A Good Little Girl Like You (A Sample)

Tuesday, October 2

"Hello, beautiful!" O.E.'s great and powerful voice

blasted from the phone, waking sleeping bears in Siberia.

Rebecca winced and pulled the phone away from her

ear. "Hi, O.E. It sounds like you got your jaw unwired."

"Yep! Look out, world, my mouth is back."

Too bad. The mouth is back. His first clear words in

weeks were a boast. She flashed on the annoying, egotistical

man who once told her she was living her life wrong. I

saddened her that the quiet, considerate man she had

known for the last two weeks might be gone for good.

This demanded action. She snapped her reply. "I see

your attitude is back, too."

He laughed, then lowered his voice to human level.

"Yes, that too."

Nice of him to notice. Perhaps there was hope. "So are

you all better now?"

"I won't really be at full attitude for another week. Still a

bit sore, but grateful to have my mouth back. These past

two weeks were torture! You have no idea."

"You're right, I have no idea. And I hope I never do. Are

we still on for dinner tonight?" He had promised this all

week, and both of them knew that it would include after dinner

activities. Did she still want it?

O.E. spoke slowly with far less ego. "Yes, dinner.

Tonight. At my place. I can't wait to see you." The promise in

his voice made her shiver-yes, she still wanted it. She

could handle Mr. Big Talk if she needed to.

Rebecca pushed back at him, partly to keep him in

check, and partly for the fun of it. "You mean Dan's place,

don't you?"

"Dan's place, my place. Who cares? Tonight, it's our

place."

Oh hell yes. His fearless certainty felt good, now that he

was talking about something they could both agree on. She

had spent the past week daydreaming about his hands, his

mouth, and many other body parts.

"Mmm. Will you seduce me before I even step in the

door?"

O.E. laughed. "Seems like I've already done that. Or

maybe. . ." He spoke slowly, warmly. "It's you who has

seduced me." He lightened the mood with a chuckle. "But

honestly, you have nothing to fear-I'm harmless. I will only

seduce you if you want to have the best sex you've ever had.

If you don't want it, just say the word."

Rebecca belted out a single laugh. "Yeah. That's the old

O.E. talking."

"What can I say? For the first time in two weeks, I get to

speak my thoughts clearly. Thoughts like 'I can't live

another minute without your body.' Would you rather I