She let out a self-deprecating laugh. “I’m sick of hearing, oh you’re twenty-nine and single, not ready to settle down yet, too busy playing the field?”

Feeling like she’d opened a can of worms, Kelly was tempted to apologize. The thought of Lucy accusing her of being the C word again, stopped her.

“What about the other woman? Did she spank your arse? Tie you up?” Kelly held her breath wanting to hear the answer, yet terrified of how it would make her feel.

A snort burst out of Lucy. She slapped the steering wheel as if Kelly had just told the funniest joke ever. “Good God, no.”

Amused, and somewhat confused, Kelly quirked an eyebrow. “What’s so funny? I thought you loved being restrained? To the point you’ve tied yourself up?”

“My ex, Candy…”

Beating Kelly to the punch, Lucy waggled a finger. “No, she wasn’t a porn star, far from it, unless you’re talking about a star who does nothing but lay flat on her back.”

“I don’t mind that so much.” Kelly put a hand on Lucy’s thigh, loving the flex of her muscle when she stepped on the clutch and shifted down a gear.

The car slowed as they crept up a steep hill. The sea had given way to paddocks of cattle grazing, sheep on one farm, cows on the next, and the odd horse here and there.

“Right, but you like being in charge, and you give as well as take,” Lucy said. “When it came to sex, Candy was all take, she’d spread her legs and say, Oh, eat me, baby, eat me.”

Kelly snorted. “She didn’t.”

“No, not those words, but you get the point and those words were fitting considering her name.”

Indeed, it certainly brought new meaning to eating candy.

“When I suggested she restrain me, Candy chewed her lip and said, but then how are you going to please me?”

“That’s sad,” Kelly said, feeling Lucy’s pain. Being sexually incompatible, unfulfilled, sucked.

While some didn’t think sex was the be-all and end-all of a relationship, it went a long way toward making lovers just that, lovers.

“How many women have you bedded, Kelly?”

Just before Kelly replied a bug splattered against the windscreen.

When one of her father’s favourite jokes sprung to mind, Kelly snickered. “What’s the last thing that went through that bug’s mind?”

The corner of Lucy’s mouth twitched. “Its asshole.” Her eye roll confirmed Kelly’s joke was old and lame.

She sprayed window washer and flicked on the wipers, effectively smearing the mess. “Don’t think that shit’s going to stop you from answering my question either.”

“Now who’s being the witty one?” Kelly quirked an eyebrow and Lucy shot her a playful smile.

“Spill.”