“I think I know now why neither of us got an invite.” Laura chuckled.
“Listen to me, Laura,” Sophie insisted. “Jan thought she knew what she wanted, but it wasn't the guy who fit into her plan. It was the guy who came out of nowhere and showed her what she was missing, and we all liked her so much better after that because she just learned to take life as it comes. They're going to India for the honeymoon to see some guru or something.”
“Maybe I should go to India,” Laura mused. “Perhaps there are more men out there.”
Sophie laughed. “Just think about it, Laura,” she encouraged. “Stop going for men who look good on paper, or the safe bets, or just settling for losers because you're too frightened to act on a real attraction. Trust me. The best sex I've ever had has been with strangers.”
“You're a bit wilder than I am, Soph,” Laura replied fondly. “I'm a traditionalist.”
“Everyone uses the word ‘traditionalist’ when they mean boring or just plain chicken,” Sophie told her matter-of-factly.
“So I'm chicken,” Laura confessed. “I just don't have whatever it is that makes men go crazy. I don't know how to pout or anything.”
“Pout?” Sophie laughed. “Like a fish? Men don't want a girl who pouts.”
“What do they want then?”
“They want a woman who’s sexy and knows it,” she told her. “They want a woman who knows how to play the game. The chase is part of the fun, so she's got to know how to strike the balance between making him know she's open for business without giving it all away too soon; you know what I mean? That kind of control is sexy.”
“I'm almost one hundred percent positive that you're quoting Cosmo now,” Laura told her.
Sophie burst out laughing. “Of course I am. What do I know about women's power play? We both know that I don't hold back.”
Laura smiled fondly. She and Sophie’d had such fun in college when they were both young and single, although Sophie had always had more luck than her. They would go out together to clubs and bars and while Sophie would be having guys buying her drinks in minutes, Laura would loiter by the doors and wonder how anyone could hit on someone else in a club without feeling the cringe of putting everything out there.
It's because Sophie had it. Laura didn't know what it was exactly, but it seemed to her to be some kind of magical connection that made everything else fade into the background and two people be oblivious to the world around them, because they were so attracted to the other person, that the rest of the world disappeared.
It had seemed to her that Sophie was good at seeking out this connection and entrancing men with her body and eyes. Laura was much more demure in her mannerisms. Maybe it was because whenever she had gone partying in the past, she had gone with Sophie, and how could she compare to her best friend who was slim, blonde, and beautiful in every way?
Not that Laura was unattractive. She, too, was slim, with a fair-sized chest and beautiful dark hair that spilled over her shoulders. She also had gorgeous, deep mahogany skin and these incredible dark eyes with a depth to them and an allure that many men found intimidating, although Laura didn't know this about herself.
It was the length of her naturally thick, dark lashes which did it. It gave her the ability to stop a man in his tracks with a glance, but underneath that gaze was a shy, slightly awkward woman who didn't understand that there was a certain power in that gaze, or if her body was only able to do what her glances could, she would have the ability to devastate men.
“I wish I had your confidence, Soph,” Laura said honestly. “It's not that I'm against the idea of that one wild night with a man, but when I think of myself acting that way—all seductive—I just laugh at myself. I have the sex appeal of a mango.”
Sophie laughed at her. “I've never understood you,” she sighed. “You have no idea how hot you are. Guys in our business classes used to eye you up and down all the time and you were just oblivious. You could have any guy you want and you end up with the James and Rays of this world because you don't know it.”
“I just wish I could meet one good guy,” Laura said longingly. “I wish I could meet just one handsome man with a steady job who didn't bore me to death.”
“You've got to get out there, girl,” Sophie advised. “You're not going to meet him at a card shop or at your mother's house.”
“I don't know,” Laura said playfully. “My mom has got some pretty attractive friends.”
They both laughed. Laura's mother was in her mid-sixties and she'd met most of her current friends at the bingo hall. If Laura was looking for a sugar daddy, she'd probably want to look elsewhere.