Joy, Dara - High EnergyHigh Energy

Dara Joy

CONTENTS

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

Chapter One

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"Men? Boil them in oil!"

"You don't mean that."

"Cut off their—"

"Zanita!"

Zanita grinned at her friend Mills. "—lying tongues."

"Uh-huh."

"I was going to say lying tongues."

"Sure."

"Okay, so I wasn't. Anyhow, I am through, through, through!"

Mills sighed dramatically. "Haven't I heard this before?"

"I mean it this time, Mills." Zanita slammed her palms down on the kitchen table

for emphasis. "I have had it!"

"Really. Was it any good?" Mills tried to hide her smile in her coffee cup.

"Will you be serious? I'm trying to have a discussion here."

Mills sat back in her chair. "Is that what this is? And here I thought you came

all the way over here for a good old rant-and-rave session."

Zanita threw up her hands in disgust. "That too!" She looked dismally down into

her mug. "It certainly wasn't for your coffee."

"Watch it. Everyone loves my coffee. Just because you happen to prefer brew a

spoon can stand up in doesn't make you a reliable critic. And we are getting off

the subject—something you are remarkably good at, Zanita."

"Well, what did you expect?"

Mills raised an eyebrow. "Lucidity? Rationality? Perhaps a modicum of

believability?"

"All right." Zanita looked her square in the eye. "It wasn't."

"What wasn't?"

Zanita slumped in her chair. "It wasn't any good."

Mills peered at her friend as if she had just come off Mars. Since people often

wore that expression around her, Zanita chose to ignore it.

"You didn't!"

"I did." She exhaled. "I don't want to talk about it."

"Then why did you bring it up?" Mills gave her a smug look.

"Okay, okay." Her friend knew her too well. No big surprise. "It was just so…

blah."

Mills blinked several times. "Blah?"

"You're looking at me like that again."

"Like what?"

"Like I come from the mysterious face of Mars."

"Sorry." Mills leaned forward in her chair. "But we are talking about Rick,

aren't we? Your current paramour?"

"My last, late paramour." Zanita ran a hand distractedly through her short black

curls. "And why are you so shocked?"

Mills leveled her a look. "I shall count the reasons." She ticked her fingers

off one by one. "First, as I recall, wasn't it you who said you would never get

involved with anyone again after Steve left you with nothing to remember him by

except a mountain of debt?"

Zanita closely examined the flowers on the wallpaper to her left. "I guess that

was me," she mumbled.

"And wasn't it you who waited two years before going out again with anyone

else?"

Zanita peered at the intricate pattern on the tile floor. "I guess that was me

also."

Mills nodded to emphasize Zanita's admission. "And wasn't it you who's been

dating Rick for three months, telling the poor guy, who happens to be crazy

about you, that you want nothing more from him than a platonic friendship?"

Zanita drummed her fingers on the tabletop. "So what's your point?"

Mills zoomed in. "What made you suddenly sleep with the guy?" she bellowed. "And

it's a little hard for me to believe a man like Rick would be 'blah' in bed."

Zanita hiked her shoulders. "I don't know why. Maybe I was curious."

"Curious? What kind of a reason is that?"

"I don't know!"

"I can understand passion, or a mad, wild fling, or even good old-fashioned

horniness, but curiosity?"

"Get off my case, will you?"

Mills felt instantly contrite. "I'm sorry, Zani, it was just so unlike you. You

weren't turned on in the least?"

Zanita grimaced. "No. And despite what you believe, 'blah' describes the

experience perfectly. It was all over very quickly."

Mills lowered her voice to what she deemed a serious tone. "Did you… ?"

"No." Zanita ran her index finger around the rim of her cup; she was about to

make a terrible confession. "Mills, I've—I've never."

Mills eyebrows shot up. "Not ever?"

Zanita sunk further into her chair. "Nope."

"Not even with Steve?"

She sighed. "Not even with Steve."

Both women were silent for a few moments, the absolute seriousness of the

subject demanding the proper respect.

Zanita took a gulp of coffee. "Do you think it's me? I don't think it's me."

Mills was outraged. "Of course it isn't you!"

The two friends sat in silence pondering the dilemma.

Finally, Zanita broke the silence. "Well, what is it, then?"

As was Mills' habit when she was deep in thought, she took a large sip of

coffee, then slowly lowered her mug to the table. Zanita knew she wouldn't speak

until the sound of the cup hitting the table had faded away. At that precise

moment, Zanita could count on Mills having an inspiration.

Here it comes, she thought; the woman's a genius.

Mills looked straight at her and pronounced, "It wasn't right."

Zanita's violet eyes blinked twice. "That's it? It wasn't right?" She dropped

her head to the table. "Jeez, Mills, give me a break."

"Think about it."

"No." Came the muffled reply from the tabletop.

"Think about it. With Steve, subconsciously you never really trusted him—for

good reason, I might add—so you couldn't… let your guard down, so to speak.

There was always something missing. As for Rick—"

Zanita lifted her head slightly from the table. "Please, no more psychobabble, I

beg you."

Mills continued unperturbed. "With Rick, there was nothing. No passion. No lust.

Ergo no fulfillment."

Zanita sat back up. "You really think so?"

"Yes. Zanita, I've known you practically all my life. When you're in doubt about

something, you always hold back. You withdraw into yourself."

"I do?" She thought about it a moment. "You're right. I do. I never realized

that before."

"On the other hand, when you feel strongly about something, you jump right into

it, head first, no holds barred."

Zanita's tone became distinctly cool. "Are you saying I leap before I look?"

"Drop the affronted act. Face it, girlfriend, you are not by nature a person who

is concerned about the end justifying the means."

"Meaning?"

Mills stretched her arms out. "Meaning, you act first, then live with the

consequences later."

"So, Dr. Ruth, what does this all have to do with my problem?"

"Everything. When you meet a man who makes you leap before you look, you will be

just fine."

"Well, I have nothing to worry about, do I?" she asked sarcastically. "We both

know there isn't a man in