âWHAT DO YOU MEAN you arenât going to have a traditional bachelorette party?â Tina Henderson wiped the perspiration from her neck and nearly bare breasts with a swipe from her towel. âIâve got the most magnificent stripper in mind for the party. Heâs called âThe Bandit.ââ She leaned forward and added in a stage whisper, âAnd heâs hung like a stallion.â
âIâm not going anywhere near some naked male stranger when Iâm about to be married,â Emma Daniels protested vigorously.
âOkay, okay, fine, Emmaâthough itâs too bad since youâre going to be stuck with the same sex partner for the rest of your life.â Tina shuddered.
âJust think how good weâll get at pleasing each other sexually,â Emma said with a confidence she hadnât had months ago, before her cruise of self-discovery. During a little jaunt to the Bahamas, sheâd discovered her sensual self with the help of a handsome boy toy. A man who had turned out to be not just a toy, but Mr. Right.
Except, Tina didnât really believe there was a right guyâ¦only the right guy for the moment. Mr. Right Now. âYou were coming out of your shell so well, having fun, meeting people. When you fell in love you reverted back to your uptight self,â she complained.
âNo, I committed. And itâs amazing.â
But Emmaâs bold talk was spoiled when a man entered the coed sauna and she immediately adjusted her towel to cover her thong.
Sometimes, Emma still acted like the girl next door.
âThis stripperâs amazing,â Tina coaxed. âYouâll regret it if you donât have him at your partyââ she winked ââor just have him.â
âEven you wouldnât do that.â
Tina mopped some sweat off her arm. âBe careful. You know that Iâll do just about anything.â Her attention wandered when a man stripped down to a thong and displayed a rather stunning set of abs.
âHello? Tina, are you paying attention? No stripper. In fact, Iâm having a coed bachelorette party.â
âItâs rather inconvenient, you acquiring a backbone now, when Iâve got my heart set on The Bandit.â
âYour heart isnât set on anything, only your libido.â
âThat hurts.â She shrugged. âBut itâs true. Take that man who just came into the sauna.â
âThe one youâve been drooling over?â
âAbsolutely. My libido is definitely set on that guy.â Tina smiled, and then slowly uncrossed her legs and casually adjusted her thong.
âYou may have to cut short your own little striptease. It appears his girlfriend has come to save him.â
âDamn.â Tina shrugged as the woman settled herself beside the man with a proprietary air.
âYou are so naughty. What have you got against relationships, anyway?â
âHave you seen the divorce statistics? Divorce is what keeps us lawyers in four-hundred-dollar shoes.â She wriggled her manicured toes.
âStop being so cynical. If half of all marriages fail, that means half of them last forever,â Emma insisted. âLook at how understanding Tony was about my fertility problem. Weâre going to last forever, for sure.â
âI guess thatâs the glass-is-half-full way to look at the divorce statistics. And Tony was pretty good about that. Of course, if he hadnât been, I was prepared to do something drastic,â Tina teased. She actually liked it when Emma stood up to her. âBut itâs safer and a whole lot cheaper if you just play the field.â Tina preened for the man whose gaze kept straying to her toned body, despite that he was spoken for.
âI know youâre cynical because of your job,â Emma said, waving off Tinaâs immediate protest, âand because of being bounced around during your childhood. But you had enough faith to put yourself through school, and then make something of your life. Why is it so hard to believe in love?â
âI could love an unlimited supply of designer shoes, I think, although my attention span is woefully short.â
Emma just smiled that annoying Iâm-your-best-friend-who-knows-you-better-than-you-know-your-self smile.
Tina wondered how a loner like herself had ever ended up with a best friend. Emma had sort of snuck up on her.
âHow is Tyler? What kinda cases is he taking these days?â Emma said with another one of those stupid smiles.