Read For You for Free Online Page A

the first.
    “It's Wednesday, so happy humpday,” she said.
    I picked up my shot and held it up to clink with hers.
    Grinning, she said, “Shit it!” and tossed back her drink.
    Shit it was a Lana-ism I'd recently learned about. She had no problem the F-word, so it was an odd substitute, but it suited her.
    “Shit it,” I said, tossing back my shot of vodka.
    We chased these shots with another set for good measure. It was Wednesday, after all.
    With the drinks in my system, plus no more pain from my tooth, I was light-headed and free. Giddy.
    I wasn't watching where I was going. On one pass back to the sink, Lana and I bumped into each other spectacularly, and she folded over in a fit of giggles.
    “Don't you love that feeling?” she said between gasps.
    “What feeling? Bruising? Not really.” I was rubbing my hip, where I already had a bruise from the ice machine's unforgiving corner.
    “When your arms get heavy,” she said.
    “I'm not that drunk, just buzzed.”
    She laughed hard and flopped forward like a rag doll. “No, I mean when you laugh so hard your shoulders slump, like you can't bear the weight of your own arms. And then you get that sharp pain behind your ears.”
    “From laughing?”
    She stood up and grabbed me by the shoulders. I was getting used to the constant body contact from Lana, so I didn't pull away.
    She leaned in until the top of her forehead was touching mine and we were eye to eye. “You need to get laid,” she said.
    I humored her with a nod as I pulled my forehead off hers. “Yep.”
    She shook me by the shoulders like I was her play toy. We were standing just inside the room I thought of as a kitchen, but was actually just a dishwashing station and storage for some of the mixes that didn't fit behind the bar.
    She said, “You take off that pretend ring and get yourself a real man. You tell him to put his head between your legs and don't come up 'til you're howling his name loud enough to get all the dogs in the neighborhood barking.”
    “Nice.”
    She released me from her grip. “You're in the good part of your life right now. Don't you feel it? I bet you get wet just thinkin' about kissing a guy. I bet you come in five minutes flat. What do you think about Mr. Tattoos out there. He's always makin' googly eyes at ya.”
    “Sawyer? He's interesting, and I guess he's cute, but I've got Bell to take care of. I can't have a relationship.”
    She snorted. “Who said anything about a relationship? Listen, there's nobody home at my place right now. My son's staying at a friend's tonight, and Curtis is working a double shift. Why don't you use my spare key and take that big hunk of man back to my place? Just one night, to shake you loose.”
    As I demurred, politely, I couldn't remember how much Lana knew, and what lies I'd told to whom. She knew I wasn't married, but did she know Bell was my sister, not my daughter? I wished I'd made some notes, or at least told everyone the same thing.
    “Look at ya! You're quivering with anticipation,” she said, shaking me some more.
    “Lana! You're gonna make me barf.”
    She stopped shaking me and just gave me a stare so ridiculous and serious, I had to laugh.
    “I see a smile,” she said. “Smilin' gets a lot easier when you're getting some.”
    I thanked her as graciously as I could, then backed out through the swinging door, into the dim environment of the bar, where I wasn't so visible.
    The place was filling up with the post-supper crowd, and the music had gotten louder.
    Sawyer wasn't at his table, but leaning with one elbow on the bar. His back was to me, and he was talking to Bruce. I drank in the full length of him, from his muscular calves, to his butt, and his broad, solid shoulders. He wasn't a huge, bulky guy, but he looked strong, and solid.
    The suggestions Lana had made were swirling around my head, sending heat between my legs.
    Sawyer turned his head slowly, like he could sense me standing there, checking him out.
    His