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the powdery sand between her toes as she made her way down to the water.
    Dipping her foot into the chilly salt water, she thought about how all this was going to play out. She already had a hard road ahead of her if she was going to repair her relationship with Nicolette. Now she was going to have to come clean about sleeping with Riker. Nicolette deserved to know that Riker was sleeping around on her. Trista hadn’t known Riker had a girlfriend, let alone, that girlfriend being her sister. Nicolette would have to forgive her. Trista couldn’t have known that Riker was her boyfriend. Hell, he had introduced himself as Riker. Everyone at the party called him Riker, she noticed. But her sister was the only one who called him by his first name, James. Nicolette would understand the situation. It was a mistake. A mistake that Trista would not let happen again.
    Trista continued to walk farther down the beach, away from the house with all the noise and drunken partygoers. She sat down at the base of a sand dune and contemplated just going back to Hollywood. Or maybe she should go to New York. Her career had started on Broadway with a bit part. Plus she’d done a short stint on a daytime soap opera. There were plenty of possibilities. She would call her new agent, Kate Peterson, tomorrow morning and let her know to put out some feelers on any new gigs opening up. Trista had started her career with Kate, so it was only fitting that Kate find her a new job. Start over fresh somewhere. Trista started to get excited about the prospect of moving to New York. She would buy a condo in trendy Tribeca. Eat leisurely brunches at Popovers on Amsterdam and 86 th Street. Take long walks in Central Park. See a Yankees game. All her favorite things to do in the Big Apple.
    “Hey, Trista. I’ve been looking all over for you.” A male voice interrupted her thoughts. “Can we talk for a minute?”
    Trista looked up to see Riker standing at the foot of the dune. “You’re the last person I want to talk to.” Trista waved him away. “Leave me alone please.”
    “I just want a chance to explain.”
    Trista scoffed. “Save it for Nicolette. You owe her an explanation, not me.”
    “It’s over between me and Nicolette.” Riker walked closer to Trista. So close that she could smell his delicious scent. He irritated her and intrigued her all at once.
    “Of course it is…now. Or it will be once she knows about you.” Trista brushed the sand off her pants as she stood up. “How long have you been running around on her?”
    “You don’t understand. It’s been over between Nicolette and me. We aren’t together anymore.”
     
    “She introduced you as her boyfriend.” Trista pushed Riker as hard as she could. Caught off guard, he stumbled and fell back on his rear end. “I don’t know what kind of bullshit you’re trying to pull, but you aren’t going to hurt my sister.”
    “I don’t want to hurt Nicolette.” Riker reached up and pulled on Trista’s ankle, which caused her to fall on top of him. He wrapped his arms around her, holding on to her tightly. “Obviously you guys had a little falling out. She didn’t even tell me about you.”
    “That has nothing to do with you. Don’t change the subject. You’ve been sleeping around on her. Exactly how many women have you been fucking?” Trista tried to wiggle out of his strong grasp.
    “I haven’t been sleeping around. First of all, we aren’t dating anymore. Second, when we were dating, I never cheated on her. Regardless of what you think, I don’t go around fucking everything that moves. And if I remember correctly, you were a willing participant last night.”
    “I didn’t know that my sister was in love with you!” Trista broke free of his grasp.
    “Please listen to me. Nicolette and I broke up months ago. She’s not fond of the word no . I’ve told her several times that we were never going to be a couple again. Lately, it’s just been a casual thing between