Queen of Men (King Maker 2)

Needing Lizzy, I picked up the phone and dialed her number.

“Hello,” she said cautiously.

“Lizzy,” I said. My glee might have been a bit too loud. The room next door seemed to quiet just a bit.

“Bails,” she called out over the phone. “God, I miss you.”

“Me too,” I said a lot softer.

“Bails,” she said again and the timbre in her voice was full of apology. I understood immediately what she was going to say next. “I’m not sure if you—”

“I saw,” I cut her off, not wanting Kalen to take up the little time we had to talk. “What about you? How is Chicago?”

“It’s great.” But it was Lizzy who was great. She wouldn’t press me. “You know, Matt wants you to come for a visit.”

“I just bet he does.” I laughed.

“Ewww, that’s seriously gross, the two of you.” She paused. “He’s a great guy, though.”

“I know. I think I’ve had my fill of guys.” I told her everything that had happened in excruciating detail.

“Turner, he sounds delicious.”

“Is that your expert advice?”

She sighed. “Do you want me to say that it sucks being you? I can’t exactly say that. It’s like you have a ton of hot guys sniffing around.”

“One guy, Turner,” I corrected.

“I don’t care what the tabloids say about Mr. Jeremy Kalen Brinner King. Did you see that picture? The expression on his face was frosty.”

“I seriously doubted he liked all the flashes of cameras going off in his face. He’s a private guy.”

“Keep telling yourself that.”

I would, if for nothing more than to keep my sanity. I’d let him go. I wouldn’t allow myself to believe I’d made a mistake. It was long past time to move on.

“What about you and Hans?” I redirected.

“Hans? Did I ever tell you the size of his penis?”

I shook my head. I missed her so much. “Um, no.”

“Let’s just say he gives awesome oral. Must be a skill he learned to make up for his shortcomings.” She laughed. “Get it, shortcummings.”

I couldn’t help but laugh when she laughed. But then, I remembered that this was a long-distance call and not my cell phone. The community would be billed per minute for this call. “Lizzy, I have to go. But I miss you terribly.”

“Tell me where you are, and I’ll come.”

Lizzy roughing it wasn’t something I’d want to see. I loved her, but she loved things like a flushable toilet, down comforters, and other conveniences not found here.

“I’m thinking about heading home in the next few days. If not, I’ll call you and let you know my plans,” I said.

Twenty-Three

Humming a tune lost to most of the world, something I heard often growing up, Violet continued to play with my hair.

“How much longer?” I complained.

“Hold your horses,” she chided. “You can’t go with your hair pulled back in a bun.”

“Why not?” I could feel my brows crease in a frown.

“He’s seen you every day like that. I’m giving you an elegant French twist.”

Violet was worse than Lizzy. If Violet had Lizzy’s stuff, I’d be used like a doll.

“Done,” she said before coming around to look at me.

My frown deepened. Reaching up with both hands, I pulled at the wisps of hair hanging loose on either side of my face. “Why not just let all my hair hang free?”

She gave me a motherly look that said I should know better. “Yeah, and the old biddies will have a harvest day telling Mother about her wayward daughter.”

Sometimes home reminded me of the Dark Ages. We weren’t allowed to wear our hair loose in public. It was silly.

Lost in my thoughts, I missed an opportunity to stop Violet’s hands before she pinched my cheeks. “Press your lips together,” she dictated.

“Why?”

“Just do it,” she replied. “And hurry about it.”

Not wanting her to pinch my cheeks again, I did. When I looked into her eyes, her cheeks glowed with a brilliant smile. “Ready then?”

“What was that all about?” I complained.

“Nature’s makeup.” We weren’t allowed to wear makeup. This apparently was the next best thing.

A knock came at the door, interrupting anything I might have said.

“How did you know he was here?” Was she a seer like some of the old women talked about when we were kids? I always brushed it off as stories told to keep the kids in line.

“I saw him through the window when I walked around you.” She shook her head as if she knew what I’d been thinking.

The window had been to the side of me. She’d been using it for natural light to get me ready. I stood and smoothed down the skirt of my dress. My sister headed to open the door.

Turner stood and his mouth opened. He looked shocked to see me, but why? I looked the same. “You look beautiful.”

I smiled brightly and began to head out the door with him when my sister whispered, “You’ve got that I just had sex look. You’re glowing and rosy cheeked.”