Page 23 of Somebody To Love

Apple laughed. Fine. Apple laughed at a lot of people, but when Olive joined in on the gaiety, Penny remembered her dream and knew that she wasn’t fooling anyone in this room.

“Then you’re a fool, girl. That man is worth seeing, in all his unclothed glory.”

“I hate to agree with my sister, but she has a point.” Olive patted her hand softly. “Bless you for resisting, but even I don’t think I would be immune to the charms of Bravo Jackson.”

She never said she was immune to his charms. She was just smart. Penny knew the only way to keep BJ in her life was as a friend. When choosing between one night of passion or a lifetime of friendship, there was no contest. Few people in her life got her, accepted her. BJ did. For that reason, no matter how tempting the man might be, no matter how many sexy dreams she had, he would always be her friend. And he wanted to be in the baby’s life, even if that didn’t mean marrying her and playing the happy family. At least he would be there, even if it wasn’t the way she always dreamed of getting her baby.

“I think we should focus on your website, ladies. The clock is running, after all.”

That got Apple to shut her trap. If there was one thing the woman loved more than complaining, it was money. She loved to make it and hated to waste it. Penny spent the next hour going over the changes and updates she’d made to Blithe Boutiques website. No more talk of sexy best friends or self-pleasuring—thank everything in the universe.

After she left, she headed to a few more shops on Goldmine. Most of the tourist shops in Kismet were on the one main road and since the town had a population of less than five thousand, she kept busy tending to the websites of many of the self-owned stores. It kept her busy and her mind occupied, but as hard as she tried to push Apple’s voice away, it still stuck in the back of her brain, taunting her.

Men and women couldn’t be friends?

Bull!

She and BJ had managed almost two decades of friendship and that would not change anytime soon. No matter how many sexy dreams or almost kisses they shared. They were friends and nothing more.

Then why was her mouth curling up at the memory of last night’s dream and how right it had felt being encircled in BJ’s arms?

“Oh dammit!” She might be in trouble here.

CHAPTER 11

“All right, Mr. Jackson. It seems we have everything set up for your appointment. Be sure to come in twenty minutes early to fill out some paperwork. Have a great day.”

“Thanks, you too.” BJ ended the phone call to Penny’s doctor’s office and slipped his cell into his pocket. He’d done it. Ten minutes on the phone with the world’s cheeriest receptionist and he had an appointment to donate his sperm so his best friend could have a baby. “Weirdest Saturday ever.”

Even weirder; the office had been open. Never in a million years would he admit this to anyone, but he’d been putting off the phone call for a day or two because of the sheer embarrassment. He’d had to do standard physicals for the Marines, and he went to his regular doctor once a year to continue those, but he’d never done anything like this before. He was ashamed to admit he’d put off the call until today because he’d been hoping the office would be closed and he’d be able to leave a message.

Should have known he wouldn’t be that lucky. The office was in Denver. Made sense they’d have weekend hours.

After being surprised by an actual human answering the phone informing him they were open until noon on Saturday, he’d explained why he was calling. Janine, the perky receptionist who spoke as if she’d inhaled all the coffee in the entire state of Colorado, had assured him they’d been waiting on his call. She’d quickly and efficiently set him up with an appointment next week.

Step one done. Not as hard or embarrassing as he imagined. Step two…he’d worry about that later. Like ten minutes before his appointment. Right now, he had work to do. Heading out of his room, he grabbed the to-go mug of coffee his brother already had waiting for him.

“You ready?” Ace asked, identical cup in his own hand.

“Yup.”

They headed out, taking BJ’s truck today since they were both going to be at Jacks for the rest of the day into the evening. Saturday was their busiest day. Jacks was one of the few bars in Kismet and tourists liked to drink. Even with Del and Kelley handling the bar, Ace and BJ made sure to be on hand in case extra help was needed.

The day ran smoothly as they checked the current batch of mash, switched out the botanical baskets for the gin, and strained out their latest vodka infusions. Charlie brought everyone sandwiches for lunch. Triple decker clubs made by their mother. BJ inhaled his in less than five bites. His mother made the best club sandwiches in the entire state of Colorado. They had an impromptu meeting regarding the opening of the restaurant. Everything was on track.

BJ silently gave Charlie his pickle when Del mentioned his thanks for help with the server applications. His sister kept her mouth shut but sent him a smug grin as she stuffed his delicious zesty pickle—canned by their mother who’d learned the technique from Pappy Mel, bless his bathtub gin-making, food-canning and pickling heart—into her mouth.

Jacks opened to the public mid-day, but the real crowd wouldn’t show until around eight. It was a shock when Kelley stuck her head in the back office at seven fifteen, interrupting the paperwork he’d been going over for the distributor contract renewals.

“Hey, BJ. We have a problem.”

He glanced up and frowned. “Somebody starting shit already?”

Bar fights weren’t big at Jacks, mostly because they cut that crap real quick if anyone got too rowdy, but they did occasionally happen.

Kelley shook her head, long dark bangs streaked with shocking hot pink stripes falling on her face, obscuring dark brown eyes. “No. No one’s fighting.”

“Then what’s the problem?”

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