Page 47 of Inferno

Chapter 12

“Excuse me, beautiful. Is this seat taken?”

Prissy glanced up from the martini she’d been sipping to meet the interested gaze of an attractive, forty-something black man who’d joined her at the bar. Everything from his cheap suit to his flirtatious smile told her he was a lonely businessman on the prowl for a one-night stand.

Unfortunately for him, Prissy was a happily married woman who was still coming off the high of the explosively erotic sendoff her husband had given her last night. So cozying up to another man was thelastthing on her mind.

“Is it okay if I sit here?” the stranger persisted.

Not wanting to be rude, Prissy murmured, “It’s a free country.”

His smile widened as he lowered himself onto the bar stool beside hers. The heavy musk of his cologne invaded her nostrils, making her want to sneeze. When the bartender materialized, the man ordered a gin on the rocks,thenglanced at the martini that Prissy was nursing.

“Can I buy you another drink?” he offered.

“No, thank you,” Prissy demurred. “I’m still working on this one.”

After the bartender served the glass of gin and moved off, the man returned his attention to Prissy.

“My name’s Torrance,” he introduced himself.

Prissy shook his proffered hand.“Nice to meet you.”

“The pleasure’s all mine…” He trailed off pointedly, waiting for her to supply her name.

She hesitated. “Priscilla.”

“Priscilla,” he repeated, his dark eyes slowly roaming over her body to linger on her crossed legs.“Beautiful name for a beautiful woman.”

Prissy chuckled softly. “Not that I don’t appreciate the compliment—”

“I was being sincere.”

“Maybe, but your sincerity is wasted on me.”

“Why?” He nodded at the twinkling four-carat diamond ring on her left hand. “Because some lucky man had the privilege of meeting and marrying you before I could beat him to it?”

Prissy laughed, shaking her head at him. “Do you rehearse these pickup lines before you use them? Or have you had so much practice approaching women at bars that the lines just roll off your tongue?”

He smiled suggestively. “Well, since you’ve taken such an interest in my tongue—”

“Thereyou are,” a woman’s familiar voice interrupted. “I’ve been looking all over for you.”

Prissy glanced over her shoulder just as Celeste Wolf leaned down and kissed her on the cheek.

“Hey, baby.” At the narrowed look Prissy gave her, Celeste winked, indicating that she should play along. “Have you been waiting for me very long?”

“Long enough,” Prissy answered gamely. “But I know you’re always worth the wait.”

“Aww.Aren’t you sweet?” Celeste stroked Prissy’s cheek, then turned and raked the man with an amused look. “Who’s your new friend?”

“He says his name’s Torrance,” Prissy drawled.

“Torrance, huh?”Celeste gave him another mocking once-over. “Looks more like a Dick to me.”

Torrance laughed, seemingly unfazed by the insult. “Funny you should mention—” He broke off to watch as Prissy dipped two fingers inside her martini glass and retrieved the olive, then fed it to Celeste, who sighed with exaggerated pleasure.

Torrance looked from Prissy to Celeste, his tongue all but hanging to the floor. “Are you two…?” He trailed off, barely able to contain his excitement at the thought of the two women being lovers.