Behind her, Jessie Kay and Kenna burst into laughter.
“You been drinking, honey?” he asked.
“Only this much.” She pinched the fingers of her free hand to indicate a little.
“Doing your fun list, then?”
“I am. And guess what? It’s fun!” She pushed to her feet to twirl around the room...and then had to sit back down and stick her head between her legs before she passed out or threw up. “Or it was. Now it’s not.”
The phone was swiped out of her hand.
“Hey,” she protested.
“Jase,” Kenna said. “This is Kenna Starr, and I just want to assure you...” She went silent. “Yes, we are...No, no, of course not...Well, that’s a little extreme.” Her eyes widened and swung to Brook Lynn. “I would never let anything...Okay, all right.”
Curiosity poured through Brook Lynn. “What’s he saying?”
“You are...Wow,” Kenna said to him, disregarding her. “I’m going to have to refuse your oh, so generous offer...What! That’s blackmail!” A pause. “But I promised and...well, she does seem to like you...Fine! You win. I’m going to hang up before I change my mind.”
“What was that about?” Jessie Kay demanded.
“Yeah,” Brook Lynn said. “Tell me before things get ugly.”
Kenna placed a hand over her mouth as a chuckle escaped. “I’m supposed to take you home, ensuring you do not speak to any man between the ages of sixteen and fifty. Sixty, if they look like they work out. I’m also supposed to refuse to help you with any more items on your fun list—and so are you,” she said to Jessie Kay. “Jase has called dibs, and he’s willing to go to extraordinary lengths to make sure he gets what he considers his. Even creating a mess at Dane’s office that causes him to have to work late nights for the next six weeks!”
“Dibs,” Brook Lynn echoed. He wanted to help her? Had insisted on it, even scaring away the competition?
And he wanted her to avoid other men?
Was it her birthday?
“Give me that phone,” Brook Lynn said. “I need to ask him where exactly we stand, where we’re going with this and where he wants to end up.” Simple questions.
“No way,” Kenna said. “He’ll do what he threatened and come here.”
“Even better!”
“No!”
“Give me!” she demanded, lunging for her friend.
Kenna threw the flip to Jessie Kay, who dropped it and kicked it across the store. Brook Lynn crawled to her sister and grabbed her phone.
“Why don’t you play a little hard to get?” Jessie Kay gasped out.
“Why should I? I gambled, and I won. Now I want my prize. I deserve it.”
Kenna raced over and swatted Brook Lynn’s wrist until she dropped the other phone. “Did you know she would turn into a needy hobag after a few drinks?” she demanded of Jessie Kay.
“No!” Jessie Kay tried to back away, saying, “It’s as much a surprise to me as it is to you.”
Brook Lynn grabbed hold of her sister’s ankle and yanked. The girl flailed and fell, landing with a hard thud, the hem of her dress ending up bunched at her waist, revealing lacy blue panties.
Kenna tried to help Jessie Kay stand, but Brook Lynn dove on her. “I’m not needy—I’m curious. Now gimme!”
“Have we decided on a color, ladies?” The prim voice of the saleswoman echoed. “Or a design?”
The three of them froze.
“Um...still mulling things over, ma’am,” Kenna said.
“I’d like to see that little light blue number over there,” Jessie Kay said, pointing.
The saleswoman walked away, grumbling under her breath. Kenna helped Jessie Kay and Brook Lynn stand.
Steady on my feet—almost.
“Why don’t we call it a day?” Kenna said.
While she and her sister changed into their regular clothes—after Jessie Kay ruled out the blue dress she’d made the saleswoman fetch for her—Kenna gathered the fallen phones. As her friend drove her home, Brook Lynn began to lose her buzz...but not her sense of happy.
Jase wants me!
It would be smooth sailing from here. No doubt about it.
* * *
JASE NEARLY POUNCED on Brook Lynn when she showed up for work Monday morning. Spending the weekend away from her had been torture. His mind had been locked on her, unable to think of anything or anyone else. He’d wondered what she was doing and who she was doing it with. He’d wanted to know if she missed him. If she’d thought about him at all...craved him, unable to sleep, the desire in her little body too much to bear.
Her texts had been a gift from above...or a means of torment from far, far below. He wasn’t sure yet. He somehow found the strength to go out back and get to work on his own chores without hounding her with a million questions.
Have to let her do her thing during office hours.
What seemed an eternity later, she carried a glass of ice water out to him. A blush stained her cheeks. Remembering what she’d texted to him?
“Thank you.” His mouth went dry and he drained the contents—if it wasn’t the Oklahoma heat, it could only be the woman standing in front of him. “I’m still waiting to hear today’s affirmations.”
At first, she didn’t respond. Finally, though, she cleared her throat and said, “I am at one with my duality.”