Zairn dipped to kiss his blind wife.Before their lips even met, her chin rose at an angle, tractored to its mate on instinct.He cupped the back of her head to pull her closer and… Cam… The married couple deserved their privacy, though when her eyes met Cam’s, he didn’t appear at all aware of the amorous pair.
Their days were usually spent together.They were used to being alone.Talking, laughing… Work was suffering, yet she didn’t care.Right then it was the sight of his slightly parted lips that shrank her whole world.She missed them.What a crazy thought.They’d been friends before… party night.His lips should taunt her with words, not…
He’d told her to slow down, that there was time.But was there?Time seemed precious.Tight.Like it was slipping away.Sands dripped from the top of the hourglass, their final moments drawing closer and closer—
“Time!”Tripp called.
Then they were moving.Through the men, out the door, and into the back of a limo.A champagne cork popped and a flute was thrust into her hand.
Tripp raised his glass.“To your plan.”
The others drank, she sipped, enjoyed the bubbles on the tongue and went in for longer relief, that lasted until the glass was empty.
“We can wait for Zairn,” Ariella said as Tripp filled her glass.“If he’ll be mad you—”
“Not the way we work,” Roxie said, falling back in her seat.“We go where we want, when we want.Our social lives match up when they match up.Just so happens we regularly want to be in the same space at the same time.If he didn’t want to party tonight, I’d be just as happy for him to stay home.It’s his call.He’ll be in my bed when I get home.Like he said, the ring’s going nowhere.”
“Yeah, yeah, all love and fairytales,” Tripp said, stretching out.“Clear on the plan?”
“To not invite trouble,” Ariella said.
“But deal with it if it finds us.”Roxie crossed her legs.“Doing some big press conference invites interest we don’t want.That’s too bold a first step.”
Honey settled against Tripp.“I’ll work on putting something together.”
“We’ll wait to see just how big the story gets.”Roxie was chill about the whole thing.“Who knows?Maybe it’ll be no more than a space stuffer on page sixteen.”
The optimism was appreciated, and God, Ariella prayed Roxie was right.This might be a big deal or it might be nothing.Okay, so she got that her newest friends were handling her with kid gloves, trying to prevent a meltdown.She wanted to be prepared but wouldn’t get her reassurance from these ladies.
“So we go to the club… Will there be pictures?Photographers—”
“This isn’t LA or New York,” Honey said.“You might get a few local—”
“If we want photographers, we’ll get them.”Roxie raised her glass again.“Knox Collier is in town.”
“And if he says boo, the world’s press will scramble to land their lenses on Crimson, New England.”
“It does help that you’re hot in the news,” Honey said, smiling at Roxie.“And if Zairn shows up…”
“He’ll show up.This is a game we’ve played before.”
“Will Kesley show?”
Roxie shook her head at Tripp’s question.“She’s a trooper—”
“And would do anything Zairn asked,” Tripp finished.
Hmm, his smile didn’t match Roxie’s head tilt.“That might come across as a valid criticism, if you didn’t have an army of chicks fainting and swooning every time you walk by.Is there a woman in New York who wouldn’t gouge out her own eyes for you?”
“Shit, yeah.”Tripp was all swagger.“How would they gaze upon my magnificence without eyes?And sometimes the true high is all in the eyes.When you get a woman right there, right to that spot—”
“You want to educate three women on how to pleasure women?”
The slant of Tripp’s mouth grew.“We have to embrace each other’s hobbies, right?”
Roxie squinted.“Is pleasuring women your hobby or ours?”
“Well, baby, you want to talk about what you do alone in the dark…” Except his drawl halted abruptly.“Not you, Rox Out, I’m not talking to you.Honey, Ariella, if you guys want to get explicit…”
