Flat-Out Sexy(19)

"I appreciated the double entendre when we were married, but it's not really appropriate now."



Ryder made a face and took a sip of his beer. He had wanted her to flirt  back a little. Why, he wasn't really sure, but it was damn  disappointing that she didn't. "When have I ever been appropriate?"

"Good point. Which leads me to another reason I'm calling. What the hell happened between Tammy and Elec Monroe?"

That made Ryder grin. "If you don't remember what happens between a man  and a woman at midnight in the bedroom, maybe you need to get out more,  sugar."

"You know what I meant, smart-ass."

"Actually, I don't. They spent the night together. What do you think  happened?" Ryder rolled his eyes for the benefit of his beer bottle.

"Why would they do that?" Suzanne demanded.

See, this was where he didn't understand his ex-wife. Or any woman for that matter. "Uh . .

. because they wanted to?"

"Don't be obtuse."

He didn't even know what that was, so he didn't see how he could stop being it.

Suzanne didn't wait for his answer. She continued, "If Elec had a thing  for Tammy, why didn't he just ask her out? She's not a one-night-stand  kind of girl."

"They just met last night, Suz. There was no thing, it was more like  lust at first sight. And she clearly is a one-night-stand kind of girl  because she did just that. It's no big deal. It's good for Tammy."

"Except that now she's upset and feeling bad about it. She thinks he's a player."

"Why would she think that?"                       
       
           



       

"Because I accidentally might have told her that. I always see Elec with some dumb blonde

. . . I was trying to protect her and make sure she knew that she should take it for exactly what it was-a night of fun."

Ryder sighed. Suzanne meant well, but sometimes she needed to mind her  own damn business. "Except that Elec is moping around crushed because he  asked her out, she said yes, then she just texted him and canceled.  Probably because you freaked her out."

"He really did ask her out? How do you know?"

"Because he told me. He was here not five minutes ago apologizing for  making free with my coach and looking for some advice. He wants to go  out with her, there's no question about it."

"Oh. Shit."

"Shit is right, sugar. Do you think Tammy likes him?"

"I actually think she does, because she's not the kind to sleep with a  guy unless she does like him, you know what I mean? So I guess we need  to fix it since we messed it up."

Ryder plopped down on his couch. "I didn't mess anything up. You did.  But I told Elec I'd throw a barbeque and invite Tammy. Getting 'em in  the same room is a start, don't you think?" Beyond that, Ryder figured  it was up to Elec and Tammy to sort things out. They were big kids, and  if they wanted to be together, they'd find their way there eventually.

"That's true, but maybe not a barbeque. Then she'll bring her kids and  she'll use them as a shield. No, we have to have something more intimate  or they'll both just avoid each other."

Clearly, Suzanne didn't share his philosophy of standing back. He also  knew her well enough that she wasn't going to take no for an answer.  "What do you want me to do? Just tell me so I can go to bed. I'm tired."

She gave a huff of impatience. "Sorry. Didn't realize I was keeping you from your bed."



"Care to join me in my bed?" He knew she would say no, but just the  thought that there was any possibility that she might say yes had his  worn-out body stirring to life.

"No, thanks. I prefer my own bed, where you're not stealing my covers all night."

"Sounds lonely."

"Everything's a trade-off. My vibrator has never once pissed me off, whereas you . . ."

He didn't want a list of all his flaws and infractions, so Ryder just  said, "Point taken. But if your batteries ever die, you know where to  find me."

"And you probably won't be alone."

Ouch. Okay, this conversation was going all sorts of wrong. Ryder could  hear the bristling from Suzanne clear through the phone lines. He kicked  off his shoes and tried to deflect the tension. "So you want me to  throw a party or what?"

"Yes, a dinner party. A victory party for today's race. We'll have it  tomorrow night at your condo. And we'll invite Ty and Elec as the top  three. We'll let Ty bring a date, and you tell Elec that Tammy will be  there. I'll drag Tammy over, telling her it's just Ty and you, then  we'll feed her wine all night. This will be perfect, don't you think?"

He thought Suzanne was cracked if she believed that Tammy was going to  be happy about being set up on a date with Elec after she had just  canceled her own plans with the man. But there was no arguing with  Suzanne when she was playing matchmaker. Hell, there was no arguing with  Suzanne most of the time. That had been their problem-he had argued.

Old habits died hard, because he couldn't completely bite his tongue.  "Tammy is going to be hopping mad at you, Suz. She's not going to like  being set up like this."

"I'll tell her you ran into Elec last minute and invited him since he finished third."

"Okay, whatever you say. You handling food or am I? And what time?"

"Seven. I'll take care of food. You invite Elec and Ty."

"Alright, now let me grab some sleep since I'm suddenly entertaining tomorrow."

"Fine. Good night, Ryder."

"Bring your pie," he demanded before she hung up. If he was going to get  stuck jumping through hoops, he wanted some apple pie, damn it.

There was a pause and he waited for a snarky remark and a refusal. But Suzanne said,

"You'll get your pie."

Holy shit. That almost sounded like she was saying . . . Ryder opened  his voice to ask for clarification, but Suzanne had hung up.

He sat in stunned silence for a second, then went for his shower. A cold one.





TAMARA stared across the table at Suzanne and set her iced tea back down. "Why are you throwing a victory party for Ryder?"                       
       
           



       

She had agreed to this spontaneous lunch with Suz between her morning  and afternoon classes because she needed her friend's opinion on Elec.  He hadn't responded to her text message and she found that odd, to say  the least. She thought that he would have either argued or else sent an  "Okay, thanks" kind of text. But he had been totally silent and she  didn't know how to read that.

Then Suzanne had blindsided her with an invitation to a dinner party she  was hosting for Ryder. Which, frankly, just didn't sound like a good  idea for a whole lot of reasons.

"Because I called to congratulate him and he was very forlorn," Suzanne  said, dumping three packs of sugar in her coffee and stirring it  vigorously.

"Forlorn? Ryder?"



"Yes. He went on and on about the parties I used to give him and how I  always made him a pie, and I just felt bad. I opened my big mouth and  said I'd have a party for him, now I absolutely have to have you there  to help me get through this without murdering him."

That did seem likely, and a sour ending to a victory party. "I guess I  can ask Beth to watch the kids, but I can't stay out late. My kids went  to bed really late last night after the race and they're going to need  to be in bed by eight. Beth can put them to bed at my house, but I can't  ask her to sit around for hours. How many people are going to be  there?"

"Not many. Like ten, tops. That's why I need you there. It's going to be awkward."

"Wow. I can't wait then." Just how Tamara wanted to spend her Monday  night after one of the strangest weekends of her entire life. She had  managed to avoid Geoffrey around campus that morning, and was hoping to  do the same in the afternoon, but what she really needed was a good  night's sleep after watching a chick flick in her pajamas, not a night  making small talk.

"Thanks, babe. You don't know how much this means to me." Suzanne took a  deep breath and glanced around the sleek deli. "Where is the waitress?  I'm starving."

"I don't know. But I wanted to tell you I canceled my date with Elec."

Suzanne didn't exactly look surprised at that news. "Why?"

"Because I got to thinking about my in-laws and my kids and what you  said about him being a player . . . and I thought about the text message  he got when we were together and I just decided it's a bad idea." And  she was sticking by her decision. Even though she felt mildly nauseous  and discontent, and had developed a nervous tapping of the foot.

"What text message did he get?"

"Some woman sent him a picture of herself naked." She would be lying if  she said that hadn't been bothering her for the last twenty-four hours.  That woman had looked amazing.