Page 26 of Master Vidar & Vali

Rose released Gabriel’s hand and gravitated toward me. She winked at Linc who still stood protectively at my side. “It’s nice to know that I’m talked about. That is my bestie, Mari, I dragged her along for our woman’s night.”

Woman’s night? What did that mean? They had said everyone was just visiting. Nothing had been said about leaving me alone with strangers. I gazed up at Linc for an answer.

“We thought you might be getting tired of only seeing us, so we thought you might like a relaxing night with friends.” He leaned down and pecked me on the cheek. “I think you’ll have fun with the ladies. Colin and I are having a night of our own with the guys.”

They were going to leave me with two women I didn’t know. Panic sent my pulse racing. Rose must have noticed because she took my hand and gave it an encouraging squeeze.

“We are here for fun, Zara, and to get to know each other better. No stress, I promise.”

Her smile seemed sincere. I took a deep breath and tried to relax. “Sounds fun.” Hopefully, my skepticism wasn’t obvious.

Linc didn’t seem convinced, but he stepped back and the loss of his heat next to me was like a blow. “Don’t forget you have our numbers if you need us. We aren’t going far, so you can always call.”

“We’ll be happy to come back if you need anything.”

Colin’s emphasis and the added wink made his meaning clear. My cheeks flared with heat. We were maybe a little rocky, but he was still trying. I had to get over my fear and talk to the two men.

From the knowing looks from the others, they knew what he meant too. Gabriel claimed Rose’s mouth with a passionate kiss and abruptly stalked away with Linc, Colin and Jared, leaving us three girls alone. That was it? They were just going to dump me into this situation and leave? No goodbye. Just you have our numbers. What the hell?

“It’s about time those overbearing tyrants left.”

Mari’s comment popped my angry thoughts and panic started to form in my chest.

“Right! Let’s drink.” Rose moved over to the wine fridge where she and Mari debated before finally closing the door.

Okay, guess we were doing this “woman’s night” whether I was ready or not. Technically, this was my house so I should try and be a good hostess. How exactly did one do that?

“Uh, if you want something stronger I’ll show you where the bar is,” I said.

“Now you're talking.” Mari rubbed her hands together.

“Lead the way, newest member,” Rose added.

“Newest member?” I led them back the way they’d come and into the large entertainment space where we spent most of our time. The strong alcohol was there and I was pretty sure I was going to need some of that.

“Simple,” Rose responded, “those two have clearly fallen for you, head over heels.”

I snorted. How I wished that was true, but they’d only agreed to sleep with me after I’d declared I was only interested in the physical. Just because my feelings had changed didn’t mean theirs had.

“I think you misread them. It’s just a sex thing.”

Mari stepped behind the bar like she’d been there a thousand times. Her assessing look as she started mixing cocktails made me squirm. Damn this woman was intimidating.

“Why would you think that?”

Great, from her tone she didn’t like me disagreeing with them. I was totally killing the making new friends part of the night. Screw it, they would either like me or they wouldn’t. While I was thinking of how to best answer, Mari slid a drink to both me and Rose.

I took a tentative sip. It was strong, and tasty and something I’d never tried before. “Mmm, what is this?”

“An Old Fashioned. One of my favorite drinks. But don’t dodge the question, Zara, why do you think it’s only about sex?”

I tossed back the rest of the drink, needing the courage the alcohol would give me. “I think I’m going to need a few more of those if we're going to be talking about Linc and Colin.”

Rose giggled. “I like you already.”

I sighed. “That’s because you don’t know me. You may not feel the same if you knew the circumstances under which I met them.”

“Oh but we do,” Rose assured me, “and now we want to hear the story right from the source. All about Sue-Ann Thomas and how she became Zara Foster.”

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