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She scrunches her face into one of speculative amusement and narrows her eyes at me. “Jules, if you didn’t look the way you do, and I didn’t know all the menandwomen who lust after you at the Inn, I’d swear you’d never been with anyone before.”

My face heats with a blush she can’t see, but that she clearly senses. She lets go of me and steps away as if my body has suddenly caught fire. “Are you avirgin?” She draws back and gawks, mouth wide open. Despite the noise in the room, I glance around to make sure no one heard her. “Shhh.”

“Oh my God, youare.”She stares at me in amazed wonder.

“So what?” I shrug and try to keep the defensiveness out of my voice. I know it’s rare, but so is my life.

“You’re twenty-six, right? Love, it’stime,” she declares.

“Says who?” I retort.

“I don’t plan to be a virgin forever. When I meet someone who checks my boxes, I’ll take the plunge,” I say when she keeps staring at me.

She nods, but her expression is full of skepticism. “What are your boxes?”

“Attractive, patient, unavailable.”

“Unavailable?” Confusion furrows her brow.

I flash a jaunty smile. “Unavailability is the modern thinking woman’s catnip.”

“So you say…” She scoffs and glances around the room. “Speaking of unavailable, I invited Omar and told him to bring some friends, but I’m sure he won’t. He’s as averse to making friends as you are.”

I try to stifle my gasp at the mention of his name, and a chunk of ice slides down my throat. Reena pounds my back when I start coughing. “I’m okay.” I hold a hand up to stop her when I can talk again. “You were saying?”

“That it’s a shame Omar doesn’t have any friends I can introduce you to.” I don’t know why I haven’t told Reena that I, sort of, already know him and have had a crush the size of Australia on him for months now.

“So are you very good friends?”

“Thebestof friends,” she says with a waggle of her brows. “And he comes with all the benefits. Stamina, a nice thick dick, and a really,reallytalented tongue.”

“So you’re…dating?” I keep the disappointment out of my voice.

She laughs and rolls her eyes. “Omar doesn’t date. He fucks and forgets.”

“Wow. And that’s okay for you?”

“There was a time, when Apollo had just started dating Graham, when it wasn’t.” Apollo is her American best friend who just happens to be married to one of the most beautiful men I’ve ever seen. Her husband, Graham.

“I swore up and downIwas going to be the one to tame Omar and marry him. And then I found out he’s untamable and not at all interested in meeting the parents. Which was actually a relief because my parents have sworn to disown me if I bring home a man who is not Indiananddoesn’t have at least a master’s degree. They could accept one without the other, but not without both.”

I wrinkle my nose in disbelief. “That can’t be true. I’vemetyour parents. They are both so thoroughly modern.”

“It’s a mirage—they’re strict traditionalists when it comes to things like blending family lines. It’s antiquated. But Omar and I would never have worked anyway. He’s allergic to commitment and very set in his ways.”

I frown at her.“Is thereanythingyou like about him besides his prowess in bed?”

“Oh, yes. He’s afantasticperson,” she answers without hesitation. “And when he calls you his friend, he means it. He may be aromanticrelationship commitment-phobe, but he’s the most loyal friend I’ve ever had. He’ll tell you how it is,especiallywhen it really matters. He’s gone all the time but manages to show up whenever you need him. And once he knows what you need, want, and crave, if it’s in his power to, he’ll make sure you always have it. And unlike most men, youneverhave to tell him anything twice. I adore him, and I can’t imagine anyone knowing him well and not feeling the same way.”

“I’m jealous. I want a friend like that.”

She leans away from me in affront. “Well, what the fuck am I? Chopped liver?”

“No, I didn’t mean it like that. I meant who could be that and also be my lover.”

She scoffs. “Omar’s not a lover. He’s a one-night stand.”

“One night is all I need.”