a suffragette. Thrown in jail at least a dozen times for protesting.”
“Then I repeat—why?”
“I don’t want to read a contemporary romance. Those have a perfect man on every page. A perfect man I’d love to fall for—but can’t. A perfect man who ought to be with me. Regency England gives me a believable reason why the hero isn’t knocking down my door, pledging his love.”
Uh-oh. “Are you getting over a bad breakup?”
“What? No.”
A perfect man who ought to… “Even worse. Are you pining for a man who’s too blind to notice you?”
“No. A little. It’s…complicated. And it’s never going to happen. Which I’ve come to terms with. Except for when I read a book that shows me seventeen different ways that it should’ve been easy to be with the guy I want. Wanted.”
Sydney smelled far more of a story beneath what Amelia actually said. It’d be a lot easier to tease out of her with alcohol, though. “Then I hope you enjoy your book. Sorry that I teased you about it.”
“You wouldn’t be the first, trust me,” she said with an eye roll. “How about we talk about a more current romance?”
“Who?”
“You and my brother, of course. I believe there’s an update you have yet to share with me? Which, you know, frankly hurts. Since I’m your sister-in-law-to-be. I deserve to be dialed in to all your secrets.”
An update? About her and Alex?
Sydney’s temper—along with an equal measure of embarrassment—flared. She slammed her own stack of books down. Then picked them back up, and grabbed Amelia’s wrist. A few steps later they were in the enclosed—and more importantly empty—magazine reading room. Nobody would be able to hear her vent in here.
“I can’t believe he told you. I specifically asked him not to. I threatened him. He is a low-down snake.”
Amelia half opened her mouth. Closed it. Then grimaced. “Well…”
No. Wait. This was actually good.
Sydney had been up half the night, tossing and turning and wondering how to interpret what had happened yesterday. Amelia knew.
On top of that, she knew Alex. Knew his history, his patterns. She could provide clarity on the entire situation.
Sydney sank into a cushy blue wing chair. “The thing is, I’m freaking out. Because I don’t know what it means. I don’t want to squick you out with the details, because he is your brother, but you have to know that he’s drop-dead sexy.”
“Um…objectively…I guess so?” Amelia crossed her legs and dropped onto the carpet at Sydney’s feet.
“And when I saw him covered in droplets of water, all steamy, in only a towel…” Her voice trailed off, because her mouth went dry just at the memory. “He was like a hero in a movie. Muscled. Wet. Mostly naked. How could I not kiss him back?”
“Of…of course you had to? On behalf of all womankind?”
“It doesn’t feel like a hookup. Not just a hookup. Not when we’re becoming so enmeshed in each other’s lives. If you hadn’t come back with dinner, we’d be moving into an X-rated conversation.”
“Do I get smacked for that? Or thanked?”
“At the time? I would’ve given you every dollar in my purse to turn around and go back out the door. Now, though, it seems prudent that we stopped. Since we have no business doing anything to deepen this farce of a relationship.”
Amelia propped her chin on her hands and leaned forward with a delighted grin. “You and Alex made out last night? That’s…that’s fantastic.”
Oh, God. Sydney white-knuckled the arms of the chair. “You didn’t know? He didn’t tell you?”
“Of course not. When Alex gives his word, he keeps it.”
“Then what details were you asking about?”
“Your trip to the high school, to meet with the shop teacher. It got mentioned on the local radio station while I drove here this morning. They ought to rename it the Alex and Sydney hour for how closely they’re tracking your engagement.”
Sydney had thought she’d been embarrassed, oh, four minutes ago.
Wow, she’d been wrong. Because this shaking and sweaty chills covering her body—that was embarrassment. “Can we pretend you didn’t hear anything I just said?”
“Do we have to?” Amelia gave Sydney’s knee a few kind pats. “It sounds like you need to talk.”
Sydney tipped her head into the corner of the wing chair. Looked out the high windows, flooded with morning sun that sparkled off the few icicles still hanging from the eaves. “I don’t know what I need. I thought I did. Then I came back home, and immediately things turned inside out. It feels like I