plan for tonight was to talk or cuddle. I’m not in the mood.”
Chaz could have figured that out without her saying so. He walked slowly into the living room, watching her quick, irritated movements as she took a glass from the cabinet and placed it on the bar top with a loud clunk. She yanked off the top of a decanter and poured more than half a glass of whiskey. He stopped a few steps from the bar and slipped his hands into the front pockets of his jeans. Riley looked directly at him, brought the glass to her lips and tilted her head back to swallow. Three big gulps and she almost emptied the glass. With a shaky sigh she lowered it and held her lips in a tight line.
“Don’t you stand there and judge me,” she warned.
Chaz shook his head. “Never. But I would like you to tell me what happened to put you in this mood.”
“Why? So you can fix it? I’m not in the market for a savior, Chaz.”
“I’m not in the business of saving people, Riley. But when I’m sleeping with a woman, I like to know she’s taken care of physically and mentally. So I’m asking you again to please tell me what happened.”
He couldn’t phrase it any nicer, not while trying desperately to hold on to the temper brewing at the thought that someone had upset her.
She set the glass on the bar top and folded her arms across her chest.
“It’s stupid.” She shook her head and blinked rapidly.
Chaz knew that if a tear fell it would be the end of him.
“If it hurt you, it’s not stupid.”
“I’m over it,” she snapped. “Over him and all his lies. Have been for a long time now. It was just that slimy reporter. He knew exactly what he was doing asking about the show and then slipping in the comments about Walt and his bride-to-be. Like I give a damn what that woman’s going to wear to her wedding.”
Chaz felt partial relief in knowing that it had only been a reporter who aggravated her, and deep irritation that her mood involved her ex-fiancé.
“He’s a reporter—their job is to push buttons. They get a reaction or a blurted quote and they run with it. You know how this works, Riley.”
“Yeah, I do and I think it sucks.”
“I agree.” Chaz moved to meet her on the other side of the bar. He really needed a drink now.
She pushed the whiskey closer to him and he found a glass and poured. He took a gulp, letting the liquid burn the back of his throat before he spoke again.
“What else did he say about you and Stone?” Because that was all that mattered to Chaz. He could not care less if the jerk was marrying someone else.
“It’s not relevant. I shouldn’t have let it get under my skin. Like you said, I know better.”
“But you continue to expect people to be better. That says a lot about you.”
It also said she was probably going to continue being bothered by people who didn’t have the good sense to get a clue.
“It either says I’m an idiot or I should have just punched the guy and went about my business.”
“You’re not an idiot.” Chaz finished his drink and turned around to lean his back against the bar. “Were you in love with Stone?”
It shouldn’t matter, but it did. He was certain Riley had the capacity to love. What he didn’t know is whether or not she’d given her heart to someone before.
She looked down at her glass and then up to him. “No. I wanted to be. Not just because it would have been the perfect professional union, but because it would mean that I was normal.”
He shrugged. “Normal is overrated.”
“Says the guy who played varsity football since he was in the ninth grade and went on to be a big shot in your fraternity.”
She’d done some research on him. Chaz was flattered.
“It’s much harder to be different.”
She sighed. “We were supposed to be like the royal couple of fashion. Everybody was watching us and waiting for the big day. And all the time I was having daily anxiety attacks and cringing each night he decided to sleep with me.”
Chaz had a rule about not knowing the past details of his current lover’s sex life. But something made him want to know everything possible about Riley.
She lifted her hands and ran her fingers through her hair. What had been smooth and