Read Playing It Safe for Free Online

had with Sabrina last year, but now there’s this new thing with Marisa. But flirting is harmless, right? I mean, it’s not like anything is going to happen between us, so why not just play along and enjoy the ride? If anything, it will provide me with at least a fuck-ton of fantasies to hold me over until I decide to get back into the saddle again. At least that’s what I keep telling myself as I adjust “the boys.”
    “The boys” are what I affectionately call my breasts, and I currently have them showing off some nice cleavage in this dress. Well, the right amount of cleavage and in a totally tasteful manner because I’m not trying to look like a hooker walking the streets. It’s a well-proven fact that men fall under one of two categories: tits or ass men. I felt it was time I find out which one of those two categories Alex falls into. My money is on tits, hence the cleavage.
    The opening itself doesn’t start until seven, but I always arrive at an event I’m handling about an hour earlier to double-check that everything is in place. When I pull into the gallery parking lot at just past six o’clock after dealing with Miami traffic—and if you haven’t had the pleasure of dealing with Miami during rush hour, consider yourself blessed—I’m already in a bad mood.
    It would be important to point out that I have not spoken to Alex since we had that super-flirtatious text exchange a couple of nights ago, so I’m not sure what to expect. We’ve flirted and had witty repartee countless times before, but I’m still not sure how what occurred the other night will affect our friendship. Plus, when you throw Miss Teen USA into the mix, well, I could be facing a clusterfuck of epic proportions.
    I walk in through the back door of the gallery and make my way toward the front of the building where most of the action is already taking place. Sidestepping some of the catering staff and some of my own, I see Lisette talking to Sarah, the gallery’s receptionist. Before I reach them, both of them look up and spot me walking in their direction. Lisette has a grin on her face as she takes in my “ look” for the evening, while Sarah lets out a low whistle.
    “Holy shit, Julia! You look amazing!” Sarah says loudly.
    “Thank you, girlie. You don’t think it’s too much?”
    “Um, no. You’re totally going to be getting digits tonight.”
    I glance over at Lisette, who’s still grinning from ear to ear. “What? Why are you grinning at me like that? You’re freaking me out.”
    “ Niña , with that dress, you’re going to be finding more than Prince Charming tonight. You look fabulous!”
    I roll my eyes, trying to play it off like I don’t care what they think, but let’s be honest, every woman wants to hear they look good. Especially when you’ve put half the goddamn time I did into this ensemble.
    “So,” I say, changing the subject quickly and jumping into organizing mode, “how is everything coming along?”
    In unison, they answer, “Good.”
    I chuckle and shake my head. These two together always give me a good laugh. And when I get them both at a happy hour, I might as well be wearing adult diapers from laughing so hard. Which, by the way, I can neither confirm nor deny that that’s actually happened before.
    “Good. I’m going to do a walkthrough anyway. Lisette, can you come with me?”
    She grabs her iPad from Sarah’s desk, and we head off to double-and triple-check the hell out of this thing before it’s go time. About forty-five minutes later, and after being completely satisfied that things are all good, I duck toward the back of the gallery to use the ladies’ room so I can freshen up. When I’m done, I quickly sashay back to the front of the gallery, where guests are already starting to file in. Normally, I don’t drink at any of these things, but when I’m working an event at the gallery, I do imbibe on occasion because I’ve handled so many events here that it usually runs