Free Man of the Month (Willowdale Romance Novel) by Lisa Scott Page A

that a positive sign.
    JEANNE DIDN’T have to wonder long if Tara’s talons were aimed at Brad. Tara showed up the next day in her Maserati to take him out to lunch. In Whitesville.
    “I can finish up these purchase orders tomorrow,” Brad told her.
    “Go right ahead. We both deserve a day off after last night.”
    Tara didn’t say a word to Jeanne, but wrapped her hand around Brad’s arm—no doubt enjoying the feel of those muscles—and dragged him outside.
    Once the door slammed shut behind them, Jeanne whipped off her apron and threw it across the room. She grabbed a gallon of ice cream and three spoons and made a few calls.
    RIGHT AFTER Jeanne got to Tonya’s Curl E. Q. Salon , Kate pulled up, then held up a giant chocolate bar.
    “Thanks for meeting me here,” Jeanne said, swinging the door open, jingling the bells.
    “Hey, ladies,” Tonya said. “Be right with you once we get Darla here washed out.”
    Pansy Parker was asleep under a dryer, and Dolly was flipping through a magazine while her rollers set, but ears were always wide open at the salon no matter how much the biddies tried to pretend they weren’t listening.
    Kate and Jeanne grabbed two empty chairs by the waiting area, and once Tonya finished up with her customers, she scurried over and plopped into the chair.
    “We haven’t had an emergency mocha fudge meeting since the Leroy Jenkins fiasco,” Tonya said. “What gives?”
    Jeanne’s gaze darted around the room, and she lowered her voice. “Brad’s out to lunch right now with Tara O’Hara.”
    “Shut. Up.” Kate unwrapped her candy bar and broke off a big hunk, handing it to Jeanne. “You sure?” Kate lopped off another piece and took a big bite.
    Jeanne nodded while handing Tonya the ice cream and passing out the spoons. “She came to the anti-Valentine’s party last night and latched on to Brad like fly paper.” She pointed her spoon at Kate. “And don’t even tell me what romantic stunt Teague pulled last night. I can only imagine.”
    Kate smiled then zipped her lip and tucked her hand under her leg.
    “He got you more diamonds, didn’t he?” Jeanne asked.
    Kate wrinkled her nose. “It was a pearl he found while we were scuba diving in Hawaii last fall.” She splayed her hand for them to see.
    Tonya shook her head. “How are the two of us ever supposed to match that?”
    “Tara O’Hara is probably eating pearls for lunch, plucked out of the oysters she’s no doubt feeding Brad as an aphrodisiac to lure him into her bed,” Jeanne said, scooping out a giant mound of ice cream and stuffing it in her mouth.
    Tonya raised an eyebrow. “So this is a love emergency? But you don’t like Brad—you’re just friends, remember? Why does this bother you so much?”
    Jeanne opened and closed her mouth. “No, it’s not a love emergency. Well, I suppose it’s an emergency for him. Just because I don’t want to go out with him doesn’t mean I want Tara O’Hara going out with him. I need to protect him from someone like that.” She nodded.
    “Sure, that’s what it is,” Kate said.
    “It is,” Jeanne said. “I can’t let him end up with her. You know, out of friendship and all.”
    “It’s just lunch,” Tonya said.
    “He dropped everything and ran when she showed up out of the blue today,” Jeanne explained “I bet she didn’t even take him to lunch, she probably dragged him right to her bedroom.”
    “Her room’s the size of the Save Mart,” Kate said, wide-eyed. She shrugged. “She had a sleepover once in high school. I was never invited back. Wonder if it’s ‘cause I was rooting through her underwear drawer trying to find out if she really wore gold-threaded thongs.” She shrugged. “That’s what the McClacken twins told me.”
    “Yeah, well, I’d take my own dumpy apartment any day instead of still living at home,” Tonya said.
    “She has her own wing, not just her own bedroom,” Jeanne clarified. “She probably never even sees her