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shades lighter than my espresso from breakfast. White furniture with clean lines was accented by upholstery in soft corals that made the room come alive, and thoughtfully placed photos in frames made it feel like home. A leather chair and ottoman sat between two corner windows. Well-framed prints by John William Waterhouse lined the wall behind my bed. My favorite, The Lady of Shalott , resting in the exact center. A large mirror hung over a dresser topped with a small lamp.
    Dru walked in without knocking, startling me.
    “I’m sorry, Em. I didn’t know you were home.” She put a fluffy tangerine-colored throw that still had the tags attached on the edge of my bed before backing toward the door. “I saw this today and thought it would be nice to cover up with. I’ll leave you alone.”
    “Stay. You know, you don’t have to keep buying me things.” I said the words softly as I sat down on my bed and pulled the throw into my lap. I wanted her to know she didn’t have to try so hard. “But I love it. Thank you.”
    She blushed, her porcelain skin glowing even more than usual, pleased that I was pleased. I owed a lot to Dru. Not only had she accepted me into her life as a surrogate daughter when still newly married to Thomas; she’d gone out of her way to make sure I felt loved when I had to come back home. She made me feel like leaving school didn’t mean I was a failure—constantly reminding me that it wasn’t my fault my scholarship had been cut.
    “So,” she said, dropping into the leather chair in the corner, “will you tell me about Michael? He’s not exactly like the others, is he?”
    I tried for about a half a second to keep my opinion to myself.
    “I can’t stop thinking about his mouth.” Time to get my edit button repaired. I hadn’t meant to be that honest. I felt my eyes get huge and my face go hot, and I hoped frantically that Dru hadn’t heard me clearly.
    She had.
    “ What? Emerson Cole, I have never heard you say anything like that in your entire life!”
    I bit my lip, but the giggles escaped anyway. It felt completely normal, unlike me. Dru joined in.
    “Well”—she wiped her eyes on her shirtsleeve—“your brother might not be, but I’m glad to hear it. You’ve dealt with a lot in the past few years,” she said, her voice growing serious. “More than most people deal with in a lifetime.”
    As much as I didn’t want to talk about the past, it kept coming up today. Time to work in some more avoidance. I kicked off my shoes and pulled my knees up to my chest, wrapping my arms around my legs. “Michael and I are going to have dinner later.”
    “It’s not a date, is it?”
    I rolled my eyes. “I wish. He was careful to make the point that the Hourglass doesn’t allow employee/client privileges .”
    It was Dru’s turn for an eye roll. “I know all about that. Thomas clarified it with Michael several times before he hired him. But still … I saw Michael looking at you last night.”
    “I dropped a glass and almost hyperventilated in the middle of your party. Everyone was looking at me.”
    “No, before that.”
    I’d seen it, too.
    Maybe he was just happy to find someone else like him, or maybe the whole opposites-attract thing was baloney. I wouldn’t know. I’d been so busy hiding out the past few years I’d never been out on a normal date. Group dates, sure, which were their own particular brand of hell if I didn’t know everyone, but never a regular date and certainly never a blind date. Yeesh. Anyway, whether I wanted it to be or not, tonight wasn’t a date.
    “Tonight isn’t a date.” I said it out loud, reminding myself. “It’s a business dinner—he’s getting paid to take me out. Thomas hired him. It’s not like Michael turned up and asked for an introduction.”
    Dru didn’t meet my eyes. “What are you going to wear?”
    I could practically see her fingers twitching, desperate to help me clothe myself. “How about I leave it up to