Free Magic of Three by Jenna Castille Page A

Lisa to meet her gaze. “Come on. Two incredibly hot guys wanting you at the same time. Win-win situation if you ask me.”
     
    “Well, I didn’t ask,” Lisa snapped, reaching the end of her personal comfort level. What kind of woman thought about this kind of thing, let herself get turned on by it? She liked sex, enjoyed her body. But something had to be wrong with these thoughts, these fantasies. She might not be a Puritan but a woman had to set some personal limits. Right? “And it’s not like it’s going to happen now. I said they flirted, not that they gave me their numbers.”
     
    “Too bad,” Janice sighed, not a little wistful. But the dreamy expression didn’t last long. She jabbed a finger at Lisa, sending her coffee cup wobbling. “Next time jump on it. You’re single. You don’t have to answer to anyone. You’re a consenting adult. And you’re one of my most sexually liberated friends. You’re disappointing me. I’m setting out into the jungle of singlehood again and my role model’s going all uptight on me. Stop it.”
     
    Lisa narrowed her eyes. She couldn’t believe Janice thought of her like that. Role model? Sexually liberated? What kinda shit was that to dump on a friend? “Just because I don’t believe in depending on anyone else for my sexual pleasure doesn’t mean I sleep around all the time,” she snapped, temper crackling just beneath her skin. “I’ve experimented, yeah. After being married to the asshole for so long I deserved to break out some, try out my wings. Doesn’t mean I went hopping at every crooked finger either. And it doesn’t make the whole mating ritual a damned bit easier.”
     
    A soft frown formed between Janice’s puzzled eyes. “Hell, I wouldn’t ever think that you’re some kinda mega-slut,” she said, sorrow for causing any pain to her friend easily heard in her voice. But it went against her nature to stay serious. “Too many fingers get crooked in this town, Sin City rep in overdrive. I had three guys at work ask me out already and the ink’s barely dry on my decree. Mind you, I’ve got a good job and a paid-for car and home, but the guys sure don’t waste any time. That’s all I’m saying.”
     
    “True,” Lisa agreed, letting Janice’s earlier comments slide. But not without one more warning for her emotionally shaky friend. “That’s why you have to be careful about who you do sleep with. You can be choosy.”
     
    “Okay, okay.” Janice threw her hands above her head with a laugh. “So you don’t sleep with a guy, or two, just because they turn you on. But was it only physical with your two admirers? Nothing else?”
     
    Lisa thought about it. All things considered, it shouldn’t have been a difficult question to answer. She’d barely said two words to the men, knew next to nothing about them. But there had been a connection, a click, even in such a short time. Otherwise she’d have forgotten about them already.
     
    But how to explain that without sounding like an idiot?
     
    “They seemed nice enough, stepping in to help like they did,” she answered, searching for the right words to help Janice understand, as well as to clear her own mind. “Most people stay in their own little bubbles and mind their own business, especially in the city. But other than that, I couldn’t say. It isn’t like we had an in-depth conversation about our lives and goals. It was a quick meeting, less than five minutes unless you count the lap dance at your party.”
     
    “But it sure made an impression on you.”
     
    “Yeah,” Lisa admitted, as much to herself as to Janice.
     
    “So you did think about it? You and the two of them? Doing a three-person version of the horizontal tango?” Janice pried, smirking, not about to let Lisa off the hook with that admission.
     
    “Yes, Mother, I considered it,” she answered with a roll of her eyes. She was tempted to stick out her tongue. Couldn’t Janice leave a woman with an iota of