me, right? How many times do we have to go over this? You’re gorgeous. They’re hot. They both want to fuck you. Now shut up, or I’ll have Callie stop the car and I’m coming back there and slapping you.”
She couldn’t help it. She giggled at the visual of Blair climbing over the center console in her skintight dress and wrestling with her. And once she started giggling, she couldn’t stop. Blair started to laugh, then Callie joined in. By the time they reached the front entrance of the country club, she had at least relaxed enough to stop hyperventilating.
But now they were here, and she had to actually get out of the SUV and walk in there like she knew what she was doing. Like she was some worldly woman who did this all the time.
Right. Some worldly woman. She didn’t even date—hadn’t had a date since . . . Chad.
“Why did I agree to this stupid bet?” Abby asked as she stepped out of the vehicle.
“Because you desperately need to get laid,” Blair whispered, wrapping her shawl around her tight red dress.
“We all do,” Callie added, stepping up on the other side of Abby. Abby glanced over at Callie, her one calming presence. Blair was flash and fire. Callie was serenity and common sense. Just looking at her made her feel better.
“I’m going to lose you as soon as we walk in the door tonight,” Abby said, eyeing Callie’s cream silk dress that clung to her generous curves like a second skin. “You look so damn beautiful.”
Callie grinned. “I’m so excited to be here. Hell, honey, we all work so damn hard. This is our chance to party. And your chance to shine, to shake off the remnants of Chad and all that hard work you’ve put yourself through. Go strut your stuff.” She pushed Abby ahead of her, and she and Blair took up right behind her.
Steeling herself, Abby sucked in a breath and stepped through the doors of the club, feeling the strength of her girls behind her.
She could do this. She would. She wanted it and needed it. If nothing else happened tonight, she was at least going to party her ass off.
Silverwood Country Club was the it place in town. The elite belonged here, and it showed. Elegant, tasteful, yet ritzy as hell, from the marble floors to the crystal chandeliers to the brass handles on the doors and the dark paneling on the walls. Everything spoke of money, money, money.
Abby felt out of place. She knew Chad frequented the club, but this just wasn’t her thing. She wasn’t a party girl. She was a sundress or blue jeans and tank top and no shoes, sit on a swing on the front porch and sip iced tea and watch the stars kind of girl. Not dress up and be someone she wasn’t.
She stopped dead in her tracks and turned around.
“I can’t do this.”
Blair hit her with a determined look. “Yes you can.”
She shook her head. “I can’t. This isn’t me. You know me, Blair. This isn’t me.”
“Abby. Look at me.”
She turned to Callie. “I can’t, Callie. Please. You know.”
Callie nodded. “I know, baby. He hurt you. He made you believe you were worthless, but he was full of shit. You wear that dress like you were born to walk a runway in it. And you might not feel like yourself in it, but you look like a million bucks.”
“But it’s not me, Callie. You know it’s not me. I feel like a fraud.”
Callie grabbed her hands, her fingers warm and comforting. “You know what? Sometimes it’s okay to play the part of the fairy princess. Just for one night.”
“Abby! Just in time!”
Oh, God. Seth’s voice. Her heart just about exploded out of her chest. She cast a look of abject panic at Blair and Callie, who grinned. Callie’s fingers slipped away, and she backed off. Abby had no choice but to turn around.
Some friends they were, deserting her in her time of need.
Seth came toward her dressed in a dark gray suit, light gray shirt, and midnight blue silk tie. His eyes widened.
“Wow,” he said with a wide grin. “You look incredible.”
Instead of shaking her hand, he wrapped one strong, warm arm around her waist and pulled her against him for a hug. Oh! He was damn firm, too, his body all chiseled muscle as she instinctively grabbed for his bicep. The last guy she’d been held against had been Chad, and he didn’t