Chloe told me you’d moved in with Renée.”“You’ve spoken to her?”“I went to your house.”He studies the carpet for a moment. “Is she okay?”I feel sick to my stomach. “No, she’s not okay, you fucking idiot. She’s having to travel to the other side of the world with a four-month-old baby on her own.”“She doesn’t have to go,” Renée says.I look at him, not her. “Maybe she felt the need to see her parents, to have some support after her husband walked out on her, you know?”He lifts his gaze back to me. “It’s easy to pass judgment when you don’t know the whole story.”“No, I don’t, because you haven’t told me. I thought we were friends. I thought you’d talk to me if you were considering something as serious as walking out of your marriage.”“And have you lecture him about duty and responsibility?” Renée snorts. “Mr. Self-Righteous.”“Renée,” he snaps.“Oh, grow a pair,” she tells him. “Stand up for yourself.”He meets my eyes and then drops his gaze again. And it’s then tha

I’m at my parents’ house in Brooklyn. Henry and Catie are here, and so are Damon, my cousin, Kennedy, her husband, Jackson, with their baby, Eddie, and Brandon and Jenny, Kennedy’s parents. Brandon is my father’s twin brother. Pongo the Dalmatian, currently stretched out in front of the fire, completes the picture.I’ve been waiting all evening for Saxon to pop the question. It’s now nearly ten o’clock, and Catie’s yawning. If he leaves it any longer, she’s going to say she’s off to bed, and then he’ll have missed his opportunity.Everyone looks at me, puzzled, then at him. He purses his lips, stretches out on the beanbag he’s currently sitting in, rubs his hands over his face, then sinks them into his hair.“I’m going to regret this,” heHenry gets to his feet and holds his hand out to Catie, and she lets him pull her to her feet. She told me earlier that she’s twenty-three weeks pregnant, and now she’s put on a little weight, so she looks healthy and beautiful.“Don’t freak out,

“You’re in for a treat,” she says. “It’s the best restaurant in Wellington.”My mouth opens, but no words come out as, down the corridor, I hear voices, and I turn and watch as two people walk into the office. One is a woman with short dark hair, dressed in a smart dark-gray suit—he’s mentioned his head of HR, Helen, and I wonder if it’s her. The other is a guy in a three-piece navy-blue suit, a crisp white shirt, a light-blue-and-silver-striped tie, and glasses. Oh my God, he’s gorgeous.I needn’t have worried that the chemistry between us had disappeared. As soon as my gaze falls on him, I inhale sharply, and my heart immediately bangs on my ribs.He’s looking at his phone, but as he enters the room he glances up. For a few seconds he stares at me as if he can’t quite believe I’m there. To my left, out of the corner of my eye, I see Saxon and Damon emerge to watch the scene with amusement, but I can’t tear my gaze from the guy whose brown eyes are fixed on mine.I don’t know what to

My erection springs to life as she sucks. I remove my thumb and kiss her again, this time allowing the full heat of my passion to sear through us both.She’s so soft—her skin, her breasts, her mouth. I cup her left breast in my hand, feeling its weight like a ripe fruit. I’ve never seen such pale nipples on a woman, the lightest pink, barely darker than the rest of her skin, and they also feel soft, like velvet petals. I tease one with my thumb, then tug it gently until it stiffens. She gives a little moan against my mouth, so I do it again, harder this time, and she sighs, then leans her forehead on my shoulder.“What’s the matter, Alice?” I kiss her ear, then the skin beneath it. “We’ve only just started.”“I know, but I’ve been…” she tips her head back, “aaahhh… thinking about this for weeks, and… aaahhh… you make meI tease her earlobe with my tongue while I continue to tug her nipple. “Where?”“Aw, don’t make me say it.”I laugh and tug her earlobe between my teeth. “Why not?”“D

Depression is common in people with M.S.,” Alice says, “because of the pain and the fatigue and constant complications. We work hard to focus on the positive things in our lives, but she has days where it all gets too hard for her. And she hates that she’s holding me back from living a normal life. When she’s really bad, she cries and says it would be better if she wasn’t here. I find that hard to handle.”“Of course you do. I’m so sorry.”“Her dark moods don’t tend to last long because she knows they upset me. I try to keep little treats for days like those. We go out in the car to the waterfront and look at the statues of Captain Cook and Young Nick—he was Captain Cook’s cabin boy, and he was the first person on the Endeavour to spot the New Zealand coastline.”“Oh, I didn’t“Yeah, Mum’s quite into Kiwi history. Sometimes we go to Dad’s grave and sit there and chat about him. Or we go to the Eastwoodhill Arboretum and just immerse ourselves in nature. I’ll make us something special