She paused for a fraction of a second when she saw Hilary waiting in 748’s lobby.
“Hey,” Hilary greeted her with a smile and a brief kiss. Megan thought how young and pretty Hilary looked in a casual, pink and white sundress and sandals.
“Do you have a minute to talk?” Hilary asked.
She tried to keep her voice neutral, even though she was still irritated with Hilary. “Sure, if you can wait while I change clothes. I had no idea it was going to get so hot today.”
They chatted amiably enough on the elevator ride up to Megan’s loft. She left her sister making a pot of coffee while she went to change into shorts.
Hilary examined Megan when she returned to the kitchen. “You look gorgeous, Megan.” She shook her head in wonderment as she poured a cup of coffee. “I always did envy you getting mom’s perfect skin. What have you been doing for it? Did you get a facial?”
Megan blushed. She’d noticed the dewy glow to her skin as well and suspected it had something to do with the sensual world that Christian had introduced her to last night more than anything.
“Uh…no. But I’ve been trying to exercise regularly, so maybe that’s what you’re noticing,” she said as she reached for the cup of coffee Hilary handed her.
Hilary eyed her speculatively over the rim of her cup. “Have you been seeing Christian?” she asked casually.
Too casually, Megan thought.
“I just saw him last night.” She watched her sister’s reaction closely, but Hilary controlled it well after an initial widening of her aquamarine eyes.
“What did you two do together?”
“I went to dinner with him, at his family’s house in Evanston.”
Hilary set down her cup of coffee heavily. “He took you to meet his family?” she asked incredulously.
“Why does that surprise you? Did you think that you’d scared him off completely with your visit the other night?” Megan asked levelly.
Hilary blinked, but then her eyes hardened. “So he ran to you and told you about that, did he?”
Megan shook her head in rising anger. “You don’t know anything about him, Hilary. You’re being very judgmental. It’s not like you.”
“No, Megan. This isn’t like you. Mom told me about your visit earlier. She was practically in tears. Why were you hounding her with all of those outrageous questions?”
She gave a bark of disbelieving laughter. “Hounding her? I asked her one question. I asked her why we hadn’t moved out of the area after Henry Nightingale’s trial.”
“Right. And that’s just normal operating procedure for you, isn’t it? Can’t you see that being around Chris Lasher has gotten you upset…stirred you up. You’re not yourself
.”
“Don’t blame it on Christian. And don’t say that I’m not myself. I am being myself, maybe more so than I have ever been in my life.”
Hilary looked temporarily stunned by her outburst. Seeing Megan’s fury seemed to ignite her own.
“This is all his doing,” Hilary seethed. “God, can’t you see what’s happening? You’re in way over your head, here. You think you know Christian so well? I guarantee you, you don’t.”
Megan closed her eyes to try and restore her calm. Hilary was right about one thing. She was finding it more difficult to control her emotions than she ever had in her life.
“You know that I love you, Hilary. But if you just came over here to insult Christian, I think you should go.”
Hilary’s jaw quivered. Megan suspected she didn’t know how to react to this new little sister. “Fine. But at least admit to yourself that you have your doubts about him. Hasn’t he kept secrets from you? Do you really know him?”
“I know what’s important,” she snapped. Repeating Christian’s words from last night had made her feel the truth of them. If things didn’t work out with Christian, it wasn’t because there was a problem with him. The problem was the unlikelihood of their relationship.
Megan suddenly knew something else, too, as sure as she knew the color of her own eyes. She’d fallen in love with Christian Lasher. That’s why she’d been so stirred up recently, so regretful because of her past and her inexperience. She could never hold a man like him. Maybe it would never work out between them. Maybe they were too different.
But Hilary couldn’t take the feelings that Megan had for Christian away from her. Her mother couldn’t. Henry Nightingale couldn’t.