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The smile dropped from Mila’s face. “You’re right about his persistence. He’s like a dog with a bone when an idea gets hold of him. He didn’t shut up about making a movie about Hersch’s life until we finally agreed. Though, in fairness, it’s going to be a really good movie.”
“Oh, I’m sure of it,” Erin said. As a reporter, she knew that Herschel’s life story would touch the hearts of everybody watching it. He had gone through a major trauma when his space shuttle had splashed down in the ocean, and he’d almost died. With Mila’s help, he was getting over his paralyzing fear of the water.
“I guess I’m drawn to persistence in a person,” Mila said. “You should see how well Hersch is doing with his surfing. He just doesn’t give up. I can see the moments when he’s having to fight his demons to get out there, but he does it.” She paused and gave Erin a searching look. “Sometimes you just have to get out there.”
Tessa caught the look and softened her voice. “Jay has been very supportive of my career as well as Arch’s. And you know,he’s got a surprisingly sensitive side.” They both stared at her until she added, “He just hides it well.” A crease formed between her eyebrows. “Personally, I think Jay dates women who don’t challenge him.”
Erin was surprised at how much Tessa had seen, because she herself was considered the perceptive one of the family. But she had to give full credit to her new sister-in-law, because that’s exactly what she thought about Jay too. The guy who thrived on a challenge avoided them when it came to women. However, Tessa hadn’t been around Jay for as long as they had. She didn’t know his dating history. Jay’s girlfriends were all models and all had a certain look: very tall, very beautiful, very thin. While Erin was absolutely certain there were loads of women modelling who were also extremely intelligent and well informed, Jay never chose those ones. She suspected he didn’t want to be challenged by a woman whose opinions might clash with his own. So he dated a string of women who were interchangeable and, apart from their undeniable beauty, sort of forgettable—at least, the ones she’d met over the years.
When she said so, Mila laughed. “Sadly, that’s true. He even demonstrated it to us once.”
Tessa glanced between the sisters as though they were teasing her. “I don’t believe you.”
Erin couldn’t resist the opportunity to make the two women laugh. She put down her cappuccino, stood, and tried to make her five-foot-three frame as tall as possible. She pushed out her chest and swaggered up to Tessa, whose pretty blue eyes had widened slightly. She tilted up Tessa’s chin with one finger. Then she said, in a husky voice that badly imitated Jay, with her best smoldering gaze, “Has anyone ever told you that you have the most beautiful blue eyes? No, don’t look away. It would be a crime. Like covering up the Mona Lisa.”
Mila laughed so hard she clutched her stomach. “It’s true. That’s what he does. Jay says it works often enough that he’s never changed his pitch. Except sometimes he compliments a woman’s smile, or her skin. He’s so used to making deals that he even looks at getting laid as closing the deal.”
Tessa stared at Mila, aghast. “But you’re in sales and you’re not like that.”
“I am altogether classier than Jay. But I do think he is mellowing, Erin.”
Tessa looked over at Erin as she seated herself once more. “I don’t know. I could see you with someone like Jay. Don’t they say opposites attract? I mean, look at me and Arch.”
Erin shook her head. “You guys are the unicorn romance—the perfect couple.”
“And what about Mila and Hersch?” Tessa continued, a sweet, sly grin forming at the corners of her mouth.
Erin threw up her hands. “Okay, okay, you’ve given me two examples of people who lucked out. I’d say that’s way above average.”
Mila shook her head. “Actually, if you count all of Smith Sullivan’s siblings and cousins, it seems that finding true love isn’t all that crazy, even when the odds seem stacked against the couple.”
Erin sighed loudly and rolled her eyes. “The Sullivans are the ultimate anomaly. All so blissfully in love. I mean, I’m thrilled for them, of course, but I’m just not convinced it’s going to happen for everyone. Especially me.”
“Good things come in sets of three,” Tessa said quietly.
Erin didn’t share her optimism. She wasn’t like Mila, who was more than happy to be the center of attention, and she wasn’t an artist like Tessa, who had to accept some degree of public interest in her work. No, she was much quieter than both these women and sometimes that meant she faded into thebackground. But the background was where she liked to dwell. There she could people-watch and try to understand her fellow humans a little better. Those observation skills made her good at her job, writing about people all day long in the newspaper. Even if she wanted to step into the limelight, it would never work. No, it was best to remain exactly as she was. Single and quiet and in the background, watching and learning. The true love Mila and Tessa had found was nowhere in sight, and that was fine. It wasn’t her turn.
She played for a moment with a silver ring she wore. “I would never, ever in a million years be with Jay.”
“When did you get to be so tough?” Mila wanted to know. She put her coffee mug down and turned to Erin as though there were something she was missing.
The only person she’d nearly told about that awful experience in college was Mila. But she’d never quite found the words. Instead, she’d buried that memory deep, deep down and felt most of the time as though she’d recovered and moved on... except that pushy alpha men who tried to get close to her tended to get pushed away fast.
Erin took another sip of her cappuccino and decided to divert the attention back to the house sale. “Well, maybe I’ll be invited to the housewarming party and I’ll finally see inside that house.”
“No need to wait. I have to drop off the extra set of keys. Do you want to come and have a private viewing?”
She couldn’t imagine anything she wanted more. So long as she didn’t have to see the new owner. “Will Jay be there?”
“No. He’s in LA until tomorrow. That’s what he told me.”
Erin couldn’t turn down an opportunity to see inside the home she’d admired from afar for so long—especially before it got into the hands of Jay Malone and he filled it with lingerie models. She had a relatively flexible schedule at work, and today the editorial meeting wasn’t until one.
The temptation was too great to resist.
“I’d love to,” she said with a grin.
Chapter Two