Claudia had stayed in Vermont with her husband and her three kids, where she taught school and watched out for their mother. Her older sister was the “perfect” person, the strong one who met life on her own terms. She never hid from anything or anyone. She admired her sister and her ability to let go of the past enough to move smoothly into her own future.
Claudia would have never been fooled by someone like Barry.
Hillary thumbed the on button. “Hello, Claudia.”
“Is that all you have to say? Hello, Claudia?” her sister said with more humor than worry. “Hillary Elizabeth Wright, why haven’t you returned all seven of my calls?”
She tucked the phone under her chin and unzipped the side of her evening gown. “I’ve only been gone a day. There’s no need to freak out.”
“And what a day you’ve had, sister,” Claudia said, pausing for what sounded like a sip of her ever-present Diet Coke. “You should have told me.”
“Told you what?” She shimmied down her dress and kicked it to the side in a pool of black satin.
“That you know Troy Donavan—the Troy Donavan, Robin Hood Hacker, billionaire bad boy.”
Hillary stopped halfway stepping into her jeans. “What are you talking about? I don’t know him.”
Now who was quibbling with the truth? But she needed to stall and gather her thoughts.
“Then you have a doppelganger, because there are photos of you with him all over the media. Your Google numbers are through the roof.”
Oh great.
Of course they were. She should have known. She yanked her pants on the rest of the way. “I just met him earlier today.”
Was it only one day?
“Nuh-uh, sister dear. That story’s not flying. He bid a hundred thousand dollars for a weekend with you?”
“Eighty-nine-thousand dollars, if you want to be technical.” She tugged on a flowy pink poet’s shirt. “The reporters must have rounded up.”
“Eighty. Nine. Thousand. Dollars. Ho-lee crap. I can’t get my husband to foot the bill for a waffle cone at the ice-cream shop.”
“Billy’s a great guy and you’ve been head over heels for him since you sat beside him in sophomore geometry class.”
“I know, and I adore every penny-pinching part of him since he’s so generous in other ways.” Claudia purred over the phone not too subtly. “I’m just living vicariously through you for a minute. It’s nice to fantasize about no mortgage and no diapers. So, spill it. I want deets. Now.”
“It’s crazy.” Hillary fingered her silver chain belt link by link. “I’m sure he’s just bored and I said no, which he took as a challenge.”
“Then keep right on challenging him until you get some jewelry.”
“That’s an awful thing to say.” She hooked the belt around her waist loosely.
“Ahh,” her sister said knowingly. “You like this guy.”
“No. I don’t. I can’t.” She flopped back on the four-poster bed, staring up at the intricately carved molding around the tray ceiling. “I haven’t known him long enough to draw that kind of conclusion.”
“That hot, is he?”
“Hotter.”
“You lucky, lucky lady.” Claudia paused for a long gulp of her drink. “Did you have a crazy one-night stand with him?”
“God, no.” Hillary sat upright. “Since he bought this weekend with me, sleeping with him would feel…cheap.”
Still, her mind filled with images of lying back with him on this broad bed until her fingers twisted in the lacy spread.
“I hate to be the one to break it to you, but eighty-nine-thousand dollars isn’t cheap, sister.”
“You know what I mean.”
“I do. I’m just teasing.” The phone crackled with the sound of her shuffling the phone from one ear to the other. “Would you have slept with him if there hadn’t been the infamous auction?”
“No. Definitely not.” She hesitated. “I don’t think so.”
“Wow.” Her sister’s teasing tone faded. “He really has gotten to you.”
“He’s—” a knock sounded on her door “—here. I need to go.”
“Call me. Just check in to let me know you’re okay.” Claudia’s voice dripped with big-sister concern. “It’s been a tough year for you.”
“For all of us.” Their father had died of a heart attack in his sleep. Their mother was in rehab—again. And then in her grief, Hillary had lost herself in a relationship with Barry. It was time for luck to swing over to the positive side. “Love you tons, but I gotta run.”
She disconnected and reached for the door. Now, she just had to make it through the whole night without thinking about how Troy’s kiss brought her body to life in a way Barry’s never had.
* * *
Love you tons.
Hillary’s voice whispered in Troy’s head as he watched her walk deeper into the suite’s living room. Who had she been talking to on the phone while she changed clothes?
She’d been buttoned-up sexy in her power suit on the plane. She’d been gorgeously hot in her strapless black gown.
And now she was totally, approachably hot in tight jeans and a long pink poet’s shirt with a slim silver chain belt resting low on her hips. She made comfy look damn good.
He pivoted away hard and fast, shoving up the sleeves on his button-down—he’d changed into jeans, too. On the coffee table, he’d fired up his laptop. Now he just needed to log on to the secure network to retrieve the colonel’s video feed.
How like the old guy to make sure Hillary was royally pissed off before leaving her here for the rest of the night. Colonel Salvatore had definitely gotten his revenge over the auction stunt.
They’d played back-and-forth games like this since school. Troy would reprogram the class period alarms. The colonel extended evening study period by an hour, which pissed off Troy’s classmates, who rained hell down on him in other ways.
Usually the mind games and power plays with Salvatore were fun. But not tonight. At least having Hillary here in his suite made it easier to keep an eye on her.
Troy called to Hillary without looking up from the keyboard, “I ordered coffee and some food in case it turns into a long night.”
“I’ll take the coffee but pass on the food. Let’s not waste time.” Her bare feet sounded softly along the Persian rugs. “We have a job to do.”