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“Of course. Anytime. But there’s something you’re not telling me.”
She stays silent.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. Why?”
She’s lying, but I don’t become angry because she thinks she’s telling me the truth. Something is wrong, but she doesn’t know what it is any more than I do. Or she does, but she can’t find the words.
I trail a finger over her jawline. “You seem…elsewhere tonight.”
She forces a smile. “You’re imagining things.”
I cock my head. “Don’t lie to me, Skye.”
She sighs.
“Out with it,” I say.
“It’s silly, really.”
“Nothing is silly. Let me help you.”
“I’m feeling… This is difficult for me to say.”
“Just say it.”
“I’m not sure. Inadequate, I guess.”
“Why?”
“A lot of reasons. I’m not being a good friend to Tessa. I’m letting Addie get to me. I feel like I’m not…”
“Not what?”
“Like I’m not me anymore.”
So this is it, still. What we discussed on the plane returning from New York. She’s still uncomfortable with her new success.
Or perhaps there’s more.
I cup her cheek, run my thumb over her lower lip. “Look at me.”
She meets my gaze.
“Tell me, Skye. Since we met, when have you felt the most like you?”
“It’s little things, Braden. It’s not—”
I touch my fingers to her lips. “Just answer me, Skye.”
She closes her eyes, lets out a soft sigh.
An odd feeling settles over me.
Not because I fear her answer.
Because I fear she’s insistent on punishing herself.
And that makes my heart hurt.
Chapter Forty-Three
“Skye…” I urge.
She opens her eyes, turns her head, and kisses the palm of my hand.
“In New York,” she says. “At your club.”
I smile. Good. Perhaps I misread her before. Perhaps she’s not punishing herself.
“That pleases me.”
“Why?”
“Because at the club is when I feel the most like me,” I say.
“Then why do you indulge only in New York?”
“I’ve already answered that question.”
“But—”
“There are certain things I keep out of my Boston life. Aren’t there certain things you keep out of your Kansas life?”
“I suppose so,” she says.
“Speaking of Kansas…I’ve never been there.”
I should probably meet Skye’s family. After all, she’s met mine. I want to meet her family, and I’ve never had the desire to meet a woman’s family before.
“Oh?”
“Does that surprise you?”
“A little. You’ve been everywhere.”
“Not everywhere, but a good many places both here in the U.S. and outside.”
She smiles. “Kansas never made your list, huh?”
I smile back, which makes her smile wider. Every time. “Not yet. But it will. You and I will go there.”
“When?”
“When would you like to?”
“I don’t know. I start my contract with Susanne tomorrow. I’m not sure Eugenie wants her posts taken from a Kansas cornfield.”
I kiss her forehead. “Probably not.”
“But New York, Braden. I could do my posts in New York.”
A smile spreads across my face once more. “You want to go back to New York?”
She closes her eyes. “More than anything.”
“I have meetings all next week here in Boston,” I say. “But we can go next weekend.”
“I’d love that.”
I kiss her again, on her lips this time. Just a soft brush against them.
“So would I.”
…
The next morning, once Marilyn has left the kitchen, I decide it’s time to find out about Skye’s dinner with Kathy Harmon.
“Tell me about last night,” I say after taking a sip of coffee.
She reddens. “I think you were there, Braden.”
I laugh. “No. I mean your dinner with Kathy.”
“Oh.” She takes a bite of toast, chews, swallows. “It was… Well…” She frowns.
Crap. Kathy said something to her. Or something about me. Or my father.
“Tell me, Skye. What did Kathy do?”
“Kathy?” Skye raises her eyebrows. “Kathy didn’t do anything. She was lovely, actually.”
“Oh?” I doubt I’m hiding my surprise.
“Yeah, she was. At first I thought she was trying to use me. You know, for publicity. She wanted to ask me about influencing, and she insisted that I take a selfie with her.”
I chuckle. “Yeah. I saw it. Harvard law hottie.”
Skye rolls her eyes. “That kind of made me want to retch. I won’t lie.”
“I can see why. What made you change your mind about her?”
Skye takes another bite of toast and then wipes her lips with her napkin. “She said she finds what I do fascinating.”
I open my mouth, but she holds up her hand.
“Right. I know. I thought it was a load of crap at first, too. She asked how you and I were doing, and I said fine. She said you were an amazing catch, which took me aback for a minute.”
“Why? You don’t think I’m an amazing catch?” I tease.
She gives me a good-natured punch on my upper arm. “You’re the most amazing catch. Sometimes I can’t believe you’re mine.”
Her words jar me. I never thought, in a million years, I would ever want to be considered someone’s. But to be Skye’s? That’s okay. Within reason, of course.
I smile, pick up her hand, and kiss it. “You’re an amazing catch, too.”
She blushes. God, she’s so gorgeous. I could fuck her now, right on the kitchen counter. Been there, done that, of course, but who the hell cares?
