“You’re just saying that because you’re my friend.” Lydia felt sure that the other woman couldn’t have said it with any kind of sincerity.

   Mia shrugged her shoulders as if she were talking about the weather. “Honey, look at yourself in the mirror. You have the kind of hourglass figure that every man fantasizes about. Big boobs, small waist, and a squeezable booty. Old Jake has probably damned near worn his hand out in the last twenty-four hours with you under the same roof!”

   Lydia wanted to crawl under the table when she saw a group of men at a nearby table begin to snicker while darting glances their way. She had no doubt they’d heard some of the more embarrassing parts of their conversation. “Oh God, they’re listening to us,” she whispered to Mia as she nodded her head toward the other table.

   Uncaring of the attention, Mia turned her head and faced the eavesdroppers without batting an eye. “Hey, dudes,” she called out. Instantly, they fixated on her as if waiting anxiously for her next words. Of course, the fact that Mia was gorgeous probably didn’t hurt any. “Since you guys are obviously catching some of our discussion, how about giving us your honest opinion.”

   “Oh shit,” Lydia moaned in horror, terrified of what was going to come out of her friend’s mouth. There was no way it would be good.

   One of the men, who’d apparently appointed himself the spokesperson for the group, leaned forward and smiled. “We’re always happy to assist pretty ladies. What can we help you with?”

   Mia turned to Lydia and uttered under her breath, “Just remember, this is for your own good.” Clearing her throat, Mia moved her chair closer to the other table and lowered her voice. “Do you see my friend over there?” When they nodded, she asked, “How many of you would go out with her if given the chance?” As Lydia was in the process of wilting into her chair, she saw something mind-boggling. The hand of every guy at the table flew up as if shot from a cannon.

   One even replied enthusiastically, “Any day, anywhere, sweetheart.”

   Mia clapped her hands. “I have just one more question. What word would you use to describe her? And keep it fairly clean, boys.”

   A chorus of voices rang out as Lydia heard, “Hot,” “sexy,” “stunning,” and “beautiful.” Her mind was officially blown, and she barely registered that Mia had resumed her seat and was looking at her expectedly.

   Holding up a hand, the other woman said, “I know you may have the urge to punch me, but I wanted you to see yourself the way others see you. Those men look successful and they’re certainly handsome. I doubt they have a problem picking up women. But they were damn near falling out of their seats at a chance to sing your praises. Trust me, they might have tried to come up with something passably nice to say if they hadn’t found you attractive, but that didn’t happen. They were effusive in their praise, and they were more than interested in asking you out.”

   When Lydia remained skeptical, Mia opened her hand and dropped a stack of cards on the table. Puzzled, Lydia asked, “What are those?”

   Mia gave her a satisfied smirk. “The business card of every dude at the table. Some even wrote down all their numbers so you could reach them anywhere.”

   Lydia’s jaw dropped in shock. She glanced at the nearby table, only to have one good-looking man with beautiful eyes wink at her. She knew she was blushing like an idiot, but strangely, it felt good to be admired. Had she been so tuned out that she hadn’t noticed male attention all of this time? She’d never looked at another man when she was with Brett, and after he died, she certainly had no interest in the opposite sex. She hadn’t realized that somehow she’d translated that lack of interest on her part into some sort of insecurity. She wasn’t interested in dating. Therefore, she wasn’t datable. Wow, when had it gotten to that point?

   This crazy experiment of Mia’s had shown her exactly how twisted her self-perception had become. She wasn’t ready to admit that she was a raving beauty because she certainly didn’t feel that way. But like every woman out there, didn’t she have something that worked for her? A feature that men found attractive. Wasn’t it possible that Jake would desire her? And as Mia had pointed out, did she have anything to lose by letting him know that she certainly was drawn to him. “You’re getting it now, aren’t you?” Mia practically purred in satisfaction. “You have that look that says ‘I am woman, hear me roar.’”

   “I don’t know about that,” Lydia giggled, “but I may possibly concede that I have more to offer than I originally thought.” Schooling her expression into a frown, she added, “Although I’m not condoning your methods, I am strangely happy with the results.”

   Mia held up a hand, patiently waiting for Lydia to give her a high five. With her mouth twitching, Lydia finally gave in when her friend rolled her lips out in an elaborate pout. “Yeah!” Mia crowed. Tossing a look over her shoulders where the men still lingered, she said in an undertone, “Now, let’s get out of here before they follow us back to the office. I’m almost certain I’ve heard the word ‘threesome’ a few times, and I’d hate to knee one of them in the balls since they were so helpful.”

   Lydia got to her feet and hurried after Mia’s departing form. She couldn’t help smiling a little bigger when the men all threw their hands up and waved eagerly as she passed their table. Score one for Mia. Lydia had left the office for lunch feeling hopelessly attracted to Jacob, but resigned to the fact that nothing would ever happen there. Now, even with the possibility that he might still turn her down, but she was determined to give it her best shot. And she owed her newfound confidence to an amazingly outspoken friend and a handful of strangers who’d been kind enough to give her the confidence that she’d hadn’t even realized she’d been missing.

   It’s time to seduce my hubby tonight. Game on, Mr. Hay—game on.

* * *

   Jake knew it was cowardly, but instead of driving to Chris’s house to talk, he’d asked her to meet him at the country club for lunch. Personally, he’d hated most of the pompous crowd that gravitated toward the place, but he also knew that Chris was less likely to cause a scene among the people whose admiration she so coveted. Know thy enemy. Not a terribly nice thought about the mother of his child, but experience had taught him a tough lesson there. Chris was a born drama queen on her best days, and this wasn’t likely to be one of those.