mattered to him, he kept a firm grip on her arm. Instead of leading her back to where she’d been standing before the dance, he led her toward the patio. “It’s a beautiful night. Let’s appreciate it, all right?”
“Okay.”
He couldn’t help but smile as he led her through the huge French doors and outside. For some reason he felt tonight would be his lucky night.
* * *
Virgil took a huge swig of his beer, bringing his thoughts back to the present. Had it been his lucky night? It depended on how he looked at it. Yes, they’d left the party early to share cups of coffee at that café, and, yes, from that night and for a full year after that, they’d dated exclusively. He chuckled, thinking she hadn’t been as easy as he thought to get into bed. She had made him earn that right and he’d felt it had been worth it. She had been worth it. And he had fallen hopelessly in love. Their time together had been happy times...till they were tinged with heartache when she’d accused him of being involved with another woman.
When he saw her tomorrow he would be as professional as he could, no matter how much he would hate every minute of doing so. He didn’t want to give anyone, especially his father, the impression that he felt anything for her anymore.
He finished off the rest of his beer and was about to change into more comfortable clothing when his mobile phone went off. He recognized the ringtone. Each of his godbrothers had their own specific ring. “What’s up, W? Calling all the way from Australia is probably costing you a pretty penny, isn’t it?”
Over the years he and his godbrothers had shortened their names for each other to just the first letter. Winston, a marine biologist, and his wife, Ainsley, were currently living in Australia near the Great Barrier Reef on some project dealing with sea turtles.
“Just giving all of you a heads-up that I’ll be home next month.”
Virgil chuckled. “You were home six months ago. Getting homesick?”
Winston returned his chuckle. “No. Ainsley and I love it here. Six months ago we were home for her parents’ wedding anniversary. This time it’s for Uriel. Have you forgotten his birthday is next month? I talked to Ellie and she’s throwing a party at the lake and would like all of us there.” He paused a moment and then asked, “How are things going with you, V?”
He knew why Winston was asking. When he was home back in February, Virgil and his godbrothers had been together at the charity ball when Virgil had seen Kara. They knew what Kara had once meant to him and were glad she’d finally found out the truth about her sister. They’d also thought it had taken a lot of guts for her to apologize, considering how he’d been staring her down all night. And last but not least, they all thought he should have accepted the apology she offered. They felt he should be able to forgive Kara even if he didn’t want to have anything to do with her ever again.
Virgil didn’t see it that way. He saw no reason to release her from the guilt of accusing him of something he hadn’t done. “Things are okay,” he finally said. “Tyson’s wedding went off without a hitch. In fact, he had that same lovesick look that you did at your wedding.”
“It’s the ‘I’m in love’ look, Virgil. I recall you once wore it yourself.”
“That was when I didn’t know any better. It was before I talked you guys into forming the club. The one you, York, Xavier and Uriel defected from.”
“Only to pursue happier days.”
“If you say so,” Virgil said, shaking his head.
“Have you seen Kara since that night, V?”
Virgil frowned. “Why would I see her after that night?”
“Um, maybe you’ve had a change of heart. Called her. Asked her out for old times’ sake.”
“Don’t hold your breath. But I will be seeing her tomorrow. Not my choice, believe me.”
“Why? What’s going on?”
He then told Winston about his father’s plan to improve his image.
“Well, I hope you don’t plan to be an obnoxious ass when you see her. She did apologize. And can you imagine having a sister like Marti?”
Most of his godbrothers knew Marti because she’d dated Xavier. According to Xavier, three weeks was all he could take of Marti Goshay, who thought a lot of herself. Even Virgil would admit it was hard to believe Marti and Kara were siblings. They were as different as night and day.
“Can you imagine how Kara must feel knowing her sister lied? If you can’t trust your sibling, then who can you trust?”
Virgil decided not to answer that. In fact he really didn’t want to discuss the Goshay sisters any longer. He deliberately got Winston to talk about something else—namely his work. Winston loved what he did for a living and went on to tell Virgil how his research on the turtles was coming.
When Winston began getting too scientific, Virgil decided it was time to end their conversation. “We’ll get together when you arrive in town, W.”
“You bet. Take care.”
“You, too.”
“And remember to be nice tomorrow, V.”
“I’ll try. Can’t make any promises.”
Virgil clicked off the phone. Dread filled him as he thought about tomorrow. Just like he told Winston, as far as being nice to Kara went, all he could do was try.
Kara paused to draw in a deep breath, needing to calm her frayed nerves. She was ten minutes early so why were the Bougards already in the conference room waiting on her? And the thought that one them had seen her naked probably just as many times as he’d seen her wearing clothes was enough to rattle her.
Shaking off the memories of all those times, she thought about one of her favorite quotes. You are more stronger than you think. She certainly hoped so because at the moment she felt a little weak in the knees. And what were those sensuous shivers racing through her? Now was not the time to remember any of that. Straightening her spine, raising her chin and pasting a professional smile on her lips, she turned the knob and entered the conference room.
Both men stood and, although she hadn’t wanted it to, her gaze immediately went to Virgil before shifting to the older Bougard. She liked Virgil’s father and could easily recall when Virgil had taken her home to meet his parents. She’d been nervous then, as well.
Like Virgil, Matthew Bougard was handsome. He was also tall, standing way over six feet, and had a muscular build. She knew he liked playing golf and he’d been on the Olympic swim team while in college at Morehouse.
“I hope I haven’t kept you waiting,” she said, and with all the professionalism she could muster, she crossed the room and extended her hand first to Matthew. Instead of taking it, he pulled her to him in a hug. “No, you’re early, in fact. We just didn’t want to keep you waiting on us. It’s good seeing you again, Kara.”
When he released her, she smiled up at him.
