Table of Contents
Title Page
Dedication
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
Epilogue
Copyright
About Charlotte
Coming Soon
To Sarah—
Over twenty years of friendship and our relationship never gets old. The Blair to my Alexandra, thanks for always making sure I don’t take myself too seriously. Love you.
1
Alexandra Kane needed to get laid or cobwebs would take up residence in her vagina. She needed it yesterday. Last week. Last month. Hell, she needed it sometime in the not-so-distant future so she didn’t forget what it was like to have an orgasm not created from a battery-operated device. She’d never gone this long without sex before, but with her overwhelming workload and the walls threatening to close in, it was all she could do to hold on to her sanity, let alone maintain her orgasms.
Alexandra needed the release of a good orgasm, because having a job that runs you into the ground sucks donkey balls. She had almost no social life. Although she’d never been one to have a million girlfriends, she still wanted someone she could call if she wanted to hang out. But it was sex she missed the most.
She couldn’t seem to get a release, and she couldn’t make her need go away. The comfortable weight of a man on top while he sunk into her happy place? Priceless. And worth all the frustration she went through to get it. When the need was too great, she didn’t care who it was. Which wasn’t safe or practical, but there was no one she could call.
Case in point, her current Friday night, where she was desperately trying to finish up in the office so she could leave. She groaned when she saw her best friend’s name on her cell, but if she didn’t answer, Blair Fischer would keep calling until she did. She pressed the green button, putting her on speakerphone.
“Hello,” Alexandra answered.
“You’re late.” Blair’s voice echoed throughout Alexandra’s empty office. Alexandra pulled away from her depressing thoughts, running her hands haphazardly through her hair, the long dark strands falling all over the place as she tried to focus on what Blair was saying. The computer screen in front of her mocked her, another reminder of her burgeoning workload. She had to finish the brief in the next thirty minutes so it could be filed in the courthouse by midday Monday
“I know.” Alexandra sighed. “I just need to finish this brief so Karen can file it before she leaves.” As Alexandra’s assistant, Karen worked behind the scenes to make Alexandra’s job easier, never complaining about the long hours asked of her. The woman deserved a medal but settled for the lifetime supply of wine and chocolate Alexandra kept stocked for her.
“You always need to finish something,” Blair answered. “And it will be there tomorrow for you to deal with. Your sister’s birthday dinner is about to start and if I have to explain to her why her younger sister couldn’t make it to her birthday, I am going to hunt you down in these high heels and drag your skinny ass over here. You are not to miss this. You have missed too many events in the last year, so put that brief down and come on.” That was Blair, as subtle as a banging gong at a mime convention.
Alexandra groaned; she hadn’t forgotten, she’d just been sidetracked when she realized they needed to file the brief on behalf of her newest client. A couple minutes wouldn’t make much of a difference. She glanced at the time; she had about fifteen minutes to make herself presentable and get out before her best friend did in fact come banging down her door to take her to Parker’s dinner.
“I'm on my way,” Alexandra promised, blowing an air kiss into the phone before hanging up and going back to her work. She hurried and twenty minutes later was out the door and on the way to her sister’s birthday celebration. It was an intimate affair, with just a few of girlfriends for dinner, while the bigger party was this weekend. Her and her sister’s birthdays had always been a big deal, something their parents emphasized with big parties and mounds of presents, and a tradition her mother continued after their father’s death over twenty years before.
Alexandra rubbed her chest over her heart, blinking back the moisture in her eyes when she remembered how her father used to help her mother decorate with whatever theme the girls had chosen for their party, all the while complaining he was drowning in pink. It never got easier, no matter how many years passed, but times like these made the loss more acute, like a gaping hole that never quite filled, regardless of what she tried to shove in it.
These are happy times, Alexandra thought, handing her keys to the valet upon her arrival. She gave her name to the hostess, waving to the few people she knew in the restaurant—some clients, some friends—before walking to the table for six in the back where Parker and Blair sat.
“Hey, Parker…” she started to apologize. Her sister jumped up and hugged her, cutting off her air supply.
“You came!” she squealed in Alexandra’s ear, rocking back and forth with her arms wrapped tightly around her. Parker stepped back, her arms sliding down to hold Alexandra’s hands, the grin splitting her face. They looked like twins, the two stacked brunettes who stood around five foot five with eyes the color of aged cognac, and long, brown hair. “And you’re early,” Parker finished, her voice tinged with surprise.
Early. Alexandra glared at Blair, whose narrowed green eyes dared her to disagree.
“Of course.” Alexandra shrugged off Parker’s disbelief, kissing her on the cheek. “It’s not every day my sister turns thirty-four.”
“Ugh.” Parker groaned. “Don’t remind me. I turned thirty and fell the hell apart. I had to see the doctor the other day for my yearly checkup, where she reminded me I was reaching the age I might require medical assistance or have complications bearing children.”
“Thanks for giving me something to look forward to.” Alexandra was staring down thirty in December. She let go of Parker and turned to Blair, giving her a hug and a smacking kiss on the cheek. “Thank you,” she whispered, since Blair’s duplicity put a smile on Parker’s face.
“This ain’t my first rodeo.” She smiled. “I know how to get you lawyers to be where I need you when I need you.” Blair’s husband Derrick had gone to law school with Alexandra; it was how they met, but he’d focused on corporate law. Alexandra’s firm was a hodgepodge, taking on a variety of cases, including criminal.
“So, what’s been going on with you?” Alexandra directed her question at Parker after they sat back down since she hadn’t seen her in two weeks.