Bachelor Unleashed - Brenda Jackson [38]
She grabbed her cell phone off the nightstand and punched in one number that automatically connected to Natalie. The phone was picked up on the first ring. “Hey, Farrah, what’s going on?”
Farrah smiled, grateful to hear her friend’s bubbly voice at a minute before one in the morning. “Evidently, you are. I take it you aren’t sleep.”
“Heavens, no. I just finished another chapter of this book I’m working on and was sitting here cuddled on the sofa enjoying a cup of hot chocolate.”
She then remembered that Natalie was working on what would probably be another New York Times bestseller on global warming. “Where’s Donovan?”
“Oh, he went to bed hours ago. I think the triplets wore him out. We kept them earlier while Cheyenne and Quade went shopping to play Santa. They are definitely three busy beavers. Donovan and I could barely keep up with them.”
Farrah chuckled. “Are you two having second thoughts about having kids of your own now?”
“Never! I want Donovan’s baby so bad.”
Natalie’s words made something twist in her heart when she remembered how she had wanted Dustin’s baby, too. Instead of giving a child to her, he’d given one to someone else. That pain reminded her why she could never give her heart to another man.
“So what’s up, Farrah?”
She swallowed. There was no reason to talk anything over with Natalie now. Not with the reminder she’d just gotten. The pain was still stabbing her chest. “Nothing.”
“Um, I know you, girl. You would not have called me at one in the morning for nothing. Go on. Let it out. What’s bothering you?”
Farrah nibbled on her bottom lip a minute before saying, “I ran into Xavier yesterday.”
There was a pause on the other end, which Farrah understood. Natalie knew why she had broken things off with Xavier. “In that case, I’m sure cold New York is probably pretty hot by now.”
Farrah threw her head back and laughed, especially when she remembered how hot things had gotten while riding across the Hudson in Xavier’s private car. She then cleared her throat. “Hey, what can I say?”
“You can say the two of you have decided to get back together.”
The smile on Farrah’s face immediately became a frown. She’d known that Natalie liked Xavier. What was there not to like? Besides being good-looking as sin, he was also a downright nice person. She would attest to that. And of course he was one of Donovan’s closest friends. But all of that had nothing to do with her heart.
“No, we’re not getting back together, although he suggested such a thing. I told him I’d indulge in a holiday fling while we’re here in New York. That was the best I could do.”
Understandably there was another pause, which was followed by a feminine snort. “I wish you would rethink that proposal, Farrah. Not all men are like Dustin.”
Farrah changed positions in bed while she rolled her eyes. How many times had she heard that very thing—not only from Natalie, but from several others? “I don’t want to try and weed the good from the bad. Casual affairs suit me just fine, but the one with Xavier was beginning to get too hot, heavy and addictive.”
“That’s not bad with the right guy, Farrah. Hey, let’s run down a few things.”
“A few things like what?”
“Why Xavier might be a keeper.”
There was no doubt in Farrah’s mind that he was a keeper. All she had to do was concentrate on the tingling between her legs to know just how much of a keeper he was. But he would be a keeper for some other woman, definitely not her. She frowned, wondering why the thought of that suddenly annoyed her.
Natalie began her checklist. “I don’t have to ask if he’s good in bed.”
She couldn’t help but laugh again. “No, please, don’t bother.”
“Okay, then. Is he someone you would want as a friend?”
A friend? Yes, she could see him being her friend once they put the bedroom behind them. But when she saw him, she didn’t think of friendship, just sexual satisfaction. “Yes, he’s someone I’d want as a friend.”
“Okay, then. Do you consider yourself happy when you’re with