"You've been married twelve years, is that right?"Steve nodded. "Yes, twelve years this past November."The reporter nodded, looking at her phone where she had notes stored. "And you celebrated in the Turks and Caicos Islands, correct?"Emma couldn't help the tension that slid into her shoulders at the mention of that recently contentious location. Steve squeezed her hand, as though trying to remind her of the pact they had made."It was a gift from my in-laws."The reporter looked up, her blue eyes roving slowly over Steve's face as though looking for some sort of clue in his expression. She had been looking at him that way since she walked into the house. Emma looked away, trying to remind herself that she was no longer supposed to get jealous when women looked at Steve in a certain way. It was no longer any of her business.But some habits are hard to break.She shifted slightly on the couch, her eyes roaming the tidiness of the great room. It was perfect for this sort of th

Emma found herself sitting between the governor's chief of staff and a Houston oil man. Steve sat across from her. She could feel his eyes on her each time she said something to one of her dinner companions, or took a sip of the white wine they had served with the salmon. She disliked fish with a passion, so she swallowed more wine than food."There must be some perks to being married to the mayor," the oilman, Ted-something, said in her ear."A few, I suppose," she said."Like a break on sales tax."Emma laughed. "I wish.""Or prime parking spots."Emma shook her head. "No, not really.""Then what?" he asked, his eyes wandering her chest as he gazed down at her."There's always exciting dinners like this and meeting people like you."His muddy eyes moved up to hers. "But I'm sure you get bored, meeting new people all the time.""Not always. I've met some really good people at these events."He leaned closer, practically drooling down the front of her dress. "How many of the

"Have you ever met one of the guys from the Ranch outside?""Outside?"Emma set down the glass of sweet tea she had been holding, reaching under the table to wipe her hand on her thigh. They were in a small diner near the campus of the University of North Texas. A group of college students walked by on the sidewalk outside, laughing at something Emma could only imagine. She waited till they had passed before she focused on Jen again."Outside of the spa."Jen studied her face, concern etched into her familiar features. "Has Dante asked you""No," Emma said immediately, lying to her best friend for what she was pretty sure was the first time. "I was just wondering if-I mean, you've been going there for a while."Jen nodded. "I had a guy ask me to have dinner with him once. I reported him to the management and he was fired a few days later."Emma picked up her glass again, but didn't drink. The tea was too sweet for her taste. But she swirled the straw around a little, watching th

It took Emma nearly an hour to decide what she was going to wear. Every time he had seen her before, she had been dressed in one of those pink, cashmere robes. Should she be sexy, dress in a short skirt and a push-up bra? Or would that make him feel like the only reason she had come to him was for more of the same? Should she dress casually? Wear jeans and an oversized t-shirt? But what if he had asked her to come so that they could have some one-on-one time without worrying about the rules of the Ranch?She wished she knew why he was doing this.She had tossed and turned all the night before. Steve would give her the money. She could keep seeing Dante at the Ranch, could keep having those amazing mani-pedis, keep drinking all that expensive champagne, keep disappearing into ecstasy each time he touched her, no questions, no doubts. She could keep up the lie of her disguise. Could keep the mask that hid nothing except the freckles that dotted the bridge of her nose. She could keep hi

It was a weird sort of déj¨¤ vu.Emma stood at his sink, studying the brands of the various objects displayed on the countertop and inside his medicine cabinet. He used Crest as his toothpaste, Listerine for his mouthwash. His cologne was a glamorous sounding Tom Ford brand, his deodorant a mundane stick of Degree. He and Steve used the same shave cream, but he used disposables where Steve had always insisted on a refillable type of razor.She could remember doing this once, shortly after she and Steve had become romantic and he left her alone in his dorm room. She remembered touching his toothbrush, smelling his cologne, and then finding a drawer full of condoms that turned out to belong to his roommate. There was no such drawer in Dante's bathroom. Only a box of cotton swabs and a forgotten package of Band-Aids.Emma caught her own reflection in the mirror and was surprised by the naked look of need on her face. Her lips were swollen, the little bit of lipstick that had been left