Page 61 of Second Time Around
“But I need to speak with her about Will. And I’m leaving tomorrow, so I need to do it now.” A steely testiness put an edge on Petra’s usually melodious voice. “Maybe Kyra could spare a few minutes to give me a quick peek at the private party room. Just the two of us.”
The lady knew how to use leverage.
Kyra looked at Farr, his usual courtly manners unraveling at the edges. “Of course,” Kyra said, signaling Bastian to take over her section of the bar and explaining Petra’s request in a low voice.
“I’ve got it covered,” her fellow bartender said. “Get that party commission!”
“Working on it.” Kyra let herself out from behind the bar and came around to collect Petra. Farr stood to help her off the stool, steadying her when she wobbled on her Jimmy Choo stilettos.
Farr shook his head. “Not sure this is a good idea.”
“Possibly not,” Kyra said. But Petra was determined, and Kyra’s boss would be unhappy with her if a lucrative private event went elsewhere because of her personal issues. She didn’t trust Petra not to drop some mention of Kyra’s part in tonight’s meeting, when Petra spoke with Derek.
The room used for private parties was up a short flight of glass-and-chrome stairs. Kyra flicked the switch for the ceiling projection before she opened the door to usher Petra inside.
Because it was evening, the ceiling displayed the night sky with the Milky Way spread across its high vault, an occasional star sending out sparkling rays at random intervals. The room was set up for a cocktail party, with tall circular tables covered in blue velvet that glinted with silver threads. The polished marble floor was inlaid with lines of silver that gleamed in the low light.
Petra gave it all a cursory glance before she headed for a silver leather divan, her high heels clicking on the stone floor. “Why don’t we sit for a minute?” she said over her shoulder, with a slight wobble in her gait.
Kyra had no choice but to follow as Petra sank onto the sofa with a graceful folding of her long, elegant legs. A pang of envy pricked at Kyra. Even drunk, Petra couldn’t be less than gorgeous.
Kyra perched on an ottoman facing Petra and gestured toward the room. “The decor is very flexible. This is a late-night party setup, but we can do one for any time of day. We’ve even done storms.”
Petra ignored her sales spiel and leaned forward. Kyra could smell the vodka and cranberry on the woman’s breath. “I didn’t want to talk in front of Farr because he and Will are such good friends.”
“About the party?”
Petra made a vague gesture of dismissal. “About Will. And you. And me.”
Kyra almost laughed as she pictured some sort of weird ménage à trois. But Petra was bent on having the conversation. “You know that Will and I were engaged?” she asked. “Just a few years ago. He wanted me to say that I broke the engagement, but he did it.”
“I’m not sure you should be telling me this,” Kyra said, shifting on the ottoman.
“I saw how you looked at him at the Spring Fling,” Petra said. “And I wanted to warn you.”
So she’d been watching Will and Kyra at the party. Of course, Kyra didn’t know who Petra was then, so she hadn’t noticed the other woman’s attention. “Warn me?” Kyra straightened her spine, trying to look more confident than she felt.
“Will isn’t really capable of love,” Petra said, her eyes dark, unreadable pools in the dim lighting. “I was perfect for him. I move in the same circles and have the right connections. Our mothers are tennis partners, so I know his whole family. But he couldn’t commit to me.” Incredulity rang in her voice before she lowered it as though telling Kyra a shameful secret. “He’s in love with his job. He insisted that we go to this falling-down villa in Italy where we couldget to know each other better.” Petra made air quotes around the last phrase. “It was bad enough that he dragged me there, where there were no stores or friends to visit, but after two days of sitting around, he got on his computer to answer e-mails.”
That must have been after Petra insisted that he take her to Rome. “That seems kind of unromantic,” Kyra said to placate the indignant woman in front of her.
“Well, the sex was really good,” Petra said, making Kyra’s cheeks go hot with discomfort. “At the beginning. Then he went back to his first love ... Ceres. I couldn’t compete with a giant corporation. I don’t think his partner, Greg Ebersole, liked me either.” She looked bewildered by that.
Kyra was beginning to understand Will’s dislike of Petra. For all her outward warmth and understanding, the woman refused to take any responsibility for the end of their relationship. She was spreading the blame around wherever she could lay it. Announcing to the Spring Fling guests thatWillhad ended the engagement was just another way to shift the onus away from herself. Kyra had seen this before. In her mother.
Petra reached out to lay a hand on Kyra’s knee, her tone softening. “You’re not part of Will’s world, so you can’t understand a man like him. I can tell you’re a nice person, and I don’t want to see you get hurt like I was.”
Kyra felt like Petra had hauled off and punched her in the stomach. She had told herself repeatedly that she didn’t fit into Will’s environment, but to have someone say it out loud made her lose her breath. Did everyone at the Spring Fling think Will was just slumming it with her?
Petra was still going. “If he couldn’t bring himself to marry me, well, you know what I’m trying to say.”
Pride made Kyra force a laugh. “You don’t have to worry about me. I’ve known Will a long time. I’m well aware of who he is.”
“But that was in college,” Petra said. “He’s changed. I just didn’t realize it until too late.”
Hadn’t Kyra said the same thing to Emily earlier? Money and power had an effect on the people who wielded them. But she’d seen Will’s pain when he talked about his engagement to Petra. It was real.
“We’ve all changed since college,” Kyra said with what she hoped was a wry shrug. She pushed up from the ottoman. “I’ve got to get back to the bar. My boss will wonder where I am.”
