AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Hey!” Molly protested. “I could’ve said something about being a hoe, but I didn’t.”
Frustration built up inside her, but when it boiled over, it just disappeared, steam spreading out into the air. The curses she wanted to yell morphed into laughter, and she collapsed against the linen tablecloth. “Can’t you ever be serious?” she gasped.
“I’m working on it, I swear. But I have to save it all up for Ben so he won’t lose his mind. You only have to tolerate me for short periods. Suck it up. Anyway, I’m supposed to be showing you a good time, remember?”
What could she do but nod? Molly was her best friend, and her life had been one long gray haze before Molly had returned to Tumble Creek last year. It had been so much less gray since. “Okay, I suppose I can tolerate you. By the way…Did Quinn say he was drooling?”
A smile started small on Molly’s lips, but it gradually spread into a wide grin. Her eyes sparkled like happy jewels. “That,” she answered, “is exactly what he said.”
Lori polished off her drink and then stared down into the empty glass. She tried even breathing, but it didn’t seem to work. “I-think-I-want-to-do-dirty-things-with-Quinn,” she forced out, and then raised her heavy gaze to Molly’s. “But I can’t.”
The sparkle left her friend’s eyes and she finally got serious. “Why? I admit, we won’t be able to gossip about the details, but I don’t have any objection otherwise.”
“He’s your brother.”
Molly placed both her hands flat on the table and leaned slowly forward. “I only have circumstantial evidence,” she whispered, “but I’m almost certain he’s not a virgin.”
“That’s not the point. The point is I’m not looking for a relationship, I just want to use someone for sex.”
A throat cleared from somewhere just over her shoulder. When she turned to see the waiter standing there, she wasn’t even embarrassed, just incredibly relieved it wasn’t Quinn.
“Shall I give you another moment?” He was turning away before Lori finished explaining that they hadn’t looked at the menus yet.
“He’s very tense,” Molly said.
“Well, then he shouldn’t walk up on people so quietly.”
“No, I meantQuinn.Quinn’s very tense. I think he could handle being used. Might be good for him. He has trouble sleeping.”
“I’m not going to use your brother! And I don’t think he’s volunteering.”
“Oh, he’s volunteering,” Molly scoffed. “I think he’s ready to have his tires rotated, if you know what I mean.”
“No, Idon’tknow what you mean. Is that supposed to be sexy?”
“Absolutely.”
“Okay, I can see we’re moving away from serious here.” Lori sighed. “So let me put this simply. I’m looking for a little fun. No attachment. And definitely not someone I’ll see all the time afterward. Quinn is not an option.”
Molly rolled her eyes. “How many times have you seen Quinn in the past decade? Five or six times?”
“Are you determined to pimp your brother out?”
She slumped and waved a dismissive hand. “Fine. Never mind. Whatever you do, don’t sleep with Quinn. Anyway, you’ve got another option. Our waiter is talking to the maître d’—I think he’s passing on your secret message.”
Lori twisted around to find both men smiling in her direction. Great. She suddenly felt less like a powerful sexual creature and more like prey. She’d exposed her soft underbelly, now one of them would move in for the kill.
Finally picking up her menu, Lori just shook her head. “I think heels and a dress are enough for this weekend. I’ll cross the sex bridge next week.”
“Oo, the sex bridge,” Molly murmured, looking over her own menu. “All right, we’ll see how that works out. By the way, Ben said to tell you he might stop by the shop on Monday.”
“Why?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. I thought it was something to do with his truck, but now that I know about your dad, I’m not sure. Just make sure you’re not standing on the sex bridge when he gets there. He might accidentally get on it, and wouldn’tthatbe embarrassing?”
Picturing Ben catching her in a compromising position, Lori burst into laughter. He’d had enough embarrassment via Molly over the past year, and she didn’t want to put him through any more, but the thought still struck her as hilarious.
Enough with worrying about men. Tonight she was going to have fun. Let the boys watch from afar. And maybe…maybe even drool a little.
