Krystal grinned.

Twyla kept up her interrogation. “So, you had little experience before him?”

I nodded.

“On a scale of one to ten, how much experience did you have?” Twyla pushed.

“Point two five,” I replied quietly.

“He knows you’re a virgin,” Twyla muttered and my heart jumped, not pleasantly.

Krystal punched her in the arm. “Now you’re freaking Faye out.”

“Uh, just to be clear, the ‘throw yourself at him’ bit already freaked me out,” I shared.

“So what’s on tonight?” Twyla asked, ignoring my share.

“Dinner at his place, the first time I’ve been there,” I told her.

“Bring panties and a toothbrush. Then find a way to tell him you brought panties and a toothbrush.” She suddenly clapped, I jumped and she finished, “Done.”

“Oh my God, that’s actually a good idea,” Krystal whispered and Twyla’s eyebrows shot up again, this time in affront.

“You think I walked five blocks in the Colorado Mountain March cold for no reason?” Twyla queried. “I’m a lesbian who can jack most motherfuckers up. I know non-lesbians who can do the same. You bein’ one of ‘em, I might add, though you do it with a shotgun in your hand. Same freakin’ thing. But bein’ a lesbian don’t make me not good at advice.”

I made mental note of this and added Twyla to my phone tree for when I experienced a relationship emergency.

“I didn’t say that you weren’t,” Krystal retorted.

“Felt that way,” Twyla shot back, Krys’s eyes narrowed and she leaned in.

“Now you’re being sensitive. I’ll remind you, Faye called me,” Krys stated.

“Maybe so, but when there’s a problem, it’s all hands on deck,” Twyla returned.

Krystal had no retort, looked stymied and also looked angry that she was. Not unusual, just scarier than normal.

I decided to wade in. “Just an FYI,” I said to Twyla. “I’ve added you to my relationship emergency phone tree.”

Twyla grinned huge at me.

“Great,” Krys muttered. “I finally get my shot, I get bumped because Twyla horned in.”

I blinked at Krystal because she sounded genuinely aggrieved.

It then hit me that Krystal Briggs had let me in. Not like she had Chace. In in. She cared about me. She wanted to help. I was past the hard outside layer that kept everyone out and was in the soft, warm center.

Which made me feel warm inside too.

“Don’t worry, Krys, her bein’ a virgin and him bein’ the kind of man he is, I’m sure you’ll get your chance,” Twyla assured.

I suddenly didn’t feel warm inside anymore.

“What kind of man is he?” I whispered and Krys and Twyla both looked at me.

Then they both said at the same time with the same emphasis, “All man.”

I felt a shiver. It wasn’t a bad one. It wasn’t a good one. It was a nervous one.

“Right, so I was freaked out. Now I’m nervous.”

Twyla tossed her hand in the air and stated, “You been seein’ each other awhile, that man’s been seein’ to you in that while, not pushin’ things, goin’ slow, keepin’ it controlled, you got no problem.”

“This is true,” Krys said leaning into me. “No kidding, Faye. That says a lot.”

I felt slightly better.

I still needed guidance.

“Um, so, how do I work in the panties and toothbrush? I mean, it’s not something you share over dinner,” I pointed out, trying not to blush but feeling the heat.

“He’s got his tongue in your mouth,” Krys began, “and he’ll have his tongue in your mouth. You’re on the couch, and you’ll be on the couch. When he takes his tongue out of your mouth, find a way to whisper it in his ear. That’ll speed things up.”

“Real quick,” Twyla agreed on a short nod.

Oh man. I was beginning to waiver on my tonight’s the night decision.

Twyla must have seen it because she leaned in. “He’s done good by you. He’s done good by this town. Word I hear, he’s pretty solid. So far, he’s taken care of you. He was way into you the other night. I may be into women but I spent a lotta time around men. You saved it awhile, you wanna give it away, you could do worse. But, honest to God, not sure you could find better.”

I smiled at her because that made me feel much better.

Unfortunately at that point, a patron approached the checkout desk with an armload of books. Fortunately, Krys and Twyla hung around long enough for them to vow to me they wouldn’t breathe a word about our discussion to anyone. One thing could be said of the two of them, if they vowed, which they did, they’d keep it.

And last, since I hoped I’d be unavailable the next morning, I asked them to take care of Malachi. Krys jumped on that, took my list of things I thought he’d need, promised to stop by the store and leave the bags by the return bin the next day.

So there I was, in my car on the road that led to Chace’s house. A road I’d only been on a few times in my life because there was no reason to go down it since it led to a dead end at the foot of the mountain and had nothing but a bunch of ranches on it. Those times I’d been on it were while driving around with kids in high school for no other reason than to pass time and listen to music loudly on the stereo.

I’d changed purses because I now had clean panties, my toothbrush and I’d added face wash, moisturizer, deodorant and one of my sexy new nighties so I needed a bigger one. I thought it best to be prepared. If I was spending the night, I didn’t want to sleep in makeup. Slept-in makeup looked awful in the morning.

I also had my sexy undies on and, just in case, had been wearing nothing but those every time I saw Chace which meant every day since I’d bought them. I’d changed out of my work skirt and into jeans, brushed my hair and done the run through a spritz of perfume routine. I was chewing on a piece of bubblemint because Chace told me in a growl during a make out session he loved the way I tasted. So if bubblemint was an addiction before, suffice it to say it was an obsession now.

And I was nervous as all fraking heck.

His house came in sight and I knew it was his because he told me it was the only one surrounded by a white picket fence. He also had the porch light on and there were some bright floodlights at the side of the house that were lighting up the lane and the drive.