“I'm in Paris; what's your excuse?” she asked. I could practically hear her rolling her eyes.
“Actually, I just told my executive board that I'm going to be working fewer hours, and that they're going to have to start managing on their own more often,” I admitted, knowing that she'd be pleased to hear that.
“Oh, wow!” Katherine said, sounding every bit as surprised as I'd expected her to. “What prompted that?”
“I just figured it was time,” I lied.
She didn't buy it for a second. “It's because of Emma, isn't it?” she asked. “Your daughter, whom I still have yet to meet.”
I sighed, even though her quick diagnosis of my real reason was amusing, more than anything. “I'll be glad to have a little more time around Emma,” I admitted. “Lexi as well.”
“Wow,” she said again. “So, things are going well between the two of you?”
“Yeah.”
She wanted details. Details that I wasn't sure I was ready to give her. It wasn't embarrassment, I told myself. But she was my little sister; she didn't need to know that I was sleeping with Lexi.
And other than sleeping with Lexi, I wasn't entirely sure how to describe what we were doing. We'd been on the one date the other night, of course, but we weren't exactly dating in the traditional sense.
I decided the best course of action was to change the subject. “So, how's Paris?” I asked.
Unfortunately, that only made Katherine burst out laughing. “Oh, no,” she said. “Paris is wonderful, but you can't just change the subject on me. Are things getting serious between you and Lexi?”
“We have a kid together,” I pointed out. “And both Lexi and our kid are currently living with me. It can't get much more serious than that.”
“Bullshit,” Katherine said succinctly. “When she first moved in, you were still with Renée. Now it sounds like you're making serious changes in your life, all for Lexi's sake.”
“They're not all for Lexi's sake,” I protested. “They're for my sake as well. The way that I've been living hasn't been very healthy. You know that. You've been telling me that for years.”
“And you never listened to me.”
I was quiet for a moment. “We're dating,” I finally admitted. “Things have been a little strange because usually when we go out, Emma's there as well. But we went on our first real, adults-only date the other night.” I ran a hand back through my hair, pushing away from my desk and spinning a little in my chair. “I don't know what it means, Kate, so don't start pressuring me to put labels on things. I don't know if we're getting more serious. But I like the way things are going.”
“That's good,” Katherine said gently. She paused. “Like I said when we got on the phone, you sound happy. I'm happy for you.”
“Thanks,” I said.
“Of course, I still haven't met either of them,” Katherine said pointedly.
I laughed. “Well, funnily enough, Lexi asked recently if she could meet you. I told her she could, once you were back in town.”
“Great!” Katherine said, sounding delighted. “We can make it a girls' outing. I know this great brunch place that we could go to. I'm sure she'll love it. Unless you want to come with us?”
“I'm not sure I trust you and Lexi alone together yet,” I said.
Katherine giggled. “I'd make sure to save all the embarrassing stories for when you were there,” she said. “Otherwise, I wouldn't get to see you blush and try to talk your way out of them.”
“Like that would happen.”
“Come on; you know the kinds of stories I could dredge up about you.”
“Lies, all of them,” I said, but I smiled.
“Remember that one time when you were ten, and I dared you to—”
“All right, all right,” I interrupted, knowing what she was about to say and not wanting to hear another word of it. I shuddered. “You can take Lexi and Emma out to lunch when you're back in town.”
“Cool,” Katherine said.