One Night Standards by Cathy Yardley

Sex between the two of them could be disastrous.
    For him.

    â€œW E DID IT ! W E DID IT !”
    Sophie smiled weakly. Her mother and sister were doing victory dances in their hotel room, which was definitely hampering their attempts at packing to leave.
    â€œWhat’s the matter, Sophie?” her mother finally said, frowning. “You’re certainly not acting like we’ve aced one of the biggest meetings of our lives.”
    â€œWe haven’t won anything yet,” Sophie said cautiously.
    Lydia made a raspberry sound at her. “Buzzkill,” she accused. “We kicked ass and you know it.”
    Sophie felt a reluctant grin creep across her face. “We did pretty good,” she acknowledged.
    â€œPretty good? Ha! We made those guys squirm! ” Lydia trumpeted.
    Sophie winced. She shouldn’t feel badly. After all, it wasn’t as if she had done anything unethical. They had beaten Trimera soundly, and on good solid principles.
    Still, it hadn’t felt good to watch Mark get trounced.
    He would be the first to tell you that it was just business, Sophie.
    She took a deep breath. Of course, he had told her that after they’d made long, languorous love, back in a hotel room in San Francisco…and he’d assured her that they could keep their emotions separate from their logical, professional lives. It had been almost a month since she’d seen him again, and she hadn’t even spoken to him in the interim. She’d indulged in a few brief text messages, saying she was thinking about him. He’d sent back slightly more graphic texts, ones that had stirred her up even as she smiled, thinking about them.
    And now, their first face-to-face had resulted in her whipping his company—beating him. She wondered if he still had the same stance.
    â€œHoney, you really need to learn to loosen up,” her mother said in her singsong voice. “You’d think we lost, with that look on your face. What’s bothering you?”
    Sophie tried to school her expression to something less worried. “I was thinking about what we’ve got ahead of us.”
    â€œOh,” her mother said, her expression also reflecting concern. “Are we in trouble, then? I thought we’d done really well.” She wrung her hands, sending Lydia a quick look. “I thought—you know—the company was going to be fine.”
    Lydia made a dismissive gesture, grimacing at Sophie. “You’re always focusing on the negative, sis,” Lydia said. “I know this thing’s a big vendetta for you, a way of sticking it to big companies like Trimera for what they’ve done to people like Mom. But you’ve got to learn to savor your victories. Smell the roses. Stuff like that.”
    â€œWhatever.” Sophie tried not to roll her eyes.
    â€œDon’t do that,” Lydia warned. “I know you. You’re thinking, Lydia went to art school, she’s too granola-hippie-flower-child, but I know what I’m talking about here. You’re going to burn out if you don’t take a break.”
    â€œThis stuff is too important to the company,” Sophie said around a sigh. “I’ll take a break when it’s all over.”
    â€œThere are more important things in life than business,” Lydia intoned, and it reminded Sophie of her phone conversation with Mark, who had said something similar.
    â€œI know,” Sophie said. “I just…It’s hard for me to turn my back on it.”
    â€œNobody’s telling you to abandon Diva Nation,” Lydia said, her voice more gentle. “But you’re no good to any of us if you snap and flip out before the deal’s done.”
    Sophie took that silently. For all her “flower-child” ways, Lydia could be very pragmatic.
    â€œYou need to find some sort of stress relief,” her mother said. “You need a hobby.”
    Sophie laughed. “What, like