You’re going where?” Ivy asked, shoving another pillow behind her back with a wince. “Great. So I get to stay here and practice my mothering skills? Alone?”

Gerri smirked, pouring glasses of sparkling Sidaii into long flutes. “Karis and I are staying, but I suppose we don’t count.” She carried the tray to where Riley sat and put it on the coffee table after handing her one of the elegant glasses. “Drink up. You need to be relaxed if you expect to get your groove on.”

Henley laughed. “Oh, she’s primed, Gerri. Have no fear. I read the note Jag sent her and that boy’s engine is purring like a lion in heat.”

“Leave her alone, Henley. Behave, or maybe you’d rather stay here with us instead of meeting Damen in the situation room?” Karis asked, raising an eyebrow. “You might be able to fool the others, but I know exactly whose situation is being situated, and where, with you two.”

Henley snorted. “Good. As long as you don’t know how it’s being situated, I’m good.”

“Now, now,” Gerri interrupted. “The girls have every right to let anticipation run through their veins. That mouthwatering hint of what’s to come is half the fun of hooking up.”

Riley picked up another glass of the wine. Was this number three or four? Not that she was counting. The rainbow-colored bubbles went down like silk, making regular champagne seem like ginger ale. She needed all the liquid courage she could get tonight. She was determined to have fun…be fun… hell, even if it killed her.

She drained the last of her drink and got up from the couch, wobbling a bit on her feet. Crap. Maybe she should slow it down. Nah. Every time she thought of Jag, her temperature rose, and she needed to play it cool or she’d let him rip her clothes off before he worked enough for it, and if anyone needed to work for the punani tonight, it was Jag. She was not going to be another easy fuck. She was more than that. She wanted more than that. Deserved more.

“You okay, honey?” Ivy asked, trying not to laugh.

Riley lifted her chin. “I’m fine. I may have to throw up before Jag gets here, but there’s always more wine.” She turned, knocking over her glass on the coffee table. “Right, Gerri?”

“Oh, Jesus. She’s sloppy drunk and Jag’s not even here to take advantage.” Henley snorted. “Well, at least now her rusty hinges are oiled enough to open wide when certain hard parts point her way.”

“Hey!” Riley complained with a small burp. “I can open wide with the best of them, and that includes you.”

Gerri got up and steered her around toward the stairs. “Let’s go, lovey. Right now, all compasses point upstairs where I left a surprise for you in your room.”

Riley wiggled her arm from Gerri’s grip. “Oh no,” she waggled a finger at the matchmaker. “The last gift you left for one of us was a live life-sized holograph of Vander that Ivy thought was a digital sexbot!”

“Yes,” Gerri nodded, taking her arm again to walk her forward. “And look how well that turned out. Trust me, Ri, Jag is no different than any other potential mate. You say he’s got the attention span of a horny teenager? Then you need to be the shiniest thing on his radar tonight.”

“I…I…” Riley stuttered. “I think I need another drink.”

Gerri shook her head. “You’ve had enough liquid courage to raid a mountain camp single-handedly. Now, be a good girl and come with me.”

They got to the top of the stairs and Gerri opened the door. Riley made a beeline for the bathroom, but it was a false alarm.

“Sparkling Sidaii will lower your inhibitions, honey, but won’t make you sick. It’s why I chose it for tonight.”

Riley’s gaze collided with Gerri’s. “Think Jag will notice?”

“What? That you’re drunk or that you’re up for the hottest nasty monkey sex of his life?”

“Gerri, I’m serious,” she said, walking into the bedroom from the bathroom and collapsing on the bed.

The matchmaker opened the armoire and took out a garment bag, hanging it on the door. “I know, sweetheart. Oftentimes we have to make sure they see us. The real us. Even if it means throwing caution to the wind and going for what we want.”

Riley’s breath caught in her lungs. Her hands turned slick with sweat. If anyone knew her reservations about Jag, it was Gerri. She shook her head. That wasn’t true. They all knew. So it was clear she had to do something about it and stop letting her fear stop her.

Jag loved the single life and he wasn’t giving it up. You didn’t need to be a rocket scientist to see that. Maybe if she figured out what the hell she wanted, she could demand from him some kind of sexual or emotional commitment or combination of each instead of keeping herself and him in limbo. She was exhausted fighting with him and turning him down. It’s not what she wanted. It would crush her if she was another conquest, but then again it scared the crap out of her if it meant more. Gerri was giving her the full court press the same way she had with Ivy and Vander. If that didn’t speak to possibilities, then she didn’t know what did.

“I see you, Riley. You’re going to give yourself a migraine thinking so damn hard,” Gerri said, unzipping the black dress bag. “What have I told you girls about overthinking a situation with a potential mate?”

“Don’t think. Just feel.”

The older woman nodded. “I do the thinking so you don’t have to. Jag is ready, even if you don’t think so. You’re afraid, Riley. It’s why you’re so quiet. If you were confident in yourself and what you wanted, you’d be all over that boy like white on rice. Do it, honey. Let go and let yourself feel. Trust me, that boy has a lot for you to feel.”

At Gerri’s grin, Riley cringed. “Stop, I can’t think about Jag’s package with you smiling like that. It’s like talking about sex with my mother.”

Gerri laughed out loud. “Really. And do you also shop in your mother’s adult toy stash?”

Riley’s eyes jerked up and she blinked. “You know about that?”

“Of course! I brought the box of fun with me for you and the girls until you had your own flesh and blood boy toys and even afterward.” She smirked. “Did you think they were all mine?”

Riley sputtered, not knowing what to say. “Uhm, no?” She exhaled. “They were all still in packaging, new. I wasn’t sure if they were yours or if you sold them or what.” She covered her eyes with her hands. “So, you’re not mad I helped myself to one or two or…five?”

Gerri took the dress out of the bag. “No, I’m glad they helped take the edge off, but if all goes the way I hope it does tonight, you won’t need them unless you want them, now uncover your eyes and take a look at this!”

A shimmer of gold winked as she pulled her hands from her eyes. The room was immediately bathed in deep red hues. Gerri looked at the ceiling and smiled. “My sentiments exactly. This dress is HOT!”

The dress was sleek, the fabric unlike any Riley had seen before. It wasn’t silk or satin but something in between. It slid over the skin like the most liquid silk, fluid and sensuous, yet its sheen was stunning.

Riley pulled the new sexy gold dress over her head. She turned in the mirror, her gaze fascinated at the way the fabric clung to her curves without bunching. The material crisscrossed under her ribs, highlighting her waist, and a plunging neckline showed off her breasts making her hourglass figure even more alluring. She turned in front of the mirror, stunned at how beautiful she looked and felt. The dress with its deep fall at the front showed off her cleavage, and as she turned, she grinned at the way the back dipped to the base of her spine. From there, the style seemed to hug her butt in the best way. Damn. Her ass looked amazing.

“Okay, missy, that’s enough. Take the dress off and get your sweet ass in the bathtub. I left special bath salts and a sugar scrub for you to polish your skin, plus the scent is completely intoxicating, if I do say so myself.” She waited, holding out her hand for the dress. “Now, scoot.”