let go tonight. Kiss a strange boy. Man, she corrected herself. She’d kiss a hot, sexy man in the club, in the dark. Maybe that would get Stone Petty off her mind. She needed this night to get a fresh perspective. Getting involved with him was bad on all levels. If she was attracted to someone else tonight, maybe it would prove that her hormones were overloaded and it had nothing to do with him.
Oh, she hoped.
Arilyn ran to the limo and climbed in. The scents of mingled perfume, alcohol, and feminine excitement simmered in the air. Kate, Kennedy, and Genevieve were dressed to the max, so she suddenly didn’t feel awkward. Everyone wore short skirts or dresses, cool jackets, and super-high heels. Kate’s sister-in-law, Jane, even sported a flouncy skirt and boots. She was introduced to three other girls Kate had met from Slade’s office, and then they were zooming down the Verily streets toward wildness.
Champagne flowed, gossip flew, and bonding began in the primitive way only females knew. After eating and partying at the famous Lucky Cheng’s, they piled back in the car and hit a few trendy after-work bars, then a gay strip club where they danced like no one was watching. And no one really was.
By the time they headed back to Mugs in Verily, they were ushered to the back room. Halfway drunk, relaxed, and finally not caring, Arilyn waited for the big event.
The male stripper.
Kate bumped into her, spilling some of her drink and groaning. “A, you gotta help me. I don’t want another naked man pawing me, and Kennedy won’t listen. As the single one in the group, you need to step up and be my wingman.”
Arilyn hiccupped. These cosmos were so good. Extra fruity. Oh, and she felt so light and warm. How long had it been since she’d gotten tipsy? Way too long. “Wing woman. What do I gotta do?”
Kate motioned to the chair in the middle of the room. “I overheard the plan. The cop comes in, pretends we’re too rowdy, and then drags me to that chair so he can writhe all over me.”
“A solid plan, according to Kennedy.”
Her friend glared, but it was ruined by the slurp from her drink. “I need you to take the hit for me. When the guy comes in, you take my place.”
Another hiccup. “I don’t look like you,” she pointed out.
“I know! I’ll be hiding in the corner, so you go by the chair and offer yourself up. Everyone’s drunk, no one will notice. They just want him to take off his clothes.”
“Yeah. How did we end up with more women than we started with?”
Kate squinted. “I think we picked up Janet and Evelyn in the gay bar. I don’t know about the others. They want to see a stripper. Will you do it?”
Would she do it? On a normal day her response would be a loud “Heck, no.” But tonight she was in the mood to view a hot, naked man who wanted nothing from her but to give some visual pleasure. How bad could it be? It would take her mind off the other man who remained nameless who she really wasn’t thinking about. At all.
“Okay, I’ll do it.”
Kate pressed a noisy kiss to her cheek. “Thanks, babe. Oh, here, you’ll need a lot of these.” She stuffed a handful of dollar bills into her fist.
Cool. She’d finally get to stick money in a guy’s G-string. Arilyn hugged Kate. “I love this party!” she gushed.
Kate hugged her back. “Me, too. And I love us.” She raised her glass. “To friends forever!”
“Friends forever!”
Their glasses clinked and tipped over, and half their drinks spilled on the floor. They looked at each other and burst into giggles. “Bartender, we need another one!” Kate yelled.
Arilyn snorted with laughter.
This was gonna be good.
“ANOTHER ROLLICKING EVENING IN Verily. Why are we here again, Devine?”
A few days back from his suspension and he was itching for some action. Not that there was any. Already at the end of his shift, the night was barren of anything interesting. This should be a good thing in Verily, especially since he had never had that problem in the Bronx. Drug raids were routine, gangs were hunted regularly, and crime abounded. He’d craved to take it down a notch, but sometimes on a night cruising the still streets of the small town, he wondered if he’d been nuts to leave.
Not that he’d had a choice. After the shooting and its fallout,