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“You did not.”
“I did,” I say. “The five minutes we spoke were all about how fantastic you are, and I didn’t mind, because I love singing your praises. We were like two fangirls.”
“Oh, stop it.”
“It’s true. So. Are you interested in him?”
“No. He’s not my type.”
I smile, grateful she’s not here to see it, and reach out to grab a handful of dresses. “You know I love you, but you often see things in black-and-white.”
“No I don’t. I’m an artist. I see endless nuances of color.”
“Sure you do. But not when it comes to men.”
“He’s perfect foryou.He’s too similar to me to work.”
I think of Victor, and his precise way of speaking, the methodical movement of his hands. The ambition and the business sense and the discipline. “I don’t know about that,” I say. “I think attraction is more about finding someone who is complementary.”
Nadine is quiet a beat, but when she speaks, her voice is heated. “Okay. Spill.”
I laugh. “How did you know?”
“Your voice. Your words. Come on, you don’t really want to know how I know, not as much as I want to know what you know.”
“I have no idea what you just said.”
“Spill!”
“All right, all right. So. Last night Victor and I attended the opening of New York’s new opera house.”
“Right. As you do.”
“As you do,” I say. “When you’re married to a St. Clair. And well… some things happened.”
Nadine is silent as the grave as I give her the whole seedy rundown of what took place, shortened to a few sentences. I make the scene on the console table in his hallway sound like a handshake, but by the time I’m done, my cheeks are still red. “Saying all that out loud… wow.”
“So what now? What do you want?”
I look at my dresses. Most are boring, the ones I’d worn a million times at the office. One is… decidedly not.
“I think for him, last night was about control. Having it, specifically. For whatever reason, he always has to be in control.”
“Sounds like someone else I know.”
I snort. “I like things to be organized. I don’t have to be in control.”
“Right, I won’t comment. Go on.”
“Well, I want him to lose it.” I run a hand over the silky fabric of the dress. “I’m going to try and seduce my husband, and I know just how to do it.”
17
Cecilia
I wait until we’re seated at the dinner table before I drop the bomb. Victor and I sit side-by-side, watching the two men approaching. Carter Kingsley talks to the media mogul he and Victor are here to woo. Me? I’m wooing my husband.
I lean in to murmur the words. “I’m not wearing any underwear.”
