The Bedroom Business

Serena turned her crystalline blue gaze on Emily, put an arm around her and hugged her. Strands of perfectly groomed, dark gold hair brushed Emily’s cheek.

“You have to believe us,” she said firmly. “Whoever he is, he’s not worth it.”

“For heaven’s sake, I am not crying about a man. Can’t you two get that straight?”

“You’ve been crying since you got here,” Angela said sternly. “And just look at what it’s done to you. Serena, have you ever seen a redder nose? And those swollen eyes, all red-ringed. Honestly, Emily...”

“Honestly, Angela,” Emily said, with a little laugh, “I hoped you’d appreciate the fact that I’m color-coordinated. Red nose, red eyes...” She waited for her sisters to smile, but they didn’t. “Oh, come on, guys. Lighten up. After all, it’s just like old times, right? You’re portraits of perfection. And I’m a mess.”

Angela and Serena, each three swanlike inches taller than Emily, exchanged looks over her head.

“You don’t have to be,” Serena said gently. “You could use my cucumber pads on your eyes. And I have a cream that would do wonders for your nose.”

“Yes,” Angela said, just as gently. “Emily, you know, looking better would make you feel better.”

Emily sighed. “I don’t think so.”

“Oh, it would. I mean, just look at what you’re wearing. Baggy old jeans. A ratty sweatshirt. And your hair...”

“Would you believe I had it cut and styled on Saturday, by a guy who styles the hair of half the models in New York?”

“No,” her sisters said, with one voice.

Emily put on a pair of mitts, opened the oven and peered at the meat loaf.

“Well, I did. And his hair was blonder and longer than yours„

“Now, Emily...”

“Look, both of you.” Emily took a deep breath. “I know you mean well. But I have to work this out for myself.”

Angela and Serena exchanged looks again. “Ah-ha.”

Emily yanked off the oven mitts. “Okay. So I ran away. Well, you would have, too. I made the mistake of getting involved with a no-good rat. A fast-talking, lying, cheating, miserable rat who—who—”

“They’re all liars, and fast-talking rats,” said Angela.

“Yes,” Serena said. “And they cheat, too.”

Tears rose in Emily’s eyes again. “He didn’t cheat,” she said miserably. “He didn’t lie, either. That’s the problem. He told me, straight out, that he wasn’t the forever kind. That he just wanted me for—for sex.”

“I never, ever said that, Sparrow,” a man’s voice said.

Emily, Angela and Serena all spun around. Emily’s eyes widened with shock. Angela’s and Serena’s eyes widened, too, but not with shock.

“Jake?” Emily whispered.

“You’re damned right, it’s Jake,” Jake said coldly. “And you’re lucky it is. What’s the matter with you women? You think you can just leave doors open and only the good fairy will take you up on the invitation?”

Angela looked at Serena, who blushed. “I forgot. I wore boots, because it was supposed to snow, and I took them off outside...”

“Jake?” Emily said again. Her heart felt as if it were try­ing to leap out of her chest. She put her hand over it, as if that might slow its race. “Jake, what are you doing here?”

Jake stared at Emily. What was he doing here? He’d had a speech all planned, about how she’d scared the hell out of him by running off like that, about how he was totally and completely ticked off, that a really good executive assistant would never do such a thing... but now that he was here, he was tongue-tied.

Well, no wonder. What time zone was this, anyway? What day? What year? Yesterday, he’d been in California, sitting through a meeting with all the attentiveness of a chimpanzee at a ballet. People were spouting facts and numbers like hy­peractive geysers but the only thing he could think of was what would happen to him if he lost Emily.

Eventually, he’d excused himself to the bewildered CEO, gone into the hall, pulled out his cell phone and called her. He’d tried to, anyway. But she didn’t answer the phone in the office and when he called her at home, he got a recorded voice that said the number had been disconnected.

The panic he’d felt had made his blood run cold.

He’d gone back to the meeting, made some halfhearted excuse, headed for the airport and paced the first class lounge and dialed Emily’s apartment and his office until the battery on his cell phone died.