Faking Ms. Right (Dirty Martini Running Club #1)(52)

No such luck. I was positive I was still a bright pink disaster by the time I had to order lunch and hand her my menu.

Nora’s eyes were practically glittering with excitement. “So how long have you been fucking him?”

“You say that as if it’s a foregone conclusion,” Hazel said.

“Because it is,” Nora said. “You were standing right there. Don’t you study this stuff for a living?”

“Not exactly,” Hazel said. “My specialty is in the area of—”

“Since last night,” I blurted out. “We slept together last night and oh my god, it was the most amazing night of my life.”

“Details.” Nora did a gimme gesture with her hand.

There was so much I couldn’t tell them. Shepherd had asked me to keep his secrets, and I wasn’t about to betray that trust. But the fact that we’d had sex was not something I could keep to myself. Not from them.

“This is going to sound crazy, but his brother had to be rushed to the hospital yesterday. I went down there to wait with him and—”

“Did you guys bang in a supply closet?” Nora asked.

“No, we didn’t bang at the hospital. But we did kiss, and it was really amazing. And later… well, we spent some time together and he shared some things with me, and it felt like we really connected. And then came the sex.”

“I told you this would happen,” Nora said.

“Actually, I think you predicted that Everly would develop feelings for him,” Hazel said. “Not that they would wind up sleeping together.”

“That’s what I’m talking about. Look at her.” Nora gestured toward me. “She’s smitten.”

“I’m not smitten.” Liar again.

“You are,” Nora said. “But tell me more. Where were you? How many orgasms did you have?”

“Three,” I said with a heavy sigh, then lowered my voice. “We weren’t really having sex for the first one. At least I don’t think we were. We were making out in the backseat of his car. Is it still dry-humping if there aren’t clothes between you?”

“Meaning?” Hazel asked.

“Like he had his peen out and you had your panties off, but there was no penetration?” Nora asked.

I opened my mouth to answer, but clamped it shut again as the waitress brought our lunch.

“Thank you,” Nora said, smiling at her as if we weren’t sitting here having a conversation about dry-humping exposed penises.

I waited until our plates were on the table and the waitress was halfway back to the kitchen before replying. “His underwear were… well, down. My panties were on, but moved to the side. And no penetration.”

“Why not?” Nora asked.

“He said he wasn’t going to fuck me for the first time in the back seat of his car.”

“First time?” Hazel asked. “That seems to imply he intends for there to be repeat performances.”

I nodded and poked at my salad. “Yeah, I picked up on that too.”

“Dry-humping isn’t quite the right term, is it?” Nora asked, more to herself than to us. She tapped a finger against her lips, her fork dangling from her other hand. “Wet-humping, maybe? I don’t know, but that should be a thing. He really gave you a big O with just the surface of his lady dagger?”

I wanted to duck under the table. “Nora, shush. And yes, he did.”

“Did he come too, or was it just you?”

“In the car it was just me.”

“And then?”

“We went back to his place and did it on the couch and I came two more times,” I said in a rush.

Nora took a casual bite of her salad. “I have to say, I’m impressed.”

“With what?” I asked.

“With you, for getting a threebie last night. You deserve it. And with him. A guy who lets you get off on his peen and waits to get you home to fuck you? If it were anyone else telling me this story—except you, Hazel—I’d think you were lying. I didn’t think a unicorn like that existed. I might have to write an article about this. No names, of course.”

“He was very exceptional.”

“But Everly,” Hazel said, her voice soft. “Are you sure this is wise? You’re pretending to be engaged, but now you’re not pretending to be having sex?”

“Believe me, I know. I have no idea what this means. Maybe it was just inevitable. How long was I supposed to hold out? I’m sleeping right next to him and you guys, he smells like man heaven.”

“He likes the way you smell, too,” Nora said.

“What? How do you know?”

“Didn’t you see the way he leaned closer to you?” she asked. “He was totally indulging in a whiff.”

“Studies show scent is a powerful force in attraction,” Hazel said. “In fact, there’s evidence to suggest that a percentage of failed marriages have, at their root, an insurmountable scent incompatibility.”

“You mean people get divorced because they don’t like the way their partner smells?” Nora asked.

“It’s not usually a conscious thing, and more study is needed to draw solid conclusions, but yes. That’s how strongly humans react to scent.”