Game Saver (9 page)

I smile huge and take a sip of my coffee as I say nothing and leave her to stew.

“Zach needs to take lessons,” she mutters.

“If I remember rightly, your man does
not
need any help in making you moan but if he needs tips, we should definitely get Cade to impart some of his wicked wisdom.”

“Aren’t orgasms amazing?” Dani says with a happy sigh.

“You’re so much more relaxed now that you’re getting them on the regular, that’s for sure.”

“And you? Are
you
getting them regularly now?”

“It’s only been two weeks since we hooked up again.”

“And you’ve seen him how many times?”

“Three . . . no, four . . .” I murmur quietly.

“Sorry, I didn’t quite catch that.”

“Alright, a
few
times,” I reply.

“A few times in two weeks, and that included twelve orgasms? That’s more than I get in a week, and I’m the one in a committed relationship.”

“One of those times was after dinner last week.”

“Dinner?” she gasps. “You hold out. You didn’t tell me about dinner.”

“Yes. You know, a night time meal?”

“You had dinner with him?”

“We’ve all got to eat, Dan. Even doctors and hotel managers.”

“I know that!” she says exasperatedly. “I just didn’t think it was anything other than sex. I mean, you didn’t really talk to each other or anything for almost a year.”

“Ten months.”

“Okay then, ten months,” she repeats.

“Cade and I are just friends, and I’m helping him out—a little fake girlfriending with a side of great sex.”

She gasps, my sweet little Dani not used to the idea of sex without commitment. God I love her. “And you’re okay with that?”

“Why wouldn’t I be? He’s busy, I’m busy, we get busy together—and now, we’re also going to be attending a few events to keep his parents off his back and stop his mom from setting him up with some uppity society bitch he has no interest in.”

“Sounds perfect,” she says sarcastically.

“It is.”

“Which is why you care about a dress,” she mutters under her breath.

I choose to ignore her and power through. “So . . . do you have anything?”

“Anything what?”

“A dress worthy of Doctor Hottie that meets all of the aforementioned requirements.”

She hums thoughtfully. “I don’t, but I know who does. What are you doing tomorrow morning?”

“Spending ten million hours getting ready.”

“That’s a lot of effort to go through for just a ‘friend,’ Abs.”

“Are you gonna help or question the length of my getting ready regime?” I retort.

“Can I help
while
arguing why you shouldn’t need a whole day to get ready for a date?”

“It’s
not
a date!” I say, a little louder than required.

“Right . . .” Her voice is disbelieving. “Alright then. How about tonight?”

“What about tonight?”

“Are you still half-asleep? Hello? Is anyone in there?”

“I can’t help it if I’m a little tired.”

“Did you work last night?”

“Yeah.”

“Any house calls from Dr. Carsen lately?”

“My vagina needs a vacation from his penis and besides, I saw him the other night before work . . .”
And by God did I see him.
“In fact, I gave his personal thermometer a lot of attention.”

“Interesting . . .” she muses, and I roll my eyes even though I know she can’t see me. “Bet you’re rolling your eyes at me right now.”

My head jerks back, and I scan the room for hidden cameras. “Have you got some super-geek secret video feed going to your computer or something?”

She giggles. “Why?”

“Because either you’re tele-pathetic or—”

“Don’t you mean telepathic?”

“That too,” I quip.

“Well, since you’re still in lack of sleep zombie land, how about I swing by around ten tomorrow morning?” she says. “I’ll give Zoe a call. She has lots of dresses, and she’s as tall as you. She’s bound to have something perfect for you.” I breathe out a huge sigh of relief at the fact that 1) I get to vege out on my couch tonight for the first time all week and 2) between Dani and Zoe, I’m sure to find
something
to wear to the fundraiser.

“Sounds awesome. See you tomorrow. And Dani?”

“Yeah, babe?”

“Tell Zach he’s slacking in the orgasm department and if he doesn’t lift his game, we’ll need another sex battle.”

“This one?” Zoe suggests, pulling out a blush pink peplum cocktail dress with a low V-neck. The whole bodice is covered in pearl sequins, giving the fabric a flashy ‘look at me now’ feel. It’s beautiful, but not me.

I shake my head but even though it isn’t what I’m looking for, I can’t stop looking at it. “It’s damn pretty though,” I say on a sigh.

“I wore it to our engagement party that Noah’s parents threw for us. Probably the same kind of crowd that’ll be there tonight.”

I lift my hands to my forehead and squeeze my eyes shut. “Why did I agree to do this again?” I ask no one.

Dani—of course—answers. “Because it was
Doctor Hottie
who asked you.”

“As someone with her own hot doctor, that is reason enough,” Zoe says with a laugh.

My head snaps up to look at the two of them. “It’s not like that. We’re just friends.”

“That bang,” Dani adds, helpfully.

“I’m the mother buffer,” I clarify.

“And what
exactly
does that role entail? Because sleeping with the guy—added bonus, romantic dinner for two—seems out of the mother-buffer job description,” Dani continues.

“You went on a
date
with him?” Zoe gasps. “How did I not know this? If my husband knew this and didn’t tell me, he’s in
so
much trouble.”

I sigh—loudly. “It wasn’t a date!”

“Heard that before,” Dani mutters.

I put my fingers in my ears. “La, la, la, I can’t hear you,” I say in a singsong voice before pulling them out again.

“You’re in denial. D. E. N. I. A. L.”

“Oh wow, Dan, you can spell,” Zoe mocks. Dani replies by poking her tongue out at her older sister, but thankfully lets the conversation go.

Zoe’s phone chimes with a text and her fingers swipe over the screen, her eyes narrowing just before her fingers furiously type out a message. “My husband has been holding out on me!”

“That happens after children, I’ve heard,” I retort.

“Ha, fucking, ha. Even after two children, Noah and I have no problem in
that
department.”

“Gross!” Dani groans, continuing to flick through the hangers in Zoe’s walk-in closet. “It’s bad enough that I’ve heard Cade and Abi going at it. I don’t need the idea of you and Noah in my head, too.

Zoe’s head snaps up, and she looks at me and then her sister. “You’ve
heard
them? What? When? How . . . ?
Why?
”

“Long story,” Dani replies, her cheeks going a lovely shade of red.

“Let’s just say there was a sex battle in our apartment, and we all won,” I explain.

“Knew I wouldn’t want to know,” Zoe mutters.

“So what did Noah not tell you?” Dani asks.

Zoe jabs her finger at her phone, furiously typing out a text. “He knew about the date—”

“Again, not a date . . .” I reiterate.

Zoe waves her hand at me. “Whatever. He just told me you guys have been banging for a while.”

“I wouldn’t say
a while
. . .” Does a ten-month gap between romps count?

Zoe quirks a brow at me. “How long then?”

I open my mouth to brush her off but yet again, my best friend freely offers the information. “Once last year, then again last weekend after that night out at Throb, and—probably—the other night after their
date.
”

“It wasn’t a—”

“Date, we know,” Zoe and Dani reply in unison.

It’s six thirty, and I’m pacing my living room primped, primed and ready to pretend like a pro and Cade’s late. Yes, the man is
late.
My anxiety levels are sky high, and during the past ten minutes I’ve gone from freaking out to slow, deep breathing, to picking up my phone and going so far as to bring up his name on my phone before quickly putting it back in my purse.

I’m a basket case and as every minute ticks by, I’m second guessing my decision to agree to this fake relationship business—the promise of unlimited orgasms be damned.

Something stuck in my head after spending the afternoon drinking champagne with Dani and Zoe—well Dani and I did, since Zoe is still nursing.

A knock at my door breaks me out of my freak out, but my body remains frozen in place, excitement, sudden-onset nausea, and nerves holding me back.

Telling myself that I got dressed up for this shindig so I should damn well enjoy it, I force my limbs to move and make my way to the front door, swinging it open with a disgruntled grunt to stop dead in my tracks at the sight of a tuxedo-clad, mighty fine-looking Cade staring at me with his mouth dropped open.

The minute I see her, it takes everything I have not to push Abi back through her apartment door, slam it shut, and spend the rest of the night tasting and touching every inch of her body. In fact, there is nothing else I would prefer to do more.

She’s a knockout normally whether it be made-up and on the prowl at the bar, or first thing in the morning without a scrap of makeup on her. I could even say I preferred her naked as the day she was born, hazy from sleep, looking across the bed at me with nothing but sated eyes and a cute pouty smile. It may have only happened a few times but still, it was those moments I looked forward to just as much as the hot-as-fuck sex.

But seeing her standing in front of me in a dress that is both elegant and sensual, classy and the most effective aphrodisiac even though I just need to think about her to get hard these days.

It’s red—a deep, sexy red—with one arm bare, the other covered by a long sleeve lined with a lace insert that catches my eye before the sloping neck lining her breasts draws my attention. The matte fabric clings to her curves all the way to her hips before draping down to the ground, a knee-high slit giving me a peek at black heels with a red sole.