Page 73 of Ace of Spades
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
The minute Taylor settled into a lounge chair, joining Lauren and Madison on the balcony, a black cat jumped onto her lap. “Well, hello. Who are you?”
“That’s Hemingway,” Madison said. “He spends his day mostly sleeping in our bookstore window, then comes home with us at the end of the day.”
“He alternates nights with us.” Lauren reached over to rub the cat behind his ears. “Tonight’s my night to have him.”
Madison filled a glass with wine and handed it to Taylor. “It’s so weird. He actually knows his routine. If it’s his night with me, he follows me off the elevator when we reach the eighth floor. When it’s Lauren’s turn to have him, he waits for the door to open on the ninth floor.”
“You’re a very smart kitty,” Taylor said, rubbing him behind the ears the way Lauren had, getting a loud purr from the cat. She’d love to havea cat, but couldn’t bear to leave an animal alone as much as she’d have to. Hemingway made three circles, then curled up on her lap.
After the pizza arrived, they chatted about mundane things while they ate and drank wine. Getting approval from his owners, Taylor shared a little of her cheese with Hemingway. When their glasses were empty, Madison filled them all up again.
Taylor was the most relaxed she’d been in days, and she hoped she’d occasionally be invited over for more nights with Madison and Lauren. A nice breeze blew off the ocean, and as she listened to the sound of the waves hitting shore on the beach, her thoughts returned to Nate.
“At what point in a relationship does a woman have the right to ask for an exclusive?” Taylor said. Two pairs of wide eyes focused on her, causing her to giggle. She never giggled, but obviously three glasses of wine put a lie to that. “Just asking for a friend.”
“Uh-huh,” Madison said, then seemed to find that funny, laughing so hard that wine sloshed onto her hand.
Lauren took her glass away from her. “This friend, is she in love with him?”
“No!” Okay, more like she wished she wasn’t. She made a mental note to limit herself to two glasses of wine in the future, since it appeared that she was willing to spill state secrets when she was buzzy.
“But I want her to be in love with him,” Madison whined.
Taylor crossed her arms over her chest. “Well, she’s not.”
“I think she protests too much.” Madison tugged on Lauren’s sleeve. “Right?”
“And I think you’re cut off.” Lauren grinned at Taylor over Madison’s slumping head. “Wine puts her to sleep. She’ll be snoring in about two minutes.”
“Don’t snore,” Madison mumbled, then her body slid down, her head landing in Lauren’s lap.
“And she’s out for the count.” Lauren brushed the hair out of Madison’s face. “To answer your question, I don’t think there’s anythingwrong with your friend broaching the subject with the man she’s seeing. If a certain Gentry brother happened to be the man in question, I’m pretty sure he’s not dating anyone but your friend.”
“Um, my friend did broach the subject of being exclusive with him while they were together ... and I’m not saying it was one of the Gentry brothers. Anyway, he said, ‘I’ll give it a go.’” She really needed to shut her mouth, and shereallyshouldn’t be telling this to the wife of one of Nate’s brothers. But she’d never had girlfriends, women she could talk to who would understand. The wine had definitely loosened her tongue.
“He didn’t!”
“Oh, yeah, he did. Well, that’s what my friend said.” It was silly to cling to the friend scenario when they both knew she was the friend, but it was easier to talk about as long as she was pretending it wasn’t her.
“And how did you ... I mean, your friend respond?”
“She got pissy.”
Lauren snorted a laugh. “Good for her.”
“Maybe. But I think she overreacted, and now she doesn’t know how to ...” It was time to shut up. She glanced at her watch. “It’s getting late, and I’ve got an early day tomorrow.”
“This was fun,” Lauren said. “We should have a girls’ night once a week.”
“I’d like that.” She handed Hemingway, who’d stayed in her lap, over to Lauren. “I won’t ask you not to repeat our conversation to Court, but—”
“Girls’ night conversations aren’t for sharing. That’s the rule.”
“Thank you. I’ll let myself out. Good night.”
Lauren waved. “Night.”
