A wonderful, bright red blush covered Claudia’s thin face, and Laura continued. “After tonight—after she shares your bed and you have sex—you can tell me all about it tomorrow. Can’t wait for the details. I doubt I’ll even be able to sleep thinking about it.”

Laura could tell Cassidy was trying very hard not to laugh, but she couldn’t hide the amusement in her eyes.

“What in the world brought on that conversation?”

“She thinks I have designs on you. She was warning me to stay away.” She glanced over at Claudia, who was still blushing. “Right?” She looked back at Cassidy. “She says I’m not your type, though. She says you don’t date women like me. You know, just a lowly yard girl and all. She says I am far out of your league.”

A smile finally broke on Cassidy’s face. “She said all of that, huh? And…let me guess. You want to tip her off her float?”

“I want to dunk her under the water. Can I? Please?”

They both turned to look at a still blushing Claudia, who was apparently stunned speechless. Her gaze went between the two of them several times before settling on Cassidy.

“So…I was…I was just telling her…well, I didn’t mean to imply…anything. I mean—”

“I didn’t invite you here, Claudia. I did invite Laura. Maybe that should tell you something,” Cassidy said bluntly.

Laura stared past her to Erica and Amber, who were coming over, both holding on to the same float.

“What did we miss?” Erica asked innocently.

“Nothing,” Claudia said quickly. She moved her float away. “I think I’m going to get another margarita.”

* * *

The afternoon was endless and several times Laura had to talk herself out of leaving, steak or not…rude or not. After the exchange with Claudia, the woman hadn’t said another word to her. Laura couldn’t really blame her. She tried her best to carry on a conversation with Erica and Amber, but she found that not only did she have little—nothing—in common with them, they were rather boorish. In fact, it seemed as if Erica was intentionally leaving Laura out of the conversation, focusing instead on mutual friends that they had with Cassidy. And Claudia, of course. The situation was becoming uncomfortable, not only for her but for Cassidy as well. Cassidy contributed little to the conversation, seemingly a bit irritated by Erica’s attempts to monopolize the conversation and blatantly ignore Laura.

When Erica launched into yet another story about one of their friends, Laura simply stood and walked away. She went into the kitchen, the coolness of the air welcome after being outside all afternoon. There was a bathroom outside that she could have used but she went down the hallway, finding one of the two guest baths instead.