Lydia looked intrigued. Crystal had a feeling this was like a real-life soap opera playing out in front of her boss. “So who is this guy? You haven’t mentioned that you were seeing anyone.”
“It’s Mark DeStudo—er . . . DeSanto,” Mia blurted out before Crystal could stop her.
“Nooo!” Lydia gaped. “Not Mr. Big!”
“Mr. Big?” Gwen asked as she finished her pizza and laid a hand on her baby bump.
Lydia giggled, fanning herself. “That’s what I call him. I swear, he reminds me of Mr. Big from Sex and the City. You know, in the first episodes when Chris Noth was younger. He’s all tall, dark, brooding, and he flipping rocks those power suits.” Then her eyes widened as she asked reverently, “Oh, my God, have you really slept with him?”
Crystal’s mind was still stuck on how accurate the Mr. Big analogy was when Mia elbowed her. “The woman asked you a question, Crys, and since I’ve already let the cat out of the bag once, I’ll let you take this one.” She had managed to tell Mia, Gwen, and, of course, Ella, about her first sexual encounter with Mark, but that was the extent of it. Even though she was friends with Lydia, she’d been hesitant about sharing it with her. She hadn’t wanted to upset the other woman since she was still mourning the loss of her fiancé. Now it looked like she didn’t have a choice.
“Um—yeah, I have. I mean it’s not serious between us or anything. Actually, I don’t know what it is,” she admitted.
Lydia propped her head in her hands and gave her a sappy smile. “Was it good?” Before Crystal could answer, Lydia slapped her forehead dramatically. “What am I saying? Of course it was! That man is like a walking G-spot stimulator.”
Mia started cackling so loud, Crystal was afraid she was going to pass out. Her face turned an alarming shade of red before she finally managed to take a breath. “You’re my new best friend, Lydia,” she managed to wheeze out. “That was brilliant!”
Lydia looked tickled with the compliment and did a fist bump with her new BFF. “Honey, I just call ’em like I see ’em. There’s so much testosterone around Danvers that my hoo-ha is quivering some days.” Pointing at Gwen, she shook her head before adding, “And your man and his band of G.I. Joes are prime panty-melting material. I don’t know how you normally function because I’d be resorting to humping his leg or something during the workday.”
Instead of looking offended, Gwen raised her glass of tea in a salute and chimed in with “Hear, hear. Don’t I know it. You should try to live with a man who looks the way he does naked. I’m in perpetual heat.”
Crystal could only gawk at her boss. Here she’d been avoiding talking about men in front of her out of respect for her feelings, and she was now finding out that the woman was something of a pervert. It was the best news she’d had all day! Deciding to test her theory, she asked, “So, Lydia . . . if you had to pick a favorite from the hot men of Danvers, who would it be? Don’t be shy—Gwen won’t beat you up if it’s Dominic, and I’ll certainly understand if it’s Mr. Big.”
Lydia pursed her lips, and then looked around the crowded restaurant as if to make sure that no one was listening to their conversation. Lowering her voice she said, “All right, please don’t repeat this, but Jacob Hay makes me weak in the knees. I swear I’d agree to have the man’s children, clean his house, and drive a freaking station wagon if he said the word.”
“Who’s that?” Crystal asked, racking her memory. “The name sounds familiar, but I can’t place it.”
“Oh, baby,” Mia cooed, “you’ve got great taste there.”
“I don’t know him either,” Gwen admitted. “Do you have any stalker pictures of him like Crystal has of Mark?”
Lydia looked at Crystal in surprise. “I can’t believe you don’t know him if you’ve been watching Mark. Jacob works for him. From what I’ve gathered through my . . . research, he’s the number two man at DeSanto Group.”
“So, Mr. Big, Junior,” Gwen smirked. “I’m liking this a lot. How did you meet him?”
Laughing, Lydia admitted, “It was the whole damsel-in-distress thing. I worked late and then ended up in a deserted parking garage with a car that wouldn’t start. I was on my way back in the building to call my auto club when I ran smack into someone.” Looking slightly embarrassed, she added, “I kind of thought I was being mugged and started screaming for help.”