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He immediately picked up a subtle tension in Fiona and realized, of all of Fiona’s circle, this woman was the one she saw as a threat. He moved his left arm around Fiona’s back as he shook Marion’s hand. He felt Fiona relax a little as she explained that Marion was also in the hospitality industry but dealt with executive travel. She booked rooms in a number of Fiona’s hotels for her clients.
Now that he’d met them all Kyle glanced around. “I’m not the only male in our party tonight, am I?”
Fiona grinned at him and the group chuckled at his surprised look.
“My husband Dale is the assistant coach for the LA Lakers. He’s on the road.”
“Basketball, right?” Kyle asked with a wince and guilty smile.
Some of the ladies made mock cries of outrage that he didn’t know, but Gloria had a huge smile of delight on her face. “You’re not a nut for pro sports?!?” she exclaimed.
He shrugged and shook his head.
“Fiona! He’s a keeper! All this and no aggravating sports obsession!” Gloria continued, gesturing at Kyle’s body.
“Gloria! You’re embarrassing the man!” Fiona chastised her neighbor but did it with a grin on her face.
“Sorry, Kyle! It’s just a treat to meet a man like you. My Roger is at home, glued to the boob tube watching whatever game is on. Basketball, baseball, football, or god help me, hockey!” She made a gagging sound. She looked at the other women. “Doesn’t ‘hockey’ sound like something a cat does to get rid of a hairball?”
“I like hockey! Well… hockey players,” Charlize clarified with a cheeky grin.
“What? Are they the flavor of the month?” Gloria jabbed good naturedly.
“Hey, athletes are the only ones with enough stamina to keep up,” the brunette shot back with a smirk of her own.
“Oooo!” the ladies exclaimed then laughed.
Fiona gave Kyle a little hug. “Charlize is… between boyfriends?” She glanced over at the woman to confirm and received a nod. “Phoebe’s husband Linus is a spiritual guru and travels a fair amount. He’s in India now, doing a pilgrimage or something to do with expanding his Chakra.”
The slim blonde nodded enthusiastically and grinned at Kyle.
“Let’s hope that’s the only thing he lets the young ladies expand!” Monique joked as she performed a few traditional Indian dance moves with a smooth, sensual and suggestive grace.
More hoots erupted from the group as Phoebe shook her head vehemently but was smiling none-the-less.
“What are you drinking?” Marion asked Kyle as she drifted closer and lifted her own wine glass.
“Oh, uh…” he began.
“Scotch neat, right?” Fiona answered quickly and Kyle nodded to her. Fiona caught Monique’s eye to watch Marion, then headed to the bar.
“Fiona didn’t mention someone in your life,” Kyle said looking towards Marion and received a sly smile in return.
“Confirmed bachelorette. Marriage and monogamy are definitely not for me.” She eyed Kyle like a delicious bonbon just waiting to be unwrapped. “Too many delights to restrict myself to just one,” she purred. “Where did you and Fiona meet?” Marion asked boldly to distract Kyle.
Kyle saw he had everyone’s attention. “Didn’t Fiona mention that?” he asked in surprise.
“Oh she’s been hinting at a mystery man who was coming to visit her but she’s been keeping the truth about you all to herself!” the redhead beauty pouted.
“You know she went on a cycling holiday in France, yes?” he began.
“That’s when her husband showed his true colors and she dumped his sorry ass!” Gloria trumpeted.
Kyle chuckled and nodded. “Yes, he certainly did and she did.”
“So that’s where you met her? On the tour? Were you one of the guides?” Monique gushed.
“I was on the tour myself,” Kyle answered.
Monique blinked. “But I thought it was for couples!”
He knew this would only lead to more questions but he gave them a straight answer. “Yeah, well… originally I was going to be with my fiancé but the night before it began she dumped me in a letter she left at the hotel.” The ladies gasped and made sympathetic noises.
He held up his hands. “It was for the best. Like Fiona’s dumping Alfred.”This text is © NôvelDrama/.Org.
“What exactly did he do?” Marion asked, interest lighting up her shockingly blue eyes.
Kyle smiled regretfully. “You’ll have to get that story from Fiona.”
“You’re a cyclist?” Charlize asked and he nodded with a smile. “Alfred was always challenging me to race against him. Such an arrogant jerk! Did you race him? Did you win?” she asked excitedly.
Kyle grinned. “Yeah, I raced him.” He paused for effect. “I cleaned his clock.” Excited cheers erupted from the group. He looked towards the bar and saw Fiona returning with the drinks. She caught his look and moved a little faster.
Kyle accepted the tumbler of whiskey from Fiona’s hand with a smile. His first sip told him she’d splurged on the ‘good stuff’ and he nodded his appreciation with a raised brow as he caught her eye. Her smile in return spoke volumes. She’d told him she intended to pamper him during his visit and this was obviously just the first example.
“A whiskey connoisseur. At such a young age, too!” Monique teased.
“I’m not that young,” he replied quietly.
“Just young enough,” Fiona purred with a wicked grin.
Kyle’s face heated up as interested eyes turned in his direction. “They were asking how we met,” he said to change the subject.
“Were they?” Fiona said though her eyes went to Marion.
The woman accepted the challenge. “Yes! Your mystery man is here so isn’t it time you dish on some details about him and how you met? You’ve been dropping hints for weeks!” Marion insisted with that sexy pout which did things to make Kyle’s pants tight. Worse, she seemed to know it!
Fiona moved up against his side and grinned at her friends. “We should probably be seated before we talk about that.”
“When are we going to get our table? If they don’t hurry we may have to start on Kyle. He looks pretty yummy!” Gloria said with a bold look.