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“You need to get laid,” Derek said, settling back in his white wicker chair The old furnishings had been in Jack’s family since the forties, and they creaked a bit under the ht

“Really” Jack tossed his pen and linked his hands behind his head as he studied his caht of nothing but sex Kind of inconvenient for a married man who liked variety

“Really,” Derek replied, his dark eyes unwavering “You haven’t been laid since you and Monique broke up” Derek raised an eyebrow, a crooked smile in place “Why don’t you call her? She’s not stupid, she’d co back in a s

econd if you told her you wanted her She’s just grandstanding Waiting for an apology and truthfully, Jack, I don’t bla James? Your memory that screwed up?”

“Derek,” Jack warned Donovan Ja her with anyone

“I’,” Derek tossed back at him

He’d known Derek McKenzie since fourth grade, and for most of his life, he’d considered Derek to be his best friend They’d shared a lot of firsts together, including the bottle of lein Jack’s father kept at the back of his liquor cabinet They’d sinity within days of each other (to the sairl) They’d attended Harvard, did a tour of Europe and just for the hell of it, took a year off— one that they dubbed danger—to cliles of India and surf the coast of Australia

Hell, for a while there, he’d been like an honorary Sied over the past few years, and the two men weren’t as close as they once were Jack wasn’t exactly sure when it had started, but he knew that sorew apart

Still, Derek McKenzie had a nose for politics like no other, and he was heading up Jack’s bid to become a senator

Derek raked his hands through his thick crop of dark hair and shrugged “I’ood for you five years ago, and she sure as hell would throrench into our can now Jesus Christ, you sahat happened with those pictures a few ot together, and I’onna let that happen”

Again The as unspoken and Jack’s eyes flattened as he watched the play of emotion on Derek’s face He’d never liked Donovan Jack wasn’t exactly sure why, but the two had never gotten along

“Derek,” he repeated, but his caed forward as if he never heard Jack

“She oddamn win in the sack, but she’d be a loss at the polls We both know she’s nothing but an uneducated, backwoods hick who has no talent other than her tits and ass—”

“Enough,” Jack growled and this tiot it

Jack got to his feet and faced the ocean, shoulders tight as hell and anger barely kept in check “You and I are not having this discussion My personal life is hands off and who I choose to spend time with is none of your business You don’t want to push this Derek”