Black Jack

6

Lydia sat on the train, letting it rock and lull her into a state of numbness. Seven years. Seven years she'd gone without and been happy, and the second she met a guy she would have liked to—

She sighed.

He turned out to be as awful as the kind of guys she'd sworn off of.

But he looked like Tony and Tony was a true gentleman, respectful of women, and generally a perfect angel. Why wouldn't she make the leap that a guy who looked like Tony would be just like Tony?

It was dumb. She knew it was. And her general distaste for guys who looked like Tony had nothing to do with him personally.

Oh, I like that one, Foxglove.

"Lola, please," Lydia whispered to the imaginary voice of her very dead foster mother. "He's not Tony. He's never going to be Tony. I don't want Tony. How many times do I have to tell you this?"

Lydia was still sick of Tony, years after she'd left home to find her own way in the world.

She would have liked to lose herself in oblivion, close her eyes, go to sleep, but this was New York, the subway, she was alone, she was a woman, and she had cash. Of course, she didn't look like she had cash, but she didn't look like a penniless bum, either.

She got off at her stop and walked to her accommodations, where she was greeted by the concierge, who decided a woman in scrubs did not belong. "I'm Sebastian Taight's guest, remember?"

His mouth flattened infinitesimally and he fell all over himself to right his wrong, offering her this and that and some other thing. He hadn't recognized her, which was a big professional blunder. She narrowed her eyes at him, letting him know she knew, and he'd be lucky if she didn't tell Sebastian about it.

"Room service," she snapped. "On the house. I'll call down with my order."

"Yes, Miss. Of course."

Sebastian's eyebrow rose when she stalked in, but she waved a bandaged hand at him, where he lounged watching TV, sketching, and sipping a glass of wine. She headed for her bedroom, showered, and got comfortable before ordering an ungodly amount of food.

"Soooooo you disappeared and Jack didn't come back to work after lunch. And you acquired a new outfit."

Her jaw clenched. "Had a little adventure."

"Hope you used condoms."

She flushed, but said, "Not that." She went into the story, but left out the part about Ramona.

"Glad you got your hands taken care of. And so why didn't he bring you back and why are you so pissed off?"

She sat and wondered how much to tell him. He was Victoria's cousin and he had to be somewhat like Victoria, didn't he? So, pretending he was Victoria, she spilled it.

"Huh," he said when she was finished.

She thought that was all he was going to say until, about a half hour later, he said, "For whatever it's worth, he really was going to break up with Ramona before he met you. And I've never seen a woman get his attention like you did." She opened her mouth, but he held up a hand. "I know you're attracted to him and that you'd have ended up spending the weekend in bed with him, but I know you both well enough to know this is a lopsided relationship. You have a warm heart. His is cold and black. You need to get out of town and forget you ever met him."