Page 42 of Nothing to Do

“Mrs—Roxie…” She put down the glass then put her hands out almost like she was stabilizing herself with an invisible force. “I have no idea what’s going on right now.”

Roxie’s broad smile glittered again. “That’s because you haven’t drunk anything. Sex on the Beach, trust me, it’s the preference of a good friend of mine. She’s pregnant right now, so we drink in honor of her.”

“We do?”

“Yep. And don’t worry, it’s mostly juice,” Roxie said, raising her own glass to the sky. “We drink to Lilya Kearns, soon to be, Lilya Kintyre—no hyphenate for her, very important—and then…” Roxie’s arm lowered toward her, glass hanging in midair between the loungers, waiting… She grabbed hers up and touched it to Roxie’s, then drank because the hostess did. Roxie smacked her lips. “I’ll tell you anything you want to know.”

“What do I…? I don’t know what I want to know.”

“Okay, let’s start with this: you ever hear of a show calledTalk at Sunset?”

And that was it, the brakes came off—if they’d ever been on—and Roxie really did tell her everything. All about how her relationship started after winning a TV contest. About her fiancé, who, it turned out, owned all of those Crimson clubs Alessia raved about. She probably should’ve figured that out.

She believed every word of the epic adventure. One that started in LA, Chicago really, and took Roxie to every quadrant of the globe. What a whirlwind. Hearing the details, it was nowonder Roxie was such an energetic person, she needed to be just to get through the day.

“Oh, wow, that’s terrifying.”

“That’s exactly what Lilya said.” Roxie topped off their glasses. They were onto their second pitcher… almost ready for their third. We were already in the air, thank God.”

And it was… inspirational. “It sounds like you have an amazing support system.”

“We support each other, yes. We’re family and see each other through. People think the money means private jets and luxury houses, yeah, that’s true…” She gestured around with her glass without raising her head. “But it’s not shallow, it’s not the frivolous that matters. The latitude means something, that’s true opulence. It’s why Casanova gave me Lola’s Liberty. It’s the freedom, the… never having to worry. If one of our people need something, if anyone we care about needs something… Hell, even if it’s a complete stranger…”

“It’s beyond seductive, I can’t imagine it. Most people think they’re doing okay covering the bills. There’s a lot of us regular folk living in our own bubbles, focused on what’s right in front of us.”

“I get it. I was that girl, in my own bubble, focused two feet in front of me. Jane wasn’t, she’s always been the type to give her last, she’s always been the way she is. I’m not sure I can call her a ‘type’ because she’s just, the best of us, the best of humanity.”

“Being with Knox must give her more options though, more resources to work with.”

“Hence the whole wedding thing. Jane needs to be needed; Knox is a work in progress.”

Yeah, and that was the opposite of what the world might think.

She swallowed some more cocktail. “Men always think they’re complete.”

“Oh and men like ours, the rich overachievers, they get the award for thinking they know everything. Even if it’s not close to their field, they always have something to say. They always know best.”

She’d put money on Roxie being no shrinking violet, no matter who was in the room. Zairn, Roxie’s other half, would have his hands full if he tried to quiet or dismiss her, on any subject.

“Zane’s not—”

“No, you’re right, he’s not as pushy as some. I’d say that’s because he’s confident in his intelligence. I’d also say he grew up with Rourke and the rest of the guys and didn’t care so much about shouting the loudest. Sometimes it’s the quiet ones you’ve got to watch. And his brilliance, it speaks for itself. The thing is, our guys don’t compete, not really. They’re proud of each other; they want to raise each other up.”

“I can’t imagine them all together, if they’re as, large as you make out.”

It was hard to imagine such an accomplished group respecting each other without conversation turning into a rabble. Just watching those at the top of her department often gave her a headache. Roxie’s people, Zane’s people, were about twenty grades higher, there wasn’t anyone above them in the chain of command.

“You better get used to them being together. When something goes down, we congregate fast. Best advice is to take any chance you can to hang out with the girls. The guys keep themselves entertained and if we need something, or someone needs to know something, we use our own network. It’s a brave man who’d say no to his woman. Even if they’d take it, like Jane might, the rest of us will speak up for her. Not that Knox would deny her anything, Jane’s his world, as such an incredible woman should be.”

“You’re lucky. To have that kind of support.”

“It’s not just my support. These aren’t my guys, their women are my friends, we’re our own ecosystem. Us women stick together.” She smiled and rolled her head, lowering her sunglasses to the end of her nose to peek at her. “You’re part of that now, my dear.”

“A part of…”

“Don’t pretend you don’t know,” Roxie said, full of delight and mischief. “You’ve got him, baby.”

“Got him?”

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