Kara sat behind her desk feeling like a college student cramming for a test the next day. She wasn’t sure if Max was taking out his embarrassment at the book signing on her or what, but his “Want to Have” list would take her forever. Why did he want all this stuff anyway? There was no way he could consume all the data unless he didn’t intend to sleep tonight.

A knock came on her open door and she looked up to see Meghan’s smiling face. Kara sat back and let out a sigh. How would she get by without this gracious woman in her life?

Meghan sauntered in and handed her a large pink gift bag with white tissue paper poking out and a colorful bow on the front. “I brought you something for the trip. It’s my birthday present to you. I was going to give it to you on the cruise, but now that we won’t be doing that together...”

Kara loved this girl. She always knew exactly what she needed. “What is it?”

Meghan grinned. “It’s your emergency kit for this trip to South America.” She shoved her hands into the large shopping bag and started pulling items out. “First, we’ve got your super-sexy bikinis. And before you argue with me, we both agreed to wear them for our cruise. I don’t care that you feel you have twenty pounds that need to be hidden behind a one-piece. You’re hot. Rock that body and show the world. Besides, I hear Latin guys love women with a little extra in the curves department.” Giggling, she passed Kara the royal blue ruffled bikini that matched her eyes and a purple polka dot bikini in Meghan’s favorite color.

Even though she wanted to reject the idea, Kara kept her mouth shut. She wouldn’t ruin Meghan’s good time by saying anything negative.

Meghan wagged her eyebrows and reached into the bag once again. “This one here is my favorite. The Rabbit with the clit stimulation and the rotating pearls. We talked about buying these, and I thought you’d definitely need it now that you’re going to be alone for the big birthday. Don’t worry, I included extra batteries.” Kara’s eyes widened at the personal vibrator packaged in the pink and white clear plastic. Now that was a gift she’d get some use out of.

Kara watched Meghan continue to pull stuff from the bag. “One bottle of your favorite white wine. There’s a special box of our favorite chocolate truffles and a super-sized bag of your favorite trail mix. Seriously, I hope you don’t eat this all on the flight down there. I don’t want you going all mean on poor Max when you don’t have your chocolate fix.” She placed the items on Kara’s desk.

Meghan grinned, and Kara wondered what the heck else was in the bag. Meghan was too much. Her friend continued to dig into the shopping bag. “There’s also a pack of waterproof cameras, which you’d better use on the beach to take pictures of all those gorgeous, half-naked men for me. So try to relax, okay? I know Max seems to know just what buttons to push to make you go from calm to Godzilla-raging angry.”

Kara got to her feet, strolled around her desk, and hugged Meghan tightly. “Thank you so much. I will make sure to take everything with me. I promise to take tons of pictures of men for you and to wear the bikinis and the sexy underwear. You’re the best friend anyone could ever ask for!”

Meghan laughed. “I know.” Her smile slid off her face, and she gave Kara a pleading look. “Just try to remember that Max is a little misunderstood. He’s a great guy with a lot on his mind. You don’t know what drives him, but he isn’t really robotic like people think. He’s got feelings, and he cares. Be gentle with him. Please?”

Kara nodded and sighed. Max would behave, or he’d end up coming back in a body bag. She was flexible like that. “Yeah, all right.”

“Besides,” Meghan said, “you’ll love the plane. I helped remodel it two years ago.”

“Wait,” Kara replied. “What?” An image popped into her mind of a 777-airplane decked out in pinks, purples, and bling galore. She wouldn’t think too many of the men would appreciate the color scheme.

Meghan laughed at Kara’s expression. “I guess you haven’t seen the company jet yet.”

Kara’s eyes grew wide. “You mean we’re flying in a little bitty tin can over the ocean and jungles?” Her heart rate picked up speed. “What if we crash?”

Meghan scrunched down her brows. “You could crash in a real plane with a real pilot, too.”

“Not helping, Meghan.” She suddenly wasn’t overly happy about this excursion out of the country. But her friend was right. “Any plane can crash, I guess.”

Meghan patted Kara’s hand. “Don’t worry. I hear Max is a great pilot.”

Kara shot up from her chair. “Max is flying us?!” She bent over her trashcan. “I’m going to be sick.”

Her friend laughed, but she was serious. It took her multiple out-of-the-office meetings before she was comfortable with his driving. And now, flying...

Giggling, Meghan asked how Max’s mom was doing. The remembrance of the signing brought her to giggles. “Oh my god, Megs. It was epic.” She relayed the happenings of the event and by the time she was through, Meghan was rolling on the floor. Literally. Meghan had sprung from her chair to get the other ladies in to listen and tripped on her too-high heels, landing on her ass. She couldn’t stop laughing.

“But on a serious note,” Kara said, “what’s the deal with his parents? And Jane?”

Meghan found her chair and dried her eyes. “It’s such a tragic story. I heard it was hard on Max. I wasn’t around then. His mom and dad had been the perfect couple for the longest time. Then the company suddenly got huge, taking all of Dan’s time. And his mom got breast cancer.”

Kara gasped. “That is horrible.”

“Yeah,” Meghan continued. “Dan didn’t know how to cope with both so he clung to what he knew, which was running his company. He became a workaholic.”

“Oh god,” Kara breathed in, “did he leave her on her own to get through that?”

Meghan nodded. “He really tried to do what he could, but he was so dependent on her that when it came to him having to take care of everything...well, it didn’t go smoothly. After a while, Jane came into the picture.”

Anger swelled inside Kara. “Don’t tell me the bitch took advantage of the situation.”

“She more than took advantage. She weaseled her way in like the snake she is.”

“How’s that?” Kara asked.

“Dan had a conference he attended every year. Jane, the new marketing person, forced her way in to attend with him. Dan never said anything, but we ladies think Jane seduced him and slept with him. Then the bitch held it over his head, threatening to tell his wife if he didn’t increase her pay.

“Poor Dan was in a pickle. But Max’s mom found out somehow and divorced Dan while she was in recovery. His mom wrote her first self-help book on living through cancer and divorce. It was a big hit.”

Kara’s anger morphed into hate. She hated those who worked the system to their own advantage, saying to hell with everyone else as long as they got what they wanted.

“Good thing I didn’t know this before lunch the other day,” Kara said.

“Why’s that?”

“I would’ve told off that hussy before the salad was served.” She couldn’t believe Jane could’ve been so...conniving and dirty. The bitch had better not come around her again. She wouldn’t be so nice next time.