Faking Ms. Right (Dirty Martini Running Club #1) - Claire Kingsley Page 0,48
were so comfortable, I couldn’t get rid of them. I put my hair in a bun just to get it off my neck, slid my feet into my fuzzy yellow slippers, and went in search of coffee and breakfast.
Shepherd was in his office, absorbed in something on his laptop. I hesitated in front of his half-open door, debating whether to ask if he wanted breakfast. But he looked so busy, I didn’t want to interrupt.
The kitchen in this place was magnificent. I wasn’t a gourmet cook by any stretch, but I did enjoy cooking a nice meal. And in this expanse of maple, stainless steel, and granite, cooking was a pleasure. The long countertops gave me plenty of space, and everything was top of the line.
I’d anticipated my Sunday-morning-after-girls’-night need for bacon and eggs—I was nothing if not a planner—so I had everything I needed. I made myself a cup of coffee and got to work.
Just as I was heating the pan for the bacon, Richard wandered in, already dressed for the day in a casual shirt and pants. He leaned against the counter, a mug of coffee in his hand.
“Morning.” His eyes crinkled with his smile. Shepherd looked so much like him, but the physical resemblance seemed to be where their similarities ended. It made me wonder why Shepherd was so serious all the time.
“Good morning. Sleep well?”
“Yes, for the most part,” he said.
It didn’t escape my attention that Richard was alone. No Svetlana. Had he spent less time with her this last week? She hadn’t been here in a few days, and she never spent the night. I’d be so relieved when Richard was finally free of her talons, even though I knew what it would mean for me.
I laid a strip of bacon in the pan and it sizzled. “What are you up to today?”
“I’m supposed to take it easy, but I think I’ll get out for a walk. The weather’s nice.”
“That sounds like a good idea. Can I make you some breakfast first?”
“Tempting, but no.” He patted his trim waist. “I have to be more careful about what I eat these days.”
“Fair enough.” I put more bacon in the pan and poked it with tongs to spread it out.
Richard took a sip of his coffee. “You should see if you can get Shep outside. He works too much.”
“He really does, doesn’t he?”
“That’s probably my fault. I didn’t set a very good example. His mother and I both spent most of our energy on our careers when the boys were young.”
I perked up at the mention of both a young Shepherd and his mother as I stepped to the sink to wash my hands. Shepherd rarely mentioned his mom. Of course, before the night of the gala, I hadn’t known anything about his family. He kept so many things to himself.
“What was he like when he was little?”
Richard tilted his head, a wistful expression crossing his features. “He was a good kid. Got good grades, didn’t cause a lot of trouble. He was… focused. He’s a lot like his mother.”
“He must be. You two seem like night and day.”
“I suppose we are. I think he worries about turning out too much like her. I don’t want to badmouth my sons’ mom, but… Actually, she’s a cold-hearted bitch. I don’t have anything nice to say about her.” He grinned and took another drink.
I couldn’t help but laugh. “Ouch. Tell me how you really feel.”
“You’ll see when you meet her. What about you? What’s your family like?”
“My parents are… well, they’re busy people. They retired and moved to Florida, but they also love to travel. They road trip around the country in their RV in the summer and go on cruises in the winter. And they always have some sort of project going on at their house. Remodeling, landscaping, gardening. I don’t think either of them knows how to sit still.”
“What about your sister? Just the one sibling?”
“Yep. Annie’s younger and basically perfect. She’s a successful CPA, married, settled. She’s very good at this whole adulting thing in ways that I’m not.”
“You seem like you’re doing just fine.”
I shrugged and started flipping the bacon. “I guess so. I like my life, but…” I trailed off because I was skirting too close to the truth, and the lie of my relationship with Shepherd. Because the truth was, I felt inadequate next to my younger sister. She’d found her person, gotten married, and was ready for a family. All things I