Page 14 of Touch of Class

“Shocking,” Gillian deadpanned.

Daphne snorted softly. “We can’t all be rule followers.”

“In fact, we could be,” Gillian said quickly, “what with our free will and all.”

Daphne laughed again, that little bit of amusement laced with mocking. “Or I could go move my car and give your friends enough time to grill some of the more tawdry details of our past out of you before I return and fill in every part you conveniently skimmed over.”

She ground her teeth slightly before deliberately loosening her jaw. “Take your time.”

Daphne headed for the door and called over her shoulder, “Don’t forget to tell them how we ended up in bed together yesterday.”

Then she was gone, leaving everyone rocking in her wake, and Gillian started to feel queasy. Still, as her friends turned to her expectantly, she refused to show them how much this woman’s presence bothered her. She wasn’t seventeen anymore. This was her business, these were her people, and if Daphne thought she could shake that foundation, she’d sorely underestimated Gillian. Again.

With a sigh, she motioned for everyone to follow her back to the waiting room.

“Should I brew coffee?” Brooke offered.

“I feel like this is more of a scotch situation,” Robin mused, “though I’m not sure why.”

“So many questions.” Tegan repeated her earlier refrain.

“The story’s not nearly as sensational as she’d have you believe.” Gillian sat behind the reception desk once more.

Robin looked disappointed as she hopped up to sit directly on the desk. “You didn’t sleep with her?”

Gillian scoffed. “Never.”

“Not even back in the day?” Tegan pressed gently as she sat on the couch.

“‘Never’ means ‘not ever,’” Gillian stressed.

“But she mentioned a bed.” Brooke remained standing, and Gillian got the sense she was being low-key cross-examined.

“She needed help moving a mattress into her office yesterday. It was blocking the door. I didn’t recognize her voice, but once we got the monstrosity all the way in, it tipped over, and she and I ended up tangled atop it.”

Everyone stared at her for a moment, Robin with her usual expression of glee at anything uneasy, while Tegan covered her mouth with her hands, and Brooke bit her lip.

“It’s fine,” Gillian said. “Awkward, but okay. It’s over, and there’s nothing more to the story.”

Brooke nodded. “Except at some point when you were, I don’t know, on top of her, you realized you knew each other?”

Gillian’s face warmed once more, though this time the heat wasn’t entirely due to annoyance as her mind flashed with a memory of Daphne’s body pressed against hers, dark eyes searching, and her own name perched on full lips. “She was on top of me.”

Robin broke first, nearly cackling. “Holy shit! Gillian bottomed for the girl next door. Are you sure she’s the only one making it sound salacious?”

“Yes.” Gillian snapped. “Actually, now you are.”

“Okay. Okay.” Brooke held up her hands. “I’m sorry we’re enjoying this more than you are, Gilly. That must’ve been disorienting, and yet, you have to see some of the humor in this, right?”

“I do not have to do any such thing, as this is my place of work, not sophomore year of high school. I don’t appreciate her trying to drag us back there.”

“For real,” Tegan agreed. “If anyone from my high school showed up and knocked me over, literally or figuratively, I wouldn’t enjoy that.”

“I might, under the right circumstances,” Robin said with a shrug, “but I guess it’s not your bag. Still, you can’t blame us for being curious, right?”

She certainly wanted to, but if anyone bore any blame, it was Daphne. “She’s always enjoyed pushing buttons, mine in particular.”

“She said as much,” Brooke agreed, “which is why it seems like there’s something more there than ‘we knew each other in high school.’”