Free Be My Queen by RayeAnn Carter Page A

judgment edged her voice, but Jessica wasn't the one dating Lavender. What she thought didn't matter.
    "So what do you and Patrick have planned for us this week?"
    They spoke for a while about places that Patrick wanted Diego to see and people he wanted him to meet. It sounded more like a month's holiday than a week's. Jessica nodded at Lavender. "Make sure she knows that she's invited."
    "I will." He hugged Lavender close one last time, then woke her. Every minute he stayed this close to her, the more he craved waking beside her. If Patrick and Jessica had a spare room, he would've put her in there, but this was for the best. He'd have a hard time not crawling in with her.

Chapter Thirteen
    Lavender pulled her blanket over her head. Vish's phone was playing some horrible song. Morning was here, and with it, time to wake from the delicious dream of Diego's tongue on her skin.
    The door slammed, forcing away the last of the dream. Lavender sat up. Her phone had several texts. She deleted the ones her friends had sent her yesterday, and read the ones from Diego. He was awake and ready to get her whenever she wanted. Patrick had a hangover this morning, so they'd meet him in the afternoon and have a late lunch at a terraced restaurant. Unless she had better plans.
    Did she?
    Vish came in and threw her phone on her bed. "I'm going shopping."
    "Any reason?"
    "I'm going to buy the sweetest bikini known to man and parade myself in front of him and his wife as they wear their stuffy clothes and make small talk with their ilk."
    Lavender didn't want to know. "I don't have a swimsuit."
    "Flower," Vish sat on her bed. "You don't wear a swimsuit."
    "But Diego's never been to a beach with warm water, and if I had a swimsuit, I could take him this morning."
    Vish grinned. "Get dressed. I'll wake the others and see if they want to come."
    As Lavender left the bathroom, Alana leaned against the wall. "Miss Magnolia's mad at you."
    "All the more reason to leave before she wakes up." Vish stripped and stepped into the shower.
    "I'm not going."
    "I am." Ariel set her makeup bag beside the sink and opened it. "Whoever stays has to explain to Miss Magnolia where we went. Besides, she can't punish all of us."
    "It's not like she's our mother or anything." Caiside claimed a space at the other side of the sink.
    "But without her…" Alana looked at the floor.
    "I love her, I do." Vish stuck her head out of the shower. "But sometimes she tries to keep us in our place. My place is Queen of Heaven."
    "Hush!" said Ariel. "Don't wake her. Lavender, have him meet us at the beach."
    "No." Caiside closed her compact. "I don't want to waste time on the bus. He can pick us up outside a mall or something. Then he won't know where we got our swimsuits."
    Lavender went back to her room and counted out the money she had left. She opened her notebook and noted the mood swing two nights ago and how elated she felt yesterday when he'd come for her. If the hormone patches evened out the lows, would they even out the highs, too? Were these good moods even about the estrogen?
    Maybe they were because of Diego. She could live in his highs forever.
    *~*~*
    Diego pulled into the parking lot between a realtor and a doughnut shop. What was around here that the girls didn't want him to know about? Mysterious.
    Lavender had her old purse over her arm and her smaller one in her hand. Hopefully, one was an overnight bag.
    He got out and opened the trunk, so the girls could put their bags inside. He pulled Lavender against him. "I missed you."
    "It's only been," she looked at her phone, "ten hours."
    "Ten hours is eternity without you." He opened the front door for her. The other four managed to cram into the backseat. Renting this expensive car had been a good idea.
    He belted himself in. "Where to?"
    The girls in the backseat argued. Lavender gave instructions to the beach they'd been to before. He'd listen to Lavender any day.
    The sky was blue with fluffy, white clouds, and