Enchanted Again (30 page)
Authors: Nancy Madore
“What are you talking about?”
“I’m talking about the things that
I
want out of life. To be with a man who is certain that he wants to be with me. To be married. To have security. You keep dangling these things over my head like a carrot, but come to think of it now, why would you ever give me these things? You are getting all the things you care about right now. Yeah. You want a girl who won’t cheat…you got that. You want good sex…you got that. And you want someone you can talk to who cares about you…you got that.” She laughed again. “Waiting for things to change,
my ass.
The only one who wants change around here is me.”
Joe seemed genuinely stumped and it suddenly occurred to her that he might not have led her on. It probably never even occurred to him that she was expecting a payoff for all her hard work, or that the desired payoff was a loving relationship that developed into a trusted partnership. He seemed to really be thinking they were simply having a good time.
Joe bagged up his possessions in silence. He seemed genuinely surprised by Sandra’s attitude and behavior. He didn’t feel that he had misled her. What made her think he would be staying forever anyway? It was her who said he would only be staying until he settled things with his other house.
Later that night, after Joe had dumped all of his belongings in the same hotel he had taken up residence in after his split up with Elaine—in the same room, too, as it turned out—he found himself back on the same bar stool he had occupied the night Elaine dumped him, too. He ordered the usual round of drinks, back to back, for the first hour or so until the pain was numbed enough so that he was able to ignore it. Only then did he bother to lift his head to glance around the room and take in his surroundings. There was a woman at the end of the bar who was watching him with interest. He tried to smile at her but his neck failed him in that instant by suddenly giving out, causing his head to flop idiotically onto his chest. He felt dizzy, but after much struggling he managed to haul his head back up straight and hold it steady so that he could look at the woman in the corner again. This time his head remained upright as he flashed her his most attractive smile. But he needn’t have exerted himself quite so much, for she was already on her way over.
Currently living and working in Newburyport, Massachusetts, Nancy Madore achieved enormous critical acclaim with her debut,
Enchanted: Bedtime Stories for Women,
which hit several bestseller lists and has quickly become a fan favorite. A feature writer for local newspapers, Nancy is also in business with her son and is working on her fourth collection for Spice Books.
ENCHANTED AGAIN: More Erotic Bedtime Stories for Women
ISBN: 978-1-4268-2377-0
Copyright © 2008 by Nancy Madore.
All rights reserved. The reproduction, transmission or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without written permission. For permission please contact Spice Books, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario M3B 3K9, Canada.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
Spice and Colophon are trademarks used under license and registered in Australia, New Zealand, Philippines, United States Patent and Trademark Office and in other countries.