“Yeah, it was some comedy with Will Ferrell. He fell asleep toward the end of the movie. I think he’s been pretty stressed out lately, too.”
“Uh huh. It sounds like you two got pretty close last night.”
Ridley would have crossed her arms if she wasn’t holding the phone. “Don’t start, Raina. Nothing happened. It was just two friends watching a movie.”
“Friends, huh? Friends with benefits?”
“I’m hanging up, now.” Ridley warned.
“Oh, calm down. I’m just kidding. Not that it would hurt you any to seduce a handsome, successful man. You could do worse, you know?”
“I’m not here to steal his virtue,” Ridley said. “I’m just trying to stay out of the way until you get back.”
“Okay but I still think a little romance would do you good. Jackson is exactly the kind of guy I want for you. A real man, not like the guys you’ve been with who only want to use you.”
“Hey, if we’re going to start debating judgment skills, then I am not the one with the worst track record,” Ridley argued.
“Let’s see, there was the guy who just wanted you to cook for him. Was that John? Yeah, it was John. There was the guy who wanted you to write his term papers for him. I don’t even remember his name. Then there was Nate, the surfer dude who was high all the time.”
“Yeah, well who hasn’t picked losers when they were in college? You dated that guy who liked women’s underwear, remember?”
“Oh yeah, that was a shining moment, but my current boyfriend owns half the commercial real estate on the East Coast, so at least I’ve improved. I just want the same for you.”
“I know you do. But Jackson and I are just friends. Especially since he thinks I’m you.”
“Well, that should make it easier to seduce him, not harder.”
“Raina!”
“Okay, okay, I can take a hint. But I still think you should sleep with him. I saw him with his shirt off once. He is really built. Seeing him naked would totally make you feel better.”
“Sure. I’ll get right on that, sis.”
“You’re joking but I’m not. Well, if you change your mind, do it quickly because I’ll be back in about a week.” She paused. “I’ve really missed you, Ri.”
Touched, Ridley sucked in a breath, blinking back a sudden rush of tears. “I’ve missed you, too. Now, hurry up and get home!”
After they hung up she put her phone back on the nightstand. She’d lived apart from her sister ever since graduating from high school, but up until she met David, they’d talked on the phone every day. Raina would be back in a week. She’d already been here almost two days so what were a few more? But for some reason it felt like forever.
She was suddenly really homesick and for her, home wasn’t a place.
It was Raina.
* * * * *
NICHOLAS ALEXANDER HATED to be wrong. Almost as much as he hated Chinese food and clip-on ties. But since he’d learned over the years that even his radar could be faulty at times, he decided to bring in the experts. As he walked down the driveway to his car, he pulled out his cell phone and hit the third speed dial. While everyone was distracted inside, it was the perfect time to do a little sleuthing.
“You rang, little brother?” The wry voice coming through his cell phone was about two octaves deeper than his. His older brother, Elliott, was the kind of man that lesser men feared. And not just because he was bigger than most everyone else.
“I’m glad you haven’t left yet. I need you to look into someone for me. A woman.” Nick glanced behind him to make sure he was still alone. Most of the partygoers had already arrived but it would be just his luck for Jackson or worse, their mother, to somehow overhear.
“It’s always a woman with you, isn’t it?” Elliott said. The dry laugh coming over the line was a surprise. Elliott wasn’t the happy-happy, joy-joy type and treated most conversations as if they were life or death. Nick was actually surprised his brother wasn’t grilling him for details on the “subject” yet.
“So, you want to know if your new flavor of the month has any skeletons in the closet? Namely, any irate husbands who’ll come after you with a baseball bat?”
“Hey! That was one time,” Nick countered. “And he wasn’t her husband. At least I don’t think he was.”
“He was,” Elliott replied firmly.
“Oh, damn. I actually didn’t know that.” Nick made a mental note to start having Elliott check out his future bedmates. He liked to have fun but he wasn’t trying to break up anybody’s home. His parents had managed to raise him better than that.
“Anyway, it’s not for me. It’s for Jackson.”
As he expected, that statement got his brother’s attention. “Subject’s name, age and birthplace.”
“She’s a model so most of her information is already out there. Her name is Raina Winters.”
“Leggy?” Elliott sounded surprised.
“Yeah, they call her ‘Legs’. You know who she is?”
Elliott grunted. “I’m pretty sure every straight man in the western hemisphere knows who she is. She’s frickin’ hot.”
Nick tugged at the collar of his shirt. He closed his eyes tightly against images of those famously long legs wrapped around his neck while their owner bucked and moaned beneath him. They’d only spent one night together but it had changed everything. He’d told her things he’d never told a woman, experienced things he thought weren’t possible. He’d lost himself in her.