“Where’s Parker?” she asks Jason, who’s looking increasingly inebriated and is being even less subtle than usual about checking out Lori’s chest.

Jason jerks his head backward toward the bar, and Lori cranes her neck until she spots her friend.

“Ooh! Cute guy. And she actually looks happy.”

She holds up her hand to me. “High five. I think all of our lessons finally paid off. Our girl’s found her groove!”

I slap her hand, probably with more force than necessary, and then take another sip of beer to stop myself from pointing out that I’m the one who found Parker’s groove. Several times.

I’m saved from having to say anything when Parker comes all but strutting back to our table, shooing Lori over so that her friend now has an excuse to press her thigh against mine. I shoot Parker a warning look, but she doesn’t notice.

She’s too busy flaunting a cocktail napkin with a phone number. “Look what I got!”

“You go, girl!” Lori says, and now it’s Parker’s time to get a high five.

Note to self: Drunken Lori is big on high fives.

“Right?” Parker shakes her hair back, grinning happily.

“The way he was leaning into you, I thought for sure he’d be taking you home,” Lori says.

“Oh, the offer was definitely on the table,” Parker says smugly, taking a sip of her bubbly wine.

“And you didn’t hit that?” Lori asked. “He was hot from where I was sitting.”

“Yeah, but I’m with you guys,” Parker says, her nose scrunching. “I wouldn’t ditch.”

I feel a weird stab of guilt, remembering exactly how many times I’d been out with Parker and ditched her for a hookup. After checking to make sure she had a ride home, of course.

Parker drains her drink and then scoots back out of our booth. “Gotta pee.”

Lori looks like she’s about to follow, but then an unnaturally tanned guy appears in front of her. “You were really good up there.”

Lori’s smile is slow and sexy, and I breathe a sigh of relief that she has someone to distract her from touching my leg.

“Yeah?” she says, and I see her settle into her seat to receive more compliments.

“Hey, let me out,” I say, elbowing a mostly zoned-out Jason, since it’s easier to move him than a flirty Lori.

He sighs but scoots out of the circular booth so I can get out. He wobbles only slightly once on his feet.

“Maybe slow down on the whiskey there, champ,” I say.

He gives me the bird and then half-walks/half-stumbles toward the bar, and I say a silent prayer on behalf of whatever woman’s about to be subjected to his leering. Definitely might be time to rethink my “friendship” with the guy. Parker’s right. He’s kind of an ass.

But right now, Jason is the least of my worries.

I ask an irritable waitress about the direction of the bathrooms, then find myself in a dimly lit corridor.

There’s a couple making out, another couple arguing, but no sign of Parker.

I lean against the wall across from the women’s restroom and survey the area while I wait.

When Parker emerges a few moments later, she pauses in surprise. “Hey.”

In response, I grab her hand, pulling her toward one of the side exit doors. It’s unseasonably warm, so I’m counting on her not fussing about what I’m about to do.

“Ben, what are you—”

I push her up against the brick wall of the building and kiss her. Hard.

Her response is immediate, her tongue tangling with mine as her hands slide around to my back, her nails digging through the fabric of my shirt.

I bite her lip, and she makes a sexy little growling noise. “So this is what you do when you disappear when we’re out,” she says, pulling back and giving me a speculative glance.

“You like?” I say, nibbling her throat.

“It’s very—” she gasps, as my palm finds her breast. “Naughty.”

I smile, because Parker hasn’t even seen my naughty side yet.

Still, I’m not about to take her against a wall in a not-so-private alleyway, so I settle for making out for several more minutes before I rub my hands over her increasingly chilly arms.

“Let’s get you inside.”

She makes a pouty face, and I run a thumb over her lip. “Unless you wanna get out of here?”

“I do, but…” she says slowly, and I freeze, hoping that she’s not about to tell me she’s going to go home with the other guy.

I brace as she looks up at me.

“A duet?” she asks.

My breath rushes out in relief. Not that I’d begrudge her a chance to get her groove on with some other dude. It’s part of our deal. But considering my cock’s hard enough to cut glass after nothing but a few hot kisses, I’m not sure my ego could quite deal with the rejection.

“All right,” I say. “One song.”

“One song, and then what?” she asks coyly.

I tilt my hips forward against her. Her eyes widen, then flutter closed. “On second thought, we can do a duet some other time…. ”

I’m already moving toward the front of the bar. “I’ll get us a cab. You tell Lori and Jason we’re heading out. I don’t think Jason will notice, and Lori’s got herself an admirer.”

Five minutes later, we’re on our way home.

Turns out, Parker’s never made out in the back of a taxi.