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“What look?”
“The one that says you don’t know whether to kiss me for coming through for you or bitch-slap me for grinding your excuses into dust.”
“Yeah, because I’ve learned to my grief that when you’re this determined, one of us ends up doing something she’ll regret.And most of the time, it’s me.”
Keely waved her away and went over to the sofa Bethany had vacated minutes earlier.She stared down at the envelope with the same awe Bethany had felt since opening her mailbox almost an hour ago.“Wow.I mean… fucking wow.”
Bethany released a shaky breath and felt a little better that she hadn’t blown the epicness of the situation out of proportion.“I know, right?”
Keely nodded.“We still need to open it, babe.We’re not going to get the juicy details by staring at it all night.”With a deep breath, she snatched it off the table and ripped it open.
Bethany held her breath until the need for oxygen made her inhale greedily.“What does it say?”
“You’re leaving on Sunday from Newark.First stop is Shanghai… You’ll have your own personal guide, chef and a bodyguard throughout the experience… Holy crap!”
“Bodyguard?Why would I need?—”
Keely held up a hand.“Second stop is Bora Bora.Jesus, Bethany, I’d kill to go to Bora Bora!Third stop, the Aleutian Islands—where the fuck are they?”
When Bethany shrugged, she continued.“Fourth stop London, fifth stop is Monte Carlo.”She stared into space and sighed.“This is fucking unbelievable, Bethany.Did you think you’d hit the jackpot like this when you researched The Indigo Lounge and found out they take a wild-card guest once a year free of charge?”
“Nope.We both thought it was a joke at the time, remember?I mean, what would a multi-billion-dollar organization have to gain from offering a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity like this?”
“Maybe Zachary Savage doesn’t want the world to think he’s just a super-rich dick?”
“Why should a guy who doesn’t give personal interviews and is practically a recluse care what the world thinks of him?”Bethany asked.
“Jeez, I don’t know.But let’s not stare this gift heifer in the mouth.”She pointed the edge of the envelope at Bethany.“This invitation has fallen into your lap, and you.Are.Going.”
Bethany pressed her lips together to stop the torrent of objections rising inside her.On the one hand, she was thrilled—beyond thrilled.On the other, her self-confidence had taken a severe blow six months earlier when her long-term boyfriend had left her… for another man.Her shock at Chris’s double betrayal still hadn’t worn off.More and more lately, she was beginning to wonder if it ever would.
“What else does it say?”she asked to distract both herself and Keely from the reasons why taking this step felt so very daunting.
Keely glanced down at the envelope.“The usual disclaimers—total, unwavering confidentiality or you lose both kidneys, no drugs on board the jets… No drugs on board the jets… No drugs on board the jets or you’ll be prosecuted… Jeez, they really hammer the ‘no drugs’ things home.”
“Maybe someone had a bad experience with drugs on board?”
“Hmm… They have twenty-four-hour entertainment on board, but the private suites are private.Fuck, if you come back and tell me you never left your suite, I’ll kill you.”Keely glared at her.
“I haven’t agreed I’m going yet, Keel.”
Her best friend sighed and dropped the envelope.“Listen.I know why you don’t want to go.Chris-the-A-hole did a real number on you with that I-prefer-men thing, I get that.Hell, it didn’t even happen to me and I was fucking traumatized.But you need to move on, baby girl.You’ve worn out six vibrators in the last six months and God knows how many more dildos, and those are the ones you’ve told me about?—”
“Keely!”
“You’ll break your goddamn clit if you don’t stop using battery-powered gadgets on it and believe me, you need your clit for when a real man comes along.Seriously, can you tell me you don’t miss the real thing?A warm body against yours, a hard cock inside you?”
Heat suffused Bethany’s face and she sagged onto the sofa.“Okay, fine, I do but?—”
“No buts.”
“Yes, buts!For fuck’s sake, Keely.The last hard cock I had inside me decided it preferred anal with other men.It is any wonder I have a goddamn complex?”
Keely’s green eyes gentled in sympathy.“Of course not.”
“Those are stories we read in trashy magazines and laugh ourselves hoarse.Do you know how it feels to know I’m suddenly that girl?The one who couldn’t keep her man happy enough, so he jumped into bed with another man?”Even after all this time, just saying the words made her stomach turn over with pain, anger and disgust.
Slowly, Keely shook her head, but then she got the look in her eye.The look that said,I love you but… “No, I don’t know how it feels, honey, but neither am I going to let you hide away forever because of what that asshole did.What better way to get over it than to open yourself to new experiences?You go, you have a sizzling, no-strings-attached hook up in the lap of pure luxury, and you come back and move on with your life.Bethany, the Indigo Lounge couldn’t be more perfect for you right now.”