convinced he was about to have a coronary. But he would enjoy every moment of it.

  “So, did you and that woman get together last night after the party?”

  Lake frowned as he cocked his head and looked at his clock, his eyes barely open. It wasn’t even six in the morning. Why was Grey calling him this early and asking him something so obviously private? “That’s none of your damn business,” he growled.

  He ignored the laugh that crackled in his ear. “Evidently you didn’t score, since your attitude hasn’t changed. Your bark is still that of a man who needs to get laid.”

  Lake rolled his eyes and flipped on his back in the bed, then gazed up at the ceiling.

  “So, what happened?” his brother prompted.

  “Nothing happened, Grey. She’s married.”

  “Married? Shit. What kind of man would let his wife work in that type of profession?”

  Lake grinned. “He’s a policeman. Probably the same one who showed up at Sonya’s bachelorette party.”

  Grey laughed. “You’re probably right and they probably live in the biggest damn house there is here in Orlando, raking in all kinds of money just by exposing their bodies. Must be nice. Do you think me and Brandy are in the wrong business?”

  Lake rolled his eyes again, refusing to answer that. “I know you probably have a lot to do today, but why are you calling so early?”

  “Brandy wants you to come to dinner.”

  “Is she cooking?”

  “Of course not. It’s being catered as usual. My wife is too busy to cook.”

  Lake smiled. He knew that was Grey’s nice way of sidestepping the fact that she couldn’t cook. He’d heard how pampered Brandy had been while growing up. Her mother had raised her to have maids and butlers. “What time is dinner? I have to start packing since I’m flying out first thing in the morning.”

  “Five o’clock. I almost forgot that you won’t be here for the wedding. Shame you’re going to miss it.”

  Lake pulled himself up in bed. “There will be others.”

  “Your own, perhaps?”

  “I’m in no rush.”

  “You’re not getting any younger.”

  “I wasn’t aware there was an age requirement.”

  “There’s not, just a reminder.”

  “Thanks, and I’ll see you at five.” Without waiting for Grey’s response, he leaned over and hung up the phone. He swung his legs over the bed to get himself up and off to the bathroom, thinking in all reality he was a blessed man. He owned one of the largest advertising firms in the country, and it was growing by leaps and bounds. His company’s portfolio was so broad that it included public relations, lobbying, marketing services, interactive design, and most recently he’d added media buying services. He had formed the company right out of college, and now he employed close to five hundred people in his Boston office alone, which was one of the reasons he’d made a decision to open an Orlando office.

  The market here was a good one to tap into and with the city being a tourist’s dream, there were a number of customer service corporations willing to pay big bucks to get their name out there before the buying public.

  The St. Laurent Hotel had been one of them, and Brandy had entrusted him to take her first hotel to the next level. In less than a year, it had become the most sought-after place to stay in Orlando and boasted a five-star rating. Since then, she had built three new hotels in Atlanta, Dallas, and Los Angeles. Grey handled the security for all four hotels. The couple worked well together and made an awesome team.

  Lake looked in the bathroom mirror before reaching for his razor. Why did everyone assume he should have a wife? So what if he was still single? Was that a crime? To listen to his sisters-in-law, one would think so. Maybe it was time for him to set his sights on someone who would be his perfect mate. The last thing he wanted, though, was a woman with dollar signs flashing in her eyes. He refused to become some gold digger’s nugget or some young thing’s sugar daddy. He wanted a woman who was pretty close to him in age and who possessed a mature mind. And she would have to be as financially stable as he was, and as emotionally balanced. He was way too old for drama.

  His affair with Liz Harrison while in his late twenties had taught him a valuable lesson. There were a few things he regretted doing in his thirty-nine years, and hooking up with Liz definitely topped the list. She had been the ultimate drama queen, although he hadn’t known it at first. All he’d seen was her curvaceous backside and 40D bra size. She had taken the word clingy to a whole other level and constantly badgered him about the time he’d spent working, trying to get his business off the ground.

  The last straw was when she had moved her no-good, lazy-behind twin brother into their already crowded apartment without his permission. The man was supposedly down on his luck. Lake soon discovered that as long as he supplied Liz’s brother with a roof over his head and food to eat, he was content to make no effort to find a job or move out.

  Lake grimaced when he remembered the ugly scene that ensued when he’d asked Liz’s brother to leave … and that was only after he’d caught the man going through his wallet. What erupted was more drama than he’d ever wanted to endure in his entire lifetime. The siblings teamed up against him, and in the end, Lake had been the one who left, with nothing more than the clothes on his back, vowing never to become enmeshed in a situation like that again. That fiasco had been almost twelve years ago, and he had learned his lesson well. In the years since, he found himself screening women before he dated them, but lately doing so took up too much of his time and way too much effort.

  He
had even gone so far as to entertain the idea of going through a dating service and would definitely check out one when he returned to the States. His firm represented a number of them, and if he were to believe his own ads, some were actually good, with high success rates.

  Maybe it was time for a turning point in his life. He would consider settling down. As Gray had reminded him, he wasn’t getting any younger.

  A few hours later, Lake had dressed and grabbed his tennis racket on the way out the door. Thanks to his brother Shane—whom they considered the tennis pro in the family—all his siblings knew how to play the game. Today he was meeting Devin Phillips, a doctor he’d met through Grey when he first arrived in Orlando a few months back. He’d discovered Devin to be a likable guy who enjoyed playing tennis as much as he did, so they began getting together at least once a week on the courts.

  He pulled into the parking area where Devin’s office was located. Usually they would meet up at the country club, but today Devin had taken his car to the shop for a service check and had asked Grey if he would pick him up instead.

  The parking lot was full, so he drove through slowly, mindful of all the elderly people on scooters. He smiled, remembering when his grandfather had gotten his own scooter last year. He had become as reckless with it as a kid on Rollerblades for the first time. The family soon discovered he was as dangerous driving the damn thing as he’d been when behind the wheel of a car.

  Lake glanced at his watch, noting he was a few minutes early, and pulled into a parking space. He was adjusting his seat to allow more leg room when he noticed a woman walking toward Devin’s medical complex. When his gaze zeroed in on her, blood rushed through his veins. He felt dizzy. And if that wasn’t bad enough, intense heat settled right smack in his loins. Nothing of this magnitude had ever happened to him before. Even the woman from the striptease show last night hadn’t gotten such a rise out of him, and definitely not to this degree. This was definitely lust at first sight, and it was taking one hell of a bite out of him. His libido was on full alert, red alert, hot alert.