Fantasies Are Forever

I have lost my mind, Caroline decided as she paced around her office.That has to be it. I've completely lost it. After all, what made her think she could experience a night of sex with Joe Hatcher and leave emotionally unscathed with him none the wiser?

Lust. Pure and simple lust. Because she really, really wanted Joe, for one moment – of course, it had to be the wrong moment – she allowed herself to believe she could handle him.

But she couldn't handle the idea of him seeing certain aspects of her personality. The humiliating aspects. The unlovable ones. Basically, the nerdy aspects.

The possibility was actually a high probability. It wasn't like she has always been geekiness-free during sex. There were a few unguarded moments that could have been classified as … nerdish.

But that was different. The guys didn't notice. They were too busy making their own fantasies come true. This time, Joe was going to focus all of his attention on her.

He was bound to notice. Maybe he won't care…

Yeah, right. Caroline made a face at her own naïveté. Joe was expecting a bombshell in his bed, not a brainiac.

She had to stop freaking out and do something about it. But what? What could she possibly do before seven o'clock tonight? She would need a miracle. Or magic.

Magic. Caroline stiffened and lunged for the phone.

Quickly punching in Artemis's office number, she sighed with relief when her friend answered. "Artemis, I need your help."   

"You got it."

"I need a magic potion recipe." The words rushed out of her. She couldn't believe she, a woman who believed in science, was asking for magical assistance. She couldn't believe that it made absolute sense. It was yet another sign that she had lost her mind.

"Caroline Mitchell!" Artemis nearly yelled. "As I have told Mia a gazillion times, witches are strictly forbidden to create love potions."

"I—"

"And do you know why?" Artemis asked. "I'll tell you why. Because they can cause harm."

"I know that—"

"And any action you do to a person has a tendency to turn around and bite you in the butt. And with more teeth than whatever you did first."

Caroline knew she had to interrupt before she received a full lecture. "Do you have a recipe that I can use that will emphasize some parts of me and conceal other parts?"

"Now that I can do." Artemis immediately swerved onto a different mental track. "What are you looking for? You want something to make your boobs bigger?"

"No." She glanced down at her chest. "What's wrong with them?"

"Nothing! That's usually what women want to emphasize. What are you trying to make bigger?"

"Not exactly bigger." Caroline hedged. She knew she had to tell Artemis all of her plans. "I have a, uh, date tonight with Joe."

Artemis squealed. She reached a decibel that threatened to shatter Caroline's ear. "Stop it, Artemis. Stop…I mean it."

"Why do you need a potion?" Artemis asked, excitement blurring her voice. "Joe is ready to jump in your bed."

"Yeah, but he'll notice everything."

"Everything? Oh!" she exclaimed. "You mean your inner geek."

Caroline winced."I need something to hide that one part of me. Do you have anything? Anything I can make before tonight?"

"As a matter of fact, I just might. I'll have to go look it up. But if I remember right, it requires a few unusual ingredients."

"Not a problem." Caroline knew she could jump that hurdle easily. "I have an entire aromatherapy lab at my disposal."

"Great. I'll e-mail you the recipe and incantation as soon as I find it," Artemis promised.

"Incantation?" Her friend could not be serious.

"It's a chant. And before you even ask, you can't skip that part. Otherwise the potion won't work."

It was too much of a risk to skip that step. She would have to do the chant. She wouldn't like it, but she'd do it. "You mean I have to act like a geek to stop being one?" Caroline teased.

"Funny. Do you want the recipe?" A threatening tone crept into Artemis's voice.

"Yes, please," she said meekly. It probably wasn't wise to tease someone who had the power to turn her into a frog. Caroline wasn't going to test her friend's belief in the biting-butt karma.

"And I expect details at the Dream Circle tomorrow." Artemis informed her.

"What are you talking about?" Caroline asked as she automatically glanced at her calendar. "We just had one today."

"I'm calling an emergency Dream Circle so we can find out if reality matched fantasy."

Caroline's stomach twisted. "Oh, great. Thanks a lot. I'm so glad to know I'm walking into this night with absolutely no pressure."

End of excerpt. Like it? Order it.

Read the excerpt to Code Pink
Read the excerpt to Six Weeks to Sensuality

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The title "Fantasies Are Forever" was originally for what is now known as "Code Pink". (I called it that as a take-off of the James Bond title, Diamonds Are Forever.) My editor liked the title "Fantasies Are Forever" so much that she suggested I come up with a novella based on those three words.

The Dream Circle is not something I made up. While researching fantasies and dreams, I came across a book at the library about how some Wiccans interpret dreams. When the author described the Dream Circle, I knew I had my opening scene.

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