“Can I get your number?” UFC-guy said in a low, deep voice, his gaze trained on Nikki’s push-up-bra-enhanced bust. Her boobs were currently demonstrating the impressive stretch and strength of the cotton fibers in her skintight pink T-shirt.

“I’ll bring it to you once we’re in the air,” Nikki promised.

“I don’t think you’re supposed to switch seats,” Melanie said.

“Melanie, Melanie, always afraid to break the rules.” Nikki winked at the big guy. “But I’m not. If anyone asks, your name is Nicole. And what will my assumed name be?”

“Richard Bailey,” he said. “Or just Dick.”

“It’s never just dick when I’m around.” Nikki laughed and settled into Mr. UFC’s vacated seat. She grabbed half of her seat belt and half of Melanie’s and tried to figure out how to fasten two female ends together.

Before the guy could deliver his next incredibly lame pick-up line, he was ushered up the aisle to his seat by a harried flight attendant. Melanie jerked the end of her seatbelt from Nikki’s fumbling fingers and fastened her buckle again. She counted backwards from a million so she wouldn’t strangle the life out of her best friend and greatest liability.

When Melanie was prepared for flight and could talk without breathing fire from her nostrils, she turned to Nikki and repeated, “What are you doing here?”

“Following your advice.”

Melanie made a face of complete incomprehension. “My advice? I told you that you couldn’t come.”

“That’s not advice, that’s an order. Remember just a few days ago you said visualize what you want, gather your courage and go out and get it?” Nikki punctuated her words with opening and closing hands, as if she were putting Melanie’s advice up in lights. “I’ve been visualizing Shade Silverton all week.”

In her head, Melanie started counting backwards from a billion. “I was talking about finding a job. You know, those work-type things that bring in money so you can pay your bills and half our rent and buy your own damned gas.” Nikki was entirely broke and seemed in no hurry to find employment or to move from Melanie’s uncomfortable couch. “How did you even get a plane ticket?”

“I blew the pilot.” Nikki suggestively wiped at the corner of her mouth.

Melanie’s jaw dropped.

Nikki burst out laughing. “Jeez, Melanie, I’m just kidding. You don’t really think I’d do something like that, do you?”

To get what she wanted? Maybe.

“Remember that credit card you gave me for emergencies?” Nikki said, managing to look slightly remorseful. “Well, Shade not calling me for six entire days is an emergency. I’m going to tell him off to his face and then he’s going to apologize to my vagina all night long.”

“Nikki, isn’t it obvious that he doesn’t want to see you?”

“Nope.”

“And that credit card was for real emergencies. How can I trust you when you go and do something like this?” She felt like such a mom these days. Or a harping wife. What had happened to their friendship? Or had it always been this way between them?

“I just want to spend time with you, Mel.” Nikki turned on her best-friend-please-love-me expression, and for once Melanie was too pissed to be affected by it.

“Well, I want to spend time with Gabe. Alone. You might as well get off the plane right now and head for home.”

Melanie grabbed the armrests as the plane began to back away from the terminal. Too late to fix this situation? Not as far as Melanie was concerned. As pissed as she was, she wasn’t against throwing Nikki from a moving plane. She wouldn’t even wait for the emergency slide to inflate before shoving her out the exit and onto the tarmac.

“I’m not going to get in the way of your time with lover boy,” Nikki assured her. “I just think it would be awesome if we were both dating guys in the same band. Wouldn’t that be awesome?”

Awesome? Well, if Shade actually wanted to date Nikki, it might be fun—until disaster struck. And Melanie couldn’t fathom the level of drama Nikki would invent in that scenario.

“I don’t identify Gabe as the drummer of Sole Regret; I just think of him as Gabe. Your feelings for Shade—if you can even call them feelings—are all about his fame and notoriety. That is the only reason you slept with him.”

“Not the only reason,” Nikki said.

Melanie blinked at her.

Nikki grinned. “He’s also sexy as hell and has a huge cock.”

Melanie released a tired breath. “Even if he does like you as more than his current dick wetter, there is no way something like that can last.”

“Who said I wanted it to last? I just want to have fun. Keep his dick wet if he wants it wet. You’re the one who seems to think sex has to be meaningful and emotional and all lovey-dovey.”

And that’s what Nikki had been moping about all week. Exactly that. Melanie’s head started to swim again. She wished the woman would make up her mind. Did she just want to have sex with Shade again or did she want something more? Did she even know what she wanted? “Don’t you want sex to be meaningful?”

Nikki gnawed on her lip reflectively. “Maybe when I’m thirty.”

Which was in like two years. Nikki had so much growing up to do before then. But there was a part of Melanie that was a little sad that she herself had grown up too soon. Part of her wished she was capable of Nikki’s idea of fun, but most of her was glad that what had started as a night of meaningless sex with a hot drummer had turned into a chance to find something more substantial with a wonderful, deep, somewhat misunderstood man.

“So what if you get all the way to New Orleans and Shade doesn’t want to see you?” Melanie asked.

Nikki shrugged. “I’ll just join you and Gabe. Every guy wants to have a threesome with two hot chicks, right?”

“Not funny, Nikki.”

“I wasn’t trying to be funny.”

“I’m not sharing him.” Nikki had a way of stealing her boyfriends from under her nose, and she was not going to give Nikki an opening with Gabe.

Nikki released a heavy sigh. “Well, you can’t blame a girl for trying.”

Melanie’s head was thrown back against the seat as the plane accelerated down the runway.

“Shit,” Nikki said. “I forgot I hate flying.”

She grabbed Melanie’s hand and squeezed her eyelids shut until they’d left the earth behind. She didn’t let go of Melanie’s hand until the safety demonstration was long over and the plane leveled out near cruising altitude. Melanie let her hold her hand, stewing over the entire mess. If Nikki ruined Melanie’s time with Gabe, she would never forgive her. She would toss Nikki out on the street and let her sucker some rich, older man into taking care of her.

“I’m sorry, Mel,” Nikki said.

“For what?” Melanie snapped. The woman owed her a list of apologies a mile long.

“For loving you so much.”

Melanie pursed her lips, trying to puzzle through the jigsaw that was Nikki Swanson. “Why are you sorry for that?”

“Because it makes me do stupid things.”

“Wow, Nikki, you must love me a hell of a lot.”

Nikki pouted the pout that worked on guys, but it didn’t make Melanie give her everything she wanted. Much.

“Now you’re just being cruel. You know you mean everything to me. Can we take off our seat belts yet?”

On cue, the flight attendant announced that they could move about the cabin. Nikki unfastened her seat belt.

“I’m going to thank Mr. Big, Muscular, and Handsome for letting me have his seat.” And she was off to play her field. The damned thing was the size of the entire state of Kansas.

Melanie tried to ignore Nikki’s flirtatious laughs from up the aisle as she stared out the window wondering how her mood could have turned sour so quickly. She wouldn’t blame Gabe if he left her at the airport with her baggage. Baggage more commonly referred to as Nikki Swanson.

Chapter Four

Gabe smiled when Melanie’s text message popped up on his phone.