Chapter Ten
Chynna let herself into her apartment with a sigh. She felt like Cinderella coming home from the ball.
"Goodbye Prince Charming," she murmured to herself. "Hello boring old life."
"Chynna?"
"Oh!" She jumped, then saw her sister getting up out of a chair in the darkened living room. "Melinda! What are you doing here?" she cried, her hand over her heart.
"Do you have it?" Melinda's gaze raked over her. "Did you get the folder?"
Chynna sighed. "Melinda, I told you I'd call you first thing in the morning."
Her sister's eyebrows came together as she realized what her answer was. "That's some dress. I didn't know you had a date tonight."
Date! Chynna groaned silently. And suddenly she realized she couldn't tell Melinda about what had happened. She just couldn't talk about Trent with her.
"Melinda, I do have a life," she said, avoiding her sister's gaze and already hating herself for not telling the whole truth. "And as for the folder, no, I wasn't able to get it. I'll have to try again."
Melinda sulked, but it was late and she left soon after. Chynna carefully took off the beautiful dress and got ready for bed, but she lay awake for a long time, mulling over all that had happened.
The time she'd spent in Trent's arms had been magical. She felt the thrill again as she went back over each scene. He was a wonderful man in many ways. If only things were different...
But things were the way they were. She'd been in love before. Robert had been just as handsome, just as charming, and he'd turned out to be a liar and a cheat. That realization had stunned her, because she considered herself a fairly intelligent woman and she hadn't caught a hint of it on her own. If she could be so wrong once, how could she ever trust her heart?
And then there was Melinda. Everything that was good in her life seemed to have come at her sister's expense. There had been a time when Melinda had given up everything to make Chynna's life easier. She owed her so much. And all Melinda wanted was her love letter to Trent back so that she could put an end to that episode of her life. Instead of getting it back, Chynna had spent a wonderful evening with the man who was holding on to it.
Why couldn't she tell Melinda the truth? After all, she'd been blackmailed into going out with Trent. And it was all Melinda's fault. And yet, here she was, unable to tell her. That should prove to her how impossible it would be to even dream of any sort of relationship developing with him.
You've barely known the man for a few hours, she reminded herself. It was a Cinderella adventure. But you didn't leave any slippers behind, and no prince is going to come looking for you. Grow up!
