Does She Dare? (Harlequin Blaze #372)

"I NEED A REAL MAN," Isabel Santos decided. She shot a bleary look across the table at her best friend, then squinted to take in the rest of the cozy Italian restaurant. Although she andAudra were still seated, there were a few couples on the dance floor, swaying to the soft rock music.At half past eleven in the evening, the only men left were a pair of waiters who were obviously into each other, a teenaged busboy and the cook. Considering the pasta had been overdone, Isabel crossed him off her potential list."I have to admit, a man would have been a more imaginative birthday gift than the nightie I gave you," her friend mused, snagging Isabel's attention back from her useless hunk-search. "But I wasn't sure what size you were in the market for."Isabel snickered. "It's not the size that matters, it's the quality," she insisted, careful to enunciate her words through the fog of wine curling through her head. She really should have quit at one glass, but she'd been so bummed over being dumped, turning another year older and discovering she was as desirable as a dried-up prune, she'd ordered a second. Then a third. "I need a real man. A hot, sexy man. The kind that makes a girl squirm, but doesn't require conversation and pampering. You know, a stud."Audra Walker-Martinez, Isabel's oldest friend, was probably the only person in the world who she'd feel comfortable saying that to. Then again, Audra was an expert on hot, sexy men."I'm all for you taking on a hot guy, especially now that you've dumped that pansy boy you were dating. But maybe we should wait until you're--""I didn't dump Lance. He dumped me." Isabel sneered, her voice rising as she warmed to the subject."He was lousy in bed. But no matter how many times I tell myself it's no loss, I still feel like I got ripped off. I'm twenty-six, Audra. The years I should have spent exploring my sexuality, living out my wild fantasies, they've passed me by. I can't afford to wait any longer."Cringing, her face going flame-red at the cook's disapproving stare and the grins of the waiters, Isabel stopped her rant to suck in a deep breath.Audra lifted one brow and pursed her lips. "I had been about to suggest we wait till you were sober to make a man plan, but hey, we can start now."Man plan? Isabel giggled at the absurd idea, then her laughter fell away. Well why not? Before taking on any new venture, the first thing she did was sit down and make a plan. Business plans, life plans, weight-loss plans. Damned if most of them hadn't all worked. So why wouldn't a man plan?"I want the ultimate fantasy plan," she mused as she hauled her suede hobo bag up to the table and started digging through it. "Something with a limited time frame, you know? I mean, I have such a tight schedule trying to get the new store up and running, I can't have a bunch of distractions right now."Isabel found her ever-present notepad, flipped to a clean page, and chose a pen--red for passion, of course."Okay, first step is to define the goal. Sex is a little too broad, don't ya think?" Isabel tapped the pen against her bottom lip. "Hot sex is better, but still not right. What d'ya think? Fling? Affair? Boy toy? Bootie call?"She glanced up to see Audra grimace. "What?""Nothing," Audra denied. At Isabel's pointed look, she shrugged. "It's just...well, this isn't you. I mean, the plan part, that's all you. Goal setting, control, you've got a firm handle on those. But to make a plan specifically targeted at snagging you some emotionless, string-free, temporary sex? That's the wine talking.""Nope." Isabel shook her head so hard, her curls flew."I had a fling once. I can totally do it again.""That fling was a failure, remember? The liar was married and didn't tell you. You were a mess for months afterward."Isabel wrinkled her nose and tried to shrug like it hadn't mattered. She had been a mess. Not heartbroken, although she'd felt likWeber, Tawny is the author of 'Does She Dare? (Harlequin Blaze #372)', published 2008 under ISBN 9780373793761 and ISBN 0373793766.