“Guilty as charged,” Blair said, pulling up a stool at the counter. She grabbed one of the mimosas Callie slid in her direction and took a long swallow of the cool liquid, hoping it would douse the fire burning inside her. “But it wasn’t my fault. I was . . . waylaid on my drive over.”
Callie arched a dark brow. “Really.”
“Yeah. Rand McKay was fucking with me.”
“Oooh. In a good way, I hope,” Abby said, wagging her eyebrows.
“No. Just fucking with me in his normal annoying as hell way.”
Abby and Callie exchanged knowing glances.
“Oh, you two quit looking at each other like that. And don’t even start on me and Rand. You know damn well I’m not the least bit interested in him. He’s like a pesky brother.”
Callie snorted. “Yeah, right. I don’t think so.”
“We are not here to discuss me. I want to hear about Abby’s wild weekend with Mike and Seth. How did it go?”
Abby’s face flushed with the cutest blush. “It was . . . phenomenal.”
Callie squealed. “I knew it!”
Blair nodded. “So did I. So, details, woman, details! At the club they were both drooling over you, and we saw you outside on the balcony with them. Dayum. What woman wouldn’t have multiple orgasms over attention like that from two men?”
Abby laid her elbows on the counter and palmed her face. “I can barely even think about it now without flushing with heat. I can’t even describe what that night was like other than to say it fulfilled every single fantasy I’d ever had—and then some. They were magnificent.”
Blair laid her hand over Abby’s. “Well, it’s about time you got laid.”
Abby’s eyelashes fluttered down, and she clasped her hands together. “Oh, it went way beyond just sex, Blair. Way beyond.”
“There’s more? Come on, girl. Spill,” Callie demanded.
When Abby looked back at them, her eyes were filled with tears. “I fell in love.”
“You’re joking,” Blair said.
“No, I’m not.”
Abby filled them in on what transpired over the weekend and the following week. Everything, including her individual reactions to both Mike and Seth and her run-in with Chad at the casino. By the time she’d finished, it made perfect sense to Blair. “Of course you’re in love. Seth is the ideal man for you, and Mike isn’t. Mike is sexually overpowering—fun to play with but not a man to have a relationship with. Seth is everything you should have had the first time around, but instead you ended up with Chad, the lying, cheating, whoring son of a bitch.”
“Oh, honey. I’m so damn happy for you!” Callie hurried around the counter and enveloped Abby in a hug.
Even Blair had to admit to blinking away a few tears. Okay, she was downright thrilled for Abby. And admittedly, more than a little envious that a bet in order to have a little sex had turned into a love match for one of her best friends.
So they spent the afternoon wildly celebrating Abby’s newfound love while she filled them in about what was next for her—namely graduation and starting out her new career as a veterinarian while finding her way in her relationship with Seth.
By the time they were kicked back in Callie’s living room, Blair had relaxed and had a good buzz going. She propped her feet on the worn wood coffee table and laced her arms behind her head.
“So, Blair, I think it’s your turn next.”
She looked over at Abby, who was equally kicked back with her feet tucked under her in the wicker chair. “My turn for what?”
“The bet.”
Blair arched a brow. “Oh yeah?”
“Great idea. And I have just the suggestion for man meat for you,” Callie said.
Now they were talking about subject that interested her. She couldn’t imagine what man Callie and Abby would have in mind for her. “Who?”
“Rand McKay,” Callie replied with a smug smile.
“Rand is perfect,” Abby added.
“Oh, you two are hilarious.” Blair stretched and wiggled her toes. “But I don’t think so.”
“Unless I’m mistaken, Miss Newcastle, you were the one who thought up and set the terms of this bet,” Abby said. “And those terms included that we got to choose who you fucked. Not you.”
She sat up straight and gaped at them. “You’re serious, aren’t you?”
“Deadly,” Callie said.
“I thought you were my friends.”
“We are.”
“Then how can you do this to me?”
Abby rolled her eyes. “We’re not doing anything to you. We’ve simply chosen the man we think you should have your weekend sex fest with.”
This was unbelievable. She couldn’t do it. Not Rand. Anyone but Rand. Her stomach tightened at the thought. “I’ll just renege on the bet.”
Callie gasped. “Blair Newcastle. You have never backed out on a bet in all the years we’ve known you. Are you that much of a coward?”
Goddammit! Callie was right. She had never, ever failed to see a bet through. But it was Rand, for the love of God. How could she accept the terms? Why were they doing this to her when they knew how she felt about him?
“Blair,” Abby said. “You might think you’re keeping some deep dark secret, but not from us.”
Blair’s eyes widened. They could not know! “What are you talking about?”
“Rand McKay. You’ve been hot for him since high school. It’s obvious to everyone who knows the two of you.”
“It is not.” And that wasn’t her secret. It wasn’t what kept her away from Rand. They had no idea what they were asking of her.
“It is, too,” Callie said. “The way you two look at each other is like watching animals in heat. Honey, you were meant to be together. We’re just giving fate a little push in the right direction.”
“Especially since you’re too bullheaded to take that step, for some reason that is completely unclear to Callie and me,” Abby added.
“Fate has nothing to do with why Rand and I aren’t together. We aren’t together because I choose not to be with him.”
“He wants you,” Abby said.
“That’s his fucking problem.”
“Not this weekend it isn’t,” Callie replied, then laughed. “This weekend he gets to have you. Over and over and over again.”
“This is not funny, goddammit!” She pushed off the sofa and stalked to the window where her car sat in the driveway. The car she’d leaned against while Rand ran his hands all over her body, inciting her senses to near fever pitch. If she let him touch her, she’d lose control. He’d wrest it away from her and dominate her. She couldn’t give up her advantage to him. If she did, she’d never get it back.
Then again, did she really have to give up control? She was a master at wrapping men around her little finger. She’d been doing it for years, and she was damn good at it. If she worked her wiles on Rand, she’d wager he’d come crawling. He’d be so surprised she was willing to spread her legs for him, he wouldn’t even notice she wasn’t giving him anything she didn’t really want to give. He’d dive into her pussy, so happy she was giving it up to him after all these years, he wouldn’t have time to realize she was the one in total control of the situation, that she was the one calling all the shots.