“You’reout with Shay at a bar? That’s progress, isn’t it?” Lori asked.
Rosie shook her head at Lori’s enthusiasm for her to get serious with Shay. “I don’t need anything to progress. It’s just for drinks. I let it slip about my mom, and she offered to talk about it.”
Lori narrowed her eyes and peered closer at the screen. “Doesn’t conversation about deeper things stray outside the boundaries of a casual relationship?”
“Not if you talk about it casually, it doesn’t.”
“And is it possible for you to talk about your mom that way? Especially under the current circumstances.”
“I guess we’ll see.” Rosie looked up when the bar doors opened, but it was a couple of tall women with long hair and high heels. Usually that would be enough for her to end the call to Lori and proceed to catch their attention, but tonight, disappointment rather than anticipation of the chase flowed through her. Comparing those women to Shay was like comparing vinegar to a vintage wine.
“No one of interest?” Lori asked, pulling Rosie back to the phone.
“No one like Shay,” she said.
Lori arched her eyebrow. “Have you agreed to be exclusive?”
Rosie shook her head. “I don’t have the time or energy for anyone else, so it’s a moot point.”
“If you’re not looking at anyone else, and things are just casual with Shay, does that mean you’re still in the ‘not lookingfor love’ phase?”
“I have paused my search for Princess Charming, yes. But honestly, what I’ve got with Shay is better than anything that came before her. The friends with benefits thing is really working. We get to keep our personal space, and neither of us have to compromise on things that are important to us.”
Lori frowned. “You can get all those things in a more serious relationship too, you know?”
“Everything is still going well with Gabe, I take it?” Rosie had never seen the kind of goofy grin that spread across Lori’s expression in response to her question.
“Everything isfantastic. Taking it slow is harder than I thought it would be, and nights apart are no fun at all.” She began to cough and didn’t stop for a few moments.
“Are you okay?”
Lori sipped from a glass of water. “I think I’m coming down with something. I’ve had a pounding headache all day, and Advil hasn’t touched it.”
“Maybe you should get an early night and rest up instead of playing with Gabe.” The doors opened again, and this time itwasShay. Rosie bit her bottom lip, and she swore there was a collective swooning sigh from a significant portion of the bar’s occupants.
“I’ll talk to you tomorrow then,” Lori said. “And you should probably do something about that loved-up face thing you’ve got going on.”
Rosie snapped back to her screen. “What loved-up face thing?” But Lori had already gone. She looked at the mirror behind the bar and checked her face. She wasn’t loved-up. Sexed-up, definitely. Obviously they must look the same. She turned back to watch Shay cross the room to admiring looks. Her outfit of tailored trousers, high heels, and a soft-looking blouse open to her cleavage made Rosie want to skip the family conversation and head straight to bed. It wasn’t like they could solve the mystery of where and why her mom had disappeared just by talking about it.
Shay slipped her hand around the back of Rosie’s neck anddrew her in for a deep, hard kiss. She melted under Shay’s touch and when they parted, she smiled at the looks of disappointment and jealousy around her.
“That’s a nice way to say hello to a friend,” Rosie said.
Shay sat beside her on a bar stool. “That’s the benefits part.”
Rosie nodded toward the rest of the bar. “And you don’t mind people thinking we’re together.”
“Wearetogether—right now,” Shay said. “If I came in alone tomorrow, it’d be a different story.”
Rosie didn’t want to imagine that at all. Just because they weren’t exclusive didn’t mean that she wanted to know about all the other women.
Shay ordered white wine for them and picked up the glasses. “Shall we grab a table? Perching on these stools isn’t all that comfortable.”
“Sure.” Rosie took her purse and followed Shay to a table in a quiet area.
She placed the glasses down and ran her gaze over Rosie. “You look hot tonight.”
Shay’s searing look was enough to scorch Rosie’s clothes from her body right there, and it threw gasoline on her low-burning desire. “Do you want to ditch the conversation and head straight to my place?”
