Page 5 of Second Time Around

Nathan snorted. “Take a date to throw out as chum.”

“That gets complicated.” Especially since he had ended a relationship his parents approved of at that very party. On the surface, he and Petra had appeared to be a great match, but when he’d insisted on taking her away from the social scene to be alone together, it had been a disaster.

“You must have a female friend who will go with you as camouflage.”

He started to shrug, but Kyra’s face flashed in his mind again, her long-lashed brown eyes more guarded than they’d been in college, her dark hair flowing over her shoulders in carefully sophisticated waves, her curves more sculpted now. But she still remembered their quote wars and her slanting smile hadn’t changed at all.

“Have you ever met someone who reminds you that you once were a different person?” Will asked.

“Chloe. That’s why I married her.” Nathan stretched out his legs. “So who makes you feel that way?”

“An old college friend. I ran into her today while I was inspecting one of my Ceres cafés.”

“Ah.”

Will raised his eyebrows at Nathan’s tone. “We were nothing but friends.” Except for one night when he had embarrassed himself. Now that he thought about it, Kyra had been there for two of his most humiliating moments in college. Which meant he should probably avoid her.

“I don’t believe I said anything to the contrary.” Nathan flicked a cashew crumb off his trousers. “What aspect of the ‘old you’ did she remind you of?”

Will shook his head. “She was my girlfriend’s suitemate, and it turned out my girlfriend didn’t consider our relationship exclusive. So I often ended up talking to Kyra while Babette was otherwise occupied.” He grimaced. “I was under the delusion that Babette took a great deal of time getting dressed and putting on her makeup when, in fact, she was, er, entertaining another man in her room. At any rate, I got to know and respect Kyra’s passion for soaking up knowledge. She used to audit extra courses just because she was interested in the subjects. No one else I knew did that.”

“So now she’s a college professor or something?”

“She’s a bartender at Stratus and a cook at an after-school care center. She dropped out of Brunell after two years.” Will shifted in his chair. “Her father got sick and died.”

“It bothers you,” Nathan said.

Will swirled his scotch in the cut crystal tumbler. “She had an amazing mind. She planned to be an editor and discover the next Jane Austen. I have no doubt she would do exactly that, if given the opportunity.” He met Nathan’s gaze. “She inspired me to use my time at Brunell to actually learn something instead of hanging out at the frat house. And now ...” He shrugged.

“So are you going to take her to the party?”

Will made a dismissive gesture. “That would be unkind to Kyra.”

“Maybe not. Maybe you also remind her of the person she used to be.”