Page 36 of Bad Boy for Hire
“Her name is Sarina. She went on and on about the engagement ring and how it barely fit through the doorway of her new seven-thou square foot mansion.” May finished with a flourish of her hand, not unlike the way Sarina had flashed her ring.
“What a thirsty bitch.”
While May had nothing against Sarina or Prescott, she had to agree. It was objectively rude to wave your engagement ring in your fiancé’s ex-girlfriend’s face. It was also attention-seeking. But “thirsty” was a funnier description. Leave it to Lisa to say what everyone was thinking.
“At the reception, I chatted with Paisley and Posy, Xavier and I danced, I drank champagne. The gods blessed me with no embarrassing traditions like dollar dances or bouquet tosses. And then”—she shrugged her shoulders—“we left.”
“First, bouquet tosses are an outdated tradition I am in favor of ditching entirely,” Lisa said, gesturing with her coffee cup. “And second, the Stantons would never ask for dollars from their guests.”
“They’re too classy,” May agreed. “At least, Posy is too classy. Cherie wasn’t happy about the lack of tradition.”
Lisa sat so close to May, their legs touched. May stiffened, easily recognizing Lisa’s interrogation stance.
“So.” Lisa cocked her head. “Did Xavier kiss you and make it better?”
“He took me to the Bluffs.” May hadn’t planned on sharing that, but Lisa’s unwavering eye contact was akin to truth serum.
“The Bluffs! Did you make out in the backseat of his Range Rover? Steam up the windows? Get busted by the cops? It would have been funny if Brady caught you.”
“No, it wouldn’t have,” May corrected. “And no, we didn’t kiss in the Range Rover, but we did kiss on the cliffs. He invited me back to his place, and I couldn’t think of a single reason to say no. So, I didn’t.”
Lisa squealed. “I’m on the edge of my seat! Say more!”
“Okay, okay!” May, careful not to spill her coffee, folded one leg beneath her. “The sex was hot, delicious, and mind-blowing. He has an amazing body. Those tattoos. That beard.”
“Is he a dirty talker?”
“Not sure what constitutes dirty for you, but whenever he says anything, it seems to do the trick for me.”
Lisa threw her head back and laughed. This was fun. It had been so long since May had sexy details to share with her girlfriends. In recent history, she’d mostly complained about the dates she’d been on. Talking about sex—great sex—was a marked improvement.
“Highly recommend finding yourself one of those beards,” May said.
Lisa snorted. “I’ve been dating clean-cut corporate types lately.”
“How’s that going?”
“Meh.”
“What about Griffin?”
“What is with you constantly bringing up Griffin?”
“I don’t constantly bring him up. Only when he’s around, which seems to be more often lately.”
Lisa’s lip curled. “He and Xavier are good friends. It’s tragic.”
“You were the one who named him as your damn sex.” Damn sex, they had decided, was reserved for the guys who’d left them breathless, practically speechless. With only one word left in the vocabulary for that sort of performance: Damn.
“I’m sure you’re thinking about that when he’s around without me reminding you,” May added.
Lisa gave her a squinty-eyed, closed-lipped smile that was anything but genuine. “I’m happy for you and Xavier. And yes, I’m changing the topic because Griffin and I were, and are no more, and will never be. But you—” She gave May’s shoulder a shake. “You did it. You slept with your dream guy, had a night to remember, and there are no strings attached.” She quirked her mouth. “Are you going out with him again?”
“I…don’t know.” And that had been the oddest part of the morning. Neither May nor Xavier had mentioned when, or if, they’d see each other again.
“That’s okay,” Lisa was quick to remind her. “Don’t feel like you should have defined it after one night together. You’ll bump into each other again, regardless. You have too many friends in common not to, so relax. Take it a day at a time. And if you’re not meant to be together, you can go back to being friends. I can’t imagine either of you letting something as petty as sex come between you.”
Unless we made a baby, May thought but didn’t say. She took another drink of her coffee, the shake in her hand either from latent worry or too much caffeine.
