I squeezed my eyes shut, shook my head slightly, and took a calming breath. Just like Dan had taught me.

I refocused on her, and then Sheryl. “No nothing’s wrong. I was just … um … nonplussed by something,” I said in as calm a voice as I could manage, and then smiled.

Once I smiled I realized that my heart was bubbling up with excitement about something, and I found I couldn’t control the smile that seemed to have perpetually settled on my lips.

Sheryl was shaking her head, chuckling slightly, “Aerin, you must be recovering still from the jet lag. First, you zone out for a good 5-10 minutes, and then you snap back with this dazzling smile.”

I couldn’t stop grinning, so I hid it by taking another drink from the lemonade.

As I set the tumbler down, I said, “So you’re Harley …”

She responded softly, “And you’re Aerin …”

We laughed together and simultaneously extended our hands to each other to shake.

I felt a very strong buzz exchange between us as we touched each other. Slim, graceful hand, long, lovely fingers, soft, soft skin, I thought as I rubbed my thumb over and over the back of her hand.

“Harley,” I repeated her name, rolling it over my tongue, as if getting used to how it felt on my tongue. “That’s unique.”

Her eyes glinted, and she laughed. “Harley Barton-Ash. I’ll tell you about it someday.”

Sheryl looked from me to her and back to me again as an electric silence fell over the table. “So Harley…. Harley,” she repeated, after audibly clearing her throat, “I thought you were planning to go with Jack tonight? To that charity thing in the Beverly Hills Hilton? That why you were just grabbing a quick salad here and eating it at home? Because you were having a big dinner later?”

Jack? There was a Jack in the picture?

I let go of her hand and pulled mine back quickly, picked up my fork, and refocused on my salad.

Sheryl was explaining to my bent head, “Jack’s her boyfriend.”

She’s got a fucking boyfriend.

I stuck a forkful of salad into my mouth, and partially covered it with a hand when I looked up and back at them. I focused on chewing just to give my digestive system something to do, because otherwise, my stomach was flopping around in circles, and my insides had run cold. If I didn’t give them something to do, I was afraid I’d throw up at any second.