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Claire shot Andrea a pointed glare.
    â€œWhat?”
    â€œYou and Todd both followed in Dad’s footsteps. You work too much, and don’t have nearly enough downtime. I already lost my father too young. I don’t want to lose my brother and sister, too.”
    Andrea sighed. Talk about blowing things out of proportion. “I had downtime last night.”
    â€œI’ll say. When you decide to let your hair down, you go all out.”
    Andrea’s face flamed. She took a big gulp of her drink while she tried to think of something to say in response. Claire’s gaze locked with hers and stuck while Andrea set the mug back on the table. “Yeah, I guess I do.”
    â€œIs that all you have to say about it? Come on. Can’t you give me any details?”
    Andrea laughed. “No. And I can’t sleep with him again. It’s against company policy.”
    â€œIf you’re quiet about it, no one in the company will find out.”
    â€œClaire!” Andrea kicked her sister’s shin with the rounded toe of her shoe. “This is serious. As much as I enjoyed it, I can’t let him back into my bed. It would be wrong on so many levels.”
    â€œOh, please.” Claire kicked back, shaking her head. “It was only a matter of time before this happened. You couldn’t have gone on forever pretending there was nothing between you.”
    â€œWhat’s that supposed to mean?”
    â€œMen and women can’t be that close without eventually hitting the sack.”
    Andrea silently fumed, but she didn’t understand why. She had no argument against what Claire said. It had taken them five years, but she and Brian had ended up right where Claire said they would.
    â€œYou never mentioned that theory before.”
    â€œBecause I knew you’d refute it. Now you can’t.”
    Andrea picked up her spoon and turned it over and over in her fingers. No, she couldn’t refute it, but she didn’t have to accept it, either. Men and women could be friends. She and Brian had managed it for years before the little mishap. “What happened was a fluke. If we hadn’t been drunk, we never would have gone to bed together.”
    â€œSweetie, you’re lying to yourself if you think that. It would have happened. Eventually. He’s a sexy guy and you’re a gorgeous woman, though it’s hard to tell with the way you’ve let your appearance go. If he never made a pass at you before, it’s because you always dress so…boring. No offense, but there are other colors out there besides gray and black. And why have all that long hair if you’re going to tie it back in a knot every day?”
    Andrea glanced down at her black T-shirt paired with jeans and old, comfortable sandals—her standard weekend wear. “What’s wrong with the way I dress? I’m not trying to impress anyone.”
    Claire patted her hand. “You’re not in any danger of doing that .”
    â€œGee, thanks.”
    â€œYou know what I mean. I understand, Andrea. Your life is all about your career. You want to make it big, and I don’t blame you. Hell, I applaud you for it. I’m just saying it wouldn’t hurt to liven things up a little, and to learn to have a little fun.”
    â€œI do know how to have fun.” Unfortunately, most of the fun she’d had lately had been with Brian. Movies on Saturday night, bowling or hitting the batting cages on Sundays. Runs in the park near work on weeknights. That was sure to change now, since things were so awkward between them. All her free time—not that she’d had much—had been spent with him. “I’m a regular barrel of laughs.”
    â€œOkay, okay. Relax. I’m not trying to insult you. In fact, I think you’re a goddess. You slept with Brian Storm. Remember the cookout I had last summer? You brought him with you and all my friends went crazy over