Tamara still had a swig in her mouth when Suzanne choked a little and dropped her voice.
“Oh, shit, oh, shit, the pit lizard is here. Don’t make eye contact!”
“What pit lizard?” Tamara asked, wanting to turn around but knowing Suz would smack her if she did.
“Crystal,” she hissed in a whisper. “The chick you said Elec is getting texts from.”
Naked texts. Now Tamara couldn’t resist the urge to turn around. She wanted to see Crystal in the flesh. Apparently so did every man in the bar. When she turned, she saw the busty blonde sashaying across the bar in a miniskirt and high heels, her br**sts spilling out of her yellow tank top, every male in the place following her with drooling interest. Ugh. Tamara knew that Elec didn’t appreciate the texts he got from Crystal, but she couldn’t help but look at this woman and wonder why he’d even been interested in three dates with her.
It didn’t seem like him at all, and it bothered her. Why did Elec have a history of dating bimbos when he so clearly wasn’t that type?
Crystal spotted them and beelined for their table.
“Oh, damn,” Suzanne whispered.
“Hey, y’all,” she said with a bright smile. “How are you doing, Suzanne?”
“Fine, thanks. You?”
“Great.” Crystal plunked down in the fourth chair at their table. “I’m so glad to see you. I took a chance coming out by myself so it’s great that I have someone to hang out with.
Who are your friends?”
“This is Imogen Wilson, and this is Tammy Briggs.”
“Are you in racing?” Crystal asked Imogen.
Imogen shook her head and Crystal promptly lost interest. “Are you Pete Briggs’s widow?”
she asked Tamara.
“Yes.”
“And now she’s dating another driver,” Suzanne said with a touch of triumph in her voice.
Tamara glared at Suzanne. She did not want this woman poking into her business.
“Oh, really? Who?”
“It’s a bit of a secret right now, so I’d rather not say.”
“Uh-huh.” Crystal said that like she didn’t believe for one minute that Tamara actually was dating a driver.
Which was irritating, but not enough to make her tell the truth.
“Well, I’m dating a driver,” Crystal said. “And it’s not a secret.”
Oh, no, why did she have the horrible feeling that Crystal was going to say . . .
“It’s Elec Monroe.”
Imogen gasped.
Tamara felt her blood pressure rise. She knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that Elec was not dating this woman, but it irritated her no end that Crystal would just sit there and lie about it.
“Oh, really?” Suzanne said. “That surprises me.”
Recognizing that glint in her friend’s eye, Tamara kicked her under the table. Suzanne shot her a look that she interpreted as “put this bitch in her place,” but it wasn’t worth it. The whole thing would just escalate into some juvenile catfight.
She refused to fight over a man she knew was hers. Elec was. There was no doubt in her mind. If she said she wanted to take their relationship public, he would. She just wasn’t sure she was ready to go there, three margaritas or not.
“Why would that surprise you?” Crystal said, her voice sour. “He likes beautiful women.”
Before Suzanne could say whatever brutal thing was on her lips, they were approached by two men in golf shirts, who, to the astonishment of Imogen, asked her and Suzanne to dance.
“No, thank you,” Imogen said, shaking her head a little violently.
“It’s just a line dance, nothing too personal,” the one assured her with a friendly smile.
“I wouldn’t mind dancing,” Suzanne said. “You come, too, Tammy.”
“No, I’m fine here.” Despite her conviction that Crystal was a liar, she was feeling a little nauseous from both the drinks and the conversation, and she needed a minute before she could try to follow the patterns of the dance.
“Are you okay?” Suzanne asked her as she stood up and Imogen nervously followed suit.
“I’m fine.”
Suzanne stared at her for a second then decided she was telling the truth and went on to the dance floor. Crystal leaned over to Tamara and whispered, “Oh, my God, I’m so embarrassed.”
Fighting the urge to roll her eyes, Tamara asked, “Why?”
“Because I slept with Suzanne’s ex-husband and I just feel really uncomfortable about it.
She’s clearly not over him and he is so over her.”
That was it. Tamara had intended to keep her mouth shut, but when this chick started slinging barbs at her best friend, she drew the line. She happened to know for a fact that Ryder still had a tremendous amount of feelings for Suzanne. So she turned to the blonde and said, “Oh, really? Sort of like how you’re sleeping with Elec?”
Crystal frowned, her plump lips pressing together. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, I happen to know for a fact that you’re not dating Elec and you’re not having sex with him, so I’m just wondering if you’re lying about Ryder the same way you are about Elec.”
Her eyes narrowed. “I am not lying about either one of them.”
“Then why would Elec tell me the only time he’s seen you naked is when you send him trashy text messages?”
It was a hit. Crystal flushed red. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. Elec is my boyfriend. Of course I’ve slept with him.”
“How can you, when every night he’s not working, he spends with me?” Okay, so that was a lie, but Tamara was buzzed on tequila and hopping mad.
“What?” Crystal’s red face drained entirely of color. “Are you trying to claim you’re dating Elec Monroe?”
“I’m not claiming anything. It’s a fact.”
“Whatever.” Crystal flagged the waiter down. “I don’t believe for a minute that he would be interested in someone like you. All plain and mom-ish. God, you probably have stretch marks.”
There was a buzzing in Tamara’s ears that was not alcohol related. Crystal had just hit on her insecurities and it hurt at the same time it made her furious. Without thinking through the consequences, she pulled her cell phone out of her purse and went into her in-box. She pulled up the last text she’d gotten from Elec, at two o’clock that day, and opened it. It read, “Long day. Wish you were here.”