Julie looked between Faith and Serena, who stood in her bathroom watching as Julie did her hair.
"And why am I worried so goddamn much about hair?" she muttered. "Like it's not going to get messed up?"
Faith giggled, and Serena just rolled her eyes in the mirror.
"Come on, Julie, it's okay. I'd be terrified," Serena said.
"So says the woman who auctioned herself off—naked—in front of a roomful of horny men," Julie pointed out.
"You want to look good. It's natural," Faith said soothingly. "I wouldn't want to look like a hag in front of men who were seeing me naked."
"Hag?" Julie croaked.
Serena patted her on the arm. "It s just a figure of speech."
Julie set down the comb and the hairspray and sighed. "You know why I'm doing this?"
"Uh, does it have something to do with the naked thing?" Faith asked.
"I saw my ex in the grocery store last night."
"Which ex?" Serena asked.
Julie pinned her with a glare. "Does it matter? He was with his new girlfriend. Okay, he's an old ex. I'm not hung up on him or anything. It was his girlfriend who pissed me off."
"Want me to kick her ass?" Serena asked with a grin.
Julie smooched at her reflection in the mirror. "No, but we can hope she trips and breaks an ankle, can't we?"
Faith laughed. "So what did she do?"
Julie picked up the comb again and pushed at a strand of hair that kept falling over her forehead. "So I'm at the grocery store, I round the corner of the bread aisle, and there he is with Miss Thing on his arm. He smiles and says hello. I smile back and say hello. Miss Thing looks at me once, and she dismisses me like I'm not a threat. Just like that."
"She didn't!" Serena gasped in mock horror.
Julie gave her a mournful look. "I mean, let's face it, most of the time if you're with your guy and you see his ex, you get all prickly. You start sizing her up. Is she prettier than me? Is he looking at her? Was she better in bed? Is he still hung up on her? The claws come out. But no. Miss Thing actually smiled at me. This smug, superior smile that said 'I'm prettier than you, I'm thinner than you, I'll always be better than you.' Then she all but sneered at me when he introduced us and she had this look like, 'he dated you? Really?'"
Faith wrapped an arm around her shoulders and squeezed tight. "Her boobs were probably fake, and I bet her roots were showing."
Julie shook against her with laughter. "God, I love you guys, but damn, can't you let me wallow for two seconds?"
"No wallowing," Serena said stoutly.
"Why aren't I a threat?" Julie asked mournfully.
"I lock Gray down every time you walk into the room," Faith said solemnly.
Julie rolled her eyes. "I wanted to tell her that I could have her man any time I wanted, and that she was probably a cold fish in bed, but then I remembered, she has him, I don't, so that argument wasn't going to cut it."
"Do you want him?" Serena asked archly.
"Hell no, but that isn't the point."
"Did he dump you or did you dump him?" Faith asked.
"I dumped him. Of course."
"Of course," Serena murmured. "Okay then, it's settled. He had to settle for second best, and even now, he's probably drowning his sorrows in a bottle of alcohol while Miss Thing hangs uselessly on his arm."
Julie cracked up laughing. She laughed so hard her mascara smeared. "Damn it, Serena. Now I've got to start all over."
"Don't know why you bother with the stuff," Faith said. "You don't want raccoon eyes during sex."
"Good point," Julie acknowledged. "I'll stick with the basics. Except for lipstick. A woman can never wear too much lipstick."
"Even if they rub it off real quick," Serena snickered.
A few minutes later, Julie took a deep breath and stared back at her friends in the mirror. "Okay, how do I look?"
"Absolutely gorgeous."
"Sensational."
Faith and Serena's voices ran together, and Julie smiled back at them.
"I'm so nervous I could puke. How stupid is that?"
"Not stupid," Serena said. "Just remember, you don't have to go through with it. If you get there and don't feel comfortable, you don't have to do it."
"But if you do, we want all the details later," Faith said with a grin.
Julie hugged them both then shooed them out of her bathroom. "I'm going to be late if I don't get out of here."
Everything was done and arranged. All she had to do was walk inside, and her night of fantasy would begin. But here she sat in her car with sweaty palms like a virgin behind the bleachers with the quarterback.
She and Damon had agreed that Cole would handle her arrival, because having Damon do it? Weird much? She knew Damon's security monitored the rooms with video surveillance, but she'd rather not have a personal relationship with anyone seeing her naked, doing two guys at the same time.
Then again, if she didn't get a move on, she wouldn't be doing anyone.
Excitement skirted up her spine as she got out of the car. Nervous had no place in tonight's activities. She was a confident, sexual woman. She could handle whatever was thrown her way.
Before she could knock, the door opened, and an extremely good looking man smiled back at her.
"Julie?"
She nodded. "You must be Cole."
White teeth flashed as his smile broadened. "Come in, I've been expecting you."
"I hope you aren't the only one."
He laughed as he put his hand to her back to usher her down the hallway. "Indeed not."
She knew from Damon's tour which room would be hers, but it didn't make her any less excited as they went up the stairs. At the end of the upstairs hallway was the common room where anything went. Publicly. There were several private rooms, however, and Cole guided her to the one on the opposite end of the hallway from the common room.
"I'll leave you to undress. I'll be back in a few minutes to blindfold you and see if there's anything else you need before your men arrive."
She couldn't help the grin. Her men. It sounded positively decadent.