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FORTY-FOUR
BERNADETTE
Waiting for my plane at JFK, I call Stella.
I tell her the truth about everything, choking up as it hits me, all I went through the last month. And how much emotion I blocked to get through every day.
My face heats, admitting how the designs I promised her had been stolen and what I’d done to get them back.
“Bernie!” she screeches. “Why didn’t you call me first thing? You’re more important to me than a line of clothes. I feel sick that you had to sell yourself.”
“I was terrified, too. I was lost and confused. But, Stella, I have them. I’ll be at your office tomorrow.” I release a sob, already missing the guys.
How will I get through this?
“Bernie, why are you crying?”
Strangers give me odd looks, their eyes crawling over me as I wipe my face, feeling embarrassed. They probably think I got dumped.
Just the opposite.
“Stella, I fell in love with the man who bought me.”
“What?”
“Um, actually...Twomen who bought me. There was a bidding war. And they agreed to share me.”
Stella doesn’t answer right away. If anyone understands how I feel it’s her.
“You sold yourself totwomen?”
“Yes. And then there’s the lawyer who was helping me with Michael’s case...”
I give her a brief rundown of how I ended up sleeping with Ford, then Ash, then Emery, and then all of them. But I’m quick to tell her how much I care about them.
Heck, that I’ve fallen in love and how they’ve fallen for me.
“I don’t want you to hate them, Stella, but they don’t want me to leave. They introduced me to a designer here who wants another collection of mine.”
“I see.” My best friend becomes a businessperson.
“But I made a commitment to you.”
“Oh, Bernie,” Stella drones like I’ve kicked in her pregnancy hormones. “Love is more important than anything. I was ready to walk away from my dream for Charles, Jordan, and Alex.”
Then an unexpected investor came to her rescue.
Now she has it all.
“I always intended to move back to California.” I hear the announcements that my plane is boarding.
“I’m looking forward to seeing you,” Stella says. “I miss you so much, Bernadette. We’ll figure something out. And I want to hear more about these men.”
Each face flashes in front of me:
Ford’s height, tattoos, and chiseled jawline...
Ash’s playful smile and shoulder-length hair that tickles my clit while he licks me to a fever...
