Free A Rare Gift by Jaci Burton Page B

laughed, which was exactly what she needed. “How about a girl’s night out?”
    “Sounds fabulous,” Tori said. “What do you have in mind?”
    “Food and lots of margaritas.”
    “Bingo. I’m so game for that.”
    They made plans to meet at one of their favorite Mexican restaurants in town. She put on makeup, dressed in a pair of her tightest jeans, put on high-heeled boots, then slid into a sexy silk top instead of her day care center sweatshirts.
    Tonight, she intended to party.
    El Partido was a popular restaurant, especially on the weekends. In a small town, entertainment was limited. You went out to eat, you hit a bar, or you went to the movies. Though there was also bowling and ice-skating if you were in the mood for those activities.
    Calliope was in the mood to drink, and she knew Tori was always game for a fun night on the town. They started out with a top-shelf margarita, settled in at the bar and waited for their name to be called for their table. Judging by the long line out front, it could be a while.
    “I haven’t seen you in like…forever,” Tori said, her long earrings grazing her neck as she twisted her barstool around while juggling the oversized drink. “I’ve missed you.”
    “I’ve missed you, too. I’m sorry we haven’t gotten together. I’ve been busy.”
    Tori lifted her brows. “Yeah? Busy doing what? Or should I ask…whom?”
    “What do you know, or what do you think you know?”
    Tori gave an innocent bat of her lashes. “I just know Wyatt has been a lot less grumpy lately. He even smiled. He might have cracked a joke. We thought the world was ending.”
    Calliope’s lips curved. “Well, good for him.”
    “And you’re saying his good mood over the past few weeks has nothing to do with you.”
    Calliope shrugged. “I’m not responsible for his moods.”
    “Uh oh. He’s pissed you off. What did he do?”
    “Nothing. He’s not responsible for my mood, either.”
    “What a crock. Tell me everything.”
    She did, starting with the first night and every night since.
    Tori leaned an arm against the bar and sipped her margarita, her expression changing as the story went on. By the time Calliope finished, Tori was frowning.
    “What an ass.”
    “He has a right to his space.”
    “Bullshit. He sees you every night, and then suddenly blows you off with no explanation other than working on his car and some vague ‘other stuff to do’? No. There’s something else going on.”
    “He’s not seeing anyone else. It practically took an act of Congress for him to have sex with me.”
    Tori snorted and signaled for a refill on their drinks. “Isn’t that the truth? That man had a serious dry spell going. Hence his three-year bad mood. Thank God you came along and ended that.”
    “Yeah.”
    “So how’s the sex?”
    “Tori!”
    Tori straightened in her seat. “What? I want to know how the sex is. Wyatt’s gorgeous. Virile. Studly.”
    Calliope took the fresh margarita from the bartender and licked a spot of salt from the rim. “Yum.”
    “The drink or the man?”
    She smiled. “Both.”
    “So he’s good, right?”
    “I wouldn’t be sitting here pissed off at him if he wasn’t.”
    “That’s what I figured. I always knew he had some deep, smoldering sexuality simmering under the surface of that testy exterior.”
    “I’m surprised you even notice given the hots you have for Brody.”
    “I do not have the hots for Brody. At. All.”
    “You. Lie.”
    “First, I work for him. Second, I’ve known him since I was like…sixteen. Third…”
    Calliope waited while Tori tried to come up with another objection.
    Instead, Tori took a drink and Calliope laughed at her.
    “What?”
    “Why haven’t you ever done anything about it?”
    “About what?”
    “Brody.”
    Tori rolled her eyes, then set her drink down and fiddled with the bracelets on her arm. “I am never doing Brody. We are not meant to be. The man gets on my last nerve. He’s egotistical, loud,