Lydia pursed her lips, and then looked around the crowded restaurant as if to make sure that no one was listening to their conversation. Lowering her voice she said, “All right, please don’t repeat this, but Jacob Hay makes me weak in the knees. I swear I’d agree to have the man’s children, clean his house, and drive a freaking station wagon if he said the word.”

“Who’s that?” Crystal asked, racking her memory. “The name sounds familiar, but I can’t place it.”

“Oh, baby,” Mia cooed, “you’ve got great taste there.”

“I don’t know him either,” Gwen admitted. “Do you have any stalker pictures of him like Crystal has of Mark?”

Lydia looked at Crystal in surprise. “I can’t believe you don’t know him if you’ve been watching Mark. Jacob works for him. From what I’ve gathered through my . . . research, he’s the number two man at DeSanto Group.”

“So, Mr. Big, Junior,” Gwen smirked. “I’m liking this a lot. How did you meet him?”

Laughing, Lydia admitted, “It was the whole damsel-in-distress thing. I worked late and then ended up in a deserted parking garage with a car that wouldn’t start. I was on my way back in the building to call my auto club when I ran smack into someone.” Looking slightly embarrassed, she added, “I kind of thought I was being mugged and started screaming for help.”

“No way,” Mia winced. “I bet he’s not used to women yelling anything other than his name.”

“I’m pretty sure he was afraid I was insane,” Lydia agreed. “He held his hands out in front of him, and then actually showed me his company identification badge. When I finally calmed down, I was humiliated because this was the most gorgeous man I’d seen in ages and I’d made a total ass of myself.”

Propping her elbows on the table, Gwen mused, “So I guess he didn’t leave you stranded, right?”

Lydia fanned herself. “Nope, when I explained my car issue to him, he rolled up his sleeves and had me pop the hood latch. Then he proceeded to fix the thing right there. I still have no idea what was wrong with it, but can you believe the man was actually willing to work on my car? I know he was wearing expensive clothing. He ended up with an oil stain on his shirtsleeve, but he refused to let me take care of the cleaning bill.”

“Sweet mother,” Mia moaned. “Now I want to have his babies too.”

“I’m sorry”—Lydia shook her head—“but I’m Jacob’s future baby mama. Plus, he’s friends with your man, Seth, and his brother, Ash.”

“I know.” Mia snorted. “He’s been to our place before. He does seem like a nice guy, and apparently, he’s mechanical as well. You know what that means, right?” When everyone shook their heads, she added, “He’s good with his hands.”

“Ohhh!” Gwen wiggled her brows. “I like that in a man.”

“Don’t get any ideas about Lydia’s man,” Crystal teased. “You’re Dominic’s baby mama, and I have a feeling he doesn’t share.”

They joked around for a few more minutes before Mia asked, “So, what’re you going to do about Mark?”

All humor left her as Crystal once again focused on her problem. “I don’t know. I mean, it was kind of hot the way he showed up out of the blue and . . . took charge of things. We were lying in my bed afterward, and he asked how dinner went at my parents. I even told him about my ex-husband and how he wanted me to go to marriage counseling with him.”

“Whoa,” Gwen interrupted, holding her hand up. “I think I missed something here. What exactly happened with Bill?”

Crystal quickly filled them in on her latest unpleasant parental encounter. “So, as you can imagine, that was kind of unexpected. Bill had never admitted that he shared the blame in the breakup of our marriage. I was reeling when I left there, which is why I didn’t go to Mark’s as I’d planned to do. I just sent him a text and went home to bed. Then he showed up sometime later pounding on the door and acting all . . . sexy. Now you’re up-to-date.”

Lydia put her hand over Crystal’s arm. “Honey, I know I’ve been out of the whole dating game for a while, but the problem here is obvious to me.”

“Me too,” Mia piped in, while Gwen nodded her agreement as well.

Confused, Crystal looked at her friends and said, “Well, then someone clue me in. Is this just how a booty call goes or something?”

“I don’t think that’s what his visit was about at all,” Lydia began. “I believe he was upset because you broke your plans to go see him via a text message. You can rest assured that stuff like that doesn’t happen to Mark DeStudo. Then after he rocked your world with his sexiness, you told him all about how your ex-husband wants you back.”

“That’s like two strikes against his manhood,” Mia agreed.

“Well, what was the third strike that caused him to leave?” Crystal asked, beginning to understand that she might have been a tad too loose-lipped with him the previous night. Too much information—not good.

“I don’t really know him,” Gwen inserted, “but I’m guessing Mark is an alpha male, like Dominic. If so, then there are no three strikes. Two big hits like that would push him to leave and regroup.”

“Bu-but,” Crystal sputtered, before putting her hand over her face. “I’m so far out of my league. I’ve gone straight from a Toyota to some fancy sports car.”