~ One hellofva slumber party ~<br/><br/>And now Mari thought she didn't want to either....... oh God, she'd made such a mess of it.  She wished a great big hole would just swallow her up.  She felt like the spotlight was on her and not in a good way. She'd seen the pale faces of the great and the good when they had made terrible mistakes, facing the press, the flash bulbs going off like scatter guns around them the aggressive questions the painful apologies.  Now she thought she might feel a little sorrier for them.  And she wished she could rewind and try this again.<br/><br/>Nicci was momentarily stunned by Mari's kiss, and the look before it, and the soft pressure of her lips.........  they weren't sisterly, no.....  not really sisterly at all, more like a play partner, the woman sharing the heat of the moment.  Her eyes widened, she hadn't expected anything like that....... not yet.......  She swallowed, Mari's face still so close to her own..... and her eyes dropped to the ripe lips that had just kissed her.  As Mari whispered her encouragement Nicci but her mug down and leant forward, placing her cheek against Mari's on the other side to everyone else and her arms coming up to hold her for a moment. "It isn't that I don't want to kiss him – I do" she whispered by her ear and then kissed her cheek, wanting to reassure Mari, "but only if he wants to...." she slipped in as she let go and sat back up again.<br/><br/>"Thank you," she said quietly, her hand reaching out for Mari's, "I really want this too........" she risked a quick look across to Marcus, wondering if he felt rail-roaded.....