Read Suddenly Sexy for Free Online

as a teenager. Not that he remembered a great deal of her as a kid. They hadn't socialized together much. She'd just sort of been there. Linda's quiet, little sister, always hanging around, much to her big sister's annoyance. Sam had never minded though.
    "I guess she's a little uptight still," he conceded, remembering her vehement defence of her work.
    Linda snorted. "You said it." She cocked her head to one side, a cheeky grin brightening her attractive features. "Maybe you could help her relax..."
    "Me? How?"
    Emily entered the kitchen and asked her mother to tie a bow in Barbie's hair. The task completed, she left again. "Oh, I don't know," Linda said. "Take her out maybe. Help her have a good time."
    Aha, so that was the favor. "Like on a date?"
    "No, of course not. Just something casual, like two old friends catching up."
    He could do that. They were old friends, sort of. And if Maddie misconstrued it as a real date, so what? It might make the evening more interesting.
    A date with Maddie—the idea quickly grew on him.
    "But would she go out with me? I mean, as friends? We weren't exactly close."
    Linda's attention was momentarily diverted to Ronan as he returned to the cupboard door. "You're beginning to drive me nuts, young man." She picked him up and handed him a teething rusk. "Knock yourself out." She sat back down. "Where were we? Oh yes, taking Maddie out. And yes, she'll go out with you. Trust me."
    "I don't know," he hedged. "I'm not really her type."
    "Yes you are." She said it a little too vehemently for Sam's liking. "But just in case, I'll send you there on an errand so it doesn't look contrived."
    That might work. "Okay," he said, feeling like he’d just been snow-balled.
    "So, how's your job?" she said. "Any plans to move back to Melbourne permanently?"
    "Actually, I do. I've quit."
    "What! But you were earning a fortune!"
    He shrugged. "It's only money."
    Linda stared open-mouthed at him until Ronan, crawling at top speed across the kitchen floor, banged his head on the table leg and cried. She picked him up and he instantly stopped as if Linda had pressed the OFF switch.
    "I had no idea," she said. "Why didn't you say something earlier?"
    "I told Pete last night."
    She frowned at Ronan. "I'll have to have a word to your daddy when he gets home." She looked at Sam again. "But why? You had it all in Sydney."
    "No, Linda, I didn't. And does it matter why? I've quit and it's final." She was worse than the Inquisition. Worse than his mother. No, not that bad.
    "Okay, I get the picture."
    She didn't look like she got it. She looked like someone dying to ask a million questions but not sure if it was appropriate to pry. Maybe it was time he left before she decided to fire away. He didn't want to be lectured by his best friend's wife.
    A little blonde head poked around the door. "Mummy, poos."
    Yep, definitely time he left.
    ***
    If it wasn't for the doorbell chiming, Maddie might have fallen asleep in the bath. Next time she'd bring an alarm clock into the bathroom with her—drowning wasn't on her list of things to do this year.
    If there was a next time. She rarely took baths because when she did, she never wanted to get out and she couldn't afford to waste time luxuriating when there were things to do, like checking up on her ebay items or reading through her work notes. But tonight was an exception. Pheramour needed to be diluted in water and applied to her entire body, so a bath was the obvious way. True to form, she didn't want to get out. She loved it. Oh well, she could always take the notes into the bath with her next time.
    She got out and wrapped a towel around her body. She needed to get moving anyway if she wanted to see Sam tonight. It was already seven o'clock and he might make other plans soon if he hadn't already. She'd decided against calling him because it was easier to back out over the phone. Why make it easier for him?
    She dried her feet so she wouldn't drip on the carpet and hurried to