I have no idea how to answer Dante's probing question.Suddenly a woman - the red-haired one Dante was standing with earlier - appears at his side. Ashlyn, I remember."I told you not to give her the third degree," she says to him. To me, she adds, "I hope he isn't bothering you.""He's not," I say quickly.She smiles. It's a pretty, genuine smile, and I get the distinct impression that this woman is normal, like me. A regular person. Maybe it's the dusting of freckles on her nose or simply the friendliness in her eyes, but she gives off a distinctive 'girl next door' quality. Rafe said she was a baker - that means she probably didn't grow up with models and movie stars."Good," she says. "We were both just a little curious about you. Rafe never brings dates around.""So I've been told." I glance back at Dante, but his intense study of me makes me want to squirm. So I keep my eyes on Ashlyn. Nice, normal Ashlyn."I'm Ashlyn," she says, extending a hand."I'm Edie." I take her h
I stumble to my feet - not an easy feat, considering I'm still woozy and in four-inch heels that are starting to hurt my feet."Ashlyn," I say, panic setting in, "please don't say anything.""To who, Dante?" She shakes her head. "Of course not. It's yours and Rafe's news to tell." Something in my face must give my thoughts away, though, because her eyes get impossibly wider. "Wait - Rafe knows about this, doesn't he?""Not...exactly," I say, shame filling me. "It's not that I'm actively trying to hide it from him, it's just that I - ""Hide what from me?" comes a deep, familiar voice from the door. Both Ashlyn and I jump. Rafe is standing in the doorway, leaning against the frame. "What's going on?"The bottom drops out of my stomach. There's no holding back the truth anymore.Ashlyn looks between us. "Maybe I should leave the two of you to talk privately." She glances at me once more before she leaves. "I'll be downstairs if you need me."When she's gone, Rafe and I spend a lon
I bolt down the stairs as fast as my heels allow, not bothering to see if he follows. When I reach the foot of the stairs, I find Ashlyn waiting, trying to look casual as she lingers by the railing. She takes one look at me and concern fills her face."Edie," she says. "What - ""I'm leaving," I tell her, pushing past. I don't like being rude to her, but the faster I get away from Rafe and his family, the better. I dash toward the front door, but Ashlyn catches up with me quickly."What happened?" she asks."Nothing," I tell her. "Nothing at all. Which is my cue to leave. I shouldn't have come here."Ashlyn keeps pace with me as I hurry down the steps to the driveway. It's only when I reach the bottom that I remember I have nowhere to go, no way to leave immediately. I'll need to call a taxi."Edie," Ashlyn says, "please tell me what's going on."There's nowhere to run. I stop and force myself to take a breath. My eyes are aching, but they're mysteriously free of tears.I look
When I wake, I hear voices.It takes me a moment to remember where I am and how I got here. I roll over in the giant bed, reveling at how smooth and silky the sheets feel against my skin. My hand finds my belly."Good morning, sweet one," I say softly to my baby.The morning light peeks in around the wooden blinds on the window, casting long, warm sunbeams across the bed. I want to stay beneath the covers a while longer, hide from the rest of the world. In here, my baby and I are safe and secure. For the time being, anyway.But try as I might, I can't ignore the voices outside my room. They're not particularly loud, and half the words are muffled, but I can hear enough to make out Ashlyn's voice. And the male voice, I'm assuming, belongs to Dante.I sit up, trying both to hear and not to hear their conversation."He should know," Ashlyn says."I agree," says Dante, "but you know how Rafe can be. We need to figure out what happens if he continues to be stubborn.""Which he will.
I brace myself. I knew this was coming, and I have nothing to hide. Besides, I'm too hungry to care about what Dante and Ashlyn think of me. They can think whatever they want as long as they keep feeding me these cinnamon rolls. After breakfast, I'm never going to see these two again, and answering a few questions is the least I can do after they gave me a place to sleep and provided me with heaven on a plate."I'm from Montana," I manage between bites. "I'm sure you've never heard of the town, but we're about an hour from Missoula.""And that's where you met Rafe?" Ashlyn asks, her questions becoming a little more pointed. "At the diner? Oh, wait - you said it was at someone's ranch?""No, we met down by the river," I tell her. "After I got off work. I usually work the overnight shift.""This was when he was shooting that campaign for Mercutio's new cologne?""Maybe." I take another bite. "We never really talked about why he was there. I just heard they were doing some sort of
Ashlyn and Dante are better, kinder hosts than I ever could have hoped for. Better hosts than I deserve, considering I showed up out of the blue and dropped a bombshell on their brother.After I agree to stay, Ashlyn wants to take me shopping for clothes. I refuse to let her or Dante spend more money on me than they already have, but I finally agree to borrow some of her clothes so I don't have to wear this party dress for the next week. Fortunately, I'm not really showing yet, so I can still squeeze into her stuff without stretching it out. I'm grateful to see that even though money obviously isn't an issue for Ashlyn, most of her clothes seem normal. No designer tags or luxury fabrics. I can't imagine wearing expensive stuff all the time - I'd be so afraid of dripping something on a silk top or getting mud on a fancy pair of shoes. What's the point of clothes if you can't do anything in them?But Ashlyn's sundresses do just fine for me. She offers me some jeans and blouses, too, an
I leave the zipper only half done and dart to the closet door. Rafe is here. What am I supposed to do? Tentatively, I open the door. Ashlyn is nowhere to be seen."Dante!" Rafe calls again. His voice sounds odd. "Dante, where the fuck are you? You fucking fuckwad."He's drunk. Or at least crazed out of his mind.I creep forward to the bedroom door. Now I hear footsteps moving toward the front of the house. They're too heavy to be Ashlyn's, so I suspect Dante has heard his brother's shouting.Sure enough, a moment later my ears pick up Dante's voice, but he's speaking too quietly for me to hear what he's saying. I open the bedroom door and move to the top of the stairs. Due to the curve of the stairs, I'm out of sight where I'm standing."Why don't we talk about this in my office?" Dante says."How the fuck are you so fucking calm?" Rafe demands as their footsteps move toward the back of the house.I know I should wait for Rafe to come looking for me, or for Dante to call for me,
Rafe's eyes burn into me as he repeats, "Why are you still here?"Every word vibrates through me like a kiss, a delicious but dangerous touch on my skin."They asked me to stay," I tell him. "Dante and Ashlyn.""That's not what I mean." He shifts ever-so-slightly nearer. "You were different than the others. And then you lied to me. So I'm going to ask you one more time - why are you still here?"I can hardly think straight. That look in his eyes...the heat of his breath on my face...the nearness of his body, up against me... All of it makes it impossible to put more than a few words together.But I have to. So I choke out the words."I never lied to you."He moves so fast I have no time to react. One moment he's leaning over me, the next he's turned and pushed me up against the door. Not violently - in spite of his intensity, I don't fear violence from him at all. In fact, I'm not even sure he touches me. It's just one minute he's leaning over me, and the next I'm against the do