The bedroom door opened, and Bennett looked up, her eyes growing a little larger when Lisa appeared.

“I’m sorry. You must not have heard me,” Bennett said. “There are plenty of things to wear in the wardrobe. I’m fairly certain most will fit you.”

Lisa looked down at the black silk robe wrapped around her. “I heard you. That's where I found this,” she said, going into the kitchen to get some coffee.

“Oh…um…right.”

They say clothing makes the man, and no doubt clothing can make the woman, too, but the lack of clothing puts a whole new spin on things. Accustomed to Lisa’s professional attire or her crisp blue jeans with nary a worn spot on the denim, the fact Lisa was wearing only a robe was disturbing, but not as disturbing as the woman’s natural beauty. Talk about irritating.

Bennett had never seen Lisa without makeup before. She’d always worn a hint of eyeshadow that complemented her clothing, and lipstick in pale pinks and subtle reds always colored her lips. Her lashes were always lush and long, and her eyes outlined to define their shape, and now all of that was gone…and Bennett was mesmerized.

Lisa’s skin was flawless, and fresh-faced from her shower, her cheeks were rosy and glowing. With no mascara to darken them, her lashes were still long, yet they framed her eyes in a fringe of golden tan. And flaxen hair forever worn in a chignon or ponytail was now damp and hanging freely down her back.

Spellbound, Bennett didn’t break away from ogling Lisa until the woman sat down in a chair opposite the sofa, and by then, it was too late. Lisa’s smile said it all. She took a sip of her coffee before casually crossing her legs. The silk robe parted, exposing a healthy amount of Lisa’s toned thigh, and Bennett scrambled to look anywhere but there.

“I think it’s time you and I had a talk,” Lisa said.

“Okay.”

“Last night, or rather earlier this morning, I was hurt and confused and angry. I couldn’t understand why you wanted me to die and—”

“I didn’t want you to—”

“Let me finish, Bennett,” Lisa said, sitting forward. “For me, that’s what it felt like, and then Ruby called me stupid and—”

“She did what?”

“Bennett, please. We’ll have decades to interrupt one another, but right now, I need to talk, and you need to listen.”

“But—”

“Bennett…please?”

“Fine,” Bennett blurted. “Go ahead.”

“Like I was saying, Ruby called me stupid, and after she left, I began thinking about it, and she was right. I have been stupid. I did some things I shouldn’t have done, Bennett, but I kept telling myself I was doing most of them for all the right reasons…which, unless I’m mistaken, is exactly what you did.”

“I’m not following.”