Free What A Girl Wants by Liz Maverick Page A

particularly gleeful snort, and if Audrahadn’t been so sick, Hayley was sure her friend would have picked up on the nuances of Suz’s behavior already.
    â€œNo, that’s not what happened.”
    â€œBy the way, that’s a lovely little scarf you’re wearing, Hay.” Audra dabbed at her nose with a napkin. “I don’t think I’ve seen it.”
    Hayley’s hand flew up to her throat and she quickly fluffed the little black scarf she’d tied fifties-style around her neck. “Thanks, Audra. I really don’t wear it too often.”
    â€œYeah, nice scarf , Hayley.” Suz overenunciated each word, and everybody turned and looked at her. “God, remind me not to wear shorts here on such a hot day. My thighs are sticking to the vinyl.” With a rude squelching sound she detached herself and grinned broadly.
    Audra rolled her eyes. “You’re just happier and perkier than ever, aren’t you?”
    â€œYes, I am. While I’m extremely saddened, of course, that your advice didn’t work for Hayley, I am happier and perkier than ever . . . that mine did .”
    Audra gasped.
    Hayley sighed. The writing was on the wall. The whole story was about to come out, and Suz was the only one who already knew everything. Hayley wished she’d called Diane and Audra before brunch to deescalate.
    Diane sat forward. “This was after Hayley lost her job? You gave Hayley advice and it worked?”
    Suz eased back in her chair rather smugly. “That’s exactly what happened.”
    â€œWell, I don’t know if I’d call it advice,” Hayley said. “It was more of an experience. A real eye-opener, though.”
    Audra did her best to look blasé but she couldn’t do much tohide the horror. “I can’t imagine why Suzy’s so smug,” she muttered.
    Suz produced a dazzling smile, then reached across the table and jerked down the scarf around Hayley’s neck.
    â€œSuz, you can’t just—” Too late now. The three girls stared at her neck, at a nice medium-sized hickey.
    Audra shrieked and looked at Suz with competitive ire.
    â€œWhat on earth did you do to her?” Diane asked.
    â€œWell, I certainly didn’t give her the hickey,” Suz said.
    Hayley rolled her eyes. “I might as well go ahead and spell it out.” And she did, right up through gorgeous Sergio’s climax and rather anticlimactic collapse in the closet.
    â€œOkay. Let me get this straight,” Diane said, as she stole a piece of melon off Suz’s pancake plate. “Suz dressed you up like a German prostitute, got you drunk, and then thrust you into the arms of a groping Spaniard.” She popped the melon into her mouth and looked at Suz with exaggerated disbelief.
    Suz deigned to lift an eyebrow. “The dress was Bavarian. Not German. There’s a difference. And we don’t know for sure if the guy was actually a Spaniard.”
    Audra shifted restlessly in her seat “This is outrageous. Absolutely outrageous. Poor Hayley.”
    â€œPoor Hayley, nothing.” Suz tipped back her chair, balancing on the back two legs while she held on to the table with both hands. Her tank top slid up, exposing her belly button and a wide swath of skin. Hayley noted that Suz definitely had a little love-handle action going on, but she also noted that Suz somehow managed to get away with it. It was all about the attitude.
    â€œDoes she look poor to you?” Suz was saying. “Does she lookremotely unhappy about the events of Friday night? I think not. I think I see a shit-eating grin, that’s what I think I see.”
    Hayley opened her mouth to speak. She did, in fact, have on a shit-eating grin. And she was in the mood to talk about it, but Diane cut in too fast.
    â€œShe looks like she’s had a lobotomy.”
    â€œYes, she does,” Suz said. “And she didn’t even get the