He gave me one of those little smiles of his, and I wondered if the other Georgina melted like I did. “The dress is only half of it. You’re charming enough to talk anyone into anything.”

I gave him a smile in return, one that was both cheery and sly. “Anything?”

The innuendo didn’t progress because Kayla suddenly pranced over and wrapped her arms around Seth’s legs. He scooped her up and glanced around. “What happened to Kendall? No finance books for bad babysitters.”

My alter ego peered over toward the magazines. “Is that her?” I sounded uncertain, which was odd because when Seth turned to see, it was perfectly obvious it was Kendall. She was reading Forbes.

Seth sighed and called her over. She brightened when she saw me. “Hi, Georgina! You’re so pretty today.”

“Thanks,” I said, beaming.

“You were supposed to be in charge,” said Seth. “Go get the twins. Hopefully they haven’t wandered out into traffic.”

Kendall shook her head. “They’re playing with puzzles.” But she raced off nonetheless.

Kayla was staring around the store in that distracted way children her age had, watching the people and sights. Seth gave her a slight nudge. “What about you? Aren’t you going to say hi to Georgina?”

Kayla glanced in the direction he indicated, looked me over, and then continued her survey of the store. It wasn’t so much she shunned me or was repulsed by me; it was more like she was disinterested. I didn’t stand out to her more than any other patron or even one of the shelves.

“One of her moods,” said Seth apologetically.

Brandy surfaced, still annoyed by the shoes, but immensely happy to see me. The rest of the girls were rustled up, and after a bit more chatting, Seth and the nieces left me to my bad shelving. He’d continued holding Kayla in his arms, and she suddenly turned to him in all seriousness.

“When are you going to find Georgina?” she asked. Her voice was small and sweet. She rarely spoke, so I always loved the sound of it when she did.

He frowned, trying to open the van door with one hand. Brandy helped him. “We just saw Georgina,” he said. “Inside.”

“No, we didn’t,” said Kayla.

“We did. You snubbed her,” he teased. “I told you to say hello.”

“That wasn’t Georgina. You have to find her.”

“What have you been smoking?” Brandy asked, taking over to buckle Kayla into her booster. “That was Georgina.”

Seth sighed. “Be careful with your choice of expressions.”

The topic dropped after that, but as they drove back to Terry and Andrea’s, a chill ran through me. Kayla knew. Kayla knew I was gone. This must be a true dream after all. We’d learned recently that she had the faintest stirring of psychic powers and the ability to perceive some things on the supernatural plane. She had a vague sense of my aura, and she’d realized that it wasn’t me in the store. That’s why she’d been so disinterested. It was also why I hadn’t been inside that Georgina. It wasn’t Georgina.

Then who was it?

With a sinking feeling, I immediately answered my own question. Who else would have an interest in looking like me and flirting with Seth?

Simone. Simone was impersonating me in my absence, I was certain of it. Son of a bitch. I couldn’t feel her aura in this dream form, and no mortal could, period. Except for Kayla. Fuck. This was not what I needed.

The rest of Seth’s day was uneventful, though he thankfully never ran into “me” again. Andrea returned, and it was then I learned she’d been at a doctor’s appointment. She thanked Seth for his help, though it took a long time for him to leave, due to all the younger girls’ good-byes.

Seth finally returned to his condo and spent the day writing, which was boring for me to watch. I didn’t get why the Oneroi hadn’t pulled me out yet. Sure, it had been disheartening to see that no mortal knew I was gone, but this dream hadn’t had the devastating effects of the others.

Evening fell, and Maddie returned home. Seth, engrossed in his work, stayed at his desk until she found him and spun his chair around. She climbed onto his lap, wrapping her legs around him in a way very similar to what I used to do.

He smiled at her, wrapping his arms around her as well and returning her hello kiss.

“How was your paperwork?” he asked.

Maddie ran her fingers along the side of his face, that love radiating off of her. “Nonstop. Georgina left it all on me today. I don’t know what was up with that.”

“She said she thought you could handle it.”

Maddie pulled a face. “More like she wanted to take the day off and prance around. Did you see that dress she was wearing? I mean, yeah, she can pull off anything she wants to wear, but that wasn’t really work appropriate.”

He laughed and pulled her closer. “I think Georgina thinks her wit and charm can let her get away with anything she wants.”

“Yeah, well, she’s not as funny as she always thinks she is,” grumbled Maddie. “And all she got away with today was looking like she was trying to pick up some guy at the store.”

“Wouldn’t be the first time,” said Seth with a shrug.

“What?”

“You didn’t know? She sleeps with Warren all the time. Usually in his office.”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Not only were the two of them mocking me, Seth had also told Maddie about my on-again off-again affair with the store’s owner Warren. Doug had always had his suspicions, but other than Seth, no one else knew. I had never expected Seth to betray that secret.

“I had no idea,” said Maddie. “And yet…I don’t know. Maybe I did. I mean, everything she wears is kind of slutty.”

“She sleeps around a lot. She’ll pretty much go home with anyone.” He paused. “She even tried it with me once.”

“Really?” Maddie’s eyes went wide. “What’d you do?”

“Nothing. I have no interest in that. I couldn’t handle being with someone so easy. She’d probably sleep with all my friends while we were dating.” He cupped Maddie’s face in his hands. “Not that it matters. I have no reason to even go looking, not when I have the best thing right here.”

He drew her to him, and they kissed again. It wasn’t the earlier hello kiss either. It was deep and ardent, both of them eagerly trying to get as much of the other as they could. His hands gripped hold of the bottom of her tank top and jerked it over her head, revealing a black satin bra I was pretty sure I’d helped her pick out. Never breaking the kiss, his hands then went around her waist as he half-carried, half-stumbled out of the office and into the bedroom. They fell onto the covers, hands moving all over each other’s bodies and kisses starting to spread beyond lips.

No, I thought, unsure if the Oneroi could hear me or not. No. I don’t want to see this. Take me back. Take me back to the box. Send me to another dream.

But if they were there, they weren’t listening. I had no eyes to close. I couldn’t look away. There was no way to unsee what I was seeing. I’d experienced a lot of heart-wrenching things in my relationship with Seth, things that had hurt me so badly that I swore I wanted to die. But nothing, nothing could have prepared me for seeing him have sex with another woman. And it wasn’t just watching the act itself, the way their naked bodies intertwined with one another and the cries of pleasure elicited in the height of orgasm.

It was the look on his face as he did it. There it was. The love I’d been searching for earlier. I’d thought before he only regarded her with a strong affection, similar to the fond love he had for his nieces. No. This was passion I saw on his face, the kind of love that burned so deeply, it connected two people’s souls.

He was looking at her the way he’d once looked at me.

I had never thought it was possible. Somewhere, somehow, I’d been convinced that he loved her in a different way from me. Maybe their love was strong, but I’d felt certain it could never match what he felt for me. Ours was different. Yet, seeing them now, I saw that wasn’t true. And when, at the end, he told her she was his world—just as he’d once told me—I knew that I really was nothing special. The love he had for me was gone.