“Wait—he didn’t show up to your date dressed in a costume, did he?” Reena asked.
Ruby nodded solemnly.
Shayne snorted. “I do agree that Marley needs someone, though.Cat ladyisn’t a relationship status.”
Marley scowled at Shayne as McQueen hopped onto her lap.
“See? At least have a hookup. You’ve been celibate since Celeste,” Shayne said.
Marley had plenty of reasons to not want to date right now. The main one was, of course, dating before a mastectomy sounded like a terrifying prospect. Dating after a mastectomy seemed even worse. In fact, everything was a terrifying prospect lately. She took a bite of the cake. At least she still had good food.
What Marley’s friends didn’t get was that she couldn’t exactly look for a committed relationship when she had no clue what would happen to her, healthwise, in the future. And casual hookups had never worked well for her. She rarely felt any sexual draw until she had an emotional connection with someone. She scratched McQueen’s chin as he started purring loudly. Being a cat lady was so much easier.
“You need aone last timefor sex,” Shayne said.
Marley stared at him.One last times were another of Shayne’s brainchildren—basically, he insisted there were things Marley needed to do one last time before her surgery. One of them was fly on an airplane, which was why they flew to Montreal for the weekend a few months ago. The bikini photo shoot at the spa was aone last time.
“Don’t you want to do it one more time with your old body?” Shayne asked.
Ruby nodded. “You really should. I had wild monkey sex with a French professor right before my mastectomy. You won’t have any sensation in your boobs afterward, you know.” Ruby poked her own breast. “Can’t feel a thing.”
Yeah, Marley knew. She had no intention of being in a relationship now… but she was sad she’d never havethatsensation again.
“And don’t be picky,” Reena said. “All three of you need to be more open-minded.”
“Weareopen-minded,” Shayne said.
“Have you even been on one date since Anderson?” Reena asked.
Shayne glared sharply at Reena. “We’re not supposed to mention that name.”
Anderson wasthe one who got away. Marley wasn’t even sure what happened between them, but she knew Shayne was nowhere near being over the man. It didn’t help that Anderson was a host onThe Confab, a live afternoon TV talk show. She knew how much it stung for Shayne to have to see Anderson’s face on billboards and bus ads across Toronto.
Marley didn’t consider herselfirrationallypicky. If she were willing to date, she’d have only two requirements for potential partners. One, they couldn’t run away scared when they heard the c-word.Cancer. Marley was having this surgery so she wouldn’t get sick, but she didn’t know what the future held for her or her family with this defective gene running through their DNA. And two, they had to be comfortable with whatever choices Marley made with her own body for her health without sticking any of their own unwanted opinions in.
But those two requirements seemed huge. Who’d want to sign up for that?
After a bit of awkward silence, Marley shrugged. “It’s more important for us to focus on our careers right now. Shayne, didn’t you say you wanted to get more runway work before anything else?”
At that, Shayne looked at Reena. “Yeah… about that. Um…”
Marley frowned. “What’s going on? What haven’t you guys told me?”
“I had a call yesterday,” Shayne said. “From Philip Tanaka.”
“Holy shit.Really?” Philip Tanaka was Shayne’s idol, a photographer who’d moved from the fine art world to the fashion world.
Shayne nodded. “We’d been emailing back and forth since you made me send him that embarrassingly gushy email. He invited me to join him as his assistant for spring Paris Fashion Week. I’d learn all about runway work from one of the best.”
Marley’s eyes widened. “Shut. Up. Seriously?” This was amazing.
Shayne nodded.
Marley hopped out of her seat to tackle Shayne in a tight hug. Shayne deserved this so much. He’d been trying to break into major runway work for so long.
“Okay, okay,” Shayne said, gently pushing her away. “You might not be so happy when you hear the details.”
Marley frowned. “What? Why?”
