A Little Bit Naughty by Farrah Rochon Page B

sorry,” Jada said. “I knew something was bothering you, I just wasn’t expecting something like this. What do you plan to do?”
    “If I don’t get the truck up and running, the twenty-thousand I paid for it will be all for nothing. And I really want to get this new aspect of Catering by Kiera off the ground, before Jazz Fest, if possible.”
    “Was the twenty-thousand the last of the money from your dad’s life insurance?” Callie asked.
    Kiera nodded. “I tried getting a loan at the bank, but they’re asking me to put my business up as collateral. I can’t take that chance.”
    “No way,” Callie said. “I’ll loan you the money.”
    “I don’t want it. That’s the kind of money that can break up friendships.”
    “Don’t be ridiculous, Kiera.”
    She put her hand up. “I’m not even entertaining the idea, Callie.”
    “What about Mason?” Jada asked. Her skin got a little flush just saying his name. She was pathetic.
    “No, no, no,” Kiera said with a vehement shake of her head. “I don’t want him to know about any of this. Mason has been bailing me out my entire life. This is my predicament. I’ll figure out a way to make it work.”
    “I understand how that is,” Jada said. She and Kiera were alike in that they both had relied on family for virtually everything. Jada was proud of the stand her friend was taking. They were growing up. Look at them.
    “Are you sure, Kiera?” Callie asked.
    “Yes. Now, let’s change the subject. Please . I’m tired of thinking about my financial woes.” She turned to Jada. “What about you? You had that Naughty Nights party over in Covington. How did it go?”
    Jada looked over at Callie. “You may want to pop the cork on that other bottle of wine.”
    “Uh, oh,” Callie said. “What happened?”
    Jada relayed the details of the party, explaining how she endured listening to Nikki talk about her and Eric’s sex life. When she told them about Nikki’s pregnancy, both Kiera and Callie came over and enveloped her in a hug. They knew the affect that kind of news had on her spirit. It was just one of the reasons she was closer to these two women than she was to her own sister.
    “And, to top it all off, I ran out of gas on my way home.”
    Kiera drew back from their group hug and raised an accusatory brow. “You know I have to say it, right?”
    “You don’t have to,” Jada pointed out. Kiera’s brows nudged higher. “Fine,” Jada said.
    “I told you so,” Kiera pronounced.
    “There, you feel better?”
    “Much,” her friend returned while Callie laughed.
    “It actually turned out to be a pretty good night,” Jada continued. “A knight in shining armor came to my rescue.”
    “Really?” Callie asked. “Anyone we know?”
    A knock on the door drew their attention. Before Callie could answer it, the door opened and in walked Stefan Sutherland, Callie’s boyfriend of four months.
    “Hello, ladies,” Stefan greeted. The hunky ex-Navy pilot had come to Maplesville back in November to take care of his nephew while his twin sister, an Army nurse, was deployed to Afghanistan. His and Callie’s worlds collided when Stefan brought a stray cat he’d rescued from a ditch to Callie’s animal clinic.
    Callie jumped up from the couch and ran over to Stefan, wrapping her arms around his neck. The two proceeded to suck face like a couple of teenagers.
    “Oh, give me a break,” Kiera muttered. “I thought it was romantic when they first started dating, but now it just makes me want to smack both of them.”
    After her face-sucking session with Mason, Jada didn’t think it wise to comment. She also wasn’t sure she was ready to let Kiera know about what transpired between her and Mason. She was still trying to evaluate and absorb exactly what had happened between them herself.
    Still holding hands, Stefan and Callie joined them in the living room.
    “Sorry to interrupt the Girls Night In party, but I promised Callie I’d bring over her