Her mind was reeling. Tina was married to a woman, pregnant, most likely with their baby, and happy being so. Anyone could see that. How and when and why in the hell did all of that happen?

And why didn’t that happen with us?

As Miller continued to observe Tina, seeing but not seeing, Tina stood up and walked back into the main house. Her blonde friend emerged from the house a minute later, and stepped into the arms of the auburn-haired beauty who’d also stood up several minutes earlier and had been stretching while she waited for her friends.

Tina’s blonde friend and the auburn-haired woman kissed passionately and then embraced. Less than a minute later, the front door opened again, as the other couple stepped out.

Miller saw Tina loosely holding the hand of a light-mocha skinned woman whom Miller recognized from the file Jackson had sent her. The picture hadn’t done the woman justice. The women around her were beautiful but, wow, the woman whose hand Tina was holding as jaw-dropping and sexy and would stand out in any crowd.

Tina did always like to run with the beautiful people, but damn, she’s snagged herself a truly dazzling creature in Bette.

Miller chuckled to herself.

Okay, I get it, Tina.

But still, Miller’s heart wouldn’t give things up so easily.  It still stung a bit from the blonde’s rejection all those years ago.

Tina.  Tina.  You knew I was smitten with you when you agreed to help me with my cover fifteen years ago in London, remember? When you were a sophomore in university? But did you really have to act like a selfish bitch towards the end, throwing my crush on you on my face, and stomping out of our flat like a spoilt child that one evening?  Only so that you could join your fast crowd and go clubbing?  Your beauty had always given you that something extra that would make people do what you wanted, that’s true, and I told you so that night. But you had to learn to be a good person, too. You had to grow a heart, Tina, to make it further in the world, and be a person people wanted to be with. Not just look at. Perhaps you started to learn that lesson when I kicked you out a few weeks after that night we had that epic argument?