“Um . . . a few months,” Gwen replied. She might not have been sleeping with him that long, but she had known of him. Surely, that counted for something.
The other woman pulled back enough to look her up and down. “Honey, don’t take this the wrong way because I’m totally loyal in my love of men, but you are hot. I can see why Dom would like you. It’s so nice to see him dating someone with a little staying power.”
“Staying power?” Gwen asked uncertainly. She wasn’t sure she even wanted to know what that meant.
Meredith made a vague hand gesture before saying, “You know, a normal girl who has more on her mind than planning her next tattoo or body piercing.” They had been walking toward the glass doors of Ivy when Meredith stopped and spun around, causing Gwen to pull up sharply to avoid a collision. “Please tell me that you didn’t meet my brother at a strip club.”
“What?” Gwen gaped at her, thinking she must have heard the question wrong.
“You don’t collect dollar bills in a G-string for a living, do you?” Meredith asked, looking completely serious.
“N-no,” Gwen managed to get out, thinking Dominic was right. His sister was every bit as bad as Megan and Maddy. And what was it with the stripper questions. Was that Dominic’s usual mode of picking up women?
As if sensing her thoughts, Dominic closed the distance between them, resting his hand on the small of her back. “What are you two talking about?” he asked, looking just a tad too concerned.
“I was just assuring your sister that I didn’t work a pole for a living. She seemed to think that we might have possibly met that way.”
Looking not the least bit surprised or even upset, Dominic rolled his eyes at Meredith. “Could you at least wait until we’re inside before you run Gwen off?”
“Come on,” Meredith laughed, “it’s a valid question. Gage told us all about Kandi. He’s still upset with you, by the way, for dumping the poor girl.” Before Dominic could comment, they were seated at a table in the corner and a waiter had taken their drink orders. Gwen, though, found that she couldn’t let his sister’s earlier comment go without finding out more. She figured Meredith would happily satisfy her curiosity even if her brother did kill her afterward.
Flashing a brilliant smile, Gwen turned to the other woman and asked, “So, who’s Kandi?” She pretended not to hear the groan Dominic emitted beside her. Meredith, however, looked thrilled by her question.
“Well, I never met her personally, but according to Gage, my brother here thought she was some kind of ballet dancer who was quite popular with the men everywhere they went. She finally confessed that she performed her particular brand of ‘ballet’ to Beyoncé’s “Naughty Girl” most evenings at midnight . . . so he dumped her.”
“That’s not why we stopped seeing each other,” Dominic jumped in quickly.
Turning in her seat to stare at him, Gwen asked, “Oh really? Then why?”
He seemed surprised by her question before slumping down in his seat. “You don’t want me to answer that, babe. Trust me. Hell, neither of you want to hear it.”
Gwen was more determined than ever now to know the reason and his sister seemed to be right there with her. “Come on, brother dear, you can’t leave us hanging like this. Gage said it was just because you were a prude and didn’t like her profession.”
He shook his head, looking like a deer in the headlights. It was obvious that whatever the reason, he didn’t want to talk about it. She really should just let it go. He was more than likely right, and she was better off not knowing, but geez, it was going to kill her now. His sister continued to needle him until he finally cracked, saying something that Gwen hadn’t been expecting. “All right! She called my . . . package her lollipop, and she talked to it in some weird baby talk. It freaked me the fuck out, and I just couldn’t . . . do it and could you please stop being BFFs with Gage!”
Meredith burst out in laughter while Gwen just stared at him. Did he mean that he never slept with Kandi or that he couldn’t do it that last time before they broke up? She was helpless to deny the twinge of jealousy working its way through her system. No doubt, she had been no older than twenty-five, with the perfect, small ass, unlike herself. “Dear Lord, Dom.” Meredith giggled. “I can just imagine your face when that happened.”