Page 80 of You've Got Male

She slapped a hand over Julie’s mouth. “No.”

“Seriously?” Julie mumbled through Evie’s fingers. “Plus, that kiss looked too hot for two people who hadn’t seen each other naked.” When Evie didn’t respond, except to flush, her friend licked Evie’s palm.

She jerked her hand back. “Gross.”

“If you don’t want tongue action then keep your hands to yourself,” Julie said. “Unless you want action, just the right man isn’t here.” Julie looked Evie up and down, then gave a Cheshire smile. “Interesting. You know that stick that’s always wedged up your ass? Well, it isn’t as noticeable, like maybe you’ve had a recent orgasm that wasn’t battery operated.”

Heat licked up Evie’s neck to her face and she groaned. “Fine, we haven’t done the deed, but I can attest to the fact that he hasa magical mouth.”

“Magical?” Alex said and waggled a brow. “Do tell?”

Evie opened her mouth, but nothing came out. Even though this was part of the plan, a surefire way to cement the story that she and Jonah were an item, she didn’t want to share any of the details from that day. Not even with Julie—and she told Julie everything. While the other things had been for show—she wanted to keep that day between them.

Betweenthem,she snorted, as if there was an official “them.” It wasn’t like they shared inside jokes about lemonade, or knew each other’s quirks and favorite colors, or held hands like a real couple would do. Nope, Evie and Jonah were nothing but a fake couple pretending to have fake feelings.

Sadly, for her, fake was the new real.

Oh boy,was she in trouble.

“I need another drink for this.”

“Coming right up,” one said, and walked off into the crowd.

“Okay, what’s going on?” Julie pulled Evie close and asked quietly. “And don’t bother lying, your face is like a living lie detector test.”

Evie worked hard to school her features, which only made her look more guilty. “What makes you say something is going on?”

“You have thatI just ate a gallon of ice cream and I’m going to deny itlook.” She leaned forward on her elbows until she was within whispering distance. “Is it about the shop? Am I losing my job?”

“No. Your job is fine.” Evie turned to address everyone. “It’s just that everything with Jonah is still so new. I don’t want to jinx it.” And she didn’t want to add another lie to her already growing pile.

“That’s a smart idea,” Laura said, approaching the table. Her shoulders were drawn, her eyes were two angry slits, and she had a tray filled with—apparently another round. “Because theJinx is alive and well tonight, ladies.”

“Your date is already over? What happened?” Alex asked, shifting over so Laura could sit.

Laura handed out the drinks, then plopped down. She gave Evie a welcoming but discouraged smile. “He was a creep.”

“He’s a children’s book illustrator. How big of a creep can he be?” one of the other Mamas asked.

“He wanted to know if we could go into the bathroom so he could illustrate me—naked,” Laura said.

“Total creep,” Alex said, then held her glass up. “One creep closer to Charming.”

“One creep closer to Charming,” the group repeated like it was their mantra, thentinkedrims and—down the hatch went round two.

Evie was starting to feel a little loose around the shoulders and her neck felt a little wobbly. Her lips were tingling and her body buzzing. It had been a while since she’d been tipsy, but it felt good to let go a little. Which was the only reason she could account for her affirmative response when Laura said, “Never Have I Ever tequila version.”

And that was when Evie went from tipsy to obnoxious and how, six rounds of Never Have I Ever and shots later, she found herself in a dark corner texting her faux toy-friend. Her brain told her to put the phone away and call it a night—her tequila told her to live like she was that fun, extroverted, outgoing woman of years past. So she hit send. Then immediately regretted it.

Evie: Guess what color I’m wearing?

Her words popped up on her screen and she groaned with regret. Maybe if she stuck her phone in her pocket and turned it on silent then the text never happened. Only his response was too fast for her to put her plan into action.

Jonah: You do know it’s after midnight.

She looked at her watch.

Shit.It was nearly one.

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