Sharon gasped and sat upright. "Oh my god, Frankie.You've had sex with him, haven't you?"
Frankie groaned, and John's chuckle sounded in her ear. He grabbed the phone. "Frankie’s had an adventure since she arrived. I'll give you the rundown." Like a master storyteller, he strolled to the kitchen, relaying the winter storm that left Frankie stranded. Sharon was notably rapt with attention, producing several loud gasps along with numerous oohs and ahhs. Frankie closed her eyes and sighed heavily. The woman would be impossible to manage after this.
"The roads were impassable, so I brought her back to my cabin," he finished as he pulled several items from the refrigerator.
"That was three days ago, yes? And she's been there since you rescued her from the ice storm?" Sharon interrogated.
Frankie waved her arms, snagging John's attention. She shook her head fiercely, urging him to say no, but he only laughed.
"Frankie would really like for me to tell you no," he started. "But yeah, she has. Honestly, she can't keep her hands off me."
A slow, outraged gasp escaped her mouth, and she heard Sharon cackling hysterically on the other end. "I knew it, I knew it, I absolutely knew it! It's about time that chickie had a good shagging."
"Bloody hell!" Frankie marched over and snatched the phone from John who was doubled over with laughter. "That's enough from the two of you, thank you." She stalked down the hall to thebedroom, closing the door behind her. "Yes, all that happened, but it's not important. What we should be discussing is the amazing progress I've made in the last few days. John has agreed to help us."
“Well, of course he has, darling. No man in his right mind would tell you no when you’ve been polishing his knob,” Sharon sassed as she danced obnoxiously around her living room.
"Would you please stop already? You look absolutely ridiculous."
"You can’t be serious. This is the best news I've had in months." Sharon continued to dance, making the screen bob back and forth in a sickening fashion.
"You realize what this means, yeah? Frankie, you've finally taken my advice and did it brilliantly. I mean, the man is stunning!" She waved her hands at her face. "Fucking hell, I think I'm having a hot flash."
She finally sashayed around her ottoman and plopped back in her chair with a disgustingly satisfied sigh. "He was amazing, wasn't he? Wait, don’t answer that. Of course, he was. And my god, those muscles! He looks like one of those studly American lumberjacks from my sexy reads."
Frankie rolled her eyes. Sexy reads was Sharon’s slang term for steamy romance novels.
"I'm just so damn proud of you,” Sharon continued. “I was starting to believe your knickers were made of iron and closed with a padlock."
Frankie sighed. "Are you done yet?"
"Not even close. But I'll stop. For now." Sharon's face suddenly became serious as she opened a notebook, then clicked her pen and continued in a professional tone. "Okay. Tell me about the progress you’ve made."
Frankie filled her in on the areas she’d toured and the information John provided, especially on the sections that were resistant to improvement.
"Wow. This really has been a productive trip." Sharon snapped the notebook closed.
A tingle moved up Frankie's spine when the expression on Sharon's face sharpened. "And now that we have all the dreary work stuff out of the way, how was he?" Sharon planted her chin on a fist as her eyebrows shuffled in a strange dance on her forehead.
Well, that didn't take long.
Frankie sucked in a breath and let it out slowly as images from the night before flashed through her head.
John above her, arms braced, eyes glinting as he slowly pounded into her.
"Hey! There! That!" Sharon snapped her fingers, yanking Frankie cruelly from her erotic daydream. "Oh, I knew it!" Sharon crowed, clapping her hands like a raving lunatic. "I knew he'd be a total stud between the sheets." She leaned back in her chair. "Now, I want to hear everything. Do not spare any details, especially the lurid ones.”
"Oh my god, Sharon. Stop!" Frankie's face flamed. It felt like she was the one having hot flashes this time. "It doesn't matter what he was like, or what we did. None of this does. All that matters is that I'm completing my assignment and I'm leaving here in three days. After that, John and I will probably never see each other again." Her voice wavered on the last few words and her chest ached as if she had been punched in the heart.
Sharon sobered, her eyes softening. "It's that serious, then?"
Frankie looked away, fighting the lump in her throat.
I will not cry.
It had been agony just saying the words out loud. She knew she'd be a proper mess when it was time for her to leave for London.
"It is for me, but I don’t know if John feels the same." She sniffed and forced a smile. "But it doesn't matter," she repeated. Maybe if she kept saying those words, they'd finally sink in and she'd feel more like herself again. "This assignment is moving along swimmingly. I've gathered a ton of useful information and we'll have an expert on call whenever we need him."
