Excerpt: TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS
Mar
24
2009

TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS by MEGAN HART AND LAUREN DANE
Copyright Megan Hart and Lauren Dane, 2009
All Rights Reserved, Black Lace Books
Releasing in trade paper, March 31

Kate braced herself and blurted it out before she could change her mind. ‘I’ve been having a fling with Charles Dixon.’

‘Get out! Dix? A fling like how? And you didn’t tell me?’

‘A fling. An affair. Sex. Guilty, really hot, furtive sex where we both fly in somewhere, fuck for the entire weekend and go back home. It’s, oh my God it’s fucking marvelous.’

Leah grinned. ‘Wow! how long?’

‘We’ve been flirting since day one, then um, emails followed. Phone sex, he’s very inventive.’ A shiver went through her at that. ‘We met in person for the first time four months ago. We’ve only done that twice, first in Chicago and last month in San Francisco.’

‘You know I have to ask this, does he make you scream out the Star Spangled Banner?’

Kate laughed. ‘Upside down from the chandelier. How do you think he is? I’m not a virgin byany means but he’s a rock star in bed.’

‘I’m totally shocked. Not that you’d have a fling and all, but that you didn’t tell me. He has seemed more chipper lately. I guess you’re the reason for that. How does he feel about the move here?’

‘I haven’t told him yet. I don’t know what to say, Leah. We’ve had this no strings thing, just fun meetings for sex and suddenly I’m here in his backyard. He’s got kids and an ex-wife…a life. And he hasn’t asked me to be part of it in any way other than what we’ve had.’

‘Wow. Well, I suppose you won’t know until you tell him. Am I going to have to pretend like I don’t know?’

‘I told him I was going to tell you today. But no one else knows. I’m already uncomfortable enough with people thinking I got this of-counsel job because I know you, I’d be horrified to think anyone thought I got it because I was fucking in-house counsel.’

‘Anyone who knows you would laugh at the idea. I expect to hear everything, in great detail. Now that you live here we can actually hang out. I can almost forgive you for not telling me because of that.’

‘Well, you’re the one who has a string of cute male strippers all lining up to give you attention every time you go to the club. I’m just there to grab your sloppy seconds.’ They both snorted and began chatting for the rest of the short trip to the hotel about nothing much but all the stuff that makes you really like someone else. Shoes, Duran Duran, Clive Owen, the newest sci-fi movie they both wanted to see.
Kate had met Leah in the eighth grade when Kate’s parents had decided she should try public school. It was love at first giggle and they’d been friends ever since.

Leah had seen Kate through a lot of rough times. Leah had stood by her during the whole mess all those years ago and it was Leah who she told all her secrets to.

There hadn’t been an important moment in Kate’s life that Leah hadn’t shared in some sense.

Hell, they’d even shared a man once. The summer after high school they’d worked at a horse camp for junior high schoolers. There’d been another counselor who worked mainly with the horses and he’d been older. Delicious even. After an evening in the barn, just the three of them doing shots of Jack Daniels, she and Leah had stripped him naked, tied him up and tag teamed him quite nicely. Kate snorted to herself at the memory. They’d rocked his world and she couldn’t even remember his name.

Still, of all the people in the universe, Kate knew it was Leah who’d tell her the truth, even if it hurt, who’d listen to her without judging. It was a huge comfort to have a person who’d keep you honest with yourself and who also gave you safe harbor.

4 comments to “Excerpt: TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS”

  1. Lea
    March 24th, 2009 at 4:34 pm · Link

    Great excerpt from an excellent book Lauren!

    I sure enjoyed it. 😀

    Best Regards



  2. Natasha A.
    March 25th, 2009 at 6:41 am · Link

    wow! this is great!! I will definitely be on the lookout for this! 😀



  3. Eshani
    March 25th, 2009 at 7:25 am · Link

    Thank you for that 🙂 I can’t wait to read this book. It’s a new style for me. This will be my first time reading a book with two authors, and I’m excited to see how it worked out..
    March 31st needs to come here faster
    😉



  4. Lori
    March 25th, 2009 at 5:23 pm · Link

    Thanks for the excerpt, Lauren!

    Going back under my rock now…