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"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Jane said. "I just wondered if you had read the article. He sort of mentions you."
I flipped over onto my side. "What?"
"I'm sending it again."
With energy I hadn't felt in several days, I swiped my laptop off the ground and flipped it open on the mattress. I pulled up my email and opened the link that Jane had sent.
It was a puff piece, a typical rags-to-riches story that highlighted Brandon's many accomplishments in the financial and legal world. Most of the Q&A-style article consisted of fairly generic questions about his secrets to success, daily habits, things like that.
"Go to the fifth question," Jane directed me.
I scanned further down the page and started reading.
Forbes:Biggest regret?
[There is a long silence. Sterling rubs a hand over his face.]
Sterling:Can I plead the fifth?
Forbes:Not if you want the interview to end.
[Sterling laughs].
Sterling:All right, all right. Well, to be honest, my biggest regret happened just recently. I lost someone special because I kept some really important things to myself that I shouldn't have. It's easy in this business––either of my businesses, really––to get caught up in secrets. We do it all the time, whether it's maintaining attorney-client confidentiality or protecting our clients' investments. But that instinct, one that's served me really well in my professional life, cost me everything. You can't live your personal life like you run your businesses. I learned that the hard way.
[Sterling sighs and rubs his face again. He looks out the window of his office for several minutes.]
Sterling: There isn't a minute I don't miss her.
I continued scanning the rest of the article while Jane waited patiently on the end of the line for me to finish. I closed my laptop, then sank back into my pillows and sighed.
"He could have been talking about his wife," I finally said, although the thought pained me.
"Sky."
"Well, he could have. The magazine certainly thought he was, if you read the rest of the profile."
"Skylar," Jane repeated sharply. "You know that wasn't about Ms. Priss. The man just announced to the entire world that he is pining for you."
I pressed the heel of one hand into my forehead, trying to drive that bronzed, razor-edged face out of my mind again. Blue eyes, like pools of water that seemed to seep into every part of me. He was like a bad penny, always turning up. A gorgeous, charismatic, heart-melting penny.
"I can't, Jane," I said finally. "I need to move on. He's not good for me or my family."
Jane sighed through the speaker. "Fine, fine. Have you signed the papers for the DA's office?"
I blinked up at the ceiling and groaned. "I haven't."
"Seriously? Why?"
I rolled over onto my side and stared at the clock radio. Under that was the sheaf of new hire paperwork that I was supposed to bring to the D.A.'s office as soon as I could. The clock numbers were red and seemed to glare at me.
"Because I'm not sure it's the right choice," I replied lamely. Because it's in the wrong city.
"Why's that?"
Jane's voice was sharp, reflecting the frustration I rightfully deserved for shirking on yet another job opportunity so late in the game. We had just graduated from the best law school in the world less than two weeks ago. Most of the people we knew had secured jobs long before. While I'd had several offers, there was always part of me that kept holding out for something more. What that something was...I didn't know.
"Well...I was looking over my contract again," I said while I fingered the edges of my faded floral sheet. "It's not exactly going to pay off my dad's debts very quickly. Or, you know, at all. The job at Kiefer Knightly pays about three times as much, plus a signing bonus."
