Sporting (Unleashed Romance #3) - Kylie Gilmore Page 0,16

the thing on Saturday with your demo. Not next Saturday, three Saturdays from now. If you weren’t busy.”

“If by Saturday thing you mean the Fall Harvest Festival for our karate demo, then yes.”

She waves him away. “That’s all we needed to know, thanks and have a good night.”

He shifts closer to Audrey, his voice lowering. “I get the feeling you’re avoiding me lately.”

“Nope,” she says to his chest. “Not at all.”

He glances at me, and I face front as though I’m not listening. Just sipping my martini here, taking in the delightful sounds of ladies’ night. There’s a group of women knitting to my left, talking and laughing. I almost wish I could ask them to lower the volume to help with my eavesdropping.

Drew’s voice is gruff. “It’s been since last New Year’s Eve. Nine months now. That’s enough time to get over whatever you need to get over.”

I can’t resist peeking.

Audrey’s face flushes red with anger, her eyes flashing. “There’s nothing to get over. Nothing whatsoever, and there never will be.” She turns away and lifts her hand to the bartender, Betsy, gesturing for another glass of wine.

Drew stands there for a moment, staring at her, but she refuses to look at him. “Right.” He turns and walks stiffly back to his table.

I wait until Audrey has her wine. “What’s the deal with him? Come on, Aud, you can tell me. You know I’m on your side.”

She stares at the bar, her brow furrowed. “Just drop it. Seriously.” She takes a healthy swallow of wine and turns to me with a smile plastered on her face that’s not fooling me for a minute. “I’m not dating anyone until I know they’re Mr. Right. So if that means I’m single for the rest of my days, so be it.”

“So you don’t want him anymore? You’re really moving on?”

She traces a circle on the bar top, her eyes downcast. “I want Mr. Right.”

“What if there is no Mr. Right? What if there’s only a Mr. Almost Right and needs some training?”

She laughs a little. “Like a puppy.”

I smile. “Exactly like that.”

Her lips form a flat line, her expression grimly determined. “I’d prefer if another woman trained him, dumped him, and then he came to me fully ready to be my Mr. Right.”

I sigh. “That’s the dream, isn’t it?”

Sydney pokes her head between us. “Hello, ladies, what’re we discussing?”

I turn to her. “Well-trained men.”

She beams. “Oh, man, did I luck out in that area. Wyatt grew up with three sisters. Not only is he savvy to PMS, he always puts the toilet seat down.”

We laugh.

“Jenna and I were talking about much better training than that,” Audrey says. “The kind of guy that positively radiates Mr. Right. Like you just know right away.”

Sydney shakes her head. “Didn’t happen that way for me. Seriously, unless Right is his last name, I don’t think that exists.”

I hitch a thumb toward Audrey. “It’s what she’s waiting for.”

Sydney opens her mouth and then closes it again, probably refraining from mentioning Drew. We both want Audrey to move on. It’s just been too long. “I hope you find it, Aud.” Sydney throws an arm around her in a quick hug. “You should get back out there.”

Audrey groans.

I take pity on Audrey, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. “Does it get any better than this? Drinks with my girls on a crisp fall night. I love this time of year.”

Sydney leans across Audrey to look at me. “Okay, now you’re scaring me. What happened to jaded Jenna?”

“Can’t I just enjoy the fall?”

She studies me for a moment. “You hooked up with someone, didn’t you?” She turns to Audrey. “She has that freshly fucked look on her face, right?”

Audrey turns to me, her brows shooting up, a question in her eyes. She knows who it could be. She turns to Sydney. “Nope. That’s not her freshly fucked look. That’s her happy with my business look.”

Sydney and I both laugh. It’s always funny to hear prim librarian Audrey use the F word. She’s not really prim, she just looks the part. A lot.

Audrey sighs. “Must you always laugh when I speak frankly? I’m not a prude.”

“Frankly,” Sydney and I echo before cracking up.

“What’s all this noise?” a masculine voice demands.

My gaze collides with Eli’s, his hazel eyes sparkling with amusement even as he keeps a stern expression on his face. A shimmer of excitement radiates through my entire body, making every nerve ending tingle; even my stomach flutters. It’s only Eli