Page 14 of The Chance
"A little." A flipping whole lot.
"Our sex life is shit." The heels of her palms acted like a chin rest. "Blake is so experienced and hot and strong and..."
"Okay," I interrupted. "Why are you still with Brody?"
"We talk about stuff, like proper conversations and he makes me laugh."
The champagne arrived in a bucket of ice with two paper thin flutes. A tiny waitress popped the cork and dropped the bottle back into its icy chamber before strutting away into the crowd.
"What's more important – spicy hot sex or companionship?" Linda asked while pouring the pale liquid and watching the multitude of energetic bubbles froth to the rim.
That was a darn good question. Which was more important? "Why can't you have both?" I shrugged. Seriously though, why couldn't she. "What's missing in the sex department? Maybe you need to spice it up. Get your dominatrix on."
"That's not me." She snorted. "I don't do whips and gags."
"Linda." My brow arched. "You're a bossy bitch for ninety percent of the working week. Bring that leather clad woman home and tie your man up. Ride him like you stole him." I snickered, trying not to let the image of my friend ride her fella filter into my mind.
Linda pressed her fingertips to her mouth, stifling a smirk. "You might be right, maybe I could tie him to the armchair."
I slid her an odd look. Armchairs don't scream sexy.
Her brow cocked. "Yeah, the freakin' armchair. Where he sits every evening."
"Scrap the kink, you guys need to go out together. What is it you like about him again?" The champagne frizzed up in my mouth, trickling down my throat.
"Excuse me, ladies. Can I join you?" A tall handsome guy with a crimson shirt lingered with intent by our table. He was squeezed into designer jeans that had rips on the knees like he'd worn them in a pub brawl. Even though they were torn, the dark material was tight to his thighs in a sexy rebel style. Choppy fawn hair nestled his scalp and his freshly shaved jaw was strong as he dipped his head to greet us. After my quick assessment I nodded in approval - this guy was perfect on paper.
"My mates are late. Would you mind if I join you? I don't want to look like Norman no mates," he said waving his pint glass around the busy bar.
"Sure, take a seat." I nudged the free stool out from under the table. "I'm Lexi, and this is Linda. Be careful, she bites."
Linda's eyes widened like she was trying to suck my words back in from the air to hide them behind her embarrassment. "Okay, sorry, that was rude. She doesn't bite that hard." I couldn't help myself. This was payback for all the times she'd set me up on bad blind dates.
"I clearly picked the right table. I'm Jack."
Jack dished out his best sultry grin and slurped his beer.
"What time are your friends getting here?" I took after my father in the skeptical department. He taught me everything I knew. A single guy on his own in a packed bar, was he really just scouting for singles ready to mingle.
He glanced down at his gold watch. "Ten minutes ago." The slight shake of his head made me think he was telling the truth. They were late.
His bright green eyes were temperate and calm, locking me with an intense stare. "What do you girls do for a living?"
"Graphic design." I sighed, because that’s what I was supposed to be doing, only I was mixed up in boring sales figures and all the stuff I hated. "You?" I asked, waiting for Linda to speak.
"I own a few hardware stores."
"Really?"
"You sound surprised?"
"It just seems like an old man's thing."
His mouth curved. "My dad handed them over to me last year."
"I need to go to the bathroom," Linda blurted out, clutching her phone to her chest and jumping up like she'd been scalded.
She was acting weird. Weirder than normal.
