She should say yes. Yes, Ryan would be perfect for a short, smoking hot sexfest and Lauren would know since she’d been giving that very subject a great deal of thought lately. But in no way, under any circumstances, did she think Ryan was perfect for Hailey’s sexfest.
“I’m just pushing your buttons,” Hailey said, and then she laughed. “You should see your face right now.”
“I don’t have any claim on him.”
“Maybe not, but you want to and that’s enough to make him off-limits to me. Which brings me back to why we’re spending time and money at the salon with no hope of getting laid. Well, you might. But I won’t.”
“I won’t be getting laid. And we’re going to the salon because Paige is getting married and it’s a party in October in Whitford. That alone is worth an eyebrow waxing.”
Hailey turned back to the windshield and crossed her arms. “My vibrator doesn’t care about my eyebrows.”
“Your vibrator also can’t take out the trash.”
“Doesn’t leave dirty clothes on the floor.”
“Can’t haul the Christmas decorations down from the attic.”
“You and I have different priorities.”
Lauren couldn’t argue with that. Vibrators and Christmas decorations aside, she and Hailey had very different priorities when it came to men. Lauren, more than anything, wanted company. She wanted somebody to share her life with, especially since Nick would be going off to college in a couple of years. Hopefully.
Hailey was looking for a man to start a life with. Lauren knew, under the flippant talk of smoking hot sexfests, what her friend really wanted was a husband and kids, and she wasn’t getting any younger. So, while they both might be looking for a man—though Lauren wasn’t putting a great deal of effort into the hunt—they needed men at very different stages of their lives and looking for very different things.
“I’ve been thinking about moving,” Hailey said.
“Moving? You love your house. And your job. What are you talking about?”
“If Mr. Right was in Whitford, don’t you think I’d have found him by now?”
She had a point, but giving up her job and her home and leaving a place she loved to go track him down was crazy and Lauren said so. “How would you pick a place to move to? Say some kind of magic spell, close your eyes and see where your finger lands on a map?”
“If I move to a city, like Portland, there’s a much bigger pool of guys to choose from. One of them’s bound to be right.”
“Yeah, except for the fact you hate being in the city and he obviously wouldn’t.”
“I’d live in the city for the right guy.”
“You’re being crazy.”
“I know. I said I’ve been thinking about it, not that I’m putting my house on the market tomorrow.”
Lauren didn’t want Hailey to move. Not only was it not a good plan to find her happily-ever-after, but Lauren needed her in her life. Whenever she started getting stuck in the rut of routine, Hailey would pull her out.
They argued about how wacky Hailey’s plan was until they arrived at the salon and Lauren had to subject herself to the painful process of looking good for Paige’s wedding. The haircuts and facials weren’t bad, but they both whined their way through having their eyebrows done. And, when it came time for manicures and pedicures, Hailey went for hot-red nails. Lauren wasn’t a bright kind of girl and she didn’t have a dress yet, so she went with a French manicure look.
The next stop was the mall for a dress. Or rather, they would be looking for a dress after Hailey stocked up at Victoria’s Secret. Lauren never went in the place. She couldn’t afford to spend that kind of money on underwear nobody but her would see. She wasn’t sure she’d spend that kind of money even if somebody was going to see it.
But while she waited for Hailey outside the dressing room, a bra caught her eye and she found herself touching the delicate ivory lace. It was gorgeous. It was also expensive. She needed snow tires. There were the constant deposits made into Nick’s school lunch-money account because he ate like a horse. With winter coming, the heating bill would go up. With his hours cut because of the economy and two little kids, Dean was maxed out on the child support he could keep up with. She could come up with a million reasons why it was stupid to buy the bra-and-panty set.
She could try it on, though. It wouldn’t hurt and maybe it would pinch or cut into her skin and she’d hate it.
A few minutes later, though, she was looking in the mirror and trying to find a dollar she could cut from the budget for every dollar the set cost. She could buy the store brand yogurt instead of the more expensive brand she liked. Same with the toilet paper. She’d do better at bringing lunch from home to cut down on running out of the office for something to eat.
She couldn’t really make it add up in her head, but she wanted the lingerie. Maybe more than she’d wanted anything in a long time. It was soft and feminine and sexy and made her breasts look amazing.