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Rick for answers, ’cause I haven’t a clue.”
    Charlotte pulled her to a stop and turned her around so they were facing one another. Staring intently into her eyes, she asked, “Do you and Russell have a thing going on?”
    She wondered for a moment if her friend’s pregnancy had addled her brains. “I met the man two days ago.”
    Charlotte shook her head. “Not true, you met him at my wedding.”
    Tamara pushed down the urge to roll her eyes at the distinction. “Fine, I re-met the man two days ago.”
    “I slept with Ty the first night we met,” Charlotte retorted in a stage whisper.
    Tamara chuckled. “I sincerely doubt either of you did any sleeping.”
    “Oh hush.” Charlotte was still a bit embarrassed about her whirlwind courtship with Ty, which of course meant that as her best friend, Tamara was required to tease her about it at every given turn. “And answer my question.”
    “No, I haven’t slept, stroked, sucked, or fucked Russell.”
    “Yet?”
    “Don’t go there.”
    “That wasn’t a no.”
    Tamara didn’t need Charlotte to tell her the obvious. She was well aware of everything she’d said and didn’t say. “Let’s just drop this and eat.”
    “It’s dropped all right. For now.”
    “I’m starved,” Tamara said brightly, hoping to drown out Charlotte’s parting words.
    “Then let’s take our seats,” Ty said, gesturing in front of him.
    Tamara knew dinner would only be a brief reprieve and had no doubt she wouldn’t be able to escape Charlotte’s scrutiny forever.
    * * *
    Russell didn’t know why he hadn’t seen it before, but Tamara was quickly becoming the most fascinating woman he’d ever known. She was just as lively at dinner as she’d been the previous night while playing beauty shop with Charlotte. It was becoming increasingly apparent there was nothing she didn’t have an opinion about or felt unable to express. She did it in a joking way that kept her from sounding like a know-it-all and kept them all laughing throughout the meal.
    It was suddenly so apparent why Ty had been desperate to have her come cheer Charlotte up. No one could be around her for long without being infected with her joyous attitude.
    She took to her food with the same gusto he was beginning to see she took to life. Instead of repulsing him, though, it appealed to him. It wasn’t as if she was overeating or anything. Her meal was smaller than his own by far, but she enjoyed her food in a way he hadn’t seen a woman do in years. She savored each bite as if it was a gift. It was refreshing to meet a woman who didn’t calorie count or avoid bread like it was the plague.
    As they waited for dessert to be served, a cool voice spoke from behind him. “Russell, I didn’t know you were in town.”
    From the tone of the voice and the way Ty frowned, Russell knew without a doubt who was behind him. Sandra Hart was the only woman Ty wouldn’t muddy his boots to save from a stampede. She was as bitchy as she was beautiful, but she was damned good in bed, the one and only reason Russell put up with her. Sometimes a man had to let the little head have a say in the decisions the big head made.
    He pushed back from the table and stood, as his momma had taught him as boy, and turned to face the blonde woman. “How are you, Sandra?” He leaned forward and kissed her on the cheek, inhaling her overpowering perfume as he did. There was absolutely nothing subtle about Sandra, not her fragrance, not her low-cut blouse and tight jeans, or that ruby red color staining her lips. She was vulgar in the sleaziest of ways, and normally, he adored it.
    Normally.
    “Other than being a bit peeved you haven’t called me, I’m fine.” She pouted prettily. That one little look of hers spoke volumes of the retribution Russell would have to pay in order to get back in her good graces. Not that he wanted to. He was a bit over them. “If I knew you were coming here, I could have accompanied you instead of