Surprising them all, Crystal said bluntly, “We barely came up for air the whole two weeks. I mean, that kind of surprised me considering we’d been all but living together since we met, but something about having the ring on our fingers and the Mr. and Mrs. titles . . . It made us crazy—”

   “Horny?” Claire supplied helpfully then blushed. “I know exactly what you mean,” she admitted. “Jason and I were all over each other on our honeymoon. I think it’s the alpha male in them that gets turned on over feeling as if they own you somehow.”

   “Those were good times.” Suzy grins. “You wife—me husband, cue the beating on the chest and all the other caveman tendencies. And you, Lydia? How’s that hot piece treating you? If you tell me you’re playing Scrabble every evening instead of crawling him like a tree, I’m going to flipping sob at the waste of such prime man candy.”

   “Well—we can’t have you crying now, can we?” Lydia said coyly.

   “I knew it!” Emma crowed. “There is no way a woman could be in the same house as a man like that and not do the deed.”

   “We certainly know you couldn’t.” Ava snickered playfully. “Plus, we wouldn’t have to guess. You’d take out a billboard and tell us all about it.”

   Lydia found herself relaxing as everyone good-naturedly ribbed each other. She’d never had girlfriends she was close enough to share intimate details with, and something about it felt so right. As much as they all picked on each other, there was nothing mean or catty about it. These women would have each other’s backs in a second, and she felt so fortunate to have found a sisterhood like that. “I’m just taking it one day at a time,” she admitted when there was relative silence again. I have no idea if it will work out long term, but I’m enjoying the now very much.”

   Suzy studied her for a moment. “Well, you’ve already got the ring, honey. And something tells me you won’t be giving that up.” As Lydia studied the gorgeous diamond that Jake had insisted she not take off back in Vegas, she felt a stirring of hope. Could Suzy be right? Was it here to stay along with her new life with Jake?

   If she had anything to say about it, she wasn’t going anywhere other than home to her new husband at the end of every day.

* * *

   Be careful what you wish for, Lydia thought wryly. She’d been home all of ten minutes from Suzy’s baby shower when there was a knock at the door. Jake had called her earlier to say that it’d be at least seven before he got home as he and Mark were dealing with some labor problems at another DeSanto location. So she knew it was too early for him, and he certainly wouldn’t be ringing the doorbell. When she looked through the peephole, she inwardly cringed as she saw Chris’s frowning face. Lydia stood rooted to the spot, unsure if she should pretend that no one was home or take the opportunity to see what the other woman said without Jake home.

   In the end, curiosity won out and she slowly twisted the deadbolt and opened the door to Jake’s ex. “Good evening, Chris,” she offered, trying to sound as if she wasn’t insanely nervous.

   “Where’s Jake?” she asked as she tapped her foot impatiently.

   “He’s not home yet. He’s going to be late tonight. Was there something I could help you with?” Lydia asked pleasantly, even though she wanted to close the door on Chris and her crappy attitude. This is what I get for being curious.

   Chris brushed past her and swept into the house as if she owned it. When she reached the foyer, she spun around and snapped, “You think you’re the queen of the manor now, don’t you? Don’t tell me you’re buying into all those empty promises that men like Jake are so good at making. Trust me, that’s how I ended up sleeping with him.”

   Lydia took a moment to close the door and regroup before turning around. She attempted to take the high road by saying soothingly, “I really don’t think now is the time to discuss this, Chris. If you have issues with Jake, then you should call him and arrange a time to talk out your concerns.”

   “Stop patronizing me!” Chris hissed. “I’m not some empty-headed bimbo that you can speak to like a child.”

   At that moment, it became clear to Lydia that Chris was spoiling for a fight and wasn’t about to leave until she’d gotten one. Never one to back down, Lydia straightened her spine and leveled the other woman with an unflinching stare. “I’ll speak to you like an adult when you act like one. If you’re going to stand there and continue to insult Jake and me, then you can just leave.”

   Lydia could tell from the tiny flinch that Chris had been unable to hide that she’d scored a direct hit. She had little time to enjoy it, though, before she was once again under verbal siege. “He’s not going to stay with you. I mean look at you. Jake is completely out of your league. Regardless of his seeming confidence that he’ll get joint custody of Casey, I think he panicked and married you. He figured he’d get me off his back if he were already taken and I’d just let it go. Of course, if that happens, he’ll have no reason to keep you around. How long do you think you’ll be Mrs. Hay then?”

   Even though Chris’s barbs were getting to her, Lydia refused to let her see the impact they were having. If the other woman sensed weakness, it would be all over. She’d go for the jugular. “Isn’t this whole tirade because I’m married to the man you want? Haven’t you been badgering him to marry you for months? But he wouldn’t. Why do you think that is, Chris? He loves his daughter dearly, so how badly must he dislike you not to consider a move that would give him more permanence in Casey’s life?” Direct hit, Lydia thought as the other woman’s face paled. Lydia wanted to feel more pleasure in Chris’s pain than she did. Possibly because she knew she might well be the next one devastated when she no longer had the right to be the woman of the house. Dropping her head, she sighed. “I shouldn’t have said that. I don’t want to fight with you. In the end, we all want the same thing and that’s for Casey to be happy.”