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"Girls! You made it!" she called as alked in

I turned in the space, taking it all in at once The house was al outward Deep any wood floors spread out beneath us, and the clean lines of the walls contrasted beautifully Jillian’s personal taste was a comfortable modern, and the colors in the house reflected the colors of the surrounding hillside: warreens, rich earthy browns, soft muted creams, and hints of deep marine blue

Al advantage of the spectacular view The ht danced on the water in the bay, and in the distance you could see the lights of San Francisco

Tears sprang to my eyes as I saw the home she and Benjamin had created for themselves and as I looked back at her, I saw the exciteed ushed to Jillian as a waiter brought us each a glass of chale, the three of us made our way out onto one of the many terraces to take stock Waiters passed trays, and as we munched on roasted prawns and sipped our bubbly, we scanned the crowd for anyone we knew Of coursein a bit of work tonight, but right noas content to eat my fancy shrimp and listen to Sophia and Mimi size up the ht over there--no, no, wait, he’s taken by another cowboy Moving on" Miot hiht, Mimi!" Sophia squealed in a whisper

"Where, where?" Mi her lass of bubbly as the waiter passed

"Inside--see? Right over there by the island in the kitchen, black sweater and khaki pants? Jesus, he is a tall drink of water…H her eyes

"With the curly brown hair? Yes, I could definitely ith that," Miet acquired "Look how tall he is Noho is that yu to? If that bi an eyebrow until the alleged bi us a clearer shot of the man in question

I looked as well, and as a path opened up, we could now see both of the chattingTall and broad--linebacker shoulders alhed his face lit up Yeah, he was exactly Mientleman had wavy blond hair that he constantly pushed behind his ears He wore bookish glasses that really worked for hi, aleeky gorgeous, and Sophia drew in a quick breath at the sight of him

As we continued to watch the scene unfold, a third man joined them, and we all smiled Benjamin

We headed for the kitchen immediately to say hi to our favorite hted to have Benjalanced at the two as they simultaneously worked themselves over Mimi surreptitiously pinched both cheeks, a la Scarlett O’Hara, and I saw Sophia sneak a quick boob prop These poor guys didn’t stand a chance

Benjaht of us on our way across to hiuys opened their circle to let us in, and Benja

"My three favorite girls! I ondering when you were going to turn up Fashionably late as always," he teased, and we all giggled Benjairls

"Hi, Benjamin," we said in unison, and it struck els at thatas well, perhaps waiting for an introduction as the three of us just stared at Benjaed to perfection: wavy brown hair, just barely beginning to silver by his temples; jeans, a dark blue shirt, and pair of old cowboy boots He could have walked right off a Ralph Lauren runway

"Allow me to make some introductions here Caroline works with Jillian, and Mimi and Sophia are her, oh, what do you call it--BFFs?" Benja you the lingo, daddy-o?" I laughed and extendedGuy "Hi, I’ulfed onna lose her mind with this one His eyes were full of fun as he smiled down at me

"Hey, Caroline I’ over his shoulder at Glasses

"Thanks, remind me of that next tiood-naturedly and extended his hand to reen his eyes were If Sophia had kids with this guy, they would be illegally beautiful

I made sure to handle the continued introductions as Benjaan to san their little getting-to-know-you dance Neil spotted soet your pretty-boy ass over here and ," I heard a voice say behind roup

The first thing I saas blue Blue sweater, blue eyes Blue Beautifully blue Then I saw red as I recognized who belonged to the blue

"Fucking Wallbanger," I hissed, frozen on the spot

His grin slid off as well as he played place-the-face for a htie Girl," he finally concluded He gri as the air literally turned electric between us, snapping and crackling

The four behind us had fallen silent, listening to this little interchange Then they caught up

"That’s Wallbanger?" Sophia screeched

"Wait a hed, and Miht red as I processed this information, and Siht in the hallhen I’d banged on his door and ler and yelled at hihtie Girl!" I choked out, beyond pissed Beyond angry Well into Furious Town I stared at hi all of hts and lost Os and cold showers and banana thrusting and merciless wet dreams went into that one look

I wanted to level hi for mercy But no…Not Sias

Chapter Six

WE STOOD STARING AT EACH OTHER, waves of anger and annoyance pinging back and forth between us We glared, he with the smirk and allery had fallen silent again, along with every other guest in the kitchen I looked pastwith Benja why her protégé was squaring off in the

Wait a minute--how the hell did she know Simon? Why was he even here?

I felt a tiny hand on er You don’t need to go nuclear at Jillian’s, ’kay?" she whispered, s shyly at Si him joined by our hosts

"Caroline, I didn’t realize you knew Si her hands together

"I wouldn’t say I know hih clenched teeth Mimi danced in a circle around us like a little kid with a secret

"Jillian, you won’t believe this but--" she started, her voice bubbling over with barely concealed mirth