Accounting for Cole (Natural Beauty) by Holley Trent Page B

grin and batted my eyelashes like a coquette. “That’s too bad. I don’t have a change of clothes here. Sorry to disappoint.”
    She gave my suit a long glare and her upper lip rolled back.
    I was certain I was off the hook, and did a little jubilant bounce to celebrate.
    Beth cocked her head to the side and narrowed her eyes. She sucked in a breath, and on the exhale, whined, “Damn, that thing’s ugly. Who buys puce anything besides you?”
    I rolled my eyes, thinking Here we go again. “It was the last suit of its kind on the rack, so obviously someone .”
    Gretchen sighed and lifted her auburn ponytail from her breast, studying the ends. “Suckers. All of you. The suit doesn’t matter anyway. Everyone’s going to look at me, because I’m pretty, and Beth because she has big tits. I don’t think anyone is going to pay you any attention, Macy.”
    “Why don’t you just kick me in the head?” I put my shoulder to the outer door and pushed.
    Beth followed on my heels and emitted a dry chuckle. “A-heh. Don’t mind Gretchen, sweetie. You know she’s never had a well-functioning filter.”
    The door clicked shut behind us, and I turned my head to find that Gretchen had followed us out into the sunshine, too.
    “Come on,” Gretchen said. “Do you want us to beg? We asked Nikki to drive us but she broke her accelerator foot.”
    Lucky Nikki.
    We were at the corner now, and I pulled the mailbox flap down and tossed my pile of envelopes into the maw. “Nice to know I’m not even your first choice third wheel,” I grumbled.
    They didn’t have a response to that. They just followed me in silence back to my office, then stood a respectful distance away as I retook my seat at the computer. I had some e-mails to respond to.
    After about three minutes of typing, I’d gotten into a groove and almost forgot the ladies were there.
    Beth cleared her throat. “Look, Macy. Truth is, if you don’t take us, we can’t go. Marko said Gretchen can’t go out unsupervised anymore after that last stunt, and I don’t count as an adult influence. We even asked Nikki’s assistant Trinity, but she was supposed to go to the beach this weekend.”
    Lucky Trinity.
    Fortunately for my immaculate criminal record, I hadn’t been present for the stunt that got Gretchen put on spousal probation. I hadn’t wanted to know all the gruesome details, but the snatches I caught anyway seemed to indicate Gretchen had committed a little act of public nudity in a sacred place.
    I forced out a ragged breath and closed my e-mail software, eyeing both women in turn. Beth looked hopeful, Gretchen expectant.
    “Hey, I know we annoy the shit out of you, and have since elementary school,” Beth said with a cringe. “But there’s only a few people we trust to keep us on the straight and narrow, and one of you dropped a bowling ball on her own foot last week.”
    Raking my bangs back from my eyes, I stared at Gretchen, who chewed on one of her immaculate cuticles, then Beth, who finally had the good sense to look apologetic. They were like helpless puppies in a way. I felt sorry for them.
    “Dammit.” I snatched my keys from the corner of my desk, and stood. If anyone deserved pity at the moment, it was me. I would have rather been shredding seven years of tax returns than spending an evening babysitting the two most unpredictable women in Chowan County.
     

CHAPTER TWO
    As I’d feared, Club Sapphire was hot, loud, and crowded.
    We managed to wrangle ourselves a table near the stage only because Beth had an eagle eye and absolutely no qualms about squatting. The table we nabbed was obviously occupied by a group whose anchor wasn’t smart enough to hold her pee until her absent companions returned from the bar and dance floor. We had been seated an entire three minutes when the obvious leader of our competition returned with an unopened bottle of champagne tucked under her arm, and a little digital camera gripped in her right hand.
    Even