Page 79 of Beauty
I sigh and survey my friend. She may be the most incredible person I know. With long, thick, wavy dark hair, striking whiskey-colored eyes, and curves that anyone would envy, she’s gorgeous. But it’s her kindness and the way she carries herself that really set her apart.
Maybe the similar dynamics of our families are what drew us to one another, or maybe it was the fashion thing, but Cat has always been the older sister I never had. Showing her the worst parts of myself, letting her in when I’m at my lowest, is hard.
“It’s just a lot, you know.”
She nods, surveying the street below. “Did I tell you that J.J. and your niece play hockey together?”
“Oh yeah?” I ask, shocked that she isn’t hounding me for details but happy to follow along with this change of subject. Poor Beckett so badly wants his kids to play baseball, but Addie wants to be a goalie like her Uncle Brooks. “What position does he play?”
“He’s a goalie as well,” she says, her eyes dancing with humor. “The two of them are more competitive than any adults I know. And Addie is good. I’ll give her that.”
“I didn’t know you liked hockey,” I muse.
She laughs. “I didn’t either until I watched my husband playing a pickup game with your brothers. Now that it’s consumed J.J.’s life, we have no choice but to be invested. Not that Jay minds one bit. Though with as busy as we are, it can be a challenge to get him to every practice and all their games. Beckett pulled some strings and got the two of them on the same team, so that helps. He makes sure to get J.J. there when we can’t.”
“Sounds like my brother.” I smile. The man is always meddling. “Beckett talked me into coming to work for Langfield Corp.”
Her lips twitch, like this isn’t new information. That shouldn’t surprise me. She’s connected to almost everyone I know, as well as the media. She knows things before they’re ever made public. “How do you feel about that? Is it really what you want?”
With a shrug, I let out a long breath. “I don’t know. But since I can’t design anymore, I needsomething.”
Eyes flashing with anger, she says, “You could if you’d let me fix this.”
I take a step back and cross my arms. “No. I shouldn’t have brought it up. We promised we wouldn’t discuss this again.”
She snorts. “No, you insisted that I not bring it up, but I never agreed to your demand.”
My responding laugh echoes off the ceiling. “Please.”
She sighs, her expression easing. “Fine. But really, CEO of the hockey team?”
That’s all the confirmation I need. Of course she knew.
“Yeah. Bizarre, right? My initial instinct was to flat-out turn the offer down, but then I watched Beckett and Liv discuss trades for the baseball team and it was almost”—my heart rate ramps up a little, just like it did that day, when the memory surfaces—“exhilarating.”
Her eyes widen. “That’s something, huh?”
“Yup.”
“You know what else is something?” she hedges.
“What?”
She grins. “Orgasms.”
Heat floods my body. She can’t know, right? There’s no way. “Excuse me?”
She takes my hand and squeezes gently. “Come on, let’s go to Allure. You’ll love it.”
I shake my head. Cat and her sex clubs. God, just the idea freaks me out. “No.”
She lifts a shoulder and drops it easily. “Garreth is coming to town next weekend.”
I wince. “I hope it’s not for me.”
“Still hung up on book boy?”
I bristle. She’s one of very, very few people who know about that weekend and my search for Noah.
