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Merry looked doubtfully around at the men wearing expensive sport coats over shirts unbuttoned at the collar to signify they were at a party and not a business meeting. “I’ve never had sex with a rich guy. What’s it like?”
Grace shrugged. “Same as anyone else except for the Perry Ellis underwear. Maybe a little more manscaping, if you’re into that sort of thing.”
Merry grimaced. She had no idea if she was, but it hardly mattered. Grace would be the one to rebound from a betrayal with a hostile one-night stand. Merry would rather curl up in her bed for six months to a year. Alone.
“Look at that guy,” Grace suggested, pointing her chin toward the next patio up. “He’s pretty damn hot.”
He was. In a sculpted blond kind of way. He’d ditched his sport coat at some point and rolled up the sleeves of his shirt, which also added to his appeal, but only until Merry got a look at his forearms. They were perfectly tanned and nearly hairless. Oh, they looked strong enough, but in a Bikram yoga kind of way, not in the I-haul-lumber-every-day kind of way.
Not that it mattered. Carpenters were off the menu.
She gave up her study of the blond guy and swept the crowd. Maybe there was a big, rich rancher here. But, no. Rich or not, Merry didn’t think a man like that would be Crystal’s type of friend. A little too salt of the earth.
“There she is,” she breathed when she finally spotted Crystal working her way through the crowd. She drank the rest of her lovely, expensive wine without even tasting it and braced herself for the assault of Crystal’s family love.
“Merry,” Crystal purred as she approached. “Why, you look lovely tonight.”
“Thank you.” Merry ran a nervous hand down the fitted black dress Grace had forced her to try on. Merry’s favorite part about it was the color. A ridiculously boring thought, but black was flattering and it had allowed her a little freedom in searching the clearance rack for shoes. The magenta pumps wouldn’t have gone with much else. Of course, she’d never have a need for them again. Maybe she could just wear this outfit to the Crooked R every Friday night. After all, there’d be new people there every weekend who hadn’t seen it yet.
“You look great, too,” she said, a compliment that Crystal accepted with ease. After all, her pale gray sheath had probably cost five hundred dollars. Merry had a feeling that estimate was a little naive.
“So you brought Grace.” She didn’t even bother with one of her patently fake smiles; she just narrowed her eyes in Grace’s direction. Grace returned the favor.
“I did.”
“What happened to that gentleman friend you were so eager to bring?”
“It fell through.”
“Hah.” She followed her tiny, evil cough of a laugh with a knowing grin.
“It fell through,” Merry insisted, her voice rising.
“That happens sometimes. The trials of being single.” A nice, subtle reminder that she’d been married for eight years and a mother for five.
Merry tried to sink her own jibe. “Well, you know how these cowboys are, rugged and free-spirited. Big and…hard to tame. It’s amazing a girl can even hold on for one night. Then again, there’s always another one com
ing down the trail. So to speak.”
Grace choked behind her.
Crystal smiled tightly. “Maybe you and your friend here should just settle down together. She’s always around, after all. I noticed some of her clothes at your place and only one bed.”
Merry sighed. “Really? You think that insults me? Have you ever noticed how hot Grace is? She’d probably rock my world.”
“Oh, I would, darlin’,” Grace growled with a promising trill of her tongue.
Dropping her elegant face for a moment, Crystal rolled her eyes in disgust. “I guess you’re even more like your mom than I thought you were.”
“What does that even mean?”
“Figure it out. Look, I was doing my mom a favor inviting you here. You could at least be polite. Maybe even appreciative.”
“Appreciative? What the hell do I care what your mom wants?”
“Because my mom was doing it for your mom, who called with some sob story about how we’re all the family we have. But you know what? That’s not true. Not for me and not for my mom. We both have husbands, and they have families, and now my brother and I have kids. So no, you’re not the only family I have, Merry Slacker, and I wish you’d stop trying to push your way in.”
Merry gasped in utter, dumbfounded shock. Where the hell had this come from? “Are you insane? I’ve never tried to push my way into anything!”
