She’d texted that she had an after-work thing—a book launch party which looked to go late—and Amber was invited to be her date. At the time, she’d refused, already at drinks with her own work crew. In her turmoil, she’d forgotten about it until she got home and changed into a casual sundress, and then it seemed like far too much effort to go back out again. Home by seven on a Friday night. Alone. Mooning after a guy she couldn’t have. Truly pitiful. Although, when she considered she could be out with the guy she could have had, who thought she should smile because girls should be perky all the damn time, home alone sounded pretty good in comparison. It still rankled, though, imagining what Alec Knight might be up to. And that woman, having what she couldn’t. What—he’d been very clear and honest about—she never would with him. What she greatly feared she would never have. A vision of the future her parents wanted for her loomed like a Stepford nightmare.
