Love, Lies and Texas Dips Read Free Page B

anyone, even Mr. Perfect, Dillon Masters. “I’ve got some stuff to do before his parents’ partythis afternoon,” she said, meeting her mother’s eyes as she inched her bedroom door open. “So if you’ll excuse me …”
    “You be careful, baby girl,” Bootsie warned, catching her by the shoulder. “The Glass Slipper Club takes their debutantes very seriously, and you know the rules. Any public indiscretion could cost you your position.”
    Public indiscretion?
    “It’s not like we were getting it on in the street, Mother, for God’s sake,” Jo Lynn groused. “If anyone spread any nasty gossip about me or Dillon, it’d just be because they’re jealous.”
    But the warning look didn’t leave Bootsie’s narrowed eyes. “I’m serious, Jo Lynn. You need to watch yourself. All it takes is one unforgivable slip, and the GSC will review your Rosebud status. If that happens, I won’t be able to do a thing about it. We’ve already had to terminate one girl, and it hasn’t been pleasant.”
    “What?” Jo Lynn perked up. “Who?” she asked, hoping against all hopes it was that fat blob Laura Bell.
    Bootsie gave a little shake of her head. “Now, Jo, you know I can’t discuss that with you. You’ll find out soon enough. Besides, it’s not anyone else’s daughter I’m worried about. It’s you.”
    “You don’t have to worry about me, I swear,” Jo Lynn insisted, but her mother didn’t look completely reassured.
    Still, Bootsie nodded, giving her shoulder a squeeze before she released her. “Why don’t you get cleaned up, and I’ll see you at brunch? Cookie has a new stuffed French toast she’s trying out on us this morning, and an egg soufflé with green peppers and caviar.”
    “Egg soufflé with caviar?” Jo Lynn made a face, and Bootsie laughed.
    “You can stick to the French toast.”
    “I think I will,” Jo said, watching her mother stride down the Oriental runner toward the stairs. Then she pushed into her room and shut the door, locking it behind her. She had something to take care of before she showered and made herself presentable for brunch.
    She dumped her shoes on the floor and slid into her cane-backed desk chair.
    Settling in front of her widescreen flat-panel monitor, she palmed her mouse, which was yellow and shaped like a VW Bug. When she clicked on it, tiny headlights lit up and it beeped. She pulled up a bookmarked page and prepared to place an order, her third in the past few weeks. Last time, it was for Godiva. This time, it was for two dozen brownies from the Fairytale Bakery. Just for the hell of it, she added a Caramel Endings dessert sauce and a bag of cashews. How many calories are in those suckers? she wondered. Like, a million?
    Enough, she was sure, to lead the already oversized Laura Bell on a course to debutante destruction, if she wasn’t already on the fast track to an early exit. We’ll see if big girls do cry , Jo Lynn thought, pulling out her prepaid debit card (which she’d bought with cash, so there was no way to link the purchase back to her) and smiled as she clicked Order Now.

If I were well-behaved,
I’d die of boredom.
—Tallulah Bankhead
Is screwing with your enemy’s head
considered a legit hobby?
—Laura Bell

Two
    “If I have to drag you out from under the covers and haul you over to the country club in your underwear, believe me, I’ll do it. C’mon, Laura! You’re the one who made such a big deal about working out this morning since we don’t have class.” Mac Mackenzie sighed and stabbed her fists onto boyish hips. Her blue eyes narrowed behind her black-rimmed specs, and the way her usually wild dark hair was pulled back into such a tight ponytail made her square face look positively menacing. “Now are you gonna get up, or do I have to spray you with the hose to get you moving?”
    “Maybe I changed my mind,” Laura growled, her sleep-tangled blond hair spilling over her pillow, and she tugged the sheets over her head.