“I’m sure you’ve seen it in a movie or you’ve read it in a book, and you think I’m not serious or it’s just a line. Or somehow your magic pussy will change my mind and make me grow a heart or some other form of attachment. It won’t.”
“That sounds both very lonely and very risky to me.”
“I don’t take risks, and I’m never alone unless I want to be.”
“I see. Just out of curiosity, why do you find it necessary to ha
ve such a rule? I’m open to a little no-strings-attached sex every now and then.”
“Ah, but you see, if I ever break my rule, if I ever fuck the same woman twice, suddenly she forgets what I just said. She thinks it happened—her magic pussy has broken the spell, and I’ve changed my evil ways. That’s when it all becomes very messy. I also don’t do messes.”
“You almost sound proud of yourself.” She gives me that sassy grin, and I’m annoyed her defiance is such a turn-on to me.
“I also told you before, I’m honest.”
“Then it sounds like I’m wasting your time.” The sarcastic edge in her voice tells me she’s angry.
I tell myself it’s good. It’s how it should be.
Lowering my hands, I give her a slight bow. “Thank you for the dance, Joselyn. Have a good evening.”
Then I step back and let her walk away.
Chapter 11
Joselyn
“I’ve got to say, I’m impressed.” Courtney walks slowly around, gazing up at the larger-than-life topiary statues of Belle and Prince Adam.
“Aunt Sly used a blowtorch!” Ollie hops in front of her holding his hands up like he has a rocket. I can tell he’s missed her by how excited he is. “She’d put it on the metal and Boosh! Sparks flew everywhere!”
“I told him not to look at the flame. You did what I said, right Olls?” I’m perched on a ladder, threading the final roses in Belle’s bodice.
He nods dutifully, but Courtney is still staring up in wonder. “How did you ever learn to do all of this?”
Sitting back on the ladder, I study the massive arrangement. “I mostly taught myself. You’d be surprised what you can learn on YouTube. Then I took some welding classes at school, and I talked to different florists to get advice on which flowers work best in topiaries.”
She shakes her head. “I can’t believe you did it all by yourself. And so fast!”
“JR and Scout helped me with the framing—and Spencer, I guess.” The asshole. I’m still trying to decide how pissed I am about last night. “I’m nowhere near done. Once I’m finished with these final roses, I have to make all the arrangements for the tables. Being a florist is work.”
“Hold up, back it up.” Court lifts both hands along with her eyebrows. “Did I hear you say Spencer helped you? Mr. Brown Chicken Brown Cow?”
Ollie rolls his eyes and takes off across the glossy wooden ballroom floor towards the exit. “I’m out of here.”
I make a face, but his mother only laughs. “I guess he knows about everything by now.”
“To answer your question, yes. Spencer helped me, and we’ve been very professional. No funny business at all. In fact, I have it straight from the horse’s mouth we will not be revisiting his bedroom.”
“Eh, so you’ll visit yours,” she deadpans.
“Mr. Carrollton says he never sleeps with the same woman twice.”
My friend’s forehead crinkles, and she looks as confused as I felt last night when he said it. “That’s strangely sucky.”
It absolutely is, but let him have his silly rules. Spencer Carrollton has lived up to his nickname one hundred percent on this trip. He has completely frozen me out.
When Scout was helping me yesterday, I caught him glaring at us a few times in a way that I wanted to believe was jealousy. I tried to poke that bear, but he only went home early.