“Her name is Rose Marie?”
“Yes, after Jack’s mother. Rose Marie was my friend. She died a couple of years ago. As a matter of fact, it was at her funeral that Jack started to get closer to me. I’d only just met Ethan, and I didn’t meet Adam until that day.”
“That didn’t freak you out a bit?”
Grace beamed and shook her head. “Not really. The chemistry was there from the beginning. They saved me from a bad situation with an ex-boyfriend. It didn’t take them long to have me eating out of their hands, though.”
They zipped down the highway toward Morehead, the breeze blowing in their hair, and talked the whole way. Maya was pleasantly surprised when they pulled up in front of a pristinely kept little boutique housed in a lovely, restored, Victorian-era home.
When Grace had told her they were visiting an adults-only ladies’ boutique Maya had not known what to expect. This was lovely. The structure was painted an unusual muted shade of blue and trimmed in pale yellow. Baskets of periwinkles hung in intervals along the deep front porch.
“Wow.”
“It’s lovely, isn’t it? I love it here. Wait till you see inside,” Grace said as they climbed from the convertible. “Welcome to Discretion, Maya.” Grace opened the front door and stepped inside.
A lively conversation was going on inside the boutique, which was like a wonderland of every sort of kink, passion, and perversion she could imagine.
A lovely, voluptuous blonde with a rosy blush in her cheeks said, “I can’t believe I was ‘the other woman’ in his harem fantasy! I was mortified when his wife called me to let me know she was okay with it.”
A tall, gorgeous brunette replied, “Maybe he wanted a ménage and was trying to ease you into it by giving her your number.”
The blonde rolled her eyes and said, “Trust me, if I’m ever in a ménage, all parties will be on the same fricking page, not to mention the fact that they’ll all know each other to begin with.”
Grace giggled and whispered, “Oh, crap. What now?”
“So you put all his shit on the front yard and had a rummage sale?” the brunette said from where she sat behind an antique lingerie display cabinet. The imposing display piece served as a sales counter, which housed delicates of every color, style, and fabric imaginable behind glass.
The blonde who stood folding lingerie at the display cabinet replied, “I did. He left for his supposed business trip, and I went on a tear. I sold it all, too. At rock-bottom prices. Hi, Grace!”
“Hi, everyone. This is Maya Daire. Maya, that is Rachel Wolf behind the lingerie counter, and this is Summer Heston. She and her sister, Margot, own Discretion.”
Another brunette appeared in the door that led to the rear of the shop, and Grace said, “This is Teresa Martinez.”
The brunette approached and held out her hand to Maya. The others greeted her, and she was swept into the conversation as though she’d known them for years. At the moment there were no customers in the boutique.
“What did he say when he came back?” Rachel asked Summer as they went back to their tasks. Rachel had a laptop set up on the counter and appeared to be doing the shop’s books.
“I handed him a check for the full amount I made on the yard sale and told him to get the hell off of my property.”
“You’re not worried he’ll sue you for selling his stuff?” Teresa asked.
Summer chuckled. “Are you kidding? He cried and begged me to take him back. He couldn’t understand why, if his wife was willing, I wouldn’t be interested in him anymore. Mind you, I wouldn’t mind being the meat in the middle of a man sandwich, but I’ll be damned if I’m going to share a man, especially one with no backbone. I finally called the police. Where do I find these two-timing assholes?”
Rachel spoke up and said, “I’m glad you gave him the boot. He wasn’t nearly good enough for you. I hope he doesn’t sue you.”
“Pish! He can go for it. His stuff wasn’t worth that much. I could pay the cost of small claims court and still break even with the fun of selling all his junk and then seeing the look on his face when I handed him the check.”
Grace showed Maya around the shop, and Maya asked questions about their involvement.
“Teresa is a born saleswoman. She works in the store with Summer. Rachel does the books and handles online orders and Discretion’s website maintenance. I hang out and help with merchandising and the display cases.”
Summer added, “Plus, they’re all invested in Discretion. Juliana’s not here, otherwise you could meet her as well. She helps Margot with buying and is at market in Dallas with her right now.”