A Wildly Seductive Night(11)

Julia nodded. “It surely does, and it is water off this mama duck’s back,” she said, pretending to swipe the drops from her spine.

Spencer tapped the counter. “Look, I’m sure he’s highly entertaining on TV, but no way can we let a guy like that best you.”

“I’ve no intention of that,” Julia said, her tone completely serious as she swept her arm to the counter, gesturing to the laboratory the women had created.

Spencer yanked open the fridge, grabbed the cold water pitcher, and poured a glass. “I’ll be your lab rat. We need to do whatever it takes for you to take JT down.” He drained the glass quickly then leaned against the counter. “What have you got? Lay it on me, because these taste buds are top notch.”

“Give him our Julia Rose,” Charlotte said, using the impromptu name they’d devised for the Jack Rose variation.

Spencer sampled the drink and nodded his approval. “Not bad. I like it, but have you considered a Harvey Wallbanger drink? That’s basically the world’s most underrated cocktail. You could seriously surprise them with a kickass new style of Wallbanger.”

Julia’s eyes widened. A Harvey Wallbanger was a terribly simple drink, but what if she came up with a riff on it? A twist? “Maybe a Wallbanger meets a Screwdriver?” she offered.

Spencer smiled. “And you could call it Drive Her Home and Bang Her.”

Julia cracked up, then checked the time on her phone. “Get a couple of pervy bartenders together and look what happens. We’re all about the dirty drink names.”

“Hey babe, let’s have some Sex on the Beach,” Spencer said to his wife in an over-the-top come-on voice.

“Make my next one a Redheaded Slut,” Julia chimed in, fluffing her hair. Then she shuddered. Never mind the naughty name—Redheaded Sluts were disgusting drinks. “May I never drink Jägermeister, peach schnapps, and cranberry juice.”

“You know that’s what JT would send you in a bar,” Charlotte said.

“But he’s no good at delivering the Screaming Orgasm,” Spencer said, then mimed bending Charlotte over the counter.

“Maybe from you I’d like a Slippery Nipple,” Charlotte said suggestively, then she pursed her lips. “Except . . . all I want right now is a Fuzzy Navel.”

“Hey babe, I’ve got your Fuzzy Navel right here,” Spencer said, wrapping his arms around his wife’s waist and nibbling on her ear.

Then his spine straightened. “Wait. I have an idea.”

Spencer shared his thoughts for a new direction to try, and Julia found herself wondering if the man was onto something.

“On that note, I’ll be testing it out in the lab next time. For now, I’m going to do a little shopping for my wedding anniversary.”

“Ooh, what are you going to get your hubby?” Charlotte asked.

Julia shrugged. “I have no idea. But maybe I’ll be inspired before I meet him and Carly in an hour.”

Charlotte grabbed a glass from the counter and raised it. “To anniversary inspiration.”

Julia would gladly drink to that. She had no idea what to get.





10





Clay’s daughter tightened the buckles on her pink sparkly Rollerblades, making sure each one was nice and snug. Next, she tugged her elbow pads from her wrists, where they dangled like bracelets, up to her elbows.

Clay patted her knees, already decked out in kneepads. “You’re ready, except for one thing,” he said, from their spot on the bench at the edge of the Central Park skate loop.

“My helmet,” she said, with a grin. “And I know you’re hiding it right now.”

Clay pretended to be surprised by her comment. “I would never hide a helmet.”

“It’s behind your back,” she said, her little hand darting around his side, then behind him, where he’d hidden the purple helmet.

“I can’t believe you tracked it down. You must be a treasure hunter,” he teased, then tucked it on her head, her auburn hair spilling out from underneath.

Carly reached up and fastened the snap, then popped up on her wheeled feet, and assumed a “ta-da” pose. “I’m ready. And today I’m going to beat you,” she said, her eyes glinting.

Clay rose, and while he lacked the knee and elbows pads, he had to set a good example for his girl, so his head was safe and sound inside a black helmet. They were ready to tackle the skate loop together.

Carly loved to skate and had started with roller skates at an indoor rink in Northern California when they’d visited Julia’s sister in the Bay Area a year ago. But Manhattan was better for blades, so after Santa had brought her the pair of pink sparkly ones for Christmas, father and daughter had taken up skating together and aimed to tear up the asphalt in Central Park every weekend.