Page 136

“Didn’t you two used to date?”

She’s got her elbow on the table, finger pointing between Stephanie and me. I drop my fork. Stephanie clears her throat.

“They did,” Kathleen says. I’m floored by her rebellion. “Pretty hot and heavy, wasn’t it?” She’s looking at me, chunks of salmon smacking between her teeth. “That’s gotta be weird.”

A blanket of embarrassment descends upon the table. I’m choking on it, wishing that I could excuse myself from this bullshit and drive far, far away.

“It’s only awkward because she was apparently dating you at the same time.”

Stephanie May, Hollywood’s biggest asshole.

“We weren’t…”

“That’s right.” Kathleen tosses her napkin onto the table and readjusts her seat. “Ira and I were seeing each other when I found you two together.”

Together? Found? What an interesting revision of history. If only this wasn’t happening in front of our parents!

“See, Ira’s right, everyone. We’re not a serious couple. That would be preposterous. Everyone here knows what a lothario they are. Carolyn talks about the papers all the time!”

I pinch her leg, but it has no effect. The last thing I want to do is look anyone in the eye. All I can do is try not to break in front of some of the most important people we know.

“All I am is another notch in the bedpost. Another woman in a string of blondes. Another woman to be screwed.”

Teeth bare in my direction. Eyes of steel attempt to puncture my skin. Hands curl into fists, and it’s not Silas Allen getting up to come pummel my face in.

Kathleen beats him to it. Getting up, that is. I’m spared a beating as she tosses a fork onto her plate and excuses herself from this farce.

The silence is so unbearable that I get up and go after her before Silas decides to brave my parents and kick my ass.

Kathleen hasn’t been in this part of the house before, as far as I know. So she has no idea where to go, where to hide, or where to get away from the likes of me, the lothario who is fucking another blonde. Shit, I don’t have time to be incensed. I have to track Katie down before she blows up and does something even brasher.

It doesn’t take long to find her. She’s holed up down the hall in a small sunroom full of plants and a canary chirping in its cage. When she lived here, this was my mother’s favorite room to read and talk on the phone in. Now it looks like my father hasn’t touched a damned thing since his ex-wife divorced him and took half his fortune.

I shouldn’t find Kathleen so entrancing in this moment. She’s standing by the window, her blond hair down and shining like a golden light among the green foliage. She sniffs, and I don’t know if she’s crying or reacting to the plants. I latch the door shut and approach her.

“Katie,” I say softly. “Are you all right?”

She sniffs again. “Do I look all right?”

“No.” My hand goes to her shoulder, and she stiffens, body jerking away from me. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“What’s there to talk about? Was anything I said a lie?”

I lower my arm. “You’re not just another blonde, Kathleen. Or woman, for that matter.

“Aren’t I, though? You said so yourself that we’re not serious.”

“Not like that, no.”

“What does that mean?”

She has so much disdain in her visage that I want to both run away from her and embrace her, here and now. She needs someone to comfort her, and she’s not going to find any comfort out in that dining room.

“You know what it means, Katie.” I try so damned hard to be gentle in my reasoning. Clearly, she’s vulnerable. Last thing I want to do is insult her after all that embarrassment. “We’re casual. We’re doing things in private we may not do with others, but it’s not like it’s going to end….” Do I have to say it?

She’s quiet for a few moments, her eyes not focusing on anything in particular. I hope her self-reflection is going well.

“Are you fucking someone else?”