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been truly sorry about the loss of her artwork and his sincerity had tugged at her heart.
Still, the man wasn t her type.
Wow, Chloe, will you listen to yourself? Come on. Talk to me.
44 www.samhainpublishing.com
Clawed
Chloe organized her brushes for the fifth time. Damn. Why couldn t she shake him out of her head?
There s nothing to talk about. It was sex. Pure and simple.
But you don t do sex. At least not with strangers. And not with someone you just met five minutes
before. That s what makes what happened so special.
Chloe whirled on her friend, anger mixing with her wounded ego and self-reproach. Get over it, will
you? What we did wasn t special. He wasn t special. I was upset and lost my head. That s all.
Regretting her outburst the moment Nina winced, Chloe bent down and busied herself with her
brushes again. She placed her brushes into her supply carrying case and snapped the lid closed. Trust me.
It won t happen again. Now, can we drop it?
I guess. For now.
Relieved, Chloe hoped her apologetic smile would convey everything she couldn t seem to put into
words. Great. How about we talk about something fun?
Do you mean fun as in Billy? Nina whipped her hands up, palms outward to ward off Chloe s
scowl. Hey, just because you regret your hook-up doesn t mean I do. In fact, I m very happy I did what I
did. Her grin grew wider. Every time I did it.
Chloe could never stay angry at Nina for long. Besides, just because her whatever-it-was with Conan
had ended in ruins, that didn t mean she couldn t join in her friend s happiness. Yeah, I could tell from the
sounds coming from your tent.
Really? I m surprised you could hear us above all the noise you and you-know-who were making.
If heat was any indication, her face had just burned away under the rush of embarrassment scouring
her cheeks. Oh, uh, well, I Hey, never mind. And don t try to bring him up again, got it?
Nina grew serious and took Chloe s hand, then led her to a log where she urged her to take a seat.
Look, I get how you feel. But I have to tell you something.
Chloe s stomach made a sickening flop. Nina being serious was bad enough. But Nina taking her
hand and acting this dramatic was worse. Should I dial 911? Nina not laughing at her lame joke only
made Chloe s stomach turn over again.
Only if you attack me after you ve heard what I m about to tell you.
Oh, crap. Do I have to know? Because I m pretty sure I don t want to know. The sting of the bark
on the log poking into Chloe s right butt cheek was nothing compared to the quick pain in her chest.
Billy and I agreed to meet later on today.
Chloe held her breath, waiting for her friend to spit out the rest of the news. After all, there had to be
more than Billy and Nina getting together again. O-kay. And this is going to upset me why? She tried not
to think about what the couple would be doing in the next tent.
Nina dropped her gaze, then raised her head and met Chloe s gaze head-on. Her friend s
determination sent a chill down Chloe s spine. She was right. There was more.
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Beverly Rae
Because I promised to meet him down by the water. You know. Where you saw, um, what you saw.
You mean where I hallucinated seeing a man Conan turn into a bear. At least Chloe hadn t
made the mistake of telling Conan about her alcohol-induced vision. So?
Nina shifted in her seat, her determination gone. Well, you see& I mean, when Billy mentioned
meeting him there&
What did you do? Chloe struggled against the awful truth she knew was coming.
I m sorry. But yeah. I kind of told him.
When would her friend stop dropping emotionally charged bombs on her? You kind of told him?
Damn, Nina, please say you didn t tell him about that. You didn t, did you?
But Nina s expression told her everything she didn t want to know. Still, to be certain, she had to hear
the words. She grasped her friend s arm, keeping her on the log. Tell me what you said, Nina.
I just, well, I just sort of said you d seen Conan before he came to our camp. Plus, that you couldn t
figure out how one moment you re looking at him and then, in the next moment, you re looking at a bear.
Chloe was on her feet and pacing as though she could get away from both her friend and what she d
revealed. Oh, hell. I do not believe this. Isn t it bad enough that the man thinks I m after him for a
relationship?
He does?
And now he ll think I m crazy in a whole different way. Chloe ran a hand though her hair, her heart
pounding against her chest.
Hey, don t worry about it. I told him what happened. You know. How you were slightly inebriated at
the time.
The expression oh, my God had never meant more than it did at that moment. Terrific. Just terrific.
Not only will he think I see things, but now he ll think I m a drunk.
No. I m sure he won t. Besides, who knows? Billy might not even mention it to him.
Chloe tilted her head, tossing her friend a scornful look. Really? You don t think so? If the situation
were reversed, wouldn t you tell your best friend some juicy tidbits about his latest conquest? Especially if
you thought the conquest was a nutcase.
Nina scrunched up her face. I see your point. Damn, I m sorry. I didn t think.
No, you didn t. How had her trip gone so wrong so fast? In less than a day she d met an
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