Getting Even (Sample Only, sold on Amazon)

Chapter 3: Beauty Queens

The phone rang at Livy Beckman's desk and the moment she heard a blubbering Brianna Martin on the other end she wanted to hang up. Livy honestly didn't want to talk to Nick's fiancée. But since he'd placed a lead rope around his neck for this beauty queen to drag him with, there wasn't much choice but to befriend her.

Livy knew that family always did their best to welcome the spouses. That rock Brianna wore on her left hand stated her claim. Nothing frightened Livy more because the witch merely tolerated her and hated Noah. Because of this, it had become important to try and be friends with her—a task that would give her ulcers.

Noah was the type of man who basically took things as they came. If he didn't like you, he didn't care what you thought. Growing up as an Apache hadn't been easy. Prejudice was an ugly pestilence that rotted their insides. She understood because she had dealt with it too upon occasion.

The whimpering noise over the phone brought her attention back to Brianna and that's when she heard her say that Nicky had broken off their engagement. Livy jumped up from her desk and immediately gave the air a high-five and began dancing around the room while silently cheering for Nick's wise decision. In a few weeks, she wanted to tell Nicky that any woman he met had to meet her and Noah's approval.

Her attention returned to Brianna when she heard the ice princess complain how Noah had come with him to break it off. She did another jig shaking her butt and silently laughed with glee. He deserved a big fat kiss for backing Nicky. She was sure his presence kept the bitch from laying into Nicky or perhaps begging him to reconsider.

Livy thought Noah was one of the most honest guys she knew besides Nicky. But that was why they were friends. He had once called them the musketeers. They enjoyed the same sports, liked the same movies, and could talk all night. Thankfully, her brother had taught her that guys needed time without girls hanging around. So she knew not to crowd them.

When Brianna kept going on and on about what had happened in their relationship, Livy wondered why she was being targeted to hear it now that it was too late. Over a month ago, Nicky had come to her for female advice. The topic was what surprised her. Nick was concerned Brianna wasn't finding sexual satisfaction. At the time, that had sounded absurd since sexual gossip painted him as an incredible lover.

For most friends, the topic would be embarrassing but she believed it to be an honest question, so she told him to buy a vibrator and find out. The news that he'd broken the engagement proved their sexual situation hadn't improved.

Months ago, Brianna told her that all Nicky wanted to do was have sex. Her example was how she arrived at the club to party with him, only to be taken to his office to use his desk to fulfill a fantasy. She also claimed he stopped caring if she enjoyed it. An obvious lie since he buried his ego to talk about it.

Her next complaint dealt with Nicky's rules of dos and don't dos he expected. Livy already knew about those rules and barely kept from giggling. Miss Whiny Pants bitched that he'd bought her eggs and expected her to cook them since she didn't like waffles or cereal. Livy wondered why she hadn't brought what she wanted to eat.

She was drawn back to what Brianna was saying and heard she had friends coming over to make her feel better about Nicky dumping her. Livy instantly smelled a rat when the invitation was extended to her. However, to be truthful, Livy had never trusted Brianna. That was why she agreed to come. Nicky needed her to go and play spy.

* * *

After work, Livy knocked on Brianna's door, and almost laughed when she opened it. For a beauty queen, having a talent with makeup would be expected. However, this time it wasn't used to enhance her beauty but to make her eyes appear as if she'd been crying for hours. They looked raw. To augment her distress of being dumped, she had taken the time to look as if she hadn't bathed since the encounter with Nicky. Livy assumed that was oil in her hair. As tricks went, this one wasn't bad.