Intimate Seduction - Brenda Jackson [24]
“Don’t look at me like that, Farrah. I know what you’re thinking.”
Farrah then gave her that smile she knew so well. “And what am I thinking?”
“That I need to take advantage of it because it’s been years since I got laid.” Natalie knew there was nothing Farrah could say but confirm her statement since recently that had been Farrah’s constant argument. Over the years, Farrah had relentlessly tried building the case that Natalie needed to get her head out of her books and stop spending so much time in the lab and work on another type of formula—one that produced a love life, and if not a serious love life, definitely a fling.
“Yes, that’s what I’m thinking and it makes perfect sense, don’t you think?” Farrah interrupted her thoughts by saying.
Natalie rolled her eyes heavenward. “No, that’s not what I think.”
“Come on, Nat, what do you have to lose? You don’t know what you’re missing out on. You can’t convince me you aren’t curious.”
Natalie wished she could deny what Farrah was saying but she couldn’t. She hadn’t slept with anyone since college and Karl. Only Farrah knew the full extent of the scars a man’s emotional abuse could leave. But she had tried moving on, only to encounter men who weren’t cunning and manipulative like Karl but who were weak-minded enough to feel threatened by a woman’s successful scholarly achievements.
“Look, Nat,” Farrah said, after glancing at the car in front of them to make sure it hadn’t moved. “Seriously. I’m not saying you need to start sleeping around, by any means. All I’m saying is that you should enjoy your life and not give in to the failures of the only man you’ve ever slept with by thinking all men are that way.”
Natalie knew she didn’t think that way, but she would be the first to admit one of the reasons she hadn’t been hitting the singles scene was because she felt more comfortable in her career than in the prospect of putting all that work into a relationship to nowhere.
When Farrah checked on the cars ahead of them again, Natalie decided not to let her off the hook so easily. “What about you, Farrah? Did Dustin make you think all men are that way?” Natalie studied Farrah’s features. She saw a glimpse of the pain in her friend’s eyes that was still there even after a full year.
“I’m trying to move on, Nat. And no, I don’t think all men are like Dustin, but I will admit the next one who comes close to my heart will have a tough job convincing me that he’s not. In other words, no man will ever capture my heart again.”
Natalie knew Farrah meant every word she had spoken. To this day Natalie didn’t understand how Dustin could have hurt Farrah the way he had. Regretting she had brought him up, she steered the conversation back to what she’d asked Farrah earlier.
“So, are you going to tell me what you know about Donovan Steele?” The cars started moving ahead, and she watched as Farrah shifted the car back in gear.
“Not much to tell. I’ve seen him before at a charity function or two so I know he’s an extremely good-looking man. I only know what I read and what I overhear from the women at the gym. According to them, he only indulges in short-term affairs and is very selective about whom he sleeps with. Some women think it’s quite an honor to be the chosen one because he’s one hell of a lover.”
Farrah glanced over at her when the car stopped at a traffic light. “I also hear he’s very persuasive and could probably talk the panties off a nun.”
Natalie couldn’t help but smile at that claim. “All the more reason to keep him at arm’s length,” she said.
She could see him as a persuasive guy since if given the chance he would have tried wearing down her resistance on Tuesday evening. Hadn’t he told her he went