“I’m so used to these … I don’t know. Soft, mushy men who have never done a hard day’s work in their life. I mean, Brock gets weekly mani-pedis, for God’s sake. How many manicures do you think Kash has gotten?”

“Laney’s given him at least three, I’m sure. Anyway, there’s nothing wrong with guys getting manicures.”

“I’m not saying there is. I’m just saying, Brock doesn’t even have workout calluses. He specifically uses machines that don’t muck up his pretty hands. He sleeps in spa gloves, Ivy. Why didn’t I think that was weird?”

“Because he was rich and ambitious and connected, and that made him seem powerful.”

I shook my head. “Powerful is watching Kash Bennet shovel dirt with no shirt on.”

“Testify.” She held up one hand in praise.

“Kash is masculine in ways Brock could never achieve, not with all the muscle implants and all the money and all the power in the world.”

“And hair plugs. Don’t forget the hair plugs.”

I groaned, flopping back on the bed. “I mean, they looked real.”

“It’s not his fault he got the bald gene,” she said, stretching out beside me.

“Or the small-butt gene.”

“He really did luck out in the jawline gene though.”

“And the smile gene.”

“Orthodontics.”

I chuckled. “But the shape of his mouth was nice. And he was a good kisser.”

“And he loved you once,” she added quietly.

“He did,” I admitted at an equal decibel.

“But he’s a jerk.”

“Such a jerk!” I said on a laugh. “And Kash isn’t a jerk. Kash is goddamn money.”

Ivy chanted, Kash money! over and over, swiping her hand at her palm like she was making it rain invisible Benjamins.

“So money,” I agreed.

“When are you seeing him again?”

“Tomorrow. He’s delivering the flowers for the Cabot wedding, and I’m getting us a room.”

“Aww, no more greenhouse banging? Those are the best.”

“I want to see what he can do with the comfort of a mattress. The back of my head still hurts from the concrete.”

“Next time, just pony up.”

“I would have this time, if he’d let me. He was on a mission. I wasn’t allowed to do anything but take what he gave me. I’ve never been so happy to just lie there until it was over. I never wanted it to end.”

“Well, you were thirsty. You’d been crawling through the Sahara for years.”

“Felt like an eternity. And I made it to the oasis.”

She lifted a hand for a high five, singing “Wonderwall.”

I slapped it and sighed happily. “Thank you. For putting the idea into my head. For talking to Kash. I don’t think it would have occurred to me without you teasing me about him.”

“As your little sister, it is my joy and pleasure to tease you at leisure.”