The Best Man Plan - Jaci Burton Page 0,16
We ate fried chicken, then I propositioned him. He said no.”
“Why did he say no?” Brenna asked.
“This morning he told me that we’ve been friends since we were kids, and he doesn’t want to do anything to ruin that.”
“Aww,” Honor said. “That’s sweet.”
“And honorable,” Brenna said.
“Yeah, whatever.” Erin would have rather had great revenge sex last night.
They walked along the side of the house toward the backyard, heading toward the gazebo. It had always been their sanctuary, a place where no business was conducted and no guests were allowed. Erin often took her lunch break out here, especially in the spring, when it was finally warm outside and the flowers were up and the grass was green again.
She took a seat on one of the cushioned benches. Honor and Brenna sat across from her.
“So you propositioned him and he turned you down,” Honor said. “That surprises me.”
Erin frowned. “Why?”
“He’s a guy,” Brenna said. “You’d think he’d jump on the opportunity for sex.”
“Oh. I guess. It doesn’t matter anyway. I’m going to change his mind.”
“Good lord, Erin, why?” Honor asked.
She lifted her chin. “Because I intend to have my revenge on Owen. And what better way to do that than with Jason?”
“So you’re going to use Jason to get back at Owen?” Brenna asked.
“It’s hardly using him if we both get sex out of it. And it’s not like I’m declaring my love for him or anything. It’ll just be a fun fling. Then we’ll go back to being friends.”
Honor cast a worried gaze at her. “I don’t know, Erin. I don’t think flings with friends work that way.”
“Well, I’m sure as hell not going to grab some random at a bar and screw him.”
“Of course not,” Brenna said. “Maybe you should . . . rethink this whole revenge-fling idea entirely.”
She shook her head. “Nope. My former fiancé is enjoying our honeymoon in Aruba by himself at the moment. At least I think he’s by himself. For all I know he could be with another woman.”
“I doubt that,” Honor said.
“I don’t doubt anything at this point,” Erin said. “Clearly I don’t know a damn thing about Owen like I thought I did. Anyway, I should be entitled to a little fun, too, don’t you think?”
“Kind of hard to argue with that one,” Honor said, looking over at Brenna.
Brenna shrugged. “I don’t even know what to say. When I got a divorce, I moved back here, started jogging around the property, lost ten pounds and bought new clothes. That was revenge enough for me.”
“And you were miserable the entire time,” Erin said, cocking her head to the side to prove her point. “You should have gotten on another horse immediately. And by horse, I mean another man.”
“I know what you meant. And getting anywhere near another man was the last thing I wanted at the time.”
“Come to think of it, it’s been two years, Brenna. Have you even dated anyone seriously since Mitchell?”
“Not that I’ve noticed,” Honor said.
“I’ve dated. And I’ve been busy. The vineyard keeps me occupied.”
“The vineyard doesn’t give you orgasms,” Erin said.
Honor sputtered out a laugh. Brenna glared at her.
“I can take care of my own orgasms, thank you,” Brenna said.
“Not the same thing at all and you know it. And it’s more than the orgasms I’m after.”
“You want everyone in town to know you’ve moved on, that you’ve got a guy and you’re having the time of your life and not thinking about Owen at all.”
She looked over at Honor and nodded. “Exactly.”
“I can understand that. You’re hurt and you don’t want people to feel sorry for you. I think it’s more that people are hurting for you.”
“I don’t want that, either. I just want to go back to the way things were—without Owen, of course.”
She sighed. She had to go to the condo and get her stuff, then figure out how to get out of the lease. No, she’d let Owen figure that out. He caused this mess, he could deal with the condo. Or live in the condo by himself. She really didn’t care what he did.
All she wanted was to have some fun. Why was that too much to ask?
“You know what I think?” Brenna asked.
“No, but I’m sure you’ll tell me.”
“I think you should do whatever makes you happy. If you want to have a fling, go have a damn fling. Go have wild monkey sex. Burn bright, little sister. You damn well deserve it after what Owen did to you.”
Erin blinked. This was