"I believe you mentioned it," said Christian, and Kezia smothered a smile. His keen eyes searched her face for clues.
"We got it."
Christian glanced at Bill. "Just as well," he said quietly, then stood up and opened his arms to her, mouth curving in a slow grin that ignited her own.
With a jubilant whoop, she launched herself at him.
Not expecting it, he stumbled and they toppled back into the couch. Suzie shrieked. Kezia found herself splayed across two laps, her skirt rucked up to her thighs.
Face blazing, she struggled to her feet and Christian gave her backside an obliging push. "I love it when you're spontaneous. Reminds me of old times."
None too gently, Bill pulled her away from Christian's lingering hands. "For God's sake, Kezia, what's got into you?"
"What old times?" Suzie asked. Obviously her love of gossip wasn't confined to celebrities.
"We went to high school together." Kezia smoothed her skirt.
"She used to help me with my homework," added Christian, his tone speculative.
Damn, now he was wondering what she'd told Bill about them. Almost imperceptibly she shook her head and his eyes narrowed with intense enjoyment.
"Kez made me the man I am today," he said, and no one missed his meaning.
"I doubt that," said Bill. "She's led a blameless life."
Even to Kezia that sounded dull, and Christian, bless him, laughed. "She may have led one with you," he conceded.
Only Suzie looked satisfied at that one; Bill inflated like an angry bullfrog and Kezia decided exit was the best strategy. She grabbed Christian's arm to steer him toward the door, felt his biceps tighten in resistance. "I get the feeling there's something you'd like to say to me, Bill," he prompted.
"You may have taken advantage of Kezia's innocent trust once, but her friends won't allow you to do so again."
Kezia tried to leaven the threat with humor, "I think I've had enough chivalry for one day thanks, Bill. First I'm dull, now I'm simple-minded. Trust me, if the need arises I can fend Christian off by myself." She pushed but Christian didn't budge. Was the man made of granite?
"Like you did last time?" Bill said sarcastically.
"When you were teenage lovers?" Suzie had no intention of relinquishing this juicy bone. It seemed Kezia had misjudged her breed. Fox terrier suited her better.
"Once and for all, Christian didn't take advantage of me. Strictly speaking it was the other way around." Bill and Suzie looked at her blankly. Obviously she was more boring than she realized. "Nothing, forget it." Kezia renewed her attempts to manhandle Christian to the exit.
"She means to rescue my reputation," he said helpfully, "by confessing to stealing my virginity."
There was a stunned silence while Bill and Suzie struggled to adjust their perception of her. Kezia turned on Christian. "Why the hell did you have to say that?"
"I gave in too easily," he confided to Suzie. "You can tell she no longer respects me."
"Christian!"
"Wow," said Suzie. "The women's magazines would pay thousands for that. 'My First Time' by Christian Kelly."
Kezia felt sick. "Suzie, promise me that information will stay in this room."
"Of course." Suzie gave her the sweetest smile.
Kezia racked her brains to cover all bases. "That means not bringing anyone in here to tell them, either." The other woman's face fell and Kezia grew desperate. "Promise me!"
"Give in, Suzie," suggested Christian. "From personal experience, Kezia doesn't take no for an answer."
Kezia turned on him in a fury. "Will you shut up! And, Bill, stop looking at me as if I've grown horns. Christian was taking my virginity at the same time."
"But, Kezia … " Bill looked like a man who needed to cough up a fur ball " … you've always been so good."
"I couldn't agree more," said Christian.
"Rational, restrained, sensible … "
"Oh, that sort of good." Christian smiled and Kezia looked around the room for something to bludgeon him with. "I was remembering the old model, not the new improved version."
Bill stiffened. "It seems I owe you an apology for maligning you."
"You can buy me a beer at your wedding," Christian said generously. "Your bride has invited me as Kez's date."
"I THINK THAT WENT WELL, don't you?"
Kezia resisted an impulse to swing for him. Her reputation had been tarnished enough without being arrested for assault.
They had paused on the wide concrete steps outside the bank's faux Roman edifice, impressive but for the fact that it had been built to Everton's toy-town scale.
"You always have to have the last word, don't you, Kelly?"
"Pretty much."
"I've got a good mind to make you go to the wedding."
"No, you won't," he said easily. "You're too damn grateful I helped you save your inheritance."
"I guess I am." Kezia leaned against a concrete pillar, her emotions a tangled mess.
"Come here." Christian pulled her into an embrace, and she found herself holding him tight.
"We did it, Kelly, we actually did it."
"Of course."
Laughing, Kezia pushed him away. "I forgive you for embarrassing me. Hey, I'll even buy you a coffee to celebrate your imminent departure."
There was a brief silence, then he said lightly, "My God, you're right. Forget the coffee, this calls for champagne."
"At ten in the morning? In Everton?"
"Live dangerously for once. You might enjoy it."
"Okay, let's be bad." Her inheritance was safe and, with Christian leaving, so was she.
Christian looked intrigued. "How bad?"
"We'll have cake, too."
He raised his eyes at that, and at the sight of the coffee shop, too-a tiny enterprise with only two types of coffee, black or white.
But he was engaging and funny, complimenting the owner on her chocolate cake. Kezia ordered a second piece and thought, I am not compensating for no sex life.
"I can't imagine what you saw in William J. Rankin the Third," Christian told Kezia. "He's way too straight for you."
"Bill has got more earnest with age," she conceded, "but he's loyal, dependable, reliable … "
"My opposite in fact."
"That was an attraction."
"Still, you broke off your engagement."
"Mmm."
"Why?" He wasn't averse to bluntness.
"Do I ask you questions about your love life?"
"Go ahead."
"I prefer to respect people's privacy."
"The first question's free."
She was torn, he could see that. "Okay, a scientific one. Are breast implants cold to the touch?"
"You wouldn't believe how many women ask me that."
"We want them to be cold," she admitted.
"Then they are," he said diplomatically. "My turn. Why did you break off your engagement?"
"Uh-uh. I only agreed to a free question for me, remember?" He grimaced and she relented. "We didn't have enough in common."
Christian sat back. "I knew he'd be lousy in bed."
She got pious, he knew she would. "Sex is not the true barometer of a relationship. Intimacy is far more important."
"Aren't they the same thing?"
"No, they are not."
"Who cares? That the sex was lousy is enough for me."
"Actually the sex was great."
He stared at her. "You're kidding me!"
"For God's sake, how would you feel if I asked you what sex was like with Miss October?"
"Miss September. She got an A for effort, we had very effort-ful sex." She tried not to laugh at that. "Go on, Kez, you know you want to, let loose."
"You're not going to make me snicker at someone else's expense."
"She had more of a whicker, actually," he commented and she exploded into mirth.
"Damn you," she said.
"Did you love him?" He couldn't stop himself asking.
"I only sleep with men I love."
"How ironic," he muttered. "After you, I made a point of sleeping only with women I didn't."
"You started this game," she reminded him softly.
He stood, annoyed with himself. "I'll go pay."
Kezia watched him at the counter, so sharp in his city suit, the old lady was clearly flustered. It had taken years to get over him and yet-he was going, so she could admit it-she was still tempted.
"Okay, Madame Publican, let's go."
With a sense of reprieve Kezia led the way out, nodding to two acquaintances coming in. From the way the women glanced from her to Christian she knew they'd been withdrawing gossip from the bank. She never had secured that promise from Suzie.