Page 7 of Tempt Me

4.

CHLOE

I meet my best friend and roommate, Amanda, for drinks after work. It’s still warm enough to sit outside, so we squeeze in at a table in the back patio of a pub downtown, trying to keep our drinks from spilling every time someone jostles past.

“Watch it, asshole!” Amanda exclaims, grabbing her beer to safety. There’s a game on, so the place is rowdy with sports fans.

“Bite me,” the reply comes, and she flips her middle finger.

I laugh. “You think he cares?”

“Nope.” She smiles. “But it sure makes me feel better.”

“Rough day?”

Amanda sighs. “The worst. Three tables stiffed me on their tips, and I just heard from Becca, she can’t help me out at the market for the rest of the month.”

I give her a sympathetic smile. “I’m sorry.”

Amanda waitresses by day, but by night, she’s busy building the next big skincare empire. She mixes all her recipes in our apartment, cooking up amazing natural ingredients in the kitchen to sell at farmers’ markets on the weekend.

She fixes me with a hopeful look. “I don’t suppose you could fill in? It’s just for a couple of weeks.”

“I don’t know... we have all these open houses.”

“Pretty please?” Amanda begs. “With a cherry on top? I’ll give you free moisturizer for life!”

I laugh. “You already do that for letting you treat our apartment like a science lab!”

“OK, eye cream then,” Amanda agrees. “I just figured out a new recipe, and you’re starting to get some wrinkles there...”

My hands fly up to my face. “Am not!”

“OK, fine, you’re not.” Amanda rolls her eyes. “You could still pass for eighteen, your skin is so perfect. I hate you, you know.”

I laugh. “You’d look like this too if you didn’t see sunlight for like, ten years. Trust me, it’s hard to get a tan when you’re turning pirouettes ten hours a day.”

“I wish I’d been a dancer,” Amanda sighs. “I spent high school sitting in the library shoving Doritos in my face while you were off being skinny and graceful in those cute tutus.”

“It wasn’t glamorous,” I tell her, remembering it with a dark pang. “Trust me.”

“What about you? How did the open house go?”

I get a flash of Jase Banner’s face, that dangerous sexy smile. “Fine.”

Amanda studies me. “Wait, what just happened?”

“Nothing.” I take a sip of beer, then pause. “Just... there was this guy there.”

Her eyes widen. “Was he hot?”

I sigh. “So freaking hot. But nothing happened!” I protest quickly, flushing. “I mean, he flirted a little, but he saw the ring. We talked about Max, I was totally professional. I just... feel bad. For looking, you know?”

“What were you supposed to do, close your eyes?” Amanda counters. “Come on, it’s not like you’d ever cheat.”

“No,” I say immediately. “But it’s still wrong, to think about a guy like that when I’m getting married. Isn’t it?”

She laughs. “Looking isn’t a crime. You think Prince Charming doesn’t check out every hot girl that passes him by?”

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