“Good, when last seen.” She made a motion for the champagne bottle. “He and Zander had full holiday bomb-squad duty in D.C. But he’s off for ten days beginning tomorrow. He’s been very mysterious about a trip he’s planned for us. It better be somewhere tropical. All I’ve packed are bikinis, sarongs, and fifty-plus sunscreen.” The freckled redhead waggled the empty bottle before Yardley’s nose. “The question is, why are you alone?”
“More bubbly coming up.” Yardley popped up and headed for the kitchen before she could be interrogated further.
When she reached the privacy of the kitchen, she took a deep breath, waiting for the anxiety to subside. She knew her sense of trouble brewing was bogus. She now knew the answer to why her phone would never again ring.
“Crap.” She grabbed a chilled bottle and hurried back to join Georgie. She wasn’t going to let anything spoil this rare girlfriend sleepover.
“Tell me about your most recent shoot.” Yardley sat and handed over the bottle. “Anyone interesting?”
Georgie made a face. “Just A-list celebrities. The worst. Now you answer my question.” She loosened the wire holding the cork. “Why are you alone on New Year’s Eve?”
“I’m not alone. There’s you. And him.” Yardley pointed to the large metal kennel at the opposite end of the long room.
Her simple action was enough to alert the inhabitant. A midsized dog with a thick yellowish-gray coat, pointed snout, erect ears, and the white face mask of a wolf stood up and growled softly.
“That’s my exchange student Oleg. He’s a Czech wolfdog.”
“Wow. I didn’t even know he was there. Why didn’t he bark when we came in? Is he shy?”
“Far from it. He simply doesn’t like to give his location away.”
Champagne abandoned, Georgie grabbed the camera that was always nearby and moved closer. “Look at those slanted yellow eyes. It’s kind of unnerving how he seems to be sizing me up. Oh, but he’s gorgeous.”
“And deadly.” Yardley smiled, always in her element when talking about K-9s.
“Silent and deadly?” Georgie’s green eyes appeared above the top of her camera. “Are you training K-9 black ops?”
“Classified.” The security firm that had imported him wanted Oleg evaluated, but she was to keep her work and his skill set confidential.
Georgie came back to her place and set her camera down. “So, about your guy. You haven’t mentioned him once.”
Yardley’s mouth turned down. The journalist side of Georgie’s photojournalist personality was tenacious. “That’s because there’s nothing to say. It was momentary madness. I’m over it.”
“You don’t sound like you’re over it.”
“That’s because I don’t like to lose. He ghosted me. And I don’t know why.” Yardley heard the irritation level in her tone and reined it in. “Sorry. You know I don’t do emotional intimacy well.”
Georgie nodded. “You’re a private person. I respect that. But even if I never met him, I know David meant something to you. If only because you never told me about the other men you’ve dated.”
Yardley reached for the champagne. “There haven’t been that many. And none of them were serious.”
“Until your doctor. You lit up like a Christmas tree when you told me about him.”
“My mistake.” Yardley bit her lip. She wouldn’t, couldn’t admit what she’d done when she’d still hoped that David wanted her. Georgie would think she was losing her shit. “It just hurt that he ghosted me without even a text good-bye.”
“Then he’s an asshole. Forget him. You can so do better.”
Yardley smiled in gratitude for her best friend’s support. “You’re right. Whatever David and I had wasn’t real. Not like you and Brad.”
She felt Georgie’s inspection of her increase. “Don’t you want what we have?”
Yardley hesitated. She’d said too much. But she couldn’t, this once, keep from voicing the question that had haunted her for her whole life. “What if there’s no one out there for me? What if I’m not the type of woman a man can love?”
Georgie chuckled. “Have you looked in the mirror lately? The men who come through Harmonie Kennels on a daily basis trip on their tongues when they catch sight of you. You could have your pick of sexy alpha males.”
Yardley shook her head. “I can’t be all sexy come-on with a man one minute and the next expect him to appreciate me chewing his ass in public for a mistake on the training field.” She shrugged. “Besides, you know what the K-9 handlers call me.”
“The Citadel. Unconquerable.” Georgie couldn’t tease her friend about that. Yard had fought too hard to gain and keep the respect of her male colleagues. Too bad. Every woman needed a man willing to storm her castle. “Screw Dr. Gunnar if he couldn’t see what he was throwing away. Someone will come along who’s worthy of you.”
Yardley smiled, trying to lighten the mood. “You’re right. Some random guy will come along soon and I’ll screw his brains out to take my mind off this.”