Page 55 of Second Time Around

“Uh-oh,” Paige said.

The rest of them laughed, and then Karen turned the book around so everyone could see the cover.

Paige’s eyes went wide, and her face turned bright pink.

“Ohmigod,” Cheryl said.

Debbie chuckled, and Kelsey and Stacy exchanged looks of amusement.

“Now, listen. We all agreed that anything goes in this book club.”

Paige looked down at her feet and shook her head.

“I think they call this a reverse harem story,” Karen said as the women eyed the cover. “And I’m curious. How does it work? Don’t the men get jealous of each other? Isn’t one guy enough? Seems like a lot of extra work to me!”

It might have been the wine, the company, or Karen’s quirkiness, but suddenly Jenna burst out laughing, and then the rest of them followed suit. Soon they were in full-blown hysterics, which only worsened as the book was passed around.

“Admit it. The rest of you are curious too,” Karen teased.

“Really, Mom? Out of all the romance books out there…”

“Karen’s right. We don’t pass judgment here,” Stacy gently reminded them.

Jenna laughed. “My sister, ever the rule follower.”

“Well, if we can’t be ourselves here, where can we be?”

“Maybe in the privacy of our own homes,” Paige said pointedly.

“I can’t wait until Hudson gets a load of this,” Kelsey said, giggling.

“I can’t wait for our next meeting!” Debbie said.

Once the book made it back to Karen, the meeting came to an end. The women exchanged goodbyes as they gathered their belongings and headed out the door. Everyone except Stacy.

“Need help cleaning up?” she asked.

“Nope. I’ve got it.”

“Are you sure?”

“Positive.”

Stacy sighed. “Sorry if I gave you a hard time about Beck earlier. I was just really surprised to see him here.”

“Yeah, me too.” Jenna was thinking about him returning to Michigan as much as having him in her house.

“You know you can talk to me about anything, right?”

“Yep.”

“Just like with Karen’s book club pick, I won’t judge you,” Stacy teased.

“It was quite a meeting tonight.”

“Yeah.” Stacy picked up her purse and slung it over her shoulder. “Well, if you don’t need me, I guess I’ll get going.”

“Are you off to Nick’s?”