I changed my clothes four different times.

By the time I was satisfied with the way I looked in the mirror, I’d spent nearly an hour getting dressed. Also, I realized with a grimace, I was wearing the first outfit I’d tried on.

Talk about being indecisive.

It was only a little after nine, too. I’d already done my hair and make-up. The trip uptown would only take a half hour, although I planned to leave at ten and be a little early.

Better early than late, always.

I made myself wait until ten to leave, although I was itching and chomping at the bit to get there. Showing up at ten o’clock wasn’t going to make her show up any sooner.

I made myself take my time walking to the restaurant and even ducked into a lingerie boutique – not to shop. It was a competitor, and we liked to keep up with the competition. After wasting about ten minutes inside and deciding their displays weren’t as good as ours, I cut out and finished the walk to the restaurant.

I got a table just a few minutes before eleven and was watching for Michelle. She had a picture on her LinkedIn profile, so I knew who to look for, a redhead with a great smile. She looked too innocent to be writing all those hawt articles. Part of me wished there wasn’t something so messed up inside me, wished I wasn’t as shy as I was when it came to things of intimacy and the like.

When she came in, I recognized her right away and lifted a hand to wave.

She gave me a hesitant smile as she approached. “Are you Raye?”

“I am.” I rose and offered my hand. She shook it quickly before slipping out of her coat and draping it over the back of the chair. “It’s so cold out there.” A bright laughed escaped her. “Granted, it’s January in New York City. Of course, it’s cold, but sometimes, it’s like it cuts right through me.”

“Tell me about it.” I smiled at her. “I hate this kind of cold.”

We made small talk for a few minutes as we waited for the waiter and placed an order for drinks. I had juggled the budget, and if I took my lunch all week instead of treating myself once or twice, I’d be okay to buy the drinks and an appetizer, so I asked if she was interested in nachos.

Her eyes gleamed. “When am I not interested in nachos?”

I laughed. “A girl after my own heart.”

After the server disappeared, Michelle focused her blue-green eyes on me. “So, what did you want to ask me? It’s been a while since all of that went down.”

“I know. Really, I wanted to ask you about…” I bit my lip as nervousness began to rattle inside me. “It’s about Matthew Jakes.”

A change settled over her face. It was subtle but undeniable. Her eyes became more guarded, and a faint tension tightened her muscles. She still smiled, but it was less relaxed, one of those blank polite smiles that could hide a million emotions.

“Oh?” She reached for the ice water and took a sip, shifting subtly in her seat as she did so. “What do you want to know about him? As I said, it’s been a while since I wrote that series.”

“I…” The change in her attitude was unsettling, and I wasn’t sure how to handle it. As my nerves got worse, I glanced around, wishing the waiter would hurry up with our drinks so I’d have something other than the water. “This is going to sound kind of crazy, but I have…well…” That damn server still hadn’t shown up. I reached for the water, although I was still freezing from my walk from the subway. I took a sip to wet my throat, then met her eyes once more. “I think Matthew Jakes is my brother.”

She blinked.

Slowly, she straightened in the chair.

She shook her head and cleared her throat. “I’m sorry,” she said softly. “But can you repeat that?”

I did, and she blew out a hard breath. “Maybe you should give me a little bit of the back story here.”

“Okay.” The server finally showed up with our drinks, and I greedily grabbed the Irish coffee I’d ordered. Sure, it was before noon, and I was having a drink, but it wasn’t every day that I reached out and tried to find my brother, right? Folding my hands around it, I waited until the server walked off, then I met her gaze once more. There was still a world of speculation in the blue-green, and I could sense her guard was up, but at least she was still listening.

“It’s kind of…awkward, okay?” Huffing out a breath, I took a sip of the coffee then put the cup down. The heat of it seeped into my hands, and it felt so good. “I’m originally from Illinois. I was born there. I’m here in New York going to NYU. My mom called me the other day and…well….” My face reddened. Shit. Now, I had to explain. “See, I never knew who my father was. My mother told me when I was a teenager that she had an affair with a married man, but she didn’t find out about me until after it ended. When she told him about me, he said he didn’t want to have a relationship with me and…well, it was just Mama and me. I’ve never known anything else about him.” I’d spent the past few minutes checking out the swirls of whipped cream on my coffee, but now I made myself look up at her.

To my surprise, there was compassion on her face. “I guess that wasn’t easy.”

“I never thought about it much,” I said honestly. “It’s just what I knew.”

She nodded to indicate she understood, and I continued. “During the call with my mom…” Reaching into my bag, I pulled out my phone and went to the gallery, opening to the picture of Leland with the little boy that I thought was Matthew. I flipped the phone around and showed it to Michelle.

Her eyes widened as she took the phone, then they softened. She reached up and traced a finger of the screen. “Huh,” she murmured under her breath.

She continued to stare at the picture, and I had the weirdest feeling she forgot I was there.

“Michelle?”

She started at the sound of my voice. “Sorry. Ah, my mind was wandering,” she said, a faint blush rising to her cheeks. She returned the phone. “What’s the deal with the picture?”

“Mom sent it to me. She told me that was my father. His name is on the back, along with MJ. I did some digging around online and found that my father is supposed to have a son…Matthew Jakes.” I took another sip of coffee, a bigger one, needing it to bolster my courage, even though the coffee was still scalding hot. “I read about the accident. I know he went to jail.”

Focusing on her, I added, “And I know how you helped discover that it was that politician’s son who was actually responsible. He got his name cleared because of you.”

Her cheeks flushed. “It wasn’t just me.” She licked her lips, clearly flustered.

“But it was in part because of you.” My throat tightened, and I had to fight back the urge to reach out and grab her in a hug.

She opened her mouth, then stopped, smiling at me. “Yeah, I guess.”

Her gaze fell back to the phone, and she sighed. “I guess maybe the two of you should meet, huh?”