to happen. I swear Charlie has like this radar whenever a beautiful new woman moves into this city. Hell, I’m surprised it took him nine months to find her.”
The other women snickered at the joke, which only encouraged Nicole to stay perched atop her soapbox. “Wake up, Anna, your sister is exactly Charlie’s type, and he’ll be all over her like white on rice.”
Jade, one of the founding members of the group frowned. “What’s Charlie’s type?”
“Anything with breasts and a pulse,” Nicole shot back.
“Damn. I better hide Sasha, too.” Anna bent down and picked up her orange-and-yellow tabby cat that kept mewing at her ankles.
“She’s telling the truth,” said Emmadonna, a plus-size beauty with a mountainous chip on her shoulder, nodding in agreement. “I met the famous dog at a club a couple of years back, thinking I was safe since he spent half the night dancing with the same old anorexic-looking chicks until he brushed up on me.”
“Ooh?” the other women chorused.
“Next thing I know, he was all up in my ear, saying only a dog wants to play with some bones.”
The women laughed.
“Girl, I played it cool for about two minutes before I jumped him and showed him how us big girls worked it out. Nahwhatimean?” She held up her hands and received a train of high fives while the room filled with new squeals of laughter.
“If you didn’t see the devil horns and tail then you weren’t looking hard enough,” Nicole said, rolling her eyes.
“Oh, I was looking, all right,” Emmadonna said. “All I saw was a tall brother with money, class, sophistication…and if I’m not mistaken, a dash of thug in him. Every girl needs a little thug in their lives.”
“That man has a trail of broken hearts that stretches halfway around the globe.” Nicole’s hands settled on her thick hips. “Charlie’s a diehard playa, and any woman who thinks she can change him, which is every woman he’s ever come in contact with, is just kidding herself.”
“Including you,” Jade said, easing back into the leather couch with a knowing smile.
“Yes, including me.” Nicole squared her shoulders. “Of course, I never became a notch on his bedpost. I had a little more sense than that.”
Anna rolled her eyes and yawned. “Anyone want some more coffee?” She shuffled toward the kitchen. “If I have to wake up, I might as well do it the right way.”
“I could’ve slept with him if I wanted,” Nicole said to Anna’s back.
“I hope you like Folgers.”
“Ignore if you want, but back in college I was considered a fine catch myself,” Nicole reminded her.
“Of course, I think we might have some Taster’s Choice in here,” Anna kept on, unfazed.
Nicole rolled her eyes. “Folgers is fine.”
Anna rustled through the cabinets for a few minutes and then fumbled with the coffeemaker. All this talk about Charlie was hitting a little too close for home. She had her own history with the infamous playa and she’d rather just forget the whole incident. She certainly didn’t want to talk about it.
Nicole glanced down at her watch. “It’s noon. I bet you anything, Charlie is lying next to some chick right now trying to figure out the best way to get her out of there.”
“Okay, now you’re creepin’ me out.” Anna hit the Brew button. “You know just a little too much about the man’s modus operandi.”
“All playas have the same M.O. Hit and run.”
“I still say Gisella is smarter than that. She was just hired to make the man’s cake. She’s hardly looking to leap back into another relationship after what her ex just put her through.”
“Charlie doesn’t do relationships.”
“And Gisella doesn’t believe in one-night stands.”
Emmadonna, with supersonic ears for all things gossip, cackled from the living room. “Girl, please. Every woman has had at least one.”
Anna and Nicole rejoined the women in the living room.
“I say,” Nicole continued, “the only way a woman can avoid getting caught up in Charlie Masters’s dog trap is to run the other way when you see him strolling down the sidewalk.”
“Amen” circled around the room along with another series of high fives before the women burst out laughing.
Curious about the commotion in the apartment, Gisella finished dressing and joined her sister’s friends in the living room. “What’s so funny?”
The minute she walked into the room, all the laughter was suddenly sucked out of the air and everyone began straightening and fidgeting in their seats.
Gisella cast her gaze around the room as suspicion crept up her spine. “Parlez-vous de moi?”
Anna shooed Sasha off her lap and stood up. “Don’t be silly, Gisella,” she said, shuffling over and draping her arm around her shoulders. “We weren’t talking about you—exactly.”
“No, we were talking about your birthday boy last night,” Nicole said, piping up.
Gisella’s face flushed. Had her sister heard her in her room last night? Oh, Lord, hadn’t she called out his name a few times?
Nicole pointed. “Look at her face. Something did happen last night.”
Anna’s arm fell from Gisella’s shoulders. “You didn’t!”
“Didn’t what?” Gisella asked, thoroughly confused.
“Sleep with the enemy,” Anna said. “Charlie Masters is the biggest man-whore in Atlanta.”
“And that’s putting it nicely,” Nicole agreed.
Gisella groaned before she could stop herself. Didn’t these girls ever give it a rest? Men were not the enemy. “Relax,” she huffed. “Nothing happened. I went to network, remember?”
Unconvinced, Nicole planted her hands on her hips. “Did you meet the birthday boy?”
Four sets of eyes locked onto Gisella and waited.
“I met him.” Gisella shrugged. “He said he loved the cake, and then I took off.”
Anna smiled as her arm magically reappeared around her shoulder. “See? I told you she knew how to handle herself.”
Ivy, the petite and soft-spoken member of their group, voiced her suspicions. “You mean Charlie didn’t even try to hit on you?”
Gisella shook her head, even though the memory of their light flirting replayed in her head. “Nope.”
“Damn.” Emmadonna chuckled and eased back into her seat. “We really are living in the last days.”
Chapter 4
Life had gone from bad to worse.
It was the only way Charlie could explain it. His company, Masters Holdings, continued to edge toward bankruptcy. Hopefully, his upcoming trip to South Africa would change all of that. His bid for a lucrative government contract was all that stood between him and financial ruin. The housing market combined with the credit crisis had formed the perfect storm to sink his financial ship. He was going to lose everything. The high-rise. The cars. The boat. The plane. His lifestyle.
To make matters worse, Charlie had been less than forthcoming with his frat brothers. How could he be, when they were still very rich and very successful in their own right? The last thing he wanted was to be labeled the failure of the group, nor did he want anyone’s sympathy.
After