hearts.
“Enough,” she said aloud, and pushed to her feet. A quick glance at the clock told her the catering staff should be arriving any second. She returned to the kitchen in time to see three vans pull up.
She welcomed them and chatted with Diane, the catering manager. They’d handled dozens of parties for her and knew what to do. Ten minutes later she climbed the stairs to get ready.
With each step, she felt an ache inside-a physical reminder of what she and Mitch had done.
Sex in the dirt? In the middle of the afternoon? That wasn’t her. She was careful and reserved. She was very aware of her position as the head of a charitable foundation and a single mother. She hadn’t been on a date since before she’d married Ray. Certainly not since his death. She wouldn’t ever allow herself to…
Except she had allowed. She’d done more than that. She’d taken and given and lost herself in a wave of pleasure she hadn’t experienced in nearly nine years. The fire had always burned with Mitch and it still smoldered inside.
“What on earth was I thinking?” she asked herself as she reached the landing. There wasn’t an answer, probably because she
She walked into her bedroom to find Izzy stretched out on the bed, again watching her TV.
“If you don’t like your bedroom, we can find you another one,” Skye told her.
Izzy sat up. “There’s nothing wrong with my room. I wanted to talk to you before the party.”
“The party you’re not coming to?”
Izzy grinned. “Not even for money. Come on, Skye. Jed’s parties are boring. He expects me to behave.”
“Not an area in which you excel.”
“Exactly.”
Izzy bounced to her feet.
Skye studied her sister. Izzy was the wild child-physically free, emotionally flighty. She feared nothing except getting tied down. Since barely finishing high school, she’d held jobs ranging from ski instructor to underwater welder, the latter being her current position on an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico.
“I met T.J. last night,” Izzy said.
Skye kicked off her sandals. “After you and I talked about what happened?” She groaned. Izzy was very protective and not exactly rational in her approach. “Tell me you didn’t do something that’s going to humiliate me.”
“Would I do that?”
“Not on purpose.”
“I was totally well mannered. You would have been impressed.”
“Doubtful,” Skye murmured, wondering what part of this conversation was going to make her cringe. “What happened?”
“We talked. He’s good-looking. You didn’t mention that.”
“I guess. Not my type. Not yours, either. He’s borderline normal. You know how you hate that.”
Izzy crossed to the mirror above the dresser and studied her reflection. “Is he from around here? I get the feeling I’ve seen him before.”
“Yes. He’s a couple of years older than Lexi. We all went to the same high school.”
“Interesting.” Izzy turned to face Skye. “Local rich boy wants to be richer. Jed Titan can help with that. It’s an old story, but one I never get tired of hearing. He came on to me.”
Skye carefully unzipped her jeans, then pushed them down and stepped out of them. In Izzy’s world, every guy came on to her.
“You might want to swing by the kitchen after the party,” she said as she headed for the bathroom. “We’re having those mini pizza appetizers you like. I’m sure there will be leftovers.”
Izzy followed her. “He came on to me, Skye. Seriously. He wants me.”
Skye told herself she was too mature to roll her eyes, however much she really wanted to. “Okay. Thanks for the share.”
“I’m telling you for your own good. Your sense of duty means you won’t blow this guy off on general principle. He’s a jerk. Be careful.”
Skye’s afternoon had been a roller coaster of emotion. The thrill of seeing Mitch again, the pleasure of making love with him, the humiliation of his dismissal. She was tired, confused, ashamed and sick of feeling that everything was her fault.
“Be careful?” she repeated. “Why? Oh, let me guess. Because while T.J. is desperate to have you because you’re so amazing, the only reason he could possibly be interested in me is because Jed is offering him money.”
Izzy took a step back. “I didn’t say that.”
“You didn’t have to. It’s all very clear. I’m no one. A nonsexual being. A man would have to be bribed or desperate to want to get into my bed.”
Had Mitch been desperate? Or just angry?
“That’s not what I meant,” Izzy said loudly, “and you know it. Look, I was mad because he dismissed you and I went to call him on it. We got to talking and he was interested. That’s all.”
Skye’s temper grew. “You went to defend me and ended up getting a date? Gee, thanks. Your support is overwhelming.”
“It’s not like you ever date,” Izzy snapped. “You’re not exactly experienced with guys like him. I’m trying to help.”
“I don’t need your help.”
“Obviously not. Fine. Date him. Play the game. Do what Daddy says. It’s what you’re good at.”
Izzy stalked from the bathroom. Seconds later, the bedroom door slammed.
Skye looked around for something to throw, but she didn’t keep anything breakable in the bathroom. Not with a child in the house. She was too sensible for that.
Izzy might be too self-absorbed to understand anyone else’s point of view, but she’d gotten one thing right. Skye did do what Daddy said. She was the good mother, the good sister, the good daughter. The good girl. Although if she had sex in the dirt with Mitch a second time, she just might be on her way to blowing her reputation.
And that would be okay with her.
“WHAT AN INTERESTING musical choice,” the congressman’s wife said, staring at the four college kids Skye had hired for the evening. “That kind of music is…”
“Hip-hop,” Skye told her. “I read about the group. They’re attending Texas A &M and supplementing their scholarships by performing. I went to hear them last month and was impressed.”
She’d dropped into a frat party to hear them, but the congressman’s wife wouldn’t want to know that. Three different guys had hit on Skye in the twenty minutes she’d been in the house. The fact that they were barely out of high school and completely drunk had pretty much diluted any possible compliment.
“Interesting,” the other woman said.
Skye was pretty sure she actually meant something more along the lines of “horrifying” but was too polite to say that. Skye didn’t care. She liked the guys and their music. She could go the rest of her life without hearing another tasteful quartet.
She excused herself to circulate. There were two hundred people to greet and make feel welcome. The evening seemed more stressful than usual, probably because of her fight with Izzy. She hated arguing with either of her sisters. With their mother gone and Jed being, well, Jed, they only had one another to depend on.
They would talk later, she promised herself. Make things right.
“So far, so good,” Jed said as he moved past her.
Skye shook her head. She knew what her father implied-that things were fine now, but the evening wasn’t over. There could still be a disaster.
“Have you noticed that every party I’ve given has been perfect?” she muttered.
“I’m not sure talking to yourself gives a good first impression.”
Skye turned toward the speaker and saw T.J. next to her. “Maybe not, but it ensures I have plenty of personal space. How are you? If you’re looking for Izzy, this isn’t her thing. Or is talking to me going to work, too?”
T.J. winced. “So you did hear.”
