Page 99 of Unmasking Mr. Crown

"Well, there are problems and then there are problems." She looked him in the eye. "But the Dash I know has never had his eye on more than one woman at a time. Never. Or for more than a few hours, for that matter."

"Imagine if those two women were sisters."

Miranda studied the table, deciphering her next shot. "I don't have to imagine." She leaned over and knocked a ball in a corner pocket. "I lived it."

And just like that, Miranda surprised Dash with a part of her life he knew nothing about. His mind instantly summoned a picture of Miranda's younger sister, Margot. Former beauty queen. The toast of Southern Methodist University in her day. All around snobby bitch. Miranda’s words, not his.

"What are you talking about?" he asked.

"I mean been there, done that, as the kids say."

"You and Margot? And Cecil?"

"No, it wasn't Cecil. But we didn't speak for years because of a man. The whole ordeal was ridiculous. We acted like fools."

"Who was the man?"

She re-chalked the end of her cue. "Margot's husband."

Dash thought for a moment. "Lawrence?"

"No, not Lawrence. Margot's first husband, Richard."

Dash leaned against the pool table. "You and your one-time brother-in-law were a thing?"

"Not just a thing, hon. Richard and I were engaged. I'd already sampled the merchandise. You can imagine how pleasant family holidays were back then." She took a crack at another ball.

"I don't think a beer's gonna do it. I need something a lot stronger." He placed his cue on the table and walked to the bar at the back of the room. “You talk, I’ll pour.”

They settled into a cozy corner in a pair of oversized club chairs, each with a highball in hand. Miranda fished around inside a wooden box on the table between them for a moment, then pulled two small Cuban cigars into view.

"Miranda Everett, don't even think about it. Cecil will have us drawn and quartered before dawn. I'm surprised he doesn't have those under lock and key."

"He'll never know unless you tell him," she assured him. "Now then, the sisters?"

Dash didn't say anything, concentrating instead on the amber liquid in his glass for a moment. Though he trusted Miranda with his life, at times confiding in her even more than Colt, a certain sense of shame gripped him. Saying it out loud would make it real.

"Kate's sister, Natalie, and I were involved when we were living in London," he confessed.

"You were seeing someone in London? You never told me."

"Saw. I saw someone in London. Natalie and I had a one-night stand. We didn't even give each other our real names at her insistence. I had no idea they were sisters until yesterday."

Dash pressed rewind on his memory, detailing his night with Natalie. Meeting at the pub. Dancing at a jazz club. Falling for her inside his Chelsea apartment. He then hit fast-forward, covering his time with Kate. The art gallery. Their first date. The sleepover. The birthday party that brought him full circle, back to the woman who constantly invaded his thoughts. Finally, he shared the private meeting behind Natalie’s bedroom door.

"I was hoping to talk to her one more time.” He ran a hand through his hair. “To say what, I’m not sure. But she was gone before sunrise. She left a note for her father and Kate. I wasn’t mentioned."

"Does Kate know you snuck into Natalie's room after sending a text with her phone?"

"If she does, she hasn't said a word, and I made sure to delete the whole exchange. We haven't really talked much today, what with travel and all. She flies back later tonight."

Miranda fell silent for several moments. Dash watched her eyes as she processed his tale.

"So, let me see if I have this straight. You left Chicago, still not a hundred percent in terms of health, flew to Nashville, met Kate's family and friends, let on as if everything was sunny, then iced her?"

"I haven't iced her!"

"Raise your argument, Dash, not your voice," she cautioned.