Page 63 of Tempt Me Forever

Chapter Eighteen

Kimberly

I'd barely enteredmy office on Monday morning when Reese burst in. She and Travis were leaving for Aspen in two hours.

"So, I've been to Travis's office. I asked him how your weekend was, and I only got a few grunts in response." She sat down in front of me, smiling wildly. "Also, I was hoping for a call from you, and I got none. Now I'm starting to get ideas."

I loved my sister to bits, especially when she was like this. It was good to see her excited again. For a while after she canceled her wedding, I feared she would simply forget how to be happy.

"I'm listening. What exactly are you imagining?"

"That you spent the weekend with a very sexy man, and when you came back, Travis saw something he wasn't exactly happy with."

I blinked, putting down my pen. "Okay. That's freaky. Are you having me followed?"

She blinked, looking confused. "What? I don't understand."

"That's exactly what happened. How would you know?"

"Oh, trust me. I've had a long Valentine's Day weekend with nothing to do except try not to get depressed that I was on my own and imagining that my sister is much happier."

That was a disheartening admission. "You didn't do anything?"

"I went to that play, and then I wanted to rally the girls, but you know, the girls have guys, so I decided not to butt in."

"How about Gran?"

Reese cocked an eyebrow. "She had a date."

My eyes widened. "Oh my God. Okay. Don't tell the guys. They can't handleusdating, and they seem to go out of their way to ignore that Gran is dating. They don't need a reminder."

“I wasn't going to say anything. Besides, now you're the hot piece of gossip in town. I can't believe my plan worked."

I grinned. "I don't know how to say thank you without encouraging you to do it again."

"Oh, don't worry. I just hoped I wasn't wrong, you know? So... how are things?"

"We had a nice weekend in Aspen.”

"What's the status?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. We're having fun. Isn't that enough?"

"You're right. Okay." She got to her feet, sending me an air kiss. “I need to grab a few things from my office for the trip. I finalized the spreadsheets last night.”

I blinked, checking my email. She’d sent it to me at three o’clockin the morning.

“Reese! Are you having trouble sleeping again?”

She smiled sadly. “It never went away.”

My sister had suffered from insomnia ever since we were kids. Gran took her to several doctors, and they all agreed it was a coping mechanism for stress. She kept it under control with meditation and such, but sometimes—when she was overly stressed—it reared its ugly head again.

I hated the idea of my sister being troubled.

“Anyway, I just needed my morning dose of endorphins,” she added.

"That means getting your fill of gossip?"