Sugar and Spice by Mari Carr Page A

the room and one eye on you.”
    “Allie, I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Could her sister’s words be true?
    Had Ryan been protecting her all these years? Was his response last night not one of desire, but instead of comfort? The thought of Ryan sleeping with her merely out of pity made her stomach lurch with nausea.
    “Anderson’s even joked about it a few times. Says Travers never sees any other woman when you’re in the room. Says his friend’s ‘knight in shining armor’ attitude only shines for you.”
    “Anderson said that?” Ginny asked. Suddenly Allie’s words took on a different meaning. Could it be possible that Ryan had been interested in her all of these years?
    “Yep, Anderson and I have had several conversations about you and Travers. I have a feeling he won’t be so surprised when he hears the two of you finally did the dirty between the sheets.”
    Ginny had to laugh at Allie’s use of Anderson’s expression. The man had never used the word “sex” in his life. He only ever said people did the “dirty”. The childish expression drove Taylor nuts, which—Ginny was certain—was why Anderson continued to use it.
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    “Yeah, well, Travers and I really had no business doing the ‘dirty’ or having sex.”
    “Was it that bad?” Allie asked.
    “Holy hell, no! It was great, amazing, fucking out of this world.”
    Allie looked confused. “Then what’s the problem?”
    “The problem is Ry— I mean Travers and I are friends. Sex screws up friendships.
    Everybody knows that.”
    Allie shrugged, unconcerned. “So you hit the sheets and had hot sex together one night. So what? Good for you and good for Travers. There’s no hard and fast rule that says you can’t be friends anymore. What did Travers say this morning?”
    Ginny turned her head toward the window, unsure how to answer.
    “Aw shit,” her sister murmured. “You didn’t stick around, did you?”
    Refusing to meet what she was sure was a condescending look from her baby sister, Ginny watched as the sun rose more fully in the sky, wondering if Ryan was awake yet.
    “There didn’t seem to be much point in sticking around. It’s not like Ryan— I mean Travers said anything about us having a future or anything. Last night was just a bit of experimenting between friends.”
    “What kind of experimenting?” Allie asked and Ginny realized her sister had just remembered the part about the sex club.
    “The kind you’re too young to hear about,” she replied in her haughtiest older sibling tone.
    “Bullshit,” Allie answered. “You can go ahead and climb down off that high horse, sister dear, because you and I both know my ‘experience’ in that arena far surpasses yours.”
    Ginny bit her lip but refused to admit her sister’s words were true. Allie had been a free spirit from the crib and Ginny didn’t even want to begin to ponder some of the “experiences” her sister had enjoyed.
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    “Fine, let’s just say we were in a sex club and leave it at that. I think I’ll just let your twisted mind fill in the blanks.”
    “Sis, you do not want me to fill in the blanks,” Allie teased.
    “Actually, I think I do.” Ginny tried to ignore the heat she felt creeping up her face and the wide-eyed expression her sister gave her.
    “Holy hell, what did you two do?”
    “That’s not really important, is it?” Ginny asked.
    “No, what’s important is the fact that you ran like a big fat chicken.”
    “I didn’t run,” Ginny protested. “I merely got out of bed, got dressed and grabbed a cab. Is it my fault he didn’t wake up?” She silently thanked God that Ryan had taken out the butt plug and untied the rope binding her before they fell asleep. She’d been in such a hurry to flee this morning, she wasn’t sure she would have taken the time. She could just imagine her sister’s face if she’d showed up here walking funny and with a mile and a half of hemp twisted