Her stomach all twisted up, she dug up a smile. “Sure, Dad. Just let me pull on some proper clothes. Where are we going?”

Clive wandered in after her. “That fancy restaurant at the top of the Sky Tower. Gloria was so excited about it she booked it in advance.”

Catie didn’t ask which one of them would be paying. If Clive was flush, he’d splash out. Otherwise Catie would pick up the check. She never expected him to pay—life was far less stressful that way.

“When did you and Gloria meet?” she asked from behind her bedroom door. It seemed to have escaped his notice that she had no idea who this woman was beyond being Clive’s latest hookup.

“Oh, it’s been two months,” Clive called back. “She’s the sweetest thing. You’ll love her, Cat, you really will.”

“I’m sure I will,” Catie said, having every intention of being polite to the woman. Some of her father’s lady friends were sadly actually in love with him and believed his protestations of love, while others were just out for a good time—same as Clive.

No matter the category into which Gloria fell, Catie wouldn’t interfere. She’d learned her lesson a long time ago when she’d tried to warn one particularly lovelorn woman that her father was fickle and that she should be careful how much of herself she invested in him. The woman had immediately put Catie into the role of “evil future stepchild” and was horrid to her whenever Clive’s back was turned.

Catie had borne it without complaint because she’d known the woman would soon be out. And she was—within the month, when Clive was “no longer feeling it.”

“Don’t ever hang on to a relationship when you’re no longer feeling it, sugar girl,” Clive had said with the air of a man giving sage advice. “Life’s too short to waste on anything less than total and absolute passion.”

As Catie considered what to wear, she decided she was in no mood to answer questions from a stranger who’d vanish as quickly as she’d appeared. With that in mind, she chose wide-legged black pants in a flowy material, pairing them with ankle boots and a slinky black top with long sleeves that held a fine silvery glitter. She threw on a necklace with a dangly charm on it that landed just below her breasts, brushed out her hair, flicked on a bit of mascara and lipstick, and was done.