Chapter 3
They had demolished three plates of appetizers in less than twenty minutes with no complaining about calories. It was a point of honor between them never to feel guilty about food.
Regina—aka Dr. Regina Logan—was polishing off the last of the veggie pizza.
“I love pizza. It’s such happy food. And all those carbs make for a good snooze after. Did you ask a question, Alexa? Sorry, I was in the middle of a pizza orgasm,” Regina explained.
Alexa laughed when Lauren McCarthy—one of The McCarthy’s of Falls Church, Virginia— rolled her eyes at Regina’s response. Lauren had the sexual sensibilities of a twenty-year-old and the sexual urges of a forty-year-old. It was not a happy combination in a woman who worried daily about what people thought of her. Stranger still, Lauren risked her reputation weekly by hanging out with Regina and Alexa, definitely two of the most sexually notorious women in Falls Church.
While she waited for them to think about it, Alexa thought about the differences between the women she trusted with her deepest secrets. Regina and her work as a sex therapist drew the interest of the press regularly. Fortunately, Alexa’s notoriety had dwindled when she’d stopped dating so much. Only Lauren avoided the press, rarely even making the society pages. They teasingly called her ‘Saint McCarthy’ because the woman never did anything even remotely scandalous.
The worst thing Alexa had ever known Lauren to do was buy a vibrator after her divorce, but what single woman didn’t own at least one of those?
Alexa looked at Regina, smiling as the woman licked cheese off her fingers.
“I asked when was the last time you felt a genuine interest in getting to know a man,” she repeated.
Regina frowned as she wiped her hands on a napkin.
“Wow. I just realized I don’t have an easy answer to your question. That’s so depressing. I guess it’s been almost a year for me,” she said.
Alexa looked at Lauren, who squirmed whenever any of them talked about sex. Only Lauren could make forty-two look as innocent as twenty, Alexa thought, amused.
“Like you want to get to simply know him, or you want to—you know, get to know him in the biblical sense?” Lauren asked.
“Biblical sense,” Alexa answered around a grin.
Lauren sighed, “I guess I’d have to say about two years ago and for yet another womanizing man. The one before him was six years ago when I first got divorced. I developed an urge to date my lawyer.”
Regina arched an eyebrow, “Your lawyer? Honey, that was gratitude, not a sexual urge. Haven’t you ever wanted a man so much you just went for it?”
“Absolutely not,” Lauren answered honestly and sincerely. “Technology is a much better solution and more satisfying.”
“No, it’s not,” Alexa said gently, but with great conviction. “There’s nothing like falling into a satisfied sleep after you’ve had a man inside you two or three times. There’s no substitute for that kind of connection.”
“True. Have you been connecting to someone lately, Alexa?” Regina asked, smiling at the thought of her gorgeous friend getting lucky.
Alexa laughed and sighed, “No. I’m just a little attracted to someone, that’s all. It’s been a while for me, too. It’s complicated because the man is a lot younger than me.”
“Younger can be good. How much younger?” Regina asked, inspecting the appetizer plates for any lingering bites.
“I don’t know,” Alexa said frowning. “Why?”
“Less than eight years makes you a Puma. Over eight years makes you a Cougar,” Regina said wisely, as Lauren nodded in agreement. “That kind of hookup is happening a lot these days and women are benefitting greatly. I wish I had an eye for younger men. I could have a lot more dates. Unfortunately, I get irritated with their conversation long before the mating urge can happen.”
“So who’s the younger guy you like?” Lauren asked, truly interested in the answer.
Both Lauren and Regina looked at Alexa, who just stared back silently, blinking. Alexa’s reluctance to share his identity had both of them giggling.
“Hmmm . . . this is interesting, Lauren. Alexa doesn’t want us to know. Is the boy-toy in question at least of legal age?” Regina asked Alexa, teasing.
“Of course. He’s around thirty-eight I think,” Alexa finally confessed.
“You’re a Cougar then, but honestly—thirty-eight is not that young,” Regina exclaimed, rolling her eyes. “When you said young, I was picturing a twenty-something who checked himself out in the mirror every two seconds.”
Lauren laughed at Regina’s description because it fit her own mental image. “I was thinking the same. Anyone over thirty-five is fair game, Alexa. Though I’m a bit like Regina, I like men closer to my own age. Younger men seem to be too anxious and needy.”
“Amen, sister,” Regina said, high-fiving with Lauren and making her giggle.
“So neither of you would pursue this if you were me simply because of his age,” Alexa repeated, wanting to make sure she understood.
Regina and Lauren looked at each other. Surprisingly, it was Lauren who piped up with “depends on the amount of attraction.” Regina just smiled widely and nodded in agreement.
Alexa closed her eyes and crossed her arms. “This is not helping,” she complained.
Regina removed the white linen napkin from her lap and folded it into a neat triangle before placing it on the now empty plate in front of her.
“Do not try to fool the sex therapist, Alexa,” she said ominously, making Lauren giggle again.
“You’ve dated slightly younger men before. What’s the real problem with this guy?”
“The only younger man I ever dated was only two years younger than me. The term younger barely applies in that case. But you’re right, the real problem is he’s Seth Carter’s cousin Casey. He’s the older one that raised him,” Alexa confessed at last.
Conversation paused while Regina and Lauren absorbed the news.
“Jenna would probably kill you,” Lauren finally said, wincing at how dramatic that sounded.
“Yes, exactly,” Alexa agreed. “I’m not sure any man is worth risking my life.”
Regina squinted hard as she considered the frown on Alexa’s face and the disappointment reflected in Alexa’s gaze.
“I agree it’s a tough twist, but I wouldn’t let it be the deciding factor. Jenna and Seth might not work out anyway. If you don’t take this chance, then everybody loses. Sometimes it’s okay to be selfish, Alexa. This may be one of those times,” Regina told her.
Alexa nodded, but none of what they said made her want to call Casey up and ask him out. The idea of a fifty-year-old woman dating a thirty-eight-year-old man just smacked of desperation to her. If the press found out, she would make the headlines again—Aging Model Dates Young Marine. She wasn’t ready to deal with the public or private fallout that might happen. She liked being less notorious.
“Do you think fifty is old?” Alexa asked them sadly, knowing her age was the biggest reason she wasn’t even considering Casey as a potential.
“You’re kidding, right?” Lauren proclaimed, shocked at Alexa’s sad tone.
Alexa sighed. Talking to Regina and Lauren was turning out to be worse than talking to Sydney. No one seemed to understand her concerns.
Regina swore and got up from her seat to gather her things. “I have to go catch a plane, so I’ll be quick with my two cents on the subject. No, fifty is not old, and you make it look better than thirty anyway. Lauren and I are using you as our role model. You know damn well that at forty-seven, fifty’s just around a corner for me. Go have sex and shake this mood, Alexa. You need the oxytocin high from intercourse to fight the hormonally depressive funk you’re in right now.”
“Hormonally depressive funk? Is that a precise medical opinion, Dr. Logan?” Alexa asked sarcastically.
Regina just gave her a look that asked if Alexa needed a little more proof, or a lot more proof. She would happily give either to her friend.
“Fine. I’ll take care of it,” Alexa said sarcastically. “You’re probably right, anyway. Sydney said the same thing.”
“No, I’m probably right about the weather changing, and that the plane ride will be bumpy to Boston,” Regina told her. “I am always right about sex.”
As they split the bill and debated the tip, Alexa thought about how best to follow Regina’s advice. Instantly, Casey Carter’s image popped into her mind and her heartbeat picked up. No, she told herself, putting it away in the realm of fantasy and not reality.
Instead, Alexa made herself think about the ever-available Todd Lansing who was a friend-with-benefits as Jenna would say. A couple years ago her comfortable relationship with Todd had been okay with Alexa because it kept her from bed hopping while she casually dated other men. Now, the thought of using Todd for gratuitous sex held no appeal, much less desire.
The only man who sexually interested her at all was not a good possibility. Which was just as well, Alexa concluded. She didn’t need another empty sexual relationship without the remotest possibility of happily-ever-after attached.