Emma laughed at their banter over weight. Her proportionate size eight body on her five-foot-four frame had never much mattered to her so long as her health was good.
“All this fixation on weight is bringing me down. How did you lose touch with your inner slut, Chloe? I only met your ex a couple of times, but he seemed like the type that would have liked the sexually liberated side of you. I remember him being tall, broad-shouldered, and very handsome,” Emma said.
“All true—and Aaron did like my slut side,” Chloe said, irony dripping from the words as flipped through the racks. “We were in bed more than out the first year we were married. He was really good in bed too. For a couple of years, I thought I had found the perfect man.”
“So what went wrong?” Emma asked, trying not to exude too much sympathy because she knew Chloe didn’t like pity. “Your husband never came with you when you visited, but I guess I always thought that was your choice.”
What went wrong? Chloe stopped flipping through the rack of beautiful clothes to ponder her answer.
“It seems like I spent the last four years trying to figure that out, Emma. For one, Aaron’s family was always critiquing me—us—no me,” she corrected. “They frequently complained about the way I dressed that first year I lived there. To get them to shut up about it, somewhere in the second year I started wearing clothes with no cleavage, flat shoes, and pants in the summer to work. And then I found out about the first woman Aaron cheated on me with. She was my age, but she looked like you two, including the blonde hair.”
Chloe looked at the sympathy in their faces but also saw a glint of steel in both gazes aimed at her. That’s what I came here for, she realized. Under their sympathy was support of the best kind. Chloe knew they would never let her wallow too long in self-pity.
“Even though it killed my pride to know Aaron had slept with someone else, I still loved the jerk, so I told myself that I wanted to work out our problems. For a while, I even went back to normal until he asked me to tone it down again for his family’s sake. So back I went to wearing my conservative clothes and dark colors. That would have been—oh, early in year four I think—just before woman number two entered the picture.”
Emma stopped to stare. “Chloe, that’s awful. Your husband wanted you like you were, but then wanted you to change just to please his family? That seems kind of dumb of him, don’t you think?”
“Well, I do now,” Chloe said emphatically. “I should never have let anyone tell me how to dress or what to like or what was funny or not funny. By the time Aaron actually left me for the last woman—a nubile twenty-three-year-old I heard—well, I didn’t even recognize myself except for the belly button ring hidden under my drab clothes.”
Taylor was shaking her head. “Well, screw that. Try on the harem-girl outfit. That’s who you really are.”
Chloe laughed. “Right—I’m a giant-sized harem girl,” she said wryly, rolling her eyes. “You know, the sad thing is that only the first woman hurt. The other two just seemed inevitable and as much my fault as Aaron’s. If I would have left after the first woman, then the other two would never have happened.”
“Why did you stay?” Emma asked softly, wondering if Chloe had loved Aaron as much as she had loved Brad. She hoped the answer was no for Chloe’s sake.
Chloe thought how falsely attentive Aaron had been when he’d been cheating, how great the sex had been when he’d felt guilty, even when the real intimacy had died. Even knowing it wasn’t enough to hold her relationship together, she had swallowed the hurt and told herself it was what adult women did to make their relationships work. It was pathetic to think about now, but at the time it had seemed a lot less trouble than starting over at her age. Now she was doing it anyway…at forty no less.
“Why did I stay after I knew there were other women? Laziness,” Chloe answered firmly. “If Aaron hadn’t moved out, I probably would still be there.”
“Oh, you’d have found the energy to leave eventually,” Taylor said, laughing when Chloe laughed. “Emma and I both know you better than that.”
“Honestly? Even though Aaron moved in with his girlfriend before the divorce was final, I didn’t really care by that point. On the plus side, my in-laws were incredibly nice through it all, and I know Aaron caught hell over leaving me for her,” Chloe remarked. “They begged me to stay on at the company. Thank God I wasn’t that desperate for work. Having savings meant I could totally leave.”
“Of course they wanted you to stay,” Taylor said. “You were working in the family business for a fraction of what you’re worth. I intend to hire you as soon as I can afford you.”
“I love you for saying that, but no thanks, Taylor. I’m on sabbatical from being a money genius. I haven’t had a real vacation in years, so I’m not even looking for work for three months. And when I do start looking, I’d like to do something very different in my next job,” Chloe said cautiously.
“Singing? You’re going back to singing?” Emma asked excitedly, almost dropping her clothes. “Oh, Chloe, that would be simply awesome for you.”
Taylor paused to study Chloe as well. She wasn’t fooled by her pretended interest in vintage evening gloves. She’d seen her friend’s eyes light up at Emma’s comment.
“I did not say I wanted to sing for a living,” Chloe protested. “I haven’t sung in years—well, not really.”
“That’s a sacrilege with your talent. We’ll rectify the not-singing-thing tonight. There’s a piano lounge at the hotel with a very nice looking pianist,” Taylor teased. “I had a supplier who was staying here a couple of weeks ago. We met for drinks in the lounge. If I hadn’t been working, I might have even talked to Mr. Hunky Piano Man.”
“Ply me with enough alcohol and I’ll sing my thong song,” Chloe teased. “That gets a rise out of most men.”
“No, I want to hear you really sing and quiet the whole room like you did in college,” Taylor insisted, narrowing her eyes at the startled gaze Chloe sent her way. Oh yeah, she was interested.
“Give it up, Ms. Optimist. College was a long time ago and so was singing in front of an audience,” Chloe told her sadly.
“Not that long,” Taylor denied easily, “and you were more than just good. You were extraordinary. I never fully understood why you went into accounting instead of music.”
“I was young, just out of the orphanage then, and wanted security. If I hadn’t gotten the scholarship I would never have met you two. My left brain and stomach won the debate over what to major in,” Chloe said. “I’ve made some good investments with my degree and don’t regret my accounting work. It gave me security, which I badly needed in my life even if the work wasn’t very fulfilling otherwise.”
“Or fun,” Emma said, cringing at the idea of sitting behind a desk for days on end with no movement. “I’m with Taylor. Singing tonight will be like the old days. We’ll do back-up. It will be fun for all of us. We’ll all pretend we’re twenty again.”
“Twenty? Don’t make me laugh. I don’t intend to spend my sabbatical money on the amount of lubrication it’s going to take for me to get up the nerve to sing in public after all this time,” Chloe informed them with a laugh.
“Lubrication is on me then,” Taylor said, laughing. “I want to hear you sing, Chloe. If you can sing again, then I will believe anything is possible, including me finding a decent straight man in southern California.”
Chloe held up a one-piece black bathing suit that had more cutouts than material. “Well, if this bathing suit can cover all the important parts, then I’ll believe anything is possible.” She looked at Emma, who was smiling at her. “What are you smiling about?”
Emma shrugged. “I always believe anything is possible. And I would like to hear you sing tonight too. That bathing suit is going to make you look dangerous, Chloe. Be careful wearing it.”
“Dangerous?” Chloe repeated with a laugh, holding the suit to her body in front of a mirror. “Yeah, all my fat will squish out the hol
es and I’ll probably look on the verge of exploding.”
“Fat?” Taylor exclaimed, choking on the laugh. “You have the body of a centerfold. God, those Easterners did a number on you. I remember when you used to brag about your curves, especially the ones falling out of your bra. Emma and I couldn’t even get an interested look from a guy until you were hooked up for the evening.”
Chloe looked at the clothes over her arm and snorted at the irony. Everything they had pushed on her to try on looked like clothes a more confident woman would wear.
What happened to her over the last decade? Had she truly become a different person?
“You two crack me up. I’ve gained at least thirty pounds since college, and I wasn’t skinny then. Was I really like that?” Chloe asked.
“Yes,” Emma and Taylor both answered firmly, exchanging a look that had them both laughing. They used to complain to each other all the time about how lucky Chloe was with her curvy body.
“I guess I don’t remember it the way you two do,” Chloe said, realizing it was true.
“Your new sexy clothes will put you back in touch with your inner slut,” Emma told her. “Wear the short belted dress to lunch. Work your way up to harem girl. The shock would be too much for the men in this hotel.”
Taylor plucked a blue halter dress off the rack. “I love this. Look at this,” she demanded, hooking the hanger over her head.
“Everything looks like that on you Taylor,” Chloe said, grinning.
Emma laughed. “I love it. It matches your eyes perfectly.”
“And thanks to the tanning bed I put in at the gym, I have no tan lines,” Taylor said gleefully. “Did you find anything, Em?”
“A few things,” Emma said, shrugging. “I brought my white strapless dress. I think I’m wearing it tonight. What do you think about this little vest to wear over it?” She held it up to her chest for Taylor to see.
“Love it,” Taylor said, noticing Chloe was smiling at them. “I think Chloe likes it too.”
“Chloe likes everything today,” she said, her grin spreading. “This is more fun than I’ve had in a long time. I hung out with Aaron’s family so much that I never really made friends where I lived. I’ve missed you both. I’m really glad I came back to California.”
“That’s because you came back to us—people who love you,” Taylor said, while Emma nodded in validation.
Chloe laughed. “That’s very sweet, Taylor, but I’m still not working for you.”
Taylor narrowed her eyes, making Chloe laugh. She didn’t care so long as the woman went back to being the feisty friend she really was under all that self-effacing garbage she was spouting.
“I was not flattering you for that reason, Zanders. In fact, I’m changing tactics totally. I’m going to wait for you to run out of money and then offer you half of what I would have today. I’ve become very shrewd,” Taylor said.
“Would you really do that to Chloe?” Emma asked, shocked.
Taylor sighed and snorted. “No—of course I wouldn’t. I’m ruthless, but not where you two are concerned. I love you like sisters.”
Relieved to know her friend wasn’t becoming as heartless as she had sounded for a moment, Emma walked over and hugged Taylor, who just laughed.
“Come on, let’s try on clothes,” Taylor ordered. “I need lunch. I’m starved.”
Chapter 3
Jasper’s gaze kept being drawn to the three women sitting on the patio drinking mai tais. From his table by the café window, he had a prime view of them, especially the one with her top unbuttoned for comfort who looked ready to bust out of the short dress any moment. She was a lot of woman for a city that regularly produced dozens of tanned and toned clones like her tablemates.
He shifted in his seat, surprised at his reaction to a stranger—and a hotel guest.
“I bet I know which one you’re looking at,” Max said with a grin, forking up a bite of his meatloaf.
“I’m not looking at anyone. I was checking out the pool,” Jasper denied, his gaze going immediately back to the woman’s breasts as she laughed, her voice full and rich, the movements of her body mesmerizing to him.
“There’s not a single woman in the pool with breasts like the laughing brunette’s. I’m your brother. Why are you lying to me?” Max asked. “I like the taller of the two blondes, the one with the short hair. She was in here a couple of weeks ago in a sharp business suit. I’m intending to sleep with her. Go for the brunette. She’s just your type.”
“Max, you can’t sleep with hotel guests,” Jasper said sternly. “We talked about this before you decided to recuperate here. It’s not ethical. Neither Sam nor I have ever violated that rule.”
“Jasper, I haven’t slept with a woman in four months. I bet what’s going on in your pants isn’t ethical either. You’re forty-five, not eighty-five, so stop waiting and go after those breasts. You don’t have to settle for being your ex-wife’s booty call,” Max said fiercely, staring at his brother over his food.
“It’s complicated,” Jasper told him. “When you’re older, you’ll understand.”
“I’m thirty-one, not thirteen,” Max joked. “And I aged a lot those two months in the hospital before I came here. I realize now that life and luck can change in an instant. The one with breasts looks fun, sexy, and like she’d be nice to touch. Go for it.”
“She looks like she’s enjoying the company of her friends, relaxing for the first time in ages, and smart enough to sue the hotel if I offend her,” Jasper commented, having to shift in his chair when she leaned over the table. He was having a strong reaction to her, but it wasn’t worth risking the hotel’s reputation to follow the urge.
“Those three are going to end up in the piano lounge tonight with me. If you don’t come join us, I’m going to seduce all three of them, even the one with big breasts,” Max bragged, settling back in his seat and looking at his older brother with a definite challenge in his gaze. “I will not spare your feelings just because you’re too old to go after what you want. It’s not my fault I’m a menopause baby and have the advantage of youth on my side.”
“Menopause baby? Where do you get that crap? Those women are all probably a decade older than you and way too smart for your lame pick-up lines. Plus, they haven’t been looking at anyone but each other all through lunch. They are not here on the prowl for men, much less younger men,” Jasper predicted, looking at Max’s grin in disgust. “Fine. I’ll take that bet. You won’t get even a friendly kiss out of any of them.”
“Bring cash. Twenty each since you’re so sure,” Max warned, standing and getting the attention he was used to from the rest of the dining room occupants.
The physically fit body that made him a successful hockey player also came in handy in gaining him all the female attention he wanted, and then some. Since he wasn’t limping anymore, no one could tell he’d even been hurt. He might have failed on the ice, but Max never failed with a woman he’d set his sights on seducing.
***
Chloe had laughed so much in the last hour that her face hurt. And several mai tais had put a humorous haze over pretty much everything.
“Emma, those quizzes are all going to say that I can’t get a guy because I have some sense of decorum about not groping a guy’s crotch in public. Do women in their twenties actually follow that advice?” Chloe demanded.
“Yes,” Emma said firmly. “And I think they have a lot of sex.”
“But do they ever find a genuine love-that-lasts kind of relationship?” Taylor asked, trying to sound wise.
Emma scrunched up her face. “Well, two of them found mine and Chloe’s husbands, so I think the answer is yes in some cases. Of course, this is assuming they actually love our ex-husbands and vice versa.”
Chloe snorted. “Well, I say good luck to them for trying. My ex’s new woman better stay skinny for the rest of her life.”
They laughed again and took another sip of their drinks.
“Okay—okay,”
Emma said more soberly, “one more question and I’ll quit.” She paused until she knew Chloe and Taylor were paying close attention.
“You and your best friend are having lunch. She tells you there’s a hot guy checking out your breasts,” Emma said seriously. “What do you say in reply? Taylor—you go first.”
Taylor laughed, the drinks having worked their magic on her by loosening her tongue. “Well, I would dip into the sarcasm I hold back just for these special situations. I would say ‘Sure, him and every other guy’ in my best, most confident voice. Then I’d do this.”
Lifting her small breasts in her hands like an offering to the gods, Taylor pursed her lips in a smooch, and leaned over the table to her friends. They laughed so hard and so loudly that all the people in the pool starting leaving.
“Just like the old days,” Taylor said. “We’re clearing the area.”
“Okay Chloe—what would you say?” Emma said, swinging an innocent gaze in her direction.
“If the man is checking out my breasts, it’s because he’s not used to seeing so much untanned flesh in the state of California,” Chloe declared, laughing and holding the edges of her lapels open as wide as she could to peer into her dress. “Look—the girls and I haven’t seen sunlight in five years. It will take me months to tan all this.”
They all looked at Chloe’s large and very white breasts, giggling without denying her statement. It was the truth after all.
“Maybe you can start with one of those self-tanners or a bronzer. You have to work your way up to a real tan again,” Emma said with a laugh.
“Emma—that question didn’t sound like the other quiz questions,” Taylor commented, looking at her not-so-innocent friend who was giggling softly and looking guilty.
“Okay—fine. It wasn’t a real question on the quiz. There’s a good-looking guy in the dining room who has been admiring Chloe’s cleavage since we sat down to have lunch,” Emma said, laughing. “I think she should practice her subtlety theory on him.”
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