Shit. She was right. She owed Connor an apology. If only for psychoanalyzing him when he asked her not to. He’d accepted her boundaries and stopped when she’d asked him to, but she hadn’t.
“Man, Maddie,” she said weakly, “when did you get so wise?”
Her sister smiled broadly. “I’ve always been wise. I just struggled with speaking my mind. Sex with a hot hockey player helped.”
She laughed. “Really? I think sex complicates everything.”
“Hmm.” Curious, Maddie stretched out her chin. “Who have you had sex with? I thought your dates so far have been bad.”
“No one!” she responded quickly. “Because it complicates everything.”
Maddie laughed. “But it’s fun too. And, Rachel, thank you.” Her eyes lit up. “For asking for my advice. It means a lot to me. You know you can tell me anything, right? Whether it’s…” She hesitated. “It doesn’t matter if it hurts or not.”
Stunned, Rachel raised her eyebrows. Those were a specific choice of words.
Rachel smiled uncertainly. “Fine. I’ll try...to do it more often.” But it was difficult when you’d been encouraged your whole life not to share your secrets with your sisters because they wouldn’t understand…
“That’s enough for me,” Maddie said gently. “So, how are things with Connor? Have you become friends or something?”
Rachel’s heart fluttered. “Friends? Us? No. Why…do you ask? We’ve barely had anything to do with each other.”
Maddie narrowed her eyes and nodded. “Just asking. I ran into him earlier and…” She trailed off, shaking her head. “It doesn’t matter.”
Rachel nodded and went back to work, thinking she wished she didn’t care about Connor either.
Chapter Thirteen
If you can’t win, make the other person lose.
Tips and tricks for every situation from divorce lawyer Connor Stone
There’s a word for that: Cheating. - Rachel
Connor had found a woman who wanted to meet him. She was irritated that he’d suggested a miniature golf course, and he also found it questionable to call the meeting a date, but…it didn’t matter! Rachel would see he had a date, and he’d make sure her date went badly. He had every right to do so after her near-cyber attack at the Galette. Besides, he was still angry, and upsetting Rachel seemed like a fundamentally good idea.
The mini-golf course was right by the ocean, and a salty breeze was blowing in off the beach that made the palm trees sway along the edge of the course. To the right, there wasa small beach cafe with red plastic furniture and umbrellas advertising the surf school nearby. Connor wondered if there was enough overlap between mini-golf and surfing to warrant the advertising, but before he could give it any further thought or start a Google search, someone cleared their throat behind him.
“Hey, are you Connor Stone?”
He blinked and turned around. His not-really-date was a dark-haired woman in her mid-twenties, wearing a pencil skirt with a dark blue blouse and a pair of pumps that were neither suitable for mini-golf nor surfing. Slung over her shoulder was a jute satchel containing a thick folder.
Oh, shit, this had been one of his dumber ideas, but now she was here, so…
“Yes, I am. You’re Jean Morowitz?” He took her outstretched hand and shook it. “Nice to meet you.”
“Likewise. I’m excited about this opportunity. I’ve heard a lot about you, and I admire you greatly.”
Generally, on a date, it was a bad sign if the woman had heard of him. But in this case…oh, man. Good thing Rachel wasn’t here yet. Jean’s enthusiasm at meeting him would have highly irritated her.
“I’m glad. We’ll tee off shortly. I just need to wait a minute…”
“Oh, wow,” Jean interrupted, her mouth gaping as she looked over his shoulder.
Connor whipped his head around…and immediately understood because seeing Rachel felt like a punch to the gut. She was wearing another one of those summer dresses he wished she wouldn’t wear, the ones that seemed so innocent with their high neckline, bright colors, and long skirts — which only reminded him that the woman inside had whisperedharderin his ear.
His jaw clenched as his gaze flicked from her light blue dress to her flats before he looked at Jean. Her mouth was still open, looking as if she were seeing a supernatural apparition.
Great. His date might be interested in women. Well, at least they had that in common. Shared interests were important.
