Free Undone by Moonlight by Wendy Etherington

a
frustrated frown from Victoria. “Howard would be intimidated by Antonio.
Probably not the best start to an attorney-client relationship.”
    “I can’t imagine anybody having a smooth ride with Antonio,”
Victoria said, jabbing at her Caesar salad with her fork.
    Shelby paused in reaching for the pepper grinder. “She’s not
wrong there.”
    “I was actually thinking more about Howard’s feelings,” Calla
clarified. “It took a while to let him down gently. I don’t like the idea of
reigniting his crush.”
    Victoria scooped up a bite of salad. “Ah, Pollyanna lives
again.”
    Crossing her arms over her chest, Calla leaned back in her
chair. “I could use a little support here.”
    “I’ve been supportive,” Victoria said, her eyes glinting with
fierceness. “I’ve listened and advised. I even cooked. But I think it’s time we
all get real.”
    “V, do you think now—”
    Victoria silenced Shelby with a single lift of her finger.
“Antonio is a good cop. He’s been there for us several times over the last six
months. But he doesn’t want our help.”
    Shelby leaned in. “I’m not sure about that. He wants it, but
doesn’t know how to accept it.”
    Victoria’s pale blue eyes, still focused on Calla, narrowed.
“Then too damn bad for him. He’s a grown man and ought to know what he wants and
doesn’t. We’re feeding him, consoling him and considering what lawyer to hire,
while he’s avoiding questions and keeping secrets.” Victoria shook her head.
“That isn’t going to work.”
    Calla dropped her gaze to her plate. She couldn’t face her
friends—or the truth about Devin. “I like him,” she whispered reluctantly.
    Her friends’ hands immediately covered hers. “We kinda figured
that,” Shelby said.
    Calla clenched her fists. “You guys think he’s Calla-dazzled, remember? Why won’t he let me in?”
    “Some men don’t know how,” Shelby said gently.
    “A lot of men can’t,” Victoria added.
    “You have men who do.” A quick glance at her friends and their
identical winces made her want to recall her comment. “I’m not jealous,” she
added in a rush. “I have a full life, I just...”
    She trailed off, not knowing what she wanted.
    With little choice, she waved off the personal stuff. “What in
the world could he have done to get suspended the first time?”
    “He probably insulted somebody important,” Shelby offered.
    “Or ate too many doughnuts,” Victoria said.
    “Not with a body like that,” Calla muttered.
    Victoria smiled—well, victoriously. “Oh, yeah? What do you know
about his body?”
    “I had to undress him before I put him in my bed the other
night. He smelled like whiskey and cigarette smoke. Which defies explanation, by
the way. What bar in the city lets you smoke these days? You can’t even smoke
outside in the parks. Regardless, I had to get those clothes in the washer. I’d
never get that horrible smell out of my Egyptian cotton sheets.”
    “Talk about burying the lead,” Shelby said, her eyes wide.
    “I’m a feature writer, not a reporter,” Calla returned with a
smirk.
    Victoria tapped her fingertip on the table. “How did you manage
to leave out the naked part of your grand rescue?”
    Calla cleared her throat and tried, without much success, to
banish the glorious vision of Devin’s leanly muscled body from her memory. “I
focused on the immediate problem instead of extraneous details.”
    “Extraneous?” Victoria repeated
incredulously. “The lack of nakedness between the two of you is the reason we’re
all here wallowing in—”
    “Hang on,” Shelby jumped in. “So when Antonio woke up Sunday
morning, in your bed, he was naked?”
    Calla hesitated before she admitted, “Well, yeah.”
    “Certainly explains why he was confused about whether or not
you two had had sex.” Shelby pursed her lips. “You didn’t have sex, right?”
    “No, of course not,” Calla said. “We’re supposed to be talking
about