Page 69 of Messing With My Brother's Best Friends

“They don’t make them anymore.”

“Then I’ll find some collector edition one where someone bought it twenty years ago and never took it out of its box and will charge me the size of a house down payment to buy it.” He glanced over his shoulder at me. “Just come and have breakfast with me.”

A guy that offers to make amends by buying thousands of dollars’ worth of dolls, who could refuse that? I settled down at the breakfast bar as he pushed a steaming cup of coffee my way.

“Promise?” I asked as a joke, but I think he heard the edge in my voice just like I did.

“When I say anything you want, Kendall, I mean it.” A steely light flared bright in his eyes. “You want it, I’ll get it. Now, how do you like your eggs?”

Chapter 37

Kendall

“Judas…!”

I spun around to face the otherwise quiet bakery to find a diminutive creature poking a trembling finger in the air, and that’s when it hit me. I gasped, then grabbed my phone out of my pocket, seeing all the missed calls and texts.

“Oh god, Barbie—”

“Don’t ‘oh god, Barbie, me!’” my best friend said in a theatrically outraged voice. “We were supposed to meet at a bar. I was going to introduce you to some of Alan’s colleagues. This new guy from England is really nice and…” Her eyes narrowed, then her head jerked forward, looking for all intents and purposes like a hunting dog that had caught scent of prey. “Holy shit!” The old ducks sitting enjoying a pot of tea looked up in alarm at Barbie’s shriek. “You—”

I was well used to moving quickly and slapping my hand over my bestie’s mouth. Shit just came out sometimes, often at top volume

“You need to use your damn inside voice,” I hissed at her as she tried to say her piece, the words just coming out as muffled grunts. “If I take my hand away, are you going to say anything that will force me to kick you out of the bakery?”

“Would you kick me out for saying you got gang banged by three guys last night?”

She said that in a low undertone, but I still flicked my eyes around to check if anyone had heard.

“What the hell—?”

“You did.” Her voice became a theatrical stage whisper, and the finger was back, giving me the point of shame, right before her whole face lit up. “You did!” She jumped up and down, clapping her hands together like a small child. “Oh my god, girl, way to break a drought. Like gargle, gargle, gargle…” Her voice was getting louder, and she mimicked a woman struggling to keep her head above water. “You are drowning in it. You—!”

I have no idea how we looked, but I slapped my hand back, glaring at her meaningfully.

“Don’t say it. Don’t bloody say it.”

“Had sex—”

I peeled my fingers away just a tiny bit and her words came rushing out.

“Barbie, get some damn chill, will ya?”

“With three guys!”

Her voice was thin and so high, maybe only dogs heard it. Nope, the old biddies in the corner looked up, sensing a drama. That was further exacerbated when Barbie did a victory lap around the bakery, holding her hand out for them to slap, which they obliged, if utterly confused by her carry on.

“Are you done?” I asked when my best friend returned.

“Are you?” She cocked a hip and shot me a salacious smile. “You can’t be because, damn me, not one hottie but three!”

“Kendall.” Chris burst out of the kitchen looking harried, which had me trying to recall what the staff manual said about polyamorous relationships. Oh, that was right, there was no manual. “Look, love, I’m gonna need a hand in the back. Mrs. Hutchins just rang and she’s changed the ‘decor’ of her son’s party.”

“For the birthday cake she’s picking up…” I looked up at the clock on the wall and winced. “In two hours.”

“I know.” He wiped his forehead with the back of his hand. “If the woman didn’t send so much business our way, I woulda told her to get bent, but she has us cater every single one of her many parties, so I need to make the necessary changes. But there’s the baby quiches and mini-sausage rolls she ordered, plus the sandwiches—”

“I could do it.”

---