“Well, it’s not. He had no idea it was me. In fact, he was kind of a jerk until he figured it out.”
“A jerk?”
“He’s kind of…” I sigh. I don’t really want to talk about this part even though I know that I need to, at least with Mer. Besides, if there’s one thing that worries me the most about Gray—other than the fact that he’s not going to be around for a very long time—it’s that he has money. He has lots of money. He deals with people who have money. He deals with people I can’t stand. He deals with people who would rather see me dead than draw another breath.
Okay. So there’s lots of things that worry me about Gray. They all stem around his money, though.
“Earth to C! Hello, can you hear me?” Mer asks, waving her hand in my face like an idiot.
“Stop that.” I knock her hand out of the way. “He has money, Mer.”
“So? That’s good, honey. Geez, you had me thinking that he had herpes or something.”
“You don’t get it. He’s here on business.”
“C, I hate to break it to you, but not everyone in the world holds down a job that keeps them in one place. This is good. That means he can come visit you when he’s on the road, and…”
“He’s here on business to meet with David Riverton.”
“Flucking hell.”
“Yeah.”
“Does he know what a butt-munch the man is?”
“Probably not, but then again, Gray has money. I imagine good old Dave is much nicer to him than he has ever been to me.”
“That wouldn’t be hard to do. I’m sorry, C.”
“It can’t be helped.”
“I’m proud of you.”
“For what?”
“Well, this guy works with Riverton, and yet you’re not kicking him to the curb. You get major props, lady. He’s either special to you or he’s got one hell of a…”
Even before she finishes the sentence, I know what she’s going to say. I squirm in my chair because I might have sounded giddy, but I don’t do this female sharing thing easily—even with Mer.
“Oh. My. God,” she says. I’m looking down at my shoes, and even though I know I’m in trouble, I’m still surprised when she continues. “Claudia Cooper! You got a hold of the holy grail.”
I look up, side-eyeing everyone around us to see if they are paying attention to Mer. Thankfully, they don’t seem to be. “Mer!” I grumble.
“You did, didn’t you? You hooker!”
“What are you talking about?” I ask, almost afraid of what she’ll say next.
“The three-peater.”
“The what?” I ask, having no idea what she’s talking about. Though he usually does give me three orgasms before he’s done—that I’m not going to discuss with her at the diner.
“Here ya go, ladies,” the waitress says, thankfully interrupting our conversation. We spend the next few minutes arranging our food, and just when I think we’ve finished this whole conversation, Mer starts back up.
“A three-peater. That means he has brains,” she says, holding a finger up. I nod because Gray is extremely smart and witty, it’s one of the things I really like about him. “He has money, or at least a steady job so you don’t have to keep his ass up,” she continues, holding a second finger up. I don’t respond because I figure she knows that. “And finally, he has at least seven inches when you take a ride on the man train.”
“You did not just say that,” I gasp, knowing I’m blushing from head to toe now. I look all around us, just knowing everyone has heard what she said.
“I did, and from your reaction, I can tell the answer is affirmative. So how much are we talking here?”
“Will you stop? Honestly, Mer, I am not answering that at all. No way.”
“So more than seven?”
“Oh my God! Who are you and what have you done with my quiet, kindergarten school teaching friend?”
“Answer the question and I’ll let it drop.”
“I will not.”
“Fine, I’ll just ask him when I see you two out together.”
“You would not!”
“Try me. Now are you going to give the deets or what?”
“I have no idea!”
“Bullshit!”
“It’s true! I haven’t exactly taken the time to measure it.”
“Measure what?”
I look up at the question to see Mer’s sister Valerie standing at our table. Christ! That’s all I need. Crosstown has three methods of communication: telephone, telegraph, and tell Valerie. Seriously, when you need something spread around town, all you have to do is let Valerie know and it’s all over this town and two counties over by nightfall.