Page 48 of Second First Kiss

“And you said?” Gemma asked.

“I think I told him to screw off; instead he followed me home. But he did not come in. In fact, he just watched me go inside and then he went to bed. Alone.”

“I bet he took that kiss right to his spank bank,” Gemma said.

He wasn’t the only one.

“Whatever he did, that’s all he’s ever going to get.”

“Why? He’s obviously into you, wants to do things right, and you think he’s hot. What’s the holdup?”

Me! I’m the holdup. I’m rough around the edges and my life is a three-ring circus. For god’s sake, she’d just hacked into confidential police records. All that she’d accomplish by going after Nolan would be to complicate his life and endanger his job.

“Kat?” Milly said softly. “What’s the holdup?”

“He’s too good,” Kat said quietly. “I don’t know what to do with good.”

“What if you let him teach you?” Gemma said. “Your life has been so hard, maybe it’s your time to cash in on some good.”

Kat wanted to snort. If anyone deserved some good, it was Gemma. Not only had she lost her baby, she’d lost her husband and career in the grief. It had been two years and she was just now starting to come out of the fog.

“I can already hear you coming up with reasons to say no. What if you said yes?” Milly asked.

“I can’t give him what he wants.”

“How do you know what he wants? Did he tell you?”

“Well, no.”

“Then why don’t you ask him before you shut it down?”

Milly had a point. Had Nolan really put the demands on them or had she just assumed? And did she really want to know the answer to that question?

“Let’s just call this what it is. A Zoe-inspired clusterfuck,” Kat said.

Gemma burst out laughing and Milly, in mock horror, slapped her hand to her chest. “Are you saying my sister came back from the grave to screw with your life and get you in an awkward situation with Ranger Tight-ass?”

“That is exactly what I am saying,” Kat said, eyeballing each friend.

After all, it was Zoe who had visited from beyond the grave to issue the dares, thrown her own Ghost-lorette Party, and was the only one who had known about Kat’s secret crush on Nolan in high school.

Kat wouldn’t be surprised if her friend had gone as far as to make it so Nolan was the guy to walk through the door at that exact moment the belt dare was issued, knowing how much he irritated Kat. That’s how Zoe was, a real take-risks, live-in-the-now, don’t-look-back, never-regret kind of woman whom Kat looked up to.

Since Zoe’s passing, she and her two other besties, Milly and Gemma, had felt the loss of their friend deeply. It was as if a Zoe-sized hole had been ripped from their hearts. Even now, there were days Kat would forget her friend was gone, and she’d reach for the phone to call her for advice or just for a laugh. Lately her need for her friend’s advice had become stronger and stronger.

Advice about Tessa, about the hearing, and now about how to deal with these confusing sparks with a man she can’t stand, yet like clockwork she wore silky pj’s for.

“I’ll think about it. Now can we get back to talking about the criminal who is trying to corrupt Tessa?”

“Fine, but we’re circling back to the Nolan situation,” Milly said, and Kat knew she was telling the truth. Milly had this enchanting way of getting people to spill their guts. It was annoying.

“Cone of silence?” Kat asked.

“Cone of silence,” they said in unison.

Kat looked around again, like she was in an episode of Mission: Impossible, then lowered her voice. “I talked to one of R. J.’s exes today and she told me everything. I guess he never actually hit her, but he certainly shoved her. Most of the abuse was mental. He’d gaslight her and then lovebomb her until she was confused. She said that Councilman Locke paid her five grand to leave town.”

Gemma slapped a hand over her mouth. Eyes wide with horror, she whispered, “That’s horrible.”

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