Page 32 of Whatever Lola Wants

“Crane,” Lola explained, the memory making the tingles more tingly. “Modified.”

Anna gasped and pressed a hand to her chest. “You did crane? With your hands on the…”

“Things?” Grant put in dryly.

“Holy crap,” Anna breathed, looking at Lola with astonishment. “How did I not know you were a sadist?”

“I’m not,” Lola said and giggled. Her head was swimming nicely with the wine. “I could’ve done a lot more stuff that’s a lot meaner, but it was his first time. I went gentle.”

Grant held up a hand. “Wait. What’s crane?”

“It’s a pose in yoga where you crouch with your hands on the floor, then kind of roll up so your knees are tucked into your arms and all your weight is on your hands.” Anna grabbed her phone and tapped the screen. “Here,” she told him after a moment, and handed him the phone. “That’s crane.”

Grant stared at the screen for a moment, then back at Lola. “Shit.”

“I kept my feet down,” she explained. “I didn’t want to lose my balance and fall on the kid.”

“Then why do it?” Anna asked.

“Because while I’m strong, I’m not that heavy. I wanted more pressure on the needles, so I had to put all my body weight into it.”

Running her tongue over her teeth, she angled her body toward Simon. “How’d it look from above?”

His eyes darkened at the question, narrowing slightly before a small smile curved his lips. “Good. It looked good.”

Her lips quirked. “Damned by faint praise.”

His smile widened. “Judging by all the buzz I was hearing afterwards, I’d be surprised if Michael doesn’t ask you to do a beginner’s class.”

She smiled into his eyes, enjoying the curl of desire in her belly, the little hum of anticipation. “He already did. We’re going to set it up for sometime this summer. Should I sign you up?”

“I prefer private lessons.” His smile widened. “In certain circumstances.”

“Hmm.” Her tongue came out to wet her lips, and she watched his eyes follow the motion. “We could probably arrange that. If you’re ever interested.”

Silence hummed for several seconds, thick as molasses, then Lola pushed to her feet. “Well. I should get going.”

Anna, who’d been watching the exchange between Lola and Simon with her mouth open, started. “Are you sure?”

“Yep.” She leaned over to press a kiss to her friend’s cheek. “Don’t worry, I’m not really drunk. Just slightly tipsy.”

“And horny,” Grant put in.

“And horny,” she laughed and kissed him, too. “You’re a nice guy, Grant.”

“Not really,” he told her with a grin, and she laughed again.

“No, stay put.” She waved them down when they started to stand. “I can see myself out. I’ll call a ride share.”

Anna frowned. “Maybe we should drive you home.”

“I’m fine, sweetie. Really. I’ll call you tomorrow about a shopping schedule.” Not wanting to give Anna another chance to protest, she waved over her shoulder as she walked toward the house.

She was almost at the front door when she realized someone was behind her, and it didn’t surprise her at all to turn around and find Simon standing there.

“You headed home?” she said casually, pulling her phone out of her bag.

“Yeah. I’ll drive you home.”

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