Hotter Than Ever (Out of Uniform 9)

“He didn’t think you were a good match for him,” he finally revealed.

“And?” she pressed.

“And he mentioned something about you sharing personal details with some of the country-club women.”

A groove dug into her forehead. “Personal details? What kind of—” She gasped, and then her brown eyes darkened with disgust. “Oh my God. Did he dump me because I told a few rich girls about my vibrator?”

The outburst startled both him and Aidan, and damned if Dylan didn’t immediately envision Claire lying naked on a bed holding a sex toy between her legs.

The arousal hit him hard and fast, like an injection of heroin right into the vein. He gulped, trying to banish the dirty images wreaking havoc on his brain, but it was too late. They were branded in there forever.

“Is that it?” Claire demanded, practically glaring at him.

“He didn’t give me specifics,” Dylan said awkwardly.

“Wow. Your brother is really something else. I mean, wow. He asked me to get rid of it, by the way. The vibrator.”

Aidan choked out a laugh. “For real?”

“He said only single women needed them. And you know what? Those women at the club? They all have secret sex toys hidden away too. Apparently their conservative defense-lawyer husbands share Chris’s view on mechanical interference in the bedroom. But I guarantee you none of them owned up to it when they were gossiping about me to their husbands.” Her lips tightened in a thin line. “What else did he say?”

Dylan stifled a sigh. But hell, he was already in this deep. Might as well get it all out in the open. “He may have implied that you were unfaithful.”

Claire’s cheeks hollowed as if she was grinding her teeth together. “He actually said I cheated on him?”

“Not quite. He used the word indiscretion. But again, he didn’t provide any details.” He studied her face. “You don’t seem shocked by that.”

“That’s because I know exactly what he’s referring to.” She must have noticed the way Dylan’s shoulders tensed because she hurried on. “I surprised him at the office one day for lunch and I had a run-in with one of his colleagues. This guy named Pres Maxwell, a total slimebag.”

Maxwell… Dylan recognized the name. That was the same man who’d warned Chris that Claire wasn’t a “good prospect”. He kept that tidbit to himself, though, mostly because he didn’t want to add more fuel to the fire burning in Claire’s eyes.

“Chris had to finish up with a client, so I went to wait for him in the associates’ lounge. Maxwell showed up and started pawing at me.” Scorn dripped from her every word. “I told him to get lost, but he was very persistent. He tried to convince me that all the associates slept with each other’s wives.”

Aidan snorted. “Nice guy.”

“I told Chris about it at lunch, but he brushed it off and insisted Maxwell must have been joking around. But that slimebag was not joking—he definitely wanted to get in my pants.”

“Are you sure you didn’t lead him on in any way?” Dylan regretted the question the moment it slipped out of his mouth, but it was too late to take it back.

In a nanosecond, Claire’s expression went from annoyed to enraged. “Are you serious?”

He quickly tried to backpedal. “I’m just saying, maybe the guy thought you were sending some kind of signal and—”

“Oh, because I said hello?” she interrupted sarcastically. “Because I asked him how he liked working at the firm? Is that what you consider a signal? That bastard cornered me against the wall and tried to shove his hand up my skirt, and I didn’t do a damn thing to invite it! I can’t believe you’d even think I would.”

The bite to her tone raised his hackles. “I don’t know you, honey, and I’ve never seen the way you behave around other men. Maybe you’re throwing off come-hither signals left and right to every man in San Francisco.”

Her jaw fell open. Then snapped shut.

After a beat, she rose from the couch and pinned him down with a fierce look. “When I make a commitment to someone, I don’t throw off signals to other men. I was committed to your brother. I loved him, and I was planning on marrying him. I don’t give a shit what you think about me, but let it be known that I’ve never cheated on anyone in my entire life, and if for some reason I transmit come-hither signals then it’s definitely not done intentionally. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to boot up my laptop so I can book myself a flight home.”

“Claire—” Aidan started.

“No, I don’t want to hear it,” she cut in. “A moment of weakness drove me to come here, but I have no desire to stay where I’m not wanted and with people who think I’m some kind of horrible human being.”

With that, she marched out of the living room in a huff, her red hair whipping behind her like an angry cloud.

Several seconds ticked by. Dylan had no idea what to say, and the longer the silence between him and Aidan dragged on, the more irritated he got. To make matters worse, Aidan was just sitting there, his dark eyes shuttered, his body language tense.

“Spit it out, Aid,” he ordered.

“Fine. You were a real dick to her just now, is that what you want to hear?”

“I’m a dick, huh? Why, because I asked a harmless question?”

“Harmless, my ass. You felt like antagonizing her, so you did.” Now Aidan was the one standing up. “And for what it’s worth, I think the two of you have the most f**ked-up perceptions of each other. Neither of you is the villain the other one thinks, and if you had one f**king conversation without sniping at each other, I think you’d really get along.”