One-Off (27 page)

“What? You holding out on me?” Dallas inhaled sharply. “Did something happen between you two last night?”

“Go back to your husband and tell him his family says hello.”

She laughed at my bark of a reply. “I can pull him out of the shower.”

“I’m sure they’ll manage to get through their day without you needing to interrupt his shower.”

“I’m glad I snuck in a call.” She made it sound like she’d gotten away from a bank job cleanly.

“Make it your last one. Start your honeymoon for real. No more work or worrying or anything, you hear?”

“I hear. Thanks, Skye, see you in a month.” She signed off and I turned back to Ainsley and Elspeth.

“She called you on her honeymoon?” Ainsley asked in amazement. “That’s definitely a best friend.”

“She’s a lovely girl,” Elspeth said putting a forkful of coffeecake into her mouth.

“I’m happy you like her. That will mean the world to Colin.” I took a forkful of the coffeecake myself. Exactly what I needed this morning. Coffeecake and company.

“You always say the nicest things, doesn’t she, Ainsley?”

Ainsley kept being pressed into giving me compliments by her mother. She shook her head and let out a breathy chuckle. “She does, Mum.”

“Would you want to go with us to the botanic gardens today, Skye? We decided on a museum a day until I leave. A Sunday walk through the garden today.”

“Sounds fun, Elspeth. You steer the course and we’ll follow.”

“You lassies are gems.”

I caught Ainsley’s eye and smiled. Last night I wasn’t sure how many times I’d see her before she left. Now that we didn’t have the wedding to plan anymore, there was no need to get together. I wasn’t even sure how long she was staying in town, or in the country for that matter, and I thought it was rude to ask. To find her on my doorstep this morning and know I’d be spending the day with her and her amazing mother was probably one of the more pleasant surprises I’d had since this whole ordeal began.

Thirty-Six

Without calling first, I came through Morgan’s shop door. She looked up from the arrangement she was putting together and smiled. “What’s up? Is someone else retiring?”

“If I said me, would you be shocked?” I groused, coming to a stop at her front counter. My elbows dropped to the surface as I leaned forward and sniffed the colorful arrangement she was putting together.

“I’d probably drop dead of a heart attack.” She pushed my nose out of the way so she could finish adding the last two sunflowers. “Hard day?”

“Sucky.”

“Let me flip the sign and we can get an early lunch.”

I checked my watch. It would be early, but hadn’t I left the office for just this reason? If Dallas were back to work I’d be holed up in her office. A half hour hiding away in the newsroom rather than up on the executive level would have been enough. Without Dallas around, I had to get out. I could have called Elspeth and Ainsley for a distraction, but they were going through the Library of Congress and the Folger Library today. By the time I got over there, I’d have fifteen minutes to look around and enjoy their company before I’d have to make my way back to the office.

I made a halfhearted effort at denying Morgan’s offer to close her shop for an unplanned lunch. She saw right through it but took advantage of my grateful attitude and steered me to the Vietnamese place that she liked at the end of the block. It wasn’t my favorite, but whatever she wanted if it meant I got to avoid work for a half hour.

“What did those corporate suit assholes do this time?” Morgan asked when we took a seat.

Her tone suggested that I complained about the corporate suit assholes a lot. “Have I become one of those drags that only complains about work?”

“You used to love it. Then you got your promotion. You don’t love it so much anymore.”

“Was this the kind of crap that made you give up the cubicle labyrinths and open your own shop?”

“That and I love flowers.”

I should find something simple that I love, too. Something that didn’t involve conservative older men who will never, ever change. “You made the right decision.”

“There are months when I’m not sure. The cyclical revenue can be trying.”

My brow knitted in concern. “I’ll suggest Dallas run a story on the prep you have to do for Valentine’s Day or something. People love flowers.”

“You are something.” She gave my forearm a squeeze. “Tell me what they did this time.”

“They postponed my approved vacation time.”

“Can they do that? They approved it already.”

“I didn’t know they could, but apparently if the president, COO, and CFO all want to take vacation at the same time, any other executive is out of luck.”

“Weren’t you going out of town? With Ainsley?” Her eyebrows fluttered.

“And her mother. Don’t get the wrong idea. Her mom wanted to see New York again.”

“What would be the wrong idea?”

“Anyway,” I heaved a sigh. “I’ll figure it out. The execs will get back and I can take my vacation then.”

“But Ainsley will be gone, won’t she?”

“It was a trip with Elspeth mainly. We wanted to go to some of the places we saw together years ago.”

“Right,” she dragged it out. “You were going to ignore Ainsley altogether.”

“Did you talk to Dallas about this?” I accused. This would be something the two of them could easily agree on and plot to give me a hard time about.

“Anyone can see the attraction between you two.”

“Not if you’d seen us when we roomed together. By comparison, sure, we look like we get along.”

She shook her head. “You’re just apprehensive. That last girlfriend of yours was a real bitch. I’m sorry, Skye, but she was. She didn’t make time for you, didn’t treat you well, and who wouldn’t go with her girlfriend to her friend’s house to see a new baby for ten minutes? I’ll tell you who, a selfish bitch. You deserve so much better. Someone who puts you first. Someone who thinks of how decisions will affect you before she makes them. Someone who can make long-term work.” Her diatribe shocked me. She hadn’t said anything bad about my ex while I was seeing her. Not that they’d spent much time together, and like she said, once Poppy was born, I was on my own seeing Morgan and the baby. But I didn’t know Morgan considered her dirt.

“Long-term, huh? Name one married couple you know still together and don’t say your grandparents.”

“My aunt and uncle. They met in high school and got married soon after. My sister’s still married.”

“High school sweethearts from a tiny town, right?” I guessed. They probably never left their town. “And your sister got married five years ago. Let’s talk about it in five more.”

“You really don’t think marriages can last?” Her head cocked in interest.

“I’m sorry. I’m being insensitive.” I should stop talking. As casual as Morgan was about being divorced, it still had to hurt being reminded of it.

“You’re not. If I’d known you before I got married I might have seen a few things about the hubby that could have saved me the trouble.”

“But then you wouldn’t have my little angel.”

She gave a snort. “She’s definitely an angel for you. I’m going to make you come over one of these nights when she’s throwing a fit because her favorite jammies are in the wash.”

“She’s an angel,” I insisted because the kid adored me and even mid tantrum she’d burst into squeals when I showed up. All it took was giving her my complete attention and she thought I was the greatest thing since her dinosaur stuffed animal.

“Wish I could help with the vacation thing.”

“Me, too.” I finished whatever it was that Morgan had ordered me for lunch and reluctantly headed back to work.

After a very long afternoon, I barely escaped without screaming at practically everyone on staff. The only remedy for my current temperament was a workout. But not even cycle class could get my mind off the fact that I was supposed to be on my way to New York. We had a dinner with our former housemates planned. Instead, I was cycling up a pretend winding hill, competing against all the other people who got out their work frustrations by cycling for miles.

The instructor yelled out another trite encouragement, and we all lifted up off our seats. I glanced over and nearly fell back against the seat when I caught the woman on the next bike checking out my ass. Seven months ago, before I took my promotion, I might have tried to flirt and asked her out. Today, after the attempt to save two ad sponsors when a particularly awful report on their products aired on one of our shows, I wasn’t up to flirting. I wasn’t up to anything of the kind.

When the class ended, I couldn’t say I was feeling any better. A tad less frustrated, but with the amount of frustration I experienced today, the tiny release wasn’t enough.

“Hi.” The woman next to me climbed off her bike. “Great class, huh?” She had a sleek line to her body with more than enough curves. With a long forehead, her face appeared stretched out. Her brown hair had that trendy shaggy look to it that took far longer to fix every morning than these types were willing to admit.

“Yeah,” I agreed as I wiped down my seat and the handlebars.

“Don’t think I’ve seen you in here before, Red.”

I rolled my eyes. This was one of the reasons I’d started dulling my hair color till it was nearly brown. Red, Cherry, Carrot top, Tomato, Flame, Blaze, Penny, I’d heard them all. And Irish, because apparently only Irish people had red hair.

“It’s been a few weeks.”

“That explains it. I’m new to the area.”

I turned to face her. “Welcome to the neighborhood.”

She gave a breathy laugh that sounded fake, but it might have been my mood influencing that assessment. “I could sure use a local to show me around.” She reached out and drifted her fingers over my hair and down to my jaw. Bold. “We could start with a drink tonight.”

It had been a while since I’d been asked out. There was nothing special about this woman but nothing that turned me off either. Any other night, I’d probably be up for it. I was of the opinion that it didn’t hurt to go out with someone. At the very least it provided an evening’s worth of entertainment. Even if the date went badly, it would still be entertaining months from now when I got to retell the story.

“I wouldn’t be good company tonight.”

Her eyes flicked over me from head to toe. “Some other night?”

“Sure,” I agreed because I couldn’t think of a reason not to. A realistic reason, I should say. A reason with billowy blond curls and a sharp wit who lived on the other side of the world and believed in happily ever after was not a realistic reason.

“Look forward to it, Red.” She sauntered away with a swing to her hips that invited staring. Her words could have meant she was looking forward to it or telling me to look forward to it. If it was the latter, we wouldn’t make it to a second date.

“Who was that bit of hotness?” Blair appeared at my shoulder, wiping the back of her neck with a towel. She was one of my three gym buddies, mostly because she worked out every night so I’d always run into her if I came to the gym. She was also my only single lesbian friend, which came in handy at times. The only other lesbians I knew were married with kids and dogs and trucks, raising property values in the suburbs of D.C.

“She said she was new to the area.”

“She asked you out, didn’t she? Damn, you always get the hot ones.”

I did? That was news to me, and she wasn’t that hot. “She’s dateless tonight. I’m sure you could catch her before she leaves.”

“For real? You’re not interested?”

My head shook. “Have at it.”

“When was the last time you got any?”

“None of your business,” I told her, starting for the door.

“Your bad moods make it my business.”

“Not every bad mood can be solved by a roll in the sack.”

“Mine can.” She winked.

“Must be nice,” I murmured, thinking it would be nice if whatever troubled me could be erased with a little physical release, but it never worked for me. If I take someone to bed when I’m in a bad mood, I just get more frustrated that I can’t get out of my head and enjoy the moment. “What makes you think I’m in a bad mood?”

“You barely said hello and rode your bike harder than I’ve ever seen. Didn’t getting that wedding over with let you relax?”

“Things went sideways at work.”

“Somebody’s makeup fall off on camera?”

“Funny.” People tended to think that because it was television news, it was more television than news. I’d agree that some of the interview programs were more televisiony than newsy, but the others were definitely real news. “I’m heading out.”

“You’re not going to shower?”

“I’ll get one at home.”

“I’m shocked you’re not going back to work.”

So was I. With all the work put on hold for the planning appointments, I’d be playing catchup for quite some time. Probably for the best that my vacation got pushed again. “Not tonight. You better hurry if you’re going to make a play for that woman.”

“I’m too sweaty.”

“You look good.” She did, even sweaty. She wore her dark brown hair in a perpetual ponytail and had matching brown eyes that were always on the hunt. Her wide, full lips looked almost surgically altered. Long legs that were tremendously toned and a flat stomach with muscle definition meant she rarely hurt for dates.

“Thanks, Skye. See you next time?”

“Or the next.” I escaped from the exercise room before the next class. Not showering before I left made me feel a little skeevy, but I didn’t want to chance running into that woman in the locker room. I also wanted an excuse to go home instead of going back to work.

Thirty-Seven

I took the stairs two at a time, getting my excitement out before I opened the door. Tonight we were going to look through the wedding photos. Lots of photos, some with me in them. Not really looking forward to that, but I was curious to see how the rest of Isaac’s work turned out. And eager to be alone with Ainsley again.

“Hi.” I tried for cool after opening the door.

“All right,” Ainsley greeted and stepped inside. She had on long shorts and a blouse that I’d seen twice before but didn’t look any less sexy the third time.