AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Hey, the brunch table is a no-judgment zone,” Frankie reminded Portia with a mock glare. “And yes, I absolutely did.”
Propping her chin on her fist, Eva grinned. “I wonder what the world would think if they knew Dr. Francesca Legare was a kinky little bitch who got off on getting her ass spanked by a man she calls Daddy.”
“I’m not a doctor yet.” Frankie once again rolled her eyes. “I haven’t even started med school yet.”
“Please.” Lottie waved a hand, swatting away her friend’s protests. “We all know you’re going to kick med school’s ass and go on to be the best fucking neurosurgeon the world has ever seen.”
“Neurosurgeon by day, kinky bitch by night.” Giggling, Frankie lifted her mimosa in a toast. “Has a nice ring to it.”
And that was yet again one of the other ways Lottie didn’t quite fit in with her friends. While she’d made it through college without any real struggle, her business degree was much like her hymen. She had one, but she’d never really bothered to do anything with it.
Meanwhile, Frankie was off to med school in the fall, Eva was working on her MBA while also learning the ropes at her father’s media empire, and even Portia—who had only ever talked about finding Mr. Right to sweep her off her feet and turn her into the perfect trophy wife—had turned into something of a human right’s activist during her college years. After brunch, in fact, she was flying to DC for dinner with some powerful people in the hopes she could persuade them to vote for an upcoming bill on paid maternity and paternity leave in the states.
Her friends were as impressive as they were rich. And then there was Lottie, whose greatest achievement so far was the vintage Birkin bag she’d managed to find in a random little boutique in the south of France during her last trip overseas. The owner, bless him, hadn’t realized what a rare find he had in his possession, and she’d snatched it up before he’d changed his mind and upped the price on her.
Of course, she’d felt so bad about ‘cheating’ him that she’d gone back and purchased a horribly overpriced watch which she’d given to her father for Christmas. Dad had loved the gift, and it had eased some of her guilt, so she’d considered it a win-win.
The memory brought her full circle to Frankie and her ‘Daddy’. If Lottie had a Daddy, would he have spanked her for her dishonesty with the boutique owner? Maybe he would have marched her back to the shop, with her bottom still red and sore, and forced her to apologize.
Jesus. There had to be something wrong with her that the idea of not only being punished like a little girl, but publicly humiliated as well, nearly had her squirming in her seat.
“Lottie, are you all right, babe?” Frankie’s concerned voice jolted Lottie out of her fantasies. “You look a little flushed.”
“Oh, ah… yes. I’m fine.”
Eyes dancing with amusement, Eva wiggled her shoulders. “Did Frankie’s kinky tales get you all hot and bothered?”
“Eva! Leave her alone.” Ever the ‘mom’ of the group, Portia leaned over and patted Lottie’s hand. “Ignore her, sweetheart. She’s just cranky because she struck out two nights in a row this weekend.”
“I am not! Okay, maybe a little,” Eva agreed with a shrug. “But tell me I’m wrong. Either Lottie here has a fever, or something else has her temperature rising.”
There was definitely a God somewhere looking out for her, because the waiter arrived with their check before Eva had a chance to grill her anymore. It was Lottie’s turn to pay, so she had the excuse of searching her ill-gotten Birkin for her wallet while the other girls chattered on. And by the time the waiter returned for her card, Eva seemed to have forgotten she was supposed to be teasing Lottie.
“Excuse me, ma’am.” In the discreet murmur waiters of his caliber had been well-trained to use, their waiter held the small tray with their check and Lottie’s card back out to her. “There appears to be a problem with your card.”
“A problem?” Frowning, Lottie picked up the card and double checked the expiration date just in case she’d forgotten to swap it out for a new one.
But no. It didn’t expire until September of the following year. Weird.
“Could you try it again?”
“I ran it three times, ma’am. Do you have another card, perhaps?”
All too aware of her friends’ curious stares, Lottie opened her wallet and pulled out another card. “I’m so sorry about that. Try this one.”
“Everything okay?” Portia asked when the waiter had disappeared again.
Shrugging, Lottie reached for her mimosa to drink the last of it. “Yeah, just a problem with the card, I guess.”
“Your dad probably got a new one without telling you.” Frankie’s smile was more sympathetic than pitying, but Lottie could feel her face growing hotter all the same. “They’re always moving money around on those things to get a better interest rate or whatever.”
“That’s probably it.” Or a problem with the system. God knew it wouldn’t be the first time a glitch with the WiFi or a shop’s computers kept a transaction from going through. It was an annoyance, but one that usually worked itself out relatively quickly.
The waiter returned, his polite smile looking a bit more strained around the edges. “I’m very sorry, ma’am. There appears to be a problem with this card as well.”
“Are you sure it’s not your system?” Lottie asked, doing her best not to let her annoyance with the situation color her tone as she took the card from the tray and reached back into her purse. “There must be some kind of computer glitch.”
“I can assure you it’s not.”
