“No, even though you, Ava, Sebastian, and I do have to talk it through sometime this week.”
“Yeah, yeah, sure.” Pippa waves her hand dismissively. She’s never cared much about numbers. “What do you want to tell me?”
She’ll drive me bananas after I tell her, but there’s no way around it. “I went on a date with Nadine.” Pippa opens her mouth, but I raise my finger. “No, no, no. I talk, and you’re silent. That was the deal.”
She narrows her eyes. “I thought you meant something work-related when I agreed. No way am I keeping quiet.”
I groan, fully aware I’ve opened Pandora’s Box.
“Why were you pretending to be mad at us for trying to set you up?”
“I wasn’t pretending. I was annoyed that all of you meddled in my affairs, as though I couldn’t get a woman myself.”
“Oh, please, Logan. That’s what we do. We meddle in each other’s business, especially when we think the other person needs help. You should know; you do it all the time.”
“Are you going to lecture me, or do you want to hear me out?”
After a moment’s deliberation, she purses her lips. “Continue.”
“We ended up at her place after the date, and she showed me some of her designs. Have you seen them?”
“No.”
“They’re brilliant. Could we use them for our next collection show?”
Pippa was reaching for her glass of water, but her hand stops in midair as she snaps her head to me. “They’re that good?”
“Tell her to show them to you. You have the decision power over this, but I think her designs would be a great match.”
Over the years, Pippa chose to work with well-known fashion designers and new up-and-comers alike. “We’re already working with a designer for the upcoming show. I can’t drop him, but I’ll look over her designs, and if they’re that good, we can always use them in the future.”
“Sounds good.”
“Wish I could be bitchy enough to drop the current designer. He’s driving me crazy. He practically became a star after we worked with him five years ago, and now he’s acting like a diva. Rich people are asses sometimes.”
“Pippa, we are rich,” I remind her.
“Yeah.” Dropping her voice to a whisper, she says, “Last week, I woke up in the middle of the night convinced our parents are next door, trying to figure out how to make ends meet this month.”
Her words hit me like a punch in the gut. Sebastian, Pippa, Alice, and I were old enough to remember the worst of times. I used to have the same nightmare, but that was more than ten years ago. Why’s she having them now? Ah... I remember Alice telling me about a therapy session she accompanied Pippa to after the divorce. Apparently, once you feel uncertain in one area, old insecurities and fears start showing too.
Well, there’s no reason my sister has to put up with this. Deciding to distract her—even if only momentarily, I offer myself as bait.
“So, back to Nadine. As I said, she showed me her designs last night. . .”
My words have the exact effect I was hoping for. Pippa’s frown melts, a grin appearing instead. “Wait a minute. What do you mean she showed them to you? Did she. . . model them for you?”
“No. She showed me pictures.”
“Okay, I’m building a little scenario in my head. Did you have sex?”
“Pippa, I’m not discussing my sex life with you.”
“Fine, talk to Sebastian about it. Or Blake. I’ll get it out of them.”
Why did I think that using my date with Nadine as a distraction was a good idea? I. Never. Learn. No one’s going to save my bacon now.
“Admit it. I was right.” Pippa stands up from her chair, swinging her hips in a little dance. I look around, but the rest of the department is not even remotely surprised. I suppose they’ve grown used to my sister’s personal brand of