“But what about getting close to Mark’s love rod?” Mia asked beseechingly. Crystal wouldn’t have been surprised to hear the woman’s feet stomping on the floor. Mia had never been good at waiting. She would bet that poor Seth had his hands full with his girlfriend.

“Oh . . . did I forget to add the part about the ride to work this morning?” she asked innocently.

“I’m going to do something crazy if you don’t tell us right now,” Gwen threatened. When her chin wobbled, Crystal started to panic. She knew that her pregnant friend cried at the drop of a hat now. There was no way teasing them was worth that kind of risk.

“Hold your Kleenex waterworks,” Mia said dryly. “Now, Crys, I don’t know how long I can hold the floodgates closed, so you’d better spill—like now.”

Giving Gwen a wary look, she said, “All right; I sat in his lap on the way to work this morning. Nothing happened, though, even though he asked me to kiss him.”

“Why didn’t you?” Mia asked incredulously. “Honey, I would have climbed that like a vine.”

“Apparently, I said a few . . . embarrassing things while I was out of it. Like how he was my dream man. I think I even admitted to following him around Danvers. So I jumped out of the car as soon as we arrived and I was thinking to myself how I wanted to lick him—only I actually said it aloud! I, Crystal Webber, managed to shock superstud Mark DeSanto. When he recovered, he told me that he’d never wanted to fuck a woman as much as he did me—and then I humped his leg like a dog in heat, right in broad daylight for all to see.”

“Holy . . .” Mia murmured.

“Shit,” Gwen added absently.

Taking another gulp of her water, Crystal said, “Oh, and then I kissed him on the cheek and ran from him.” The order of events might have happened a little differently, but that was the story in a nutshell.

“He wants you, Crys—bad,” Mia squealed, finally breaking from her trance. “You’re on his radar now, so you need to take advantage of it.”

Crystal nodded before shrugging helplessly. “I don’t know how. He was amazing to me and I loved the opportunity to spend time with him—even if I did embarrass myself a lot. But that’s all I’m going to have, isn’t it? Really, can either of you sit there and tell me that Mark and I will ride off into the sunset together in the very near future? Because as much as I’d like to believe that could happen, it’s not very likely, is it?”

“Of course, it’s possible,” Gwen said immediately. “Trust me; I was the original unlucky in love before I met Dominic. My whole dating life was one failure after another. I always cared too much and got walked all over for my efforts. I would have never imagined finding a man who loved me through all of my insecurities. And look at Mia over there. She landed Seth Jackson. He’s rich, hot, and puts up with her.”

Mia stuck her tongue out at Gwen before nodding in agreement. “Just because Mark is wealthy doesn’t make him any better than you, Crys, nor is he unattainable. Seth is the only one of the Jackson brothers and cousins in a relationship, and he swears they all envy him. Most men are like us. They want someone to connect with beyond the physical or financial aspect. Don’t rule Mark out and believe that he’s out of your league, because that’s bullshit. You’re a beautiful, intelligent woman, and he’d be lucky to have YOU.”

Moved by the show of support, Crystal blinked back tears. “Is this where you tell me that he puts his pants on one leg at a time like the rest of the world?”

Nudging her in the side, Gwen winked. “Or we could say he takes them off that way. . . . Personally, I like that visual better.”

“You would, horny pregnant woman,” Mia teased. “I bet poor Dominic can barely keep up with you now.”

Gwen’s face flushed pink, but she gave a satisfied smile. “Trust me—he’s not complaining. The man is like the Energizer Bunny. I was determined to see how many times he could do it in a row before begging for mercy, and let me say—I was the one who gave up first and he actually seemed disappointed.”

“Seth’s the same,” Mia agreed. “The first few months we were together, I could barely walk straight. He goes at it hard.” Looking proud, she added, “We’ve broken the bed—twice so far. God, I love that man.”

“I have no idea why we’re friends,” Crystal pouted. “I pretty much hate you both most of the time. I’ve never been a part of anything being broken in the bedroom—well, unless you count speed records. Bill clocked in at less than five minutes on a regular basis.”

Gwen shuddered, while Mia cringed. “Well . . .” Gwen finally said, “sometimes men get a little excited and the actual main event might not last long.”

“I was talking about the whole thing—from start to finish. That includes any and all foreplay.” Crystal sighed glumly.

“Please tell me you at least got off during that time,” Mia pleaded.

“No,” Crystal said. “I’m ashamed to admit that I didn’t realize how it could feel until I—you know . . .”

“Took matters into your own hands,” Mia guessed. “Crys, I would imagine that most women with a quick-draw man would feel that way. Heck, until Seth, my vibrator was the best I’d ever had. Some men just don’t care if a woman gets hers or not.”

“I was involved with a guy who was obsessed with making me orgasm,” Gwen added. “The thing is, he wasn’t really that . . . talented, and I felt like an old Buick that he was trying to fix up. I started faking it, just so he’d let it go. The point is, there are many things that can go wrong if you don’t click with someone sexually. If you’re attracted to Mark and he’s said that he feels the same, then I say pull out all of the stops and go for it. You don’t need to worry about what to do once you’re with him again because a guy like that knows enough for both of you.”