“The Wedding Party” will be published by Bella Books (www.bellabooks.com) in September 2011.

CHAPTER ONE

Dani

Never in her darkest thoughts had Dani Berringer imagined her life would take such a downward spiral. She was a spool unwinding, caught in a total freefall at the worst possible time—right before her wedding.

Crap! She liked that word and found herself saying it a lot, if only in her head. It was all-encompassing and captured the irony and shitty bleakness of her situation in one simple, useful word. She leaned heavily against the huge glass window, her gaze unblinking on the distant, gray expanse of Lake Michigan. It was an incredible view most days—the John Hancock building reaching into the Chicago skyline like a black arm raised in victory, the curvy line of North Lake Shore Drive hugging the lake, the patch of brown that was the sandy beach, and then the massive lake itself. The waters on this day were gray and turgid, typical for March, and blended perfectly with the sky and most of the surrounding buildings. Blended perfectly with her mood too, but unlike the endless horizon beyond the lake, Dani’s world was closing in on her.

Jesus. She was going to miss this place. They both would. It was their dream home, this two-bedroom, sixteenth-floor condo a couple of blocks west of Michigan Avenue and Chicago’s Magnificent Mile. It had been such a victory when they’d bought it eighteen months ago. The three-quarters of-a-million-dollar mortgage and the five-hundred-dollar monthly condo fees

were a bit of a stretch, but not beyond them. They’d made it work. Even with Shannon quitting her nursing job last fall, it was totally manageable on Dani’s bloated salary.

Until now.

Dani took a deep breath, panic a knife in her gut. They could hold on for maybe four, five months after the wedding. Just long enough to sell and maybe walk away with a hundred grand in their pocket, if they were lucky. Their future, once a pristine and perfectly drawn map, was barren undiscovered territory now, full of unseen dangers. Well, it wasn’t entirely unknown. The wedding next week would go ahead and Shannon would keep her appointment at the fertility clinic next month, because there was no way in hell Dani was going to see them sacrifice that. She would sell all her earthly possessions, steal if necessary, to ensure successful fertility treatments for Shannon. Having a baby was more important to Dani than anything she’d ever done, any possession she’d ever accumulated, any job title she’d earned.

At the bar she went to pour herself a scotch but stopped before any liquid hit the glass. These eighty-dollar bottles of single malt would have to stop. A lot of things would have to stop. Right after this wedding that was costing them a goddamned mint. Christ! Why hadn’t they gone for something low key, something simple, the way Shannon had wanted? Just a hall, nice and quiet, with a few of their closest friends. Or even a ceremony right here in their home. But no. Dani had to be the big shot. Dani had to line up a swanky ballroom at Las Vegas’s MGM Grand Hotel for the wedding. Dani had pulled out her platinum Visa card and paid ahead for a lavish dinner and free bar for thirty of their closest friends and relatives. Jesus. Thirty grand, gone with the swipe of a piece of plastic. And that wasn’t counting flights and the two-hundred-dollar a night room for a week. There were incidentals too, like the two-hundred-dollar boxes of

Montecristo cigars, the Dom Perignon, the limo. She shook her head at her stupidity. Thirty grand worth of pride and vanity. Thirty grand they could really use right now.

She poured two fingers of scotch in the thick square glass, and wondered how much money she was about to pour down her throat… seven dollars maybe? She’d never thought about that kind of thing before, but now she did. Now the nickel and diming burrowed into her thoughts regularly, like a sliver under her skin she couldn’t excise. She swirled the liquid slowly, took a tentative sip. The burning trail down her throat infused her with warmth and calm. A moment of sanity. The feeling wouldn’t last, but she would hold onto it for as long as she could.

“Honey, do you think I should risk bringing my good jewelry?”

Shannon emerged from the bedroom, and the sight of her stilled Dani’s heart, as it always did. After six years together, her sweetie still made her heart leap pleasurably into her throat. It was everything about Shannon, and not just her silky blonde hair and gorgeous green eyes and her trim little body that fit so perfectly against Dani’s. It was Shannon’s generosity, intelligence, her sense of humor, the loving warmth in her that Dani admired so much. The right partner was supposed to make you a better person, and maybe that was true, she figured, because she tried so hard to be a better person for Shannon. Shannon deserved the best from her.

Dani grinned at her partner, her mood much lighter now. “Of course you should. It’s Vegas, baby. Where else can you put on the dog?”

The little frown at the corner of Shannon’s mouth was adorable. “I know, but I wouldn’t want them to get stolen. Those pearl earrings that were my grandmother’s are worth a small

fortune now. And that diamond necklace you gave me for Christmas, I don’t even want to think about what you must have paid for that.”

Neither do I, Dani thought and smiled through her sudden heartburn. It wasn’t her sweet Shannon who had the Champagne tastes, it was Dani. Dani was the one who’d felt the need to show off, the one who wanted to keep her woman looking good in brand name clothes and Cartier jewelry. Shannon was perfectly happy in her jeans and T-shirts and worn down leather boots. It was Dani who’d insisted on the Anne Kleins, the Guccis, the Armanis, the Louis Vuittons in Shannon’s closet. Dani was the one always flashing the bills and the patchwork of colorful credit cards in her wallet. Dani liked money, liked the trappings, and wanted the world to know she was a successful business executive who could take care of herself and her woman. And what the hell was wrong with that anyway? It wasn’t like she was hurting anyone; she was simply enjoying life.

And they had been enjoying life and its finer things. Except now suddenly, they couldn’t. She could no longer even swing half of it. They’d be back to living in a row house, clipping coupons, taking the El train. Shannon back to working shifts at the hospital, maybe even having to work while she was pregnant.

“Honey, are you okay? You look a little pale.”

“I’m fine.” Dani swallowed and forced a smile. She could cover pretty well for herself. “It’s the greatest week of my life, darling. I’m more than fine.”

Shannon was instantly at her side and up on her toes, planting a kiss on Dani’s cheek. “Just making sure you’re not getting cold feet on me.”

That elicited a chuckle from Dani. “Never, my love.” She kissed Shannon fully on the mouth, spun her around, dipped her. “You are the woman of my dreams, Shannon McCarthy, and if you think for one second that I’m backing out of our wedding, you can forget it. You’re stuck with me.”

Shannon giggled and squirmed in Dani’s arms, pretending to free herself. “I see my lasso is firmly in place around your neck!”

Dani held her lover close. “You’ve got me hook, line and sinker, darlin’.” There was nowhere else she would rather be than in Shannon’s arms, and it made her instantly forget the wedding costs, the mortgage payments they wouldn’t be able to make much longer, their rapidly shrinking bank account. There was true shelter in Shannon’s arms and real peace. Goddamn! She was so gorgeous, stunningly so, and way out of Dani’s league. She herself was rather plain with her ordinary brown hair and unspectacular blue eyes. She still couldn’t believe her luck in snagging this woman. She’d hit the jackpot of her life, and really, any of her problems were nothing as long as she had this woman loving her.

“Since I already have you, sweetheart,” Shannon whispered seductively in her ear, “I’d really like to have you right now.”

Dani laughed, made a little growling noise. She was Wonder Woman and the Bionic Woman all rolled into one when Shannon talked to her like that; she could do anything, be anyone. “Guess this means we don’t have to be celibate until the wedding, right?”

“Are you kidding me?” Shannon’s green eyes scolded her. “That would be grounds for calling the wedding off, my dear.”

“Well, we wouldn’t want that, would we sweetie?”

“No, we wouldn’t.” Shannon poked her lightly in the chest. “So that means you’d better do me right now, my betrothed.”

Dani picked Shannon up like a sack of potatoes and swung her over her shoulder, feeling every bit the barbarian about to carry her woman off to her cave. They both laughed all the way to the master bedroom, Dani nearly tripping over suitcases on the floor before she heaved Shannon onto the bed. Shannon, excited about the week, had been packing for days.

The cavewoman act was pure silliness, but there was nothing silly about the way Dani slowly and methodically began removing Shannon’s clothes, softly trailing kisses on bare skin with each item of clothing shed. There were times when they went at it quick and hard, both too turned on for foreplay or even romance. Sometimes they didn’t even bother to remove all their clothes. One’s hands would jam down into the other’s pants, a finger or two would slip in and they’d be off to the races. And sometimes right on the sofa or floor, one might yank down the other’s pants and bury her head between her legs. Just like that. But this was not one of those hell-bent for quick release times. This was a time for going slow, for savoring every taste, every smell, every touch, every feeling.

Lovingly caressing Shannon’s breasts, Dani looked at her lover with wonder. She didn’t really deserve Shannon, but by some crazy karma, she’d landed her anyway. Every day, Dani tried never to let Shannon forget how much she loved and respected and needed her. She vowed to herself never to take their love for granted.

Dani stared into Shannon’s eyes the entire time she made love to her. She loved seeing in those eyes how much Shannon loved her too. And in just over a week, their relationship would be solemnized. Not exactly legal, not in Nevada or Illinois, but they were tired of waiting.

They would have their ceremony, their big wedding bash with all their friends, and in the summer they’d sneak off to Canada for a vacation and get legally married there.

“Oh, Dani!” Shannon was breathing hard, her eyes tightly clamping shut as spasms ripped through her body. “I love you baby,” she murmured breathlessly, over and over as she basked in the waning ripples of orgasm.

Dani’s heart swelled. She kissed Shannon’s nose, her forehead, her eyelids. It wasn’t that Shannon would cast her out or hate her if she knew the truth. Shannon loved her and she was the forgiving kind. She was also the kind of woman who would roll up her sleeves and say fine, let’s do what we need to do to get on track. But Dani didn’t want to look into those eyes and see disappointment. She didn’t want to see her own failure reflected there, and she sure as hell didn’t want pity. She didn’t want Shannon to have to go back to work at the hospital again, just so they could claw their way back up again. They couldn’t put off having a baby much longer either, not with Shannon’s biological clock ticking. Somehow Dani would just have to navigate them out of this financial quagmire.

“You look deep in thought.”

Dani smiled. She’d been good at covering things up the last few weeks; she needed more time. Lightly, she trailed a finger over Shannon’s stomach. “I’m hoping in two or three months there’ll be more of you to love.”

Shannon reached down and stilled Dani’s hand. Her voice was light but there was an edge of warning to it. “We’ll see. No guarantees that it’s going to take, remember?”

“I know, sweetie, I know. But I also know it’s going to work. Just you wait.”

“I’m not getting any younger, you know.”

“Neither of us is. I’m so sorry you have to carry most of the load.”

“Stop apologizing for that. You can’t help that you had a faulty reproductive system.”

“I know. Still…”

“Look, I’m fine with it. You know that.”

Lately, whenever talk of having a baby came up, Shannon got a little edgy. It was nothing she could put her finger on, just a sense that Shannon was a little nervous. Which was fine. Who wouldn’t be? There was the worry of trying to conceive for the first time at the age of thirty-eight--artificial insemination, potentially painful egg harvesting and in-vitro procedures. There were other worries too—a healthy pregnancy, raising a kid in the city, parenting issues. But they’d been over everything many times. Dani tried to lighten the mood. “First things first, my love. I need to make an honest woman of you before you bear my child.”

“Ah, you are so chivalrous, Dani Berringer. That’s exactly why I’m going to marry you. And I’m expecting you to ride into that ceremony on a white steed.”

“Oh, yeah? What if I don’t?”

Shannon rolled on top of Dani, pinning her arms above her head. It was a joke whenever she did this, because Dani outweighed her by probably thirty pounds and was far stronger. “I’m sure there are plenty of other hot dykes on white steeds riding around Vegas.”

Dani threw her head back and laughed. “That I’d like to see!”

CHAPTER TWO

Claire

So much for getting a head start on packing. Claire Cooper glanced at the plain round wall clock in her office. It was after seven and she still had to eat dinner. And do laundry. And take her yellow Labrador retriever Tucker to doggie daycare. It was a list that wasn’t getting any shorter while she continued to sit in her office. Well, Claire, that’s what you get for leaving everything to the last minute.

Such procrastination and disorder were not typical, but it seemed to be a trend lately that her pregnant patients either popped their babies all at the same time, or developed a sudden complication. Keeping her late today was a worrisome case of third trimester bleeding, and since she was about to go away for more than a week, she didn’t want to leave any of her patients stranded, especially this one. The whole week had been following the same script, one wrinkle after another.

“I thought you had a trip to Vegas to get ready for?” Maria, her long-time office nurse, peeked her head around the door. “Shouldn’t you be home packing, or counting your bankroll for gambling or something?”

Maria was making fun of her and her conservative ways, which was nothing new. Claire was steady, predictable, boring. Certainly never one to gamble, unless you counted an occasional lottery ticket. Maria could tease her all she wanted but she had no intention of changing her ways and throwing caution to the wind. “Yes, that and washing my tight jeans and glittery tank tops for all the bars I’m going to cruise.”

Maria snorted a laugh, her short red hair bobbing, and flopped down on one of the spare chairs in Claire’s office. Maria was cute in a perky, youthful way. There had been a mild attraction between them once, months ago, but it had been very short-lived and quite innocent as far as those things go. A little chaste flirting had erupted one day after work over a rare drink in one of Chicago’s lesbian bars. Without warning—in fact Claire had been digging around in her wallet for change to pay the tip--Maria had leaned over and kissed her. Right there in the booth as though they were lovers. It hadn’t gone further, they didn’t talk about it, and for days afterward they were both embarrassed and awkward around one another. It had downright frightened her to think that Maria might have a crush on her, and not because Maria wasn’t cute and nice, but because Claire simply wasn’t ready to date anyone. An office affair was the absolute worst, people often said, and she wanted nothing to do with it.

After she could no longer stand the tension between them, over a thick pile of lab reports one day she peered over her reading glasses and told Maria there was no chance of a relationship between them. She gave the perfunctory speech about how if she ever was ready to move on, Maria would be a wonderful choice. She took it well, even made a joke out of not bearing a torch for the unattainable Dr. Claire Cooper, and in an apologetic tone, divulged that she’d begun dating someone else anyway.

It had all worked out for the best. They went on smoothly as colleagues and friends, and Maria and her new girlfriend were now in the process of buying a house together. As for Claire, her life had remained solitary. Frozen dinners for one, long walks with her dog, early to bed with a good book. And the heart wrenching, almost nightly dreams of the life she once had.

“You do know I would pay money to see you doing that!” Maria flashed one of those I-dare-you looks that Claire had come to know well in their six years of working together.

“Yeah, well, don’t get your panties in a twist, cuz it ain’t gonna happen. I’m not cruising any bars and I’m not gambling.”

“Well, if by some miracle you change your mind, my spy will have her cell phone camera with her at all times.” Maria’s eyebrows danced with mischief. “I could make good money selling those kinds of photos around the hospital, you know.”

Claire winced. Prentice Women’s Hospital, like hospitals everywhere, was one giant gossip mill, and she was fairly certain that compromising photos of herself would fetch a handsome sum. In fact, Maria could probably retire on it. “Don’t you dare! I should fire you for even thinking of it!”

“Oh, come on. You know you can’t do without me around this place.”

“True enough. But even if I was drunk enough or crazy enough to ever do something silly, which I am not, Shannon’s hardly going to have time to be spying on me.”

“Hey, who said anything about Shannon being my spy?” She winked at Claire to show she was just kidding. “You don’t have to worry anyway, because you know what they say--what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas!”

Claire shook her head. “I somehow doubt that, but I can assure you, there will be nothing terribly exciting on my end that will be worthy of keeping secret.”

“Well, I suppose I’ll never know, but Claire, I really hope you have a great time at the wedding. Talk about puttin’ on the ritz. And Vegas of all places!” Maria’s eyes shone with mischief and envy. “If it were me going, I’d be camping out at the airport right now just to get a head start.”

Claire stared out her fifth-floor window at the darkening city, trying hard to keep a frown from further deepening the line between her eyes. She didn’t share Maria’s enthusiasm for Vegas. It wasn’t that she was unhappy to go; Dani and Shannon’s wedding was a wonderful motive for the trip and she loved them both. But she worried about Shannon. More precisely, she was worried about Shannon’s secret. Worried that the secret would fester and grow like a cancer in the relationship if she didn’t come clean with Dani before the wedding. It was always bad luck to start a marriage with secrets, wasn’t it?

Ah, well. Whatever issues lay between Dani and Shannon weren’t her problem. They were big girls, and it would be disastrous to stick her nose in. “I can think of about a million things better to do than sit around an airport, thank you very much,” she grumbled to Maria.

“True. O’Hare is not exactly on my entertainment list.” Maria heaved herself out of the chair. “Well, tell Shannon I wish her the very best! She’s such a sweetheart.”

“Yes she is, and I will.”

“Good. Mind if I get out of here?”

“Jeez, of course not.” Claire glanced at the clock again. “You should have been gone an hour ago. It is Friday night after all. Don’t you and Karen have any plans?”

“Actually, Karen’s visiting her folks in Milwaukee for the weekend. I was just going over a couple of records before I go home since I didn’t have anyone to go home to.” She sighed dramatically, which made Claire smile, then watched Maria stiffen awkwardly as if just remembering that Claire didn’t have anyone to go home to either. “Listen, have a great time, okay? I mean that. And if anyone deserves a little fun, it’s you.”

“I’ll try. And don’t forget, I’ll have my BlackBerry with me in case you need to reach me.”

“I’ll try not to have to call you. I know Dr. Bernstrom’s covering for you, so don’t worry about anything here. Just enjoy yourself. You deserve it.”

At home, Claire put off the rest of her packing. The laundry was done, the dog situated, but that was all. She tried to will herself to finish, but didn’t make it past the bottle of Merlot sitting on the counter. She poured a glass and sat in the wingback chair by the fireplace, taking solace in the ticking of the antique clock on the mantel. For months after Ann died, she spent hours at a time like this—sitting and drinking wine while time existed only in the movement of the clock’s hands. The rhythmic tick-tock and the alcohol were the only things that helped her relax in those days, numbing her from the pervasive loneliness that had rooted into her soul and slowly taken over her life. It was a form of paralysis, the wine and the depression, and it had taken her a long time to pull herself out of it enough to reclaim her position as one of the best OB-GYNs in the city. The worst and blackest of those times were over now, thank God, but she still found comfort in disappearing like this once in awhile. And being alone didn’t bother her anymore. She’d even grown to like it.

Claire’s eyes drifted to the framed picture on the wall of her and Ann in happy times. It was taken about a decade ago, during a camping trip in the Adirondacks, the two of them

snuggled up together in matching heavy woolen sweaters, their smiles wide and easy and worry-free. She’d never been happier, never more complete as she’d been when that picture was taken. Everything about their life was easy, safe, nourishing. And then, three years ago, she’d never felt sadder or more hopeless. Such heights and such depths, a great soaring and plummeting that pushed her heart to almost unbearable extremes. Even though Ann’s death hadn’t been unexpected—the cancer wasn’t survivable—Claire hadn’t handled it very well, falling to pieces in every way imaginable. She still wasn’t handling it all that marvelously, at least in terms of moving forward. Sideways yes, but not forward. Not yet. Oh, she’d tried to fling herself forward once, just over a year ago, at a medical conference in San Francisco. In her relentless search for something to ease her pain, she’d managed to momentarily convince herself that the answer lay in having a one-night stand. So she’d had sex with a very nice woman who had the quirkiest laugh and the kindest eyes Claire had ever seen. Her specialty was oncology, and she had exactly the right temperament for it, as far as Claire could see. They might have even gone on to be friends, but Claire had practically thrown up the next morning from the guilt of what she’d done, and couldn’t bear to have anything more to do with the woman. She’d slunk away, guilty and ashamed, vowing never to be so reckless, so fallible, again. It was much safer being alone.

It was the memory of that trip, she told herself now, and her irresponsible sexual escapade that was at the root of her hesitation about Vegas. She sipped her wine, wishing she could just damned well stay home, but she had not been able to say no when Shannon asked her to stand up for her at the wedding. She would do anything for her best friend. Anything but get involved in the issue between her and Dani. That she would not do.

Claire closed her eyes, let the alcohol and the ticking of the clock lull her. Hell, what was the worst thing that could happen on this trip anyway? The wedding would be nice. Shannon and Dani would be fine. And she wasn’t going to repeat her mistake of the one-night stand--of that she was damned sure. There was absolutely nothing to be afraid of, nothing to dread or worry about. Just go with the flow, that’s what she’d do. And the upside was that there’d be so many people around her the entire time, she’d have no time to feel lonely. In fact, it couldn’t hurt to get out of her shell for a change, to try life in different surroundings for a week or so. It might even be—dare she think it?—fun!

Claire finished her glass of wine. Her gut was poking at her again, that little warning beacon she got whenever something ominous was about to happen. She went in search of her bottle of Tums.

CHAPTER THREE

Jordan

Jordan Scott’s trouble had begun in the ninth grade.

The trouble being girls. Then women. Any woman. Tall, short, black, white, Catholic, atheist, Protestant, older, younger, blonde, brunette, redhead, butch or femme and every variation in between. Yup, she’d pretty much sampled them all in the twenty-six years since her initiation into the wonderful world of loving women. If dating were equated to a smorgasbord, Jordan was an unapologetic glutton.

The initiation happened innocently enough, watching television one night with her younger brother’s babysitter. Cathy was a fox; she’d be called a hottie now. Whatever. Fourteen-year-old Jordan was absolutely enthralled by Cathy’s long blonde hair, full pouty lips and spectacular tits bursting from a tight T-shirt, looking like ripe grapefruits in need of a good squeeze. Oh yeah, the squeezing had been fun!

Jordan rolled onto her back and stretched. The gray light of morning was beginning to peek through the blinds and spill in dim slashes across the bed. Why in the hell am I thinking about Cathy after all these years anyway, she wondered, snatching a glance at the sleeping form next to her. Krissy was blonde and young, and yeah, her tits were damned luscious too,

sprouting heavily from the long curvy vine that was her body. That must be why she was reminded of Cathy.

Jordan smiled at that night so long ago. Cathy had probably been about nineteen then, practically a woman of the world to the virginal Jordan, who’d done nothing beyond some intense kissing with boys up to that point. Jordan and Cathy were watching a horror movie on TV, the kind where you jump like your ass is on fire at all the scary parts and end up touching each other--legs, shoulders, hands, anything--for comfort and reassurance. When Cathy leaped into her lap and held on for dear life, Jordan had pretty much wet her panties on the spot.

It was an epiphany of the sweetest kind, the discovery of something new and decadent and deliciously forbidden. No one had ever made her wet like that before, and the effect was electrifying. Her world as she’d known it had washed away on the wave of her first real sexual hormones and that sexual high of Cathy in her lap with her arms around her, those soft full lips on hers and those firm hips crashing into her. Jordan didn’t go near another boy after that, Cathy having sealed her fate with that first spontaneous orgasm in her pants. It was a high she had been chasing ever since.

That entire summer, Cathy had been amazing in bed. She was just the right kind of teacher--demanding and yet patient, attentive with just the right amount of assertiveness. She knew what she wanted from Jordan and how to elicit it. Knew what Jordan wanted too and how to make her beg for it. She had a lot to thank Cathy for. Cathy taught her how to be a good lover, the lessons having gone on until Cathy disappeared to college and life beyond. They never spoke again, but Jordan had never forgotten her.

Krissy stirred. Just as well that she was waking up, because Jordan had a plane to catch in three hours. She needed to get moving.

“Hey,” Jordan whispered a little coarsely. “Wake up.”

Krissy stretched and slowly rubbed the sleep from her eyes. She smiled cat-like. “What’s your hurry? I thought last night was just the warm up.”

They’d worn themselves out until well into the night. Or at least, Jordan was worn out. Then again, she was probably a good fifteen years Krissy’s senior, and her body didn’t bounce back the way it used to. “That was no warm up,” Jordan said dourly. God! Did Krissy have to be so bloody energetic and so blind to the fact that she just wanted to get up, grab a cup of coffee and get the hell on with her day? A day that didn’t include Krissy. “I’m afraid that was pretty much the whole enchilada.”

Krissy rolled her eyes and laughed as though Jordan had made a joke, the gesture providing an odd moment of déjà vu for Jordan. Krissy reminded her of someone. “All right, Jordan, fine. I just figured our date didn’t have to end so soon.” She stroked Jordan’s forearm suggestively, draped a naked leg provocatively over the sheet.

Abruptly, Jordan pulled away. “I told you, I’m leaving for Vegas today. I have to head to the airport in about ninety minutes.”

“Yes, and that’s exactly why we should go another round.” Her smile was sickly sweet and full of promise. “I won’t see you for a couple of months. Maybe I’d like to leave you with something to remember me by.”

Two months away might seem like some sort of looming disaster to Krissy, but Jordan looked forward to the change of scene. After the wedding, she would stay at her Vegas condo

for a little rest and to dabble in some real estate work there. She’d never promised Krissy they would be seeing one another again after last night. Two dates and some hot sex did not make a relationship. Krissy reached for her again, her touch like a hot poker on Jordan’s skin.

She pulled away again. “Don’t worry, I’ll remember you. It’s me who will be the forgotten one in another day or two.” Jordan tried to sound cheery, though in truth she couldn’t wait to get Krissy out of her house and out of her life. “There must be a line of women waiting to get their nails into a hot young thing like you.”

Krissy reluctantly sat up and swung her legs over the side of the bed. She slumped in defeat. “I doubt that. Besides, I don’t want anyone else.”

Jordan should have felt flattered. Krissy was not unlike dozens—hell, hundreds--of other women she had dated. Sure she was a good kid and all, but really, there was no room for her to be part of Jordan’s life. If it was just a matter of an occasional date and some hot and heavy rolling around in the sack, Jordan was all for it. But Krissy had the hallmarks of being a high maintenance, demanding, I’m-in-love-with-you kind of girlfriend and very clingy, if her plaintiveness was any indication. It had been a blast, a brief sunburst, but now it was time to move on before the glow of the embers faded to black. It was no secret that Jordan didn’t do relationships and all the expectations and the coupling behavior that went with it--picking out blinds, matching paint swatches, buying linen and discussing their thread count... Jesus! That shit was so not for her. She’d never advertised herself falsely to Krissy or anyone else, and she refused to feel guilty for enjoying a little uncomplicated sex from time to time.

Jordan hopped out of bed as if Krissy were holding a match against her skin. She wanted Krissy gone. Now. “You taking a shower here or at your dorm?”

“Throwing me out already, huh?” There was no humor in Krissy’s words and certainly not in her tone. She was clearly pissed, which only heightened Jordan’s impatience. Really, in the grand scheme of things, there was no reason for her to pull such a hissy fit. She was being childish. Getting all bent out of shape over nothing.

“Well, yeah, basically. I’ve got to get moving.”

Krissy pouted for a long moment before asking in a challenging tone, “You going to email me or phone me while you’re away?”

Jordan picked up a robe from the back of a chair and slipped it on. “Probably not.” She was nothing if not honest.

Krissy began pulling her clothes on, slowly at first, as if waiting for Jordan to change her mind and ask her to stay, before picking up her pace. “So that’s it? Fuck me a couple of times and then break up with me?”

“Look, what do you want from me? And how can you break up with someone you’re not even in a relationship with?”

Her bottom lip quivered before her expression hardened. Great. The girl was going to make a big federal case out of this. They were going to have to go through some kind of phony breakup dance first.

“Fine. Whatever,” Krissy hissed. She stalked out of the bedroom, snatching up her purse on the way past the dining room table. At the door, she turned toward Jordan, her face red with indignation. “There’s a couple of things you should know, Jordan.” Her mouth curled into a cruel smile as she spat out the words. “I’m not a twenty-four -year-old graduate student like you thought. I’m a nineteen-year-old freshman. And the reason you keep looking at me funny

like you know me?” She laughed, and it was a bitter sound that sent a shiver down Jordan’s spine. Krissy was clearly enjoying thrusting in the dagger. “You knew my mom a long time ago. Cathy Donahue.”

Jordan’s breath left her in a rush. Cathy the babysitter? Cathy who stole her virginity decades ago? Cathy who had been Krissy’s age when they had that summer of secret sex? Oh my God! Jordan felt the blood drain from her face; it was probably collecting in her knees, which began to shake. But she wouldn’t give Krissy the satisfaction of reacting. She said nothing, just trembled silently and let her stomach do crazy flips, wondering all the while if Krissy had planned to drop this bomb at some point or if it was simply an act of revenge for this morning’s rejection. It was disingenuous and cruel to keep such secrets.

“She talked about you when you got to be this wealthy real estate person with your face on buses and billboards all over the place. I wanted to see for myself what all the fuss was about.” That voice. That voice was so familiar now, so much like her mother’s.

Jordan’s mouth had long ago gone dry. “Just get out, Krissy.”

Krissy laughed harshly, pleased with her little victory. “Fine. I’ll be sure to tell my mom you said hello.”

Jordan leaned against the closed door, trying to coax her breath back. Christ! She’d been fucking the daughter of her first lover! What a crazy, sick, twisted circle jerk that was! Fuck me, she thought. She didn’t want to—couldn’t--think too hard about any of it right now. She had been juggling the balls in her life just fine without stopping now for some useless navel gazing. Business was good; in fact she was thriving professionally, and in her personal life she was having a great old time, doing as she pleased, seeing who she pleased, lovin’ ‘em and leavin’ ‘em. She saw no reason to drop any of those balls now. She just wanted to get on that damned airplane and leave this tiny nightmare behind.