Sisters by Choice (Blackberry Island #4)(82)

“I’m Sophie.”

Judy? Judy? Shouldn’t her name be something like Electra or Sasha or Andromeda?

Judy stepped back to let her in, then turned. “Dugan, honey, you’ve got a visitor.”

Dugan called out something Sophie couldn’t hear. Judy motioned to the living room. “He’ll be right here. Have a seat. I need to get back to the kitchen.” She held up flour-covered hands. “I’m baking bread.”

“Of course you are.”

Judy smiled again before turning and walking away. Sophie took in her skin-tight jeans, trim thighs and the fact that her butt was indeed a perfect upside-down heart, before wondering if it was too late to bolt. Only she’d given Judy her name, so Dugan would know she’d stopped by and if she ran now, he might guess she’d been intimidated by his houseguest.

Dugan walked toward her from the direction of his office. At least she thought that was what was over there. To be honest, she’d never much explored the house beyond the kitchen and the bedroom. The other rooms had seemed less important. Now she wondered if maybe she should have shown more interest in him and his life. Was that why he’d taken up with Judy?

It wasn’t that she was in love with him, but she liked him and she thought he liked her and what the hell was going on?

As he approached, she did her best to shift from stunned to pissed. Anger was power, she reminded herself. Rage was good, too. Rage and a strong need for revenge. That would get her through.

“Hi,” he said, stopping in front of her and bending down to kiss her.

“Don’t even think about it,” she said, glaring at him. “You have a woman in your house.”

His welcoming expression turned knowing. “Ah, so that’s why you came by. It’s been about forty-eight hours. The island network is impressive.”

“I found out yesterday.”

“And waited all this time to come by?” One corner of his mouth turned up. “It’s not what you think.”

“You don’t have an incredibly beautiful woman living with you? When did this happen? We had a thing.”

“Did you want to go sit down?” he asked.

“No, I do not want to go sit down. I want to know about Andromeda.”

“Who?”

She glared at him. “Judy. Is that even her name? Who names their kid Judy?”

“It’s a family name.”

“Whatever. You’re sleeping with her. We had a thing.”

“You said we were done.”

“What? No, I didn’t. I said I couldn’t sleep with you anymore because of who you are. That’s different.”

He didn’t say anything.

“What?” she demanded. “Are you mad about the sex?” She lowered her voice. “It’s not that I don’t want to. I just can’t. It’s too weird. You know too much. It makes me uncomfortable.”

“That I’m not someone you can push around? Or is it that you’re scared I’m smarter than you?”

“You’re not smarter.”

One eyebrow rose.

She sucked in a breath. “We might be the same level of smart,” she admitted grudgingly.

“But I’m more successful.”

“Don’t be smug. You teach Tai Chi.”

“I have billions.”

“You gave them away. I don’t know what you have but it might not be much.”

“I get royalties from the software.”

“You’re sleeping with Judy!”

“No, I’m not.”

“Oh, please. She’s in your house.”

“She’s my ex-wife.”

Sophie opened her mouth, then closed it. They’d been married?

“Holy crap, are you kidding? You were married to her?”

“For a while, yes. It didn’t work out. She’s married to someone else now. About once a year she takes off and visits me. She rants about how her husband makes her crazy, she drinks champagne and cries, then in a few days, she goes home. It’s no big deal.” He put his hands on her shoulders. “We’re just friends, I swear. I’m not sleeping with her.”

Sophie shrugged free of his grasp. “I don’t like it,” she admitted. “I don’t like it at all.” Which was her way of saying she wasn’t sure if she believed him.

“How much don’t you like it?”

“A lot.”

“Okay. I’ll get her a room at the Blackberry Island Inn. She’ll be gone today.”

“What? You’re going to kick her out? She’s in the middle of baking bread.” Sophie had no idea what that entailed, but she was pretty sure the process shouldn’t be interrupted.

“I don’t want you upset.”

He wasn’t making any sense. “You had to know having her stay here in the first place would be a problem.”

“Not really.” His good humor returned. “You’re not exactly conventional, Sophie. For all I knew, you wouldn’t be bothered at all.”

“With you having a woman in the house?”

One shoulder rose.

“It does bother me,” she said. “But I still can’t sleep with you.”