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bare arm.
    Again she shrugged. “I’m guessing that selling clothes would sound pretty silly compared to what you do all day.” Faintly, she acknowledged that she really had no idea what he did all day.
    “I don’t think selling clothes is silly.” Gage allowed mock bewilderment to cross his dark, attractive face. “I can think of at least three people in this room who I have no desire to see without their clothes.”
    Alythia tried to quiet her laughter when Gage fixed pointed looks upon each of his three best friends.
    “Does your laughing mean you’re in the mood to tell me how you got into the clothing business?” he asked.
    Alythia took a moment to observe him then. He’d propped his fist to his cheek again and she wondered whether it was a habitual stance. Whatever the case, it kept her settled in a comfortable frame of mind conducive to talking.
    Everyone appeared relaxed and truly involved in their conversations. The food—which was quickly disappearing—smelled wonderful and tasted even more wonderful. The room where they dined was as much like a work of art as the exquisite pieces that adorned the wall spaces of the aircraft.
    Aly thought that the lamp lighting was soothing, very much like the sound of Gage’s voice when he called her name to tug her from her thoughts.
    “It’s not such a surprise that I’d go into the clothing business.” She saw his probing stare narrow dangerously and raised her hands in a show of playful defense. “I swear I’m not trying to make light of it.”
    Gage had dissolved into laughter. Once done, he relaxed back into the chair and waved his hand in a mock show of permissiveness, urging her to continue with her story.
    At ease, Alythia forked up another plump glazed shrimp. “I’ve always dreamed of being surrounded by beautiful clothes.” She popped the morsel of meat into her mouth and took a moment to relish the taste. “Mostly because I never had any growing up. None of us did.” Her expression saddened somewhat when she looked toward Myrna and Jeena. “Then we met Orchid.” She beamed.
    “How’d that friendship happen?” Gage glanced over to Orchid and Jayson. “I thought, with her family’s money, she’d have been in some private school.”
    Aly levered a weighty look toward her friend. “Yeah, she was, but there were...problems with following a few choice rules and Mr. Benjamin said if she wanted to rule-break, he wasn’t gonna pay an arm and a leg for her to do it. So he sent her to public school.”
    “Damn. I heard he was a tough man.” Gage studied Orchid for a moment or two and then shook his head. “Hard to believe she got into so much trouble with a parent like that.”
    “Well, Ork’s always done her own thing...but Luther Benjamin was a really great man.” Alythia set down her fork and leaned back into the chair, reminiscence filling her striking stare. “He never treated his daughter’s new public school girlfriends with anything other than acceptance and respect. He was the kind of dad we all wanted.” A sigh followed the admission.
    “Wanted but...didn’t have?” Gage carefully probed.
    “Myrna’s mom and dad separated when she was little.” Alythia hugged herself a bit, raking her square French tips over suddenly chilled arms. “Jeena never knew her dad, and mine...” She resisted the urge to allow resentment to close her eyes. “Mine was in and out, in and out of my mother’s pocketbook when he’d drank or gambled off his own. If he didn’t steal it, she’d give it to him, no questions, no matter if she had to pay rent, buy food or...”
    “Clothes.”
    His voice was quiet with understanding that made Aly smile while she nodded slowly.
    “My mom died of a broken heart. She tried to be everything my father wanted. When that didn’t work, she tried to buy his love and when that didn’t work, she killed herself.”
    The stunning revelation was interrupted when a belt of laughter rang out from Zeke and