Hoping for Love by Marie Force

favor—please don’t mention the news about the store to anyone yet. I don’t want Evan to think that buying the store had anything to do with him, because it didn’t. It was something I wanted for myself.”
    Until Mrs. Gold had shared the good news, Grace hadn’t been aware of just how badly she’d wanted it to work out. Everything about this move felt right to her, and she couldn’t wait to get settled in the cozy apartment upstairs.
    “I certainly get that,” Laura said. “I felt the same way about the opportunity with the hotel. It was all about doing something that I wanted for once. Don’t worry, we’ll keep it between us until you’re ready to tell people.”
    Stephanie nodded in agreement. “Absolutely. That’s your news to share.”
    “Thanks.” Grace was relieved they seemed to understand. “I appreciate that. I feel much better about the idea of spending the winter here knowing you guys will be here, too.”
    “We’ll have tons of fun,” Stephanie promised.
    Laura tossed the lipstick they’d chosen into the basket and steered Grace toward the checkout. “Let’s get out of here. We’ve got to get you ready for a hot date!”
     
    “I’m
not
having sex with him,” Grace protested an hour later as the three women crowded into the small bathroom in her room at the Beachcomber to experiment with hairstyles. Stephanie had produced a box of condoms that she’d bought for Grace on the sly when they were at Gold’s.
    “Just in case,” Stephanie said with a knowing grin as she put them on the counter next to the sink.
    Grace had dropped a hundred dollars on a black silk cocktail dress that her friends assured her was sizzling hot and another fifty on sky-high heels that they said made her legs look a mile long. Since she had absolutely no experience with this stuff, Grace was taking their word for it.
    “Read my lips: I am
not
having sex with him.”
    “You say that now,” Stephanie said, smirking, “but don’t you want to be ready, just in case?”
    “Define ‘ready.’”
    “How to say this…” Stephanie looked to Laura for guidance. “You know how when you have an important event, you’d shave your legs?”
    “Of course.”
    Laura’s eyes danced with mirth as she apparently got where Stephanie was going.
    Grace wished one of them would clue her in.
    “If there’s any chance you might have sex, you also want to shave…” Stephanie pointed down.
    Grace finally got what she meant and gasped. “Ew, really?
All
of it?”
    “I wouldn’t say
all
,” Laura said diplomatically. “Most would be good. Guys dig that.”
    Grace wondered how she’d managed to live nearly thirty years without knowing this kind of stuff. “They do?”
    “Yep,” Stephanie said, holding up Grace’s razor and pointing at the shower. “Time to tame the beast.”
    Laura busted up laughing, which spurred giggles all around.
    “I don’t think the beast needs taming,” Grace said. “I’m not going to sleep with him.” Maybe if she said it often enough, she’d begin to believe it herself.
    “I sleep with his brother, and I’m friends with his other brother’s wife,” Stephanie said. “Trust me when I tell you the McCarthy powers of sexual persuasion are not to be taken lightly.”
    “Lalala, too much information.” Laura stuck her fingers in her ears. “I don’t want to know this stuff about my cousins.”
    Stephanie rolled her eyes at Laura. “As if it’s news to you.” Giving Grace a nudge toward the shower, she said, “Better to be ready, just in case.”
    The idea of sleeping with Evan filled Grace with excitement and anticipation and anxiety. “Fine, but I’m not having sex with him.”
    “You keep telling yourself that,” Stephanie said, “but I’ll bet you’ll be thanking me tomorrow.”
    Grace eyed the other woman shrewdly. “I’ll take that bet.” She held out her hand. “Twenty bucks?”
    Stephanie shook her hand. “Make it fifty. Laura, you’re our