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be some hormonal thing and figured she d focus on soothing the woman.
She wrapped her arms around Maya s shoulders, stroked her back and tried for a
bit of levity, teased her friend about her mate.  Hey, it can t be that bad. It s not his fault
he s got erectile dysfunction. He s old, right? We ll get him some little blue pills and it ll
be all good. We can even order them online without a prescription from Mexico or
Canada or something.
Her friend stiffened in her arms.
Gotcha.
Maya shoved her away and held her at arm s length, fire in her eyes.
 Ohmagawd. He does not have ED. How could you&  She shook her head, narrowed
her eyes.  You re just trying to get me to quit crying. She huffed.  Fine. I m a tad
emotional, but I totally have a good reason.
Maya breezed past her and toward the back of her house. Probably to hunt up
some ice cream.
Carly really needed to buy stock in Ben & Jerry s. Seriously.
With a grumbled  Come in, she followed Maya s trail down the hallway and
found the woman just as she d suspected: carton of ice cream in hand and feet propped
up on one of the chairs.
 Sure, beyotch, make yourself at home.
She waved the spoon at Carly.  Thank you for such a warm welcome. She
scooped another mound of the ice cream into her mouth.  And if you d been through
what I d been through this morning, you d know that this stuff is totally earned. I even
had a reason for crying this time.
Carly raised a brow.
Maya stuck her tongue out.  I did. There was& 
Her words trailed off and Carly figured that she d just realized that she had Neal
camped out in her back yard. Through the walls, she could hear Maya s guards joining
her mate out back.
Her mate.
Gah.
But no, God was not being gracious and kind this morning. Nope. She watched
as Maya s nostrils flared and her friend took a nice, deep breath.
Oh. Joy.
And in three& two& one&
 You mated! Maya squealed and raced around the table, arms stretched wide.
Okay, she waddled, but the end was still the same: she was engulfed in a great
big lion hug once again, her friend rocking them back and forth in a happy dance.
Carly wasn t all that happy. Mostly. Okay, a little happy, but a little of a lot of
sad. Half and half?
Maya released her and then slumped into the seat right next to Carly.  It was last
night, right? Why didn t you call? I would have totally woken up for that. She leaned
forward and sniffed.  And Neal? Really? I didn t& I had no& But you ve been around
each other before and&  She waved a hand in the air.  Doesn t matter. You re mated!
Her eyes widened.  We have to plan a party, send out announcements and 
 No, My. No. Carly shook her head. Determined.
 But&  She poked out her lower lip.
Carly lowered her voice to a whisper, not wanting the guys out back to hear.
Neal, in particular.  You know how I feel about Neal. You know&  She swallowed,
blinked back the tears. She was acting like a stupid, stupid girl. She d dreamt of love
and mating going hand in hand. Instead, her heart was breaking more and more with
each beat. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly.  He called me  darlin  . When it
was over, he called me  darlin  . Like I was just some& And he still has the blonde
hanging around, even after we met and& 
Maya gasped, covered her mouth with her hand and then reached for her, pulled
her close. They d talked about Neal in broad strokes before and she d always made her
feelings abundantly clear.  Oh, Carly. I m sorry. But, maybe you should give him a
chance to expl  A fierce roar, louder even than the pride s prime had ever released,
poured from the backyard and through the kitchen and Maya s face went white.  Oh.
They told him. I was trying to stall. I don t feel like crying again so quickly.
Carly s eyes snapped open wide.  Told him what? What s going on?
Guilt and more than a hint of sadness wiggled its way into Maya s expression.
 They&  She licked her lips.  They found& You see& Near Ian s house& 
 Spit it out, My.
 There was a death last night, and it wasn t pretty. A tear slid from the corner of
her friend s eye and Carly s heartbeat picked up, racing and nearly bursting from her [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]