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jeans tucked into simple black
leather boots. Her hair, straight as ever without even one piece
out of place, curved around her perfectly made up features. She
looked so cold…so [i] plastic [i], like there was nothing real
inside her anymore. For a second, a sliver of remorse rifled
through Billie. Was she somehow responsible for the woman her
sister had become?
    Billie smoothed her hands over the soft,
denim at her hips and arched a brow. “I’m not sure why you think I
care if Duke and his wife actually sleep together.” Though to be
honest, she was surprised. Duke and Jackie were two people who’d
always been madly in love, but she supposed that kind of flame was
hard to keep burning.
    Bobbi’s eyes narrowed. “This is a recent
development and it’s your fault.”
    Okay, her sister was bordering on crazy. What
the hell had Gerald done to her?
    “My fault?” Billie threw her hands up in the
air, when all she wanted to do was wrap them around her sister’s
neck and squeeze until Bobbi’s head popped off. “I’m sure you’re
dying to fill me in on why it’s my fault, but to be blunt it’s none
of my business and I don’t care.”
    “You should care. They’re fighting because of
you.”
    “Me?” Billie took a step down, visualizing
her hands tearing into her sisters perfectly coiffed hair. A smile
touched her mouth at the thought. Maybe she could smudge her poppy
red lipstick while she was at it. “How is the fact that Duke’s not
getting any, my fault?”
    “Because they’re arguing about your need to
play hockey with a bunch of men, that’s why. Duke, like most of us,
thinks you’re being ridiculous and apparently Jackie thinks he’s
being an asshole.”
    A slow burn erupted inside Billie and she
took the last step until she was only a few inches from her sister.
“Well, if that’s what he thinks then I’d say Jackie’s got it right.
He [i] is [i] being an asshole.”
    “Asshole or not, Duke and Jackie aren’t the
only ones at odds over your plan to infiltrate the men’s
league.”
    Billie arched a brow. “Infiltrate? Seriously?
You make it sound like I’m pulling a James Bond or something. It’s
just hockey and besides, why does anyone care what I do?” She
leaned toward Bobbi and her sister had the good notion to take a
step back. “Why do [i] you [i] care? You should have your
hands full with [i] Gerry [i], or is he not enough to keep you
satisfied?”
    Bobbi’s eyes narrowed and her cheeks flushed
crimson. “You’re such a bitch.”
    Billie shrugged. “I’ve been called worse.”
She paused as a thought crossed her mind. “I saw Shane Gallagher
the other night at The Grill. He asked me to dance.” It was a lie,
but totally worth it to see her sister’s anger triple in less time
than it had taken Billie to utter the lie. For the first time since
she’d returned to New Waterford, her sister was showing some
life.
    [i] I knew she wasn’t over him [i].
    “He looks damn, good.” Billie said
softly.
    “For a criminal,” Bobbi retorted.
    Billie shook her head. “No, he looks damn
good, period, but then he always did.”
    Bobbi eyes narrowed. “You did
[i] not [i] dance with him.”
    “I did.” Billie went for the kill. “Why
wouldn’t I? I wanted to see for myself what he has that gets your
panties in such a knot and now I know…”
    “Know?” Bobbi was livid and for the first
time since she’d been home, Billie was enjoying herself immensely.
“There’s nothing to know. Shane and I had a…a thing a few years ago
but it was nothing more than a…a…”
    Billie’s grin widened as she interrupted her
stuttering sister. “The man kisses like he’s been doing it for
years, which, I suppose with his looks he has, and it makes me
wonder…”
    “Wonder?” Bobbi arched a brow and her voice
dropped into that dangerous zone that Billie usually avoided, but
she was having way too much fun to listen to the voice of reason
inside her head.
    “Well,” Billie