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She arrived at Cibo Molto Buono, a high-end Italian restaurant in Hell’s Kitchen. Brooke was already seated, but Harper and Poe hadn’t arrived yet. She waved to Brooke as the maître d nodded and escorted her to the table. When the waiter asked her for her drink order, she requested a glass of Merlot.
“You’re drinking wine.”
“So?”
“Something’s up. What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
“You only drink wine when you’re upset.”
“I’m not upset.”
“Why is Callie upset?” Harper said as she sat down and flagged the waiter.
“I’m not upset,” Callie insisted.
Poe came to the table and noticed the tense atmosphere, then eyed Callie’s glass of wine. Callie wished she’d just cancelled the dinner.
“What’s up?”
“Callie ordered wine.”
“Oh, no. What’s wrong?”
“Spill it,” Harper said.
“Oh for the love of Pete,” Callie said. “I kissed Owen McKay.”
“Where?”
“On the mouth.”
“No where were you when you kissed him?”
“I took him to my parents so they could check out Jack’s pregnant girlfriend.”
“Oh, cozy family home. That was bound to happen.”
“Well, you got it out of your system. Now you can move on. There’s a cute doctor I could set you up with.”
“Not exactly.”
“But he’s real cute.”
“No, not the doctor part, Poe, the getting-it-out-of-my-system part.”
“What is that supposed to mean?” Brooke asked.
“She kissed him again,” Harper said.
“I kissed him again.” Callie confirmed.
Brooke sighed. “When?”
“His lesson. He was teaching Jill to sit, and he got so excited he hugged me, and I hugged him, and then all of a sudden we weren’t just hugging. We were kissing. But I was firm afterward. I told him that a relationship wasn’t going to work.”
“There’s only one thing to do now,” Harper said.
“What?” the other three women asked in unison.
“You’re going to have to sleep with him.”