Page 49 of This Time Around
“Really?” Allie couldn’t decide whether to feel scandalized or intrigued.
“It was fun for a few weeks, but honestly, it didn’t do much for me. Dating girls, I mean. I think I just like penises a little too much to ever?—”
“Hello!”
They both turned to see Wade standing in the doorway. He wore a blue Armani suit and the same smile he’d have if he came home from work to find a porn flick being filmed in his living room.
“Thank you, ladies,” he said, folding his arms over his chest and smiling at Skye. “I’m going to dream about that conversation for the next week.”
Allie rolled her eyes. “Don’t you know how to knock?”
“I did, but no one answered. And there was a sign out front inviting me to come in.”
“It’s left over from the bed and breakfast days,” Skye said. “I left the door unlocked for when Jack gets here. Sorry. I’m Skye, by the way.”
“Wade,” he said as he reached for her hand.
Allie caught the dazzled look in his eye, along with the contrast of Skye’s flowery sari skirt and bare feet beside Wade’s Armani and silver cufflinks. Their hands stayed linked, and Skye’s smile had turned goofy.
Wade lifted her hand to his lips, brushing a soft kiss over her knuckles before nestling her hand back into the folds of her skirt. “It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Skye. Allie told me she’d met the caretaker of the place and that you were doing her hair, but she didn’t mention you were so—enchanting.”
Skye blushed prettily, and Allie glanced at Wade, ready to tell him to knock it off. But the look on his face was just as smitten as the one on Skye’s. What the hell? Wade dated polished socialites, not free spirits.
But the way he stood looking at Skye suggested he might be branching out.
“You’re sweet,” Skye said. “How do you and Allie know each other?”
Wade leaned back against the wall and crossed his ankles. “We go way back. Tell me about yourself, Skye. Are you from Portland?”
“Born and raised. I’m finishing up at cosmetology school and hoping to get a job at one of the salons downtown. How about you?”
“I’m from Seattle, originally, but I moved out here ten years ago to take a job at Solomon Ashe and Associates.”
“You’re a lawyer?”
“Don’t hold it against me. That reminds me?—”
He turned to Allie, who had started to think they’d forgotten she was here at all. Wade reached into the side pocket of his briefcase and pulled out a large manila folder with the law firm’s name on it. “Here’s that stuff you were asking about on asset forfeiture laws and estate taxes.”
“Oh—right, thank you.”
He lifted one eyebrow in a silent question, and Allie shook her head. Not now, she telegraphed, willing him not to ask any questions that would lead Skye to suspect there was a giant trunk of cash in the attic. Not that she’d told Wade about it, either, but she had asked a few vague questions and enough hypotheticals to pique his interest.
Luckily, his interest seemed more piqued by Skye at the moment. “So, Skye,” he was saying. “Since Allie’s running off to have fun with her old fiancé tonight, I don’t suppose you’d be interested in having dinner with me?”
Skye smiled and began winding the cord around the fancy hair curler. Her own long curls fell over her face, and Wade stared like she was the most exotic creature he’d ever seen. Allie tried to remember some of the women he’d dated over the years. There’d been plenty, but she couldn’t think of any who looked like Skye.
“I think I’m free,” Skye was saying. “What did you have in mind?”
“Something different. I like the blue in your hair, by the way.”
“Thanks. I’ve been thinking of switching to pink, but I’m still loving the blue.”
“It’s great. Very unique. Goes with your name.”
“You’re right, it sort of does.” Skye looked pleased that he’d noticed, and Allie couldn’t help feeling charmed by their flirtation.
“So how about it,” Wade said. “Dinner? With me? Tonight?”
