Read Friends and Lovers Trilogy 03 - Seduced for Free Online

total commitment. As a result, he knew his heart inside out. He knew exactly what he wanted.
    Unfortunately, Casper was screwing up his perfect scenario. With his luck he’d be on bended knee and the temperamental ghost would choose that exact moment to lob a candlestick at Jean-Pierre’s head. Rumor had it, if Casper couldn’t have the love of his life, no one could. First thing tomorrow he’d reactivate his Amazon.com account. This time he’d stock up on ghosthunting books.
    “It’s not that big a deal, sweetie,” Rudy lied as he deserted the breaker panel and moved down the hall. “I just need three or four more weeks.”
However long it takes to boot a pesky ghost into another dimension
. “I’ll ask Jean-Pierre to pass the news on to Sofia. Will you do me a favor and call Lulu and Murphy? It’s already late and I don’t know how long I’ll be on the phone with Jean-Pierre.”
    She groaned. “What am I supposed to tell them exactly?”
    He was midway through the great room when the TV turned on by itself and the kitchen light went out. Rudy sighed. “Tell them that I’ve got a wiring problem.”

    Los Angeles, California

    Hands on hips, Jean-Pierre stared at the note Sofia had taped to the refrigerator door amidst her shoe magnet collection.
Going to a spa. See you in Vermont.
The note didn’t make any more sense now than it had this morning. What spa? He knew that she was planning to spend a week at Hollyberry Inn. And,
oui
, he was scheduled to fly in a few days ahead of her, allowing him private time with Rudy before the gang arrived. But why had she not mentioned this side trip to a spa? Why had she not left a contact number? He’d tried her cell twice today only to get her voice mail. He knew that she was a big girl; still, he worried. Sofia was not as tough as she pretended. After several months of rooming together, he figured he knew her better than anyone did, except perhaps her sister.
    Sofia Marino, Hollywood’s newest cable sitcom celebrity, the star of a bazillion straight men’s wet dreams, was plagued with insecurities. Much like Rudy (the star of
his
wet dreams). And like Rudy, she needed to come around on her own. She needed to believe in herself, to find happiness within before she could find happiness with a life partner. These days Sofia found joy, albeit superficial joy as far as he was concerned, in her work. Wherever she was, whoever she was with, it had to do with “Spy Girl”, or some other theatrical venture. He just hoped she kept her wits and “resolutions” about her and didn’t do something she’d regret come Monday. A moment of stupidity could ruin a lifetime of happiness.
    He should know. He and Rudy had almost wrecked their relationship over an isolated indiscretion. But after months of living on separate coasts, extended soul-searching, and Rudy’s surprising decision to sell his limousine service to invest in an idea they’d once dreamed up over a bottle of sangria, it looked like they were going to reunite. Finally. Thank goodness. He was so over Los Angeles, and so not over the man he’d nicknamed Gym Bunny.
    Rudy Gallow: tall, dark and buff.
Sigh
. He pictured that bodacious butch body decked out in his formfitting black T-shirt and jeans and straddling the seat of his Harley. Then he imagined him straddling another kind of seat altogether and …
    The phone rang, startling him out of an erotic daydream. He hurried toward the cordless, hoping it was Sofia, delighted that it was Rudy. “
Bon soir
, Bunny.”
    “Hi, honey. How was your day?”
    “Long. Hard. Boring. And yours?”
    “Long. Hard. Not so boring.”
    Blood flowed hot and south of his waistline. Jean-Pierre sank down on the sofa and palmed his bulge. “Let us focus on the long and hard.” Since he could not pop over to Vermont for
un sexuel rendevous
, he’d have to make due with hot and heavy phone sex. Something they’d engaged in a lot lately.
    His heart throbbed as mightily as his