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One dance song became two, and then five, at which point Gia was gasping for air. She fanned herself when it became obvious no one else was ready for a break, pointing to the table, leaving them all on the floor.
It was just three days before Christmas, and what Gia had thought was going to be a one-night stand with Xander had evolved into a six-day sex marathon.
Xander, true to his word, had spent every single night at her place. And, to make things even better, he’d taken his promise not to work while he was home to heart, so on days when she had a shift at Sparks Barbeque, he’d taken up residence at the end of the bar, flirting with her and catching up with a lot of old friends he hadn’t seen in a long time as she waited tables. The man knew just how to keep her arousal on a constant simmer as he whispered sexual innuendos in her ear every time she walked by.
Gia—who loved her freaking job—had spent the last week watching the clock, praying for quitting time so that the two of them could rush back to her place, where Xander made good on every single one of his sexy promises.
Every minute Gia wasn’t at work, she and Xander were holed up in her apartment, or more specifically, her bed. He’d told her that he planned to spend a lot of time inside her that first night, and that had been no lie.
Not that she was complaining. Sex between her and Mark had been lukewarm at best and toward the end of their relationship, they’d stopped bothering altogether. That had been another reason she’d realized it was time to move on. The fact that she preferred her vibrator to her boyfriend had been a major red flag.
“Here you go, darlin’,” Patsy said as she placed the next round of tequila shots on the table.
“Oh God,” Gia groaned, as Patsy laughed.
“Your uncle TJ just called. Told me to set his girls up with a round on him.”
“He might regret that come tomorrow morning, when we’re all too green around the gills to open up for breakfast.”
Patsy considered that, then nodded. “I’ll go get y’all some water. Might be too late, but…”
“It can’t hurt,” they both said in unison, laughing.
Gia thanked her, staring at the tequila in front of her. This next shot was definitely going to push her from buzzed to wasted.
Then she mentally shrugged, okay with that. Alison’s big day was almost upon them, and if that wasn’t a reason to celebrate their asses off, she didn’t know what was.
She waved her hand, trying to get the attention of the girls on the dance floor, but they were in the midst of some insane dance-off between Alison and Adele. Gia watched from her spot at the table, laughing at their antics and impressively killer moves. Alison was winning, even with the Bride-to-Be sash they’d given her, sliding off her shoulder and hindering some of her arm movements.
“Hi, Gia,” an annoying high-pitched voice said from behind her.
Gia closed her eyes briefly before putting on her game face and turning around.
“Hey,” she said, with as much cheer as she could muster.
Darlene was standing behind her, observing the dance floor as well, her scowl firmly in place. Probably because they hadn’t invited her to the bachelorette party, at Alison’s behest.
Alison, the greatest friend in the whole world, had put her foot down when Gia suggested adding her cousin’s name to the guest list for tonight, claiming her mother might be able to force her to invite Darlene to the wedding, but that did not mean she got to come to the bachelorette party.
Gia suspected if she’d given Alison any indication that having Darlene and Mark at the wedding would bother her, she would have rescinded the invitation, regardless of what problems it would cause for Alison’s mom with her sister. Because of that, Gia had insisted she didn’t have a problem with Darlene and Mark attending the wedding, even though that hadn’t been entirely true.
Any reservations she had about having to deal with her ex and his new girlfriend, however, vanished a few nights ago, when Xander declared he was her date for the wedding.
Gia was surprised to see Darlene here. She might be pissed about not getting invited, but Gia didn’t think it would bug the other woman enough to actually crash the party. Darlene and Alison had never been close, their relationship best described as obligatory tolerance.
“Alison’s wasted,” Darlene sneered.
“Yeah, well, it’s her bachelorette party, so that’s more or less par for the course.” Gia started to turn her back on the woman, uninterested in engaging in conversation.
“Where’s your new boyfriend?” Darlene asked…with more interest in her tone than Gia was comfortable with.
“You really don’t understand how bachelorette parties work, do you?” Gia said over her shoulder, refusing to discuss Xander with the woman, who was a proven gold-digger. It wasn’t exactly surprising that Darlene would be interested in Xander—one, because Gia was, and two, because Xander was filthy rich.
Gia had tried to play nice, but all she’d gotten in return were jealous looks, snide insults, and those obnoxious displays of public affection.
Darlene scowled at her smart-ass comment and responded to the slight in catty-bitch style. “He’s too old for you and way out of your league. Guys like Xander only date elegant, sophisticated women. Not country hicks. Pretty sure he’s just killing time with you because you’re single and easy.”
Gia felt her face flush with anger, her hands balling into fists. She’d never hit another person in her life, but just once, she’d love to slap that nasty smirk off Darlene’s face.
