Page 25 of Wicked Love

If I keep telling myself that, maybe it’ll work.

I told Marley about it on the way to work yesterday morning, and she was sufficiently outraged on mybehalf. She also thought maybe I shouldn’t be so quick to shut that door, but she didn’t see the look in Bowie’s eyes. We’re not happening.

For the past two days, I’ve buried my head in work. Tonight, though, as I drive to Twinkle Tales to meet the girls, it’s really hard to not dwell on where I went wrong with Bowie.

And why do I even care? Besides the fact that he’s fun to dance with and knows how to work my body like no man has before him, I hardly know the man.

When I arrive, we all hug and take off our coats.

“All we're missing is Sadie.” Tru sticks out her lower lip. “But I can't miss her too much because she's on herhoneymoon,” she sings.

“Yeah, I doubt she's thinking about us at all right now.” Elle laughs.

“Come on back, ladies,” Calista says, motioning for us to follow her to the table near the back.

The store has just closed and she has wine and a charcuterie board set up on the table.

“Thanks for meeting me here,” Calista says, opening the bottle. “I know we could have gone somewhere more fun, but I'm so tired. I knew if I left, I would be too tempted to go home and I needed to see you guys to recap on the wedding festivities.”

“Wasn't it beautiful?” Elle says.

“Just dreamy. I love Landmark Mountain,” Tru says.

“Metoo,” I add. “I need to get over there more often. And I loved the Landmark family. They were all so great.”

“Aren't they?” Tru says. “I love it every time Felicity or the rest of them come to see Sadie and always horn in on their visit.” She laughs.

“We should insist Sadie invites us to all their familyevents,” Elle says, her smile wide as she picks up a piece of cheese.

“Agreed,” Calista says. “Hey, are you feeling ready for this release?” she asks Elle.

“So ready. I just want the book to be out already. I'm exhausted with all the marketing. It was so much easier when I just put the book out with nobody knowing who I was.” She shakes her head.

“Yeah, well, that day is long gone,” Calista says, smirking. “And aren't you glad?”

“I am...” Elle’s head tilts. “Although now, every time I write a sex scene, I'm imagining people from my dad's church reading it.”

We all laugh.

“It’ll give them something to try at home,” I say.

That makes everyone crack up.

“How are you doing, Poppy? I'm so glad you came tonight,” Tru says.

“Yes, I’ve been wanting to talk to you,” Elle says, a mischievous twinkle in her eye. “I was detecting some vibes at the wedding between you and Mr. Bowie.”

“Oh no.” I laugh, fanning my face. “I don't even know where to start with that guy.”

“Let's go back to his hair, please,” Calista says. “I need to discuss.”

She brings her laptop over so we can see it better, and pulls up BHOTD. We spend the next half hour laughing and swooning over the latest Bowie hair posts.

I don’t tell her I’ve been keeping up with it on the daily ever since I first heard about it.

“The man bun, though,” Tru says, sighing. “I love it when he wears it like that.”

“I love it like this.” Calista taps the picture of him with it down. It's chin-length and a perfect amount of wavy.

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