One Night with her Best Friend

Noelle Adams

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the

author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons,
living or dead, is coincidental.

Copyright © 2012 by Noelle Adams. All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce,

distribute, or transmit in any form or by any means.

Contents

One
Two
Three
Four

One

Kate Carlson crossed another item off her list, leaving only two more tasks to complete.
She turned back to her keyboard and typed quickly, mentally gauging how long it would take to get

through her list and then finish getting ready for her date that evening.

She’d showered earlier but had then made the mistake of checking her email one last time—only

to find her boss had sent nine emails in a row about an unexpected meeting he needed organized for
Monday.

It would have been nice to have a heads-up about the meeting before Friday evening, but she’d

immediately made a list of things to do in preparation. She was the administrative assistant of one of
the Senior Vice-Presidents of a multi-national cooperation. She’d had much worse time-crunches than
this.

Her wet hair hung around her shoulders, dampening the little satin robe she’d thrown on after her

shower and dripping onto the back of her desk chair. She wouldn’t be able to concentrate on drying
her hair and doing her makeup, though, until she’d taken care of the meeting arrangements.

She wasn’t alarmed when the front door of her apartment opened without warning and a man

strolled in. She didn’t even turn from her computer.

She heard Aaron in her kitchen, opening the refrigerator and then popping the cap of a bottle of his

favorite beer, which she always stocked for him.

As he came into the living area, she hit send on an email and immediately pulled up a new

message window.

“I thought he was picking you up at seven-thirty,” Aaron said, coming to peer over her shoulder.

He’d changed after work and now wore a pair of beat-up khakis and his favorite green shirt.

“He is. What’s your point?”
“Your hair is still wet.”
She muttered a curse as she typed, rereading this message twice before she sent it to make sure it

was free of typos. It was going to the office grammar-queen.

“Crisis on the forty-second floor?” Aaron always referred to her office by the floor number—the

executive floor of the corporate headquarters of her company.

“Just an unexpected meeting to arrange.”
“Can’t you do it tomorrow morning?”
“I could. But I don’t like things hanging over me, waiting to be done.”
“Yes, after fourteen years, I’m aware of that.”
“After fourteen years, I would think you’d get tired of mocking me because I happen to be well

organized.”

Aaron’s smile was distinctive. It started with his head tilted downward so she couldn’t fully see

his expression. Then he would lift his head and meet her eyes. The slow revelation of that smile was
like the sun breaking from clouds—warm, startling, sometimes blinding.

He gave her his downward grin now, his hazel eyes affectionate when he lifted them to meet hers.

His thick brown hair was a rumpled mess, as it always was at the end of the day. “I’m not sure ‘well-
organized’ fully captures the extent of your type-A-ness.”

She had the sudden urge to stick her tongue out at the man who’d been her best friend since they

were both fifteen, but she managed to resist the childish impulse. “I just like things to stay neat and in
order. What’s wrong with that?”

“Nothing. You can make lists and cross them off to your heart’s content.” He nodded toward the

notepad on the desk beside her. The lined paper was an irregular size—long and narrow, the perfect
shape for making lists. Aaron had given her one of those notepads as a joke in their senior year of
high school, and she’d loved it so much he’d kept buying them for her.

After a pause, he added in a different tone, “It’s just that, despite what you think, your lists don’t

really keep the world in order.”

“Well, they help. And what do you mean, despite what I think?”
“Don’t worry about it.”
She knew that casually dismissive tone well. “I will worry about it. Don’t bring it up at all if

you’re not going to explain it. What do you mean?”

“I mean that you live like the whole world will collapse if it’s not listed, scheduled, and planned

in advance according to an organized agenda, and that’s not actually true.”

She kept typing, but now she wasn’t really seeing the words on the screen. “I don’t think I’m

really like that.”

“Don’t you?”
Aaron wasn’t a superficial man, but he was naturally casual and laidback. He only brought up

serious topics like this when he thought they were really important.

Kate’s belly twisted uncomfortably as she made herself think through his words. Her hands were

now frozen on the keyboard.

“You know why I try to stay organized,” she said at last. “When my dad was around, things were

a mess. They were…they were awful.”

“I know.”
Kate’s dad had been a gambler by nature. He probably still was, although she hadn’t heard from

him in years. Instead of slots or poker, his game of choice was high-risk business investments. She’s
spent the first fifteen years of her life moving every year as her father chased one failing venture after
another. They’d lived from hand-to-mouth in ever-changing apartments, and Kate had never known
what to expect from one day to the next.

Sometimes he had come home with expensive toys and pretty dresses wrapped in fancy gift

wrapping.

Sometimes he had come home and looted her bedroom for anything he might be able to pawn.
Twice, he had come home and announced they were moving. They’d packed and left town before

dawn.

It wasn’t until her mother had finally left her father and gotten a job here in Chicago that Kate had

known what a stable, secure existence even felt like.

“I learned it from my mom. I know she was a little anal about schedules and planning and

everything, but she had her reasons for it.”

“I know she did.”
Kate shot a suspicious look at Aaron, but his face was sober. “So why bring it up then?”
“Just because I understand the reasons doesn’t mean living by a pre-planned agenda is the best

way to be happy.”

“It’s the only way that works for me. You don’t know what it was like for Mom and me before.

You only knew me once we got settled.”

“I know it was bad for you, and I know why you can’t stand to feel unsettled now. But—”
She interrupted. “You might think you know, but you don’t really know. You did see what

happened when we tried to give Dad another chance, though. I thought…we thought he had changed,
but it was a stupid mistake. He gambled away all of Mom’s savings. We almost lost the house. You
were there. You saw what happened.”

“I know, and I’m not pretending it wasn’t really hard for you. But that doesn’t mean everything

unplanned or unexpected is bad. Occasionally life happens in a good way that isn’t in our plans.”

She shrugged off his words and the tight feeling in her gut. Eventually, she’d have to think about

what he said—she couldn’t just ignore Aaron, not when he was taking this so seriously. She couldn’t
think about it right now, though.

It would upset her, and she had too much to do.
She hit send on the email she’d been trying to write during the conversation and then crossed off

the last two items on her list.

Nothing pleased her more than the sight of a list completely accomplished. She tried to summon

her normal satisfaction but couldn’t quite manage it. “Maybe being unplanned works for you, but it’s
just not me. People can be different. I’ve done all right so far the way I am.”

She had done all right. She had a good life and a great job. A lot of people wondered why she’d

decided to become an administrative assistant after she graduated with a double major in Business
Administration and Public Relations—instead of becoming a corporate mogul herself. She had
exactly the kind of job she enjoyed, however, and she’d never felt there was anything inferior or
unfulfilling about her position.

She liked keeping her boss in order. She liked handling correspondence and making arrangements.

She liked being the gatekeeper and maintaining the office. She was good at it—so good that she’d had
a number of other job offers in the last few years. To keep her from moving on, her boss kept offering
her more money.

She had absolutely no complaints about her career. Or her boyfriend, whose date she was now

running late for.

When she glanced back up at Aaron, who was still lurking above her and eyeing her in concern,

she noticed something. “You’ve got another hole.”

He frowned, obviously not following her words. When she nodded toward the sleeve of his old

shirt, he set down his beer on the corner of her desk so he could peer at it.

There was a hole in the fabric at his right elbow.
“Damn,” he muttered. “How did that happen?”
She wasn’t surprised he hadn’t noticed. When he was wrapped up in grading or research, he

didn’t notice trivial details like attire. Or eating. Or answering his phone.

She stood up to inspect the damage. “It happened because this shirt is ancient and should have

been thrown away years ago.”

“Don’t start again. I’m not going to throw it away.”
In their senior year of college, the professor Aaron was working for had given him the opportunity

to teach one day in an introductory anthropology class. Aaron had tried to play it cool, but Kate had
known how pleased he was with himself for being given the opportunity few undergraduates had. At

that point, he had already known what career he wanted to pursue. Kate had given him the green dress
shirt in congratulations, joking about it being his “professor shirt.”

All these years later, he still hadn’t given the shirt up, even though it was on its last legs. A couple

of years ago, at Kate’s insistence, he’d at least retired it from his work-clothes rotation.

“Can you fix it?”
Kate shook her head and studied the sleeve more carefully, so close to him she could smell the

soap he used. “I don’t know. You really just need to dump the old thing.”

“I’m not going to throw it away. If you can’t fix it, I’ll wear it with the hole.”
She sighed, giving up since she knew he was more stubborn than she was—at least on this

subject. “I can probably put a patch on it. Take it off.”

Aaron blinked.
“Take it off,” she repeated. “The shirt.”
She laughed at his evident surprise. “I’m not asking you to strip for my delectation. Just take off

the shirt and leave it here. I’ll work on it tomorrow.”

“You should be so lucky as to have me strip for you.” Despite his dry tone, he’d started to

unbutton the shirt. He wore a t-shirt underneath.

She laughed even more at the imagined visual of Aaron as an exotic dancer as she accepted the

shirt he handed her. It was still warm from his body, and she checked out the hole again, making sure
it wasn’t too far gone to mend.

“Is it all right?” he asked.
When her eyes returned to his face, she saw the amusement had left his expression and he now

looked genuinely concerned.

Aaron was never sentimental and rarely made a big deal about anything—but his attachment to

this old shirt was really very sweet.

“Yeah. I can fix it.” Then she gave in to the surge of affection and stretched up to kiss him on the

jaw. His skin was bristly under her lips from a day’s worth of beard. He felt and smelled so Aaron-
like that she followed the kiss with a hug.

For just a second, he stood perfectly still. Then he wrapped his arms around her and tightened

them almost painfully.

She sighed in pleasure, feeling warm and safe and known in his arms.
“What was that for?” he asked when they pulled apart.
She shrugged. “Just because.” For no good reason, she felt a little awkward about her

spontaneous gesture, so she sat back down at her desk to complete her email. “Did you finish grading
your papers?”

Aaron had gone to high school and college here in Chicago with her, but then he’d gotten married

and moved away for graduate school. They’d drifted apart for those five years until he’d gotten a
divorce and taken a faculty job in the anthropology department of a local liberal arts college.

He’d rented the apartment across the hall from hers, and their friendship picked up where they’d

left off, as if they hadn’t spent those five years apart.

“Yeah.” He grabbed his beer again and went over to lower himself onto her couch.
“How were they?”
“The usual.”
She turned around, waiting to see if he was going to complain about the declining state of writing

and critical thinking in American college students, but he didn’t. He wasn’t even looking at her now.
He sat with his beer untouched and stared out toward the glass door onto her balcony.

She frowned, wondering why he looked so stiff and uncomfortable all of a sudden. It couldn’t

have been the hug. They’d hugged countless times before. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.”
“Don’t lie to me. Did something just happen?”
“Nothing happened. You need to get dressed or you won’t be ready when he arrives.”
She ignored that. She’d known Aaron too long, and she could read the tension in his shoulders and

the rippling muscle in his jaw. She just didn’t know what had caused it.

She went to sit down beside him and put a hand on his knee. “Aaron, tell me what the hell is the

matter all of a sudden?”

“Would you please put some clothes on?”
Kate’s mouth fell open. “What?”
“Your robe is open.”
She sucked in a surprised breath and looked down at herself. Sure enough, the fabric had parted

past the point of decency, revealing a lot of skin and the inner-curves of her breasts. She pulled it
closed. “Oh. Sorry about that. But I don’t know why you’re getting all uptight about it.”

“I’m not uptight, but it really isn’t smart to go around flashing random men.”
He sounded uncharacteristically grumpy, and she frowned at his tone. “You’re not a random man.

You’re Aaron. And we went skinny-dipping together when we were seventeen, so I don’t think
anything I have should be a shock to you.”

He rolled his eyes, but he looked more relaxed now that she’d pulled her robe closed. “I thought

you’d be going through an extensive primping ritual. Isn’t this supposed to be a big date tonight?”

“Yeah. It’s our one-month anniversary.”
Aaron’s expression conveyed his opinion of celebrating a one-month anniversary.
“Don’t be snide.”
“I didn’t say a word.”
“Your expression was snide.”
“You’re imagining things.” His mouth twitched. “Although Hugh is a ridiculous name.”
She stiffened. “There’s nothing wrong with his name. There are a lot of incredibly handsome

Hughs in the world, you know.”

“If you say so.”
“I do say so. Shall I list them for you?”
“Please don’t.”
“I’m crazy about Hugh.”
“You really aren’t.”
Annoyance tightened in her chest. “What the hell is wrong with you today? I am crazy about him.”
“You’re crazy about the idea of him, but I’m not sure how crazy you are about him. He fits the

image you’ve always had of the man you want, and that’s what has you so excited.”

Hugh was a high-powered corporate attorney—handsome, sophisticated, and organized, with as

clear a plan for his life as she had for hers. She’d spent the last month feeling like her romantic
daydreams were about to come true, and it was just rude of Aaron to not support her in this.

“What’s wrong with that? There are certain things I look for in a man, and he happens to possess

all of them. That’s why I’m crazy about him. You don’t even really know him. How can you presume
to know my feelings for him?”

“I know you. It’s like I was saying before. You’ve always had this picture-perfect plan for your

life, and you dismiss without even considering anything that doesn’t fit—because you think it’s a
threat to your orderly world. You just assume Hugh is the next item on the master list for your life.”

“Why are you harping on all this today? I know what I want. And Hugh is what I want.”
He let out a breath and seemed to slump a little, although nothing significant changed about his

body language. “I know he is.”

“Then why are you acting like I’m doing something wrong for liking him?” Her voice cracked

slightly on the last word.

“I’m sorry,” he said, his hazel eyes kind and familiar again. “If Hugh makes you happy, then that’s

great.”

“He does.”
“Then that’s good then.”
She peered at him, feeling like he’d withdrawn from her in an inexplicable way. The idea made

her chest ache.

She’d never been so lonely as the years he’d been married and living across the country from her.
“I said I’m sorry,” Aaron said thickly. “Don’t look at me like I strangled your bunny.”
She couldn’t help but chuckle at his wry, aggrieved tone, and the tension in her chest relaxed. She

had the ludicrous urge to hug him again, to crawl into his lap and be held by him.

She resisted the impulse, of course, since it was entirely inappropriate.
She was about to reply when he said, “You’re going to be late for your date. It’s after seven

already.”

“Damn. I’ll have to skip doing my nails.” She glanced down at her hands, checking to see how

bad they looked.

“Why do you need to do your nails?”
“Because they need doing.”
“Hugh isn’t going to care about your nails.”
“What do you mean?”
“Remember what I’ve always told you about men?”
“Men are easy,” she paraphrased, having heard his words of wisdom many times before. “Show

them your boobs and they’ll be happy.”

“I’m quite sure I never used the word ‘boobs’ in that context, but the sentiment is right. He’s

really not going to give a damn about your fingernails.

She was tempted to laugh, but she was still concerned about how dismissive he’d been of the man

she’d picked out for herself. So she hid her amusement and said, “Be that as it may, I really like Hugh.
I think it might be serious, and I’m trying to expedite matters between us. You realize that, right?”

Aaron frowned. “Well, like I said, take off your shirt and I promise things will be expedited.”
She couldn’t help it. She burst into laughter. “I meant expedite the relationship.”
“Oh.” He frowned again but differently this time. “Well, either way, I don’t think your fingernails

are going to matter all that much.”

“You’re probably right. And I don’t have time for them anyway. I better get ready.”
Aaron leaned back against the couch with his beer while she walked to the bathroom and picked

up her hairdryer.

She and Aaron had met on the first day of school fourteen years ago. She’d just moved to the city

after her mother had separated from her father, and she’d been terrified about starting another new
school. She’d moved so often as a child that she’d never had more than casual acquaintances, and she
wasn’t even sure how to begin making friends.

Back then, Aaron had been what could charitably be called a ‘geek’—smart, skinny, president of

the chess club, always with his head stuck in a book. He was nice to her, though, when no one else
was, and he’d always been able to make her laugh. Even when, later in the year, she’d started to run
track, got involved in student council, and began dating athletes, she’d always considered Aaron her
best friend.

In all these years, that had never changed.
When her long, dark hair was dry, she flat-ironed it straight, since she liked the sleek, shiny look

better than her natural waves. She normally wore it up in a low chignon—what Aaron called her
“librarian bun”—but she wanted to look sexy tonight.

After doing her makeup, pleased that her new eyeliner made her eyes look so blue, she went to

her room to get dressed, smiling fatuously at the vase of red roses Hugh had sent her the day before.
They were already dating exclusively. If things kept going as well as they had so far, by this time next
year, she might be engaged.

She’d always thought marrying at thirty would be perfect timing, and she got excited shivers about

the possibility of her life coming together so smoothly.

She shouldn’t get too ahead of herself, though, so she tried to talk herself out of her excitement and

be reasonable.

An annoying reminder of Aaron’s comments earlier about her perfectly scheduled life flickered

through her mind, but she pushed the thought away. The memory of how chaotic and insecure her life
had been with her father still made her feel sick. She wasn’t going to risk that again. If Aaron thought
she was overly rigid, then she could live with that. At least her life would remain stable and secure.

She’d put on a new bra and panty set—in dark red lace—and was on her way to the closet to get

the dress she planned to wear when a tickle on her arm surprised her.

Glancing down, she saw that the tickle was a little black spider.
She wasn’t particularly squeamish, but instinct took over at suddenly finding an arachnid crawling

up her arm. She gave a little squeal and jerked her arm away, flinging the spider off her skin.

Unfortunately, in the process, she flung her arm into the vase of flowers. The glass vase and two

dozen roses fell to the floor with a loud crash.

“Damn it!” she screamed, half in surprise and half in dismay.
The vase bounced once and then shattered on the polished hardwood floor.
She was just orienting herself to what had happened when her bedroom door flew open. “Are you

all right?” Aaron demanded, taking two steps into the room and searching urgently for the crisis.

“No,” she wailed. “My roses!”
It took a few moments for Aaron to process the situation. When he did, his face twisted in

annoyance. “You scared the hell out of me, Kate. They’re just flowers.”

“The vase broke too,” she pointed out, a little embarrassed now that her momentary panic was

over. “My poor skin could have been shredded to pieces. Plus, there was a spider.”

Aaron huffed dryly. “Well, that explains everything then. I’ll get something to clean it up.” Before

he turned around, she saw his eyes flash quickly up and down the length of her body. She was still
wearing only her bra and panties, but the sight of her mangle roses distracted her from putting on more
clothes.

She was leaning over, trying to carefully pull the wet stems away from the broken glass, when

Aaron returned with the broom, dustpan, and a towel.

“Be careful,” he said. “There’s broken glass and your feet are bare.”
“I am being careful.” When she’d collected the roses, she positioned the dustpan so he could

sweep the broken glass into it.

“I can get it,” he muttered.
“Why? It was my mess.”
He took the dustpan out of her hand. “You’d be better served getting dressed.”
Kate glanced down at herself. Then she noticed that Aaron was diligently avoiding any stray

glances over at her body. She felt a flash of annoyance that he was so irrationally preoccupied when
she was trying to save her flowers. “Would you stop being stupid? I’m wearing as much as I would
wear on the beach. For someone who studies the cultures of indigenous tribes who don’t always wear
a lot of clothes, you’re getting to be awfully shy.”

“I’m not shy,” he objected, still staring down as he swept pieces of wet glass into the dustpan.
“Then why won’t you look at me?”
“Because,” he said, his jaw clenched, “It’s very distracting. I’m not a eunuch, you know.

Remember what I said about what it takes to expedite matters for men?”

She froze for a second, suddenly realizing what he meant. It had never once occurred to her that he

might be physically affected by the sight of her body. She wasn’t any sort of beauty queen and she’d
always wished her legs were longer, but she knew she was attractive enough—with a compact, curvy
figure and classic features. He’d never indicated that he was even remotely attracted to her, though.

“I’m sorry,” she said slowly, a knot of tension clenching in her chest.
“It’s fine,” Aaron said quickly, smiling up at her with a characteristic expression that made her

immediately relax. “No big deal.”

Since he’d sounded genuinely peeved earlier, she wanted to make sure everything was fine

between them. “I know you’re not a eunuch. If you were, the women who spend the night in your
apartment would be very disappointed.”

He gave a downward smile at her teasing, and she felt better. She added, “I’m sorry if I was

insensitive.”

“I already said it’s fine.” He stood up, the dustpan full of wet, broken glass. His eyes were

determinedly focused on her eyes. “It’s just that matters were being expedited in a way you didn’t
intend, and you still don’t have on any clothes.”

She laughed and put the roses down on her granite-topped nightstand before she walked into the

closet to get her dress.

Aaron had gone to dump the glass from the dustpan and returned to wipe up the spilled water from

the floor with the towel. “You better hurry,” he said as she stepped out of the closet. “It’s already
seven-thirty.”

“Shit.” She glanced at her wrist, although she hadn’t put her watch on yet. “Can you zip me up, or

will that be too much expediting for you?”

His expression conveyed his bland impatience with her teasing. “Come here.”

She turned around so her back faced him as he reached down to the delicate zipper on her deep

red cocktail dress. She was strangely conscious of him as he stood behind her, like she could feel the
heat from his body, the intent focus of his eyes, the ever-so-slight brush of his knuckles against her
skin.

It gave her a strange feeling—a jittery excitement paired with a pressure below her belly. It was a

ridiculous reaction so she tried to talk herself out of it, but she was trembling just a little when she
turned around. “How do I look?”

“Beautiful,” he murmured, something soft in his expression she almost never saw. “But I always

think you are.”

He reached out to catch one stray strand of hair that had crossed her part, and he smoothed it

down with the rest.

She stared up at him, strangely mesmerized for no good reason.
It was just Aaron—clever, funny, rumpled Aaron. His face was as familiar to her as her own, but

she couldn’t seem to look away from it.

“Kate,” he began, his voice strangely thick. “Do you think—”
They both jerked in surprise at a loud knock on the front door.
“Hugh.” She felt ridiculously guilty for almost forgetting he was coming. It was their one-month

anniversary, and he was the man who embodied her vision of the future.

Aaron cleared his throat and took a step back, but something had changed in his expression.
“Can you get the door while I put my shoes and jewelry on?” she asked.
“Sure.”
She was relieved when Aaron left her bedroom. It was probably best that he not spend too much

time in this room, since it felt too intimate. It wouldn’t do for things to get confused in that way. It
might mess up the best thing in her life.

She was closing her earring as she came out to the entry hall. Hugh was dressed in a dark suit,

looking sleek and gorgeous with his smooth dark hair and handsome, clean-shaven face. She picked
up some tense vibes between the two men, so she tried to smile them off. “You met Aaron? I’ve told
you about him, haven’t I?”

“Yes,” Hugh agreed. “I’ve heard quite a bit about Aaron.”
She suddenly wondered if she talked too much about Aaron to Hugh. She’d have to be careful

about that.

Aaron’s expression was neutral, but she could see a certain distance in his eyes. It was a little

annoying. He’d just met Hugh. There was no reason why he shouldn’t like him.

Of course, she’d never liked Carole, Aaron’s ex-wife—no matter how desperately she’d tried to.

And she’d known very well that Carole hadn’t really liked her either.

“You should get going,” Aaron said. “I can finish cleaning up the mess, if you want.”
“Thanks. Can you just lock up behind you?”
“Of course.”
For some reason, Kate noticed that Aaron was slightly taller than Hugh and slightly broader

across the shoulders. She’d never seen the two men together, but she’d always assumed it would be
the other way around.

Hugh she thought of as masculine and athletic. She still thought about Aaron as a little geeky.
But he wasn’t. Right now, he looked big, almost primal—the physical power in his lean body

more evident than she’d ever been aware of before.

And it wasn’t just physical. No one had a mind like Aaron did. Not even Hugh. Aaron’s brilliance

was a different sort of power.

She swallowed, clearing her mind. She was dating Hugh. She should not be thinking about

Aaron’s body or the power he suddenly seemed to pulse. That wasn’t anywhere close to Aaron’s
place in her life.

Hugh was frowning at Aaron as they left. He probably thought it was a strange that she’d leave a

man in her apartment, as if he were at home there.

Aaron was at home in her apartment. Any man she dated would have to deal with the reality of her

friendship with him.

But still… Next time, she’d make sure Aaron wasn’t around when Hugh came to pick her up.

Two

Several hours later—at exactly 1:29 in the morning—Kate pounded on Aaron’s door.
She had a spare key to his apartment, but she couldn’t think clearly enough to retrieve it from the

glass bowl on her console table. Plus, even in her dazed, angry state, something told her it would be
rude to barge into his home without knocking in the middle of the night.

So she pounded instead until, after a couple of minutes, she heard sounds inside of his

approaching.

He swung open the door in the process of pulling a t-shirt over his head. For a moment, she was

startled by the sight of his bare chest with its lean, rippling muscles and light sprinkling of hair.

It was a very fine chest. A ridiculous and irrelevant recognition that was proof of her scattered

state of mind.

Aaron pulled down his t-shirt to cover it and blinked at her. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” she said stupidly. Her mind started to work clearly enough to realize she’d woken him

up in the middle of the night. His hair was a mess, and his chin was even more bristly than normal. He
looked groggy and concerned and strangely sexy.

The knowledge made her feel self-conscious in a way she never was around Aaron. “Sorry. I

shouldn’t have woken you up.”

He gave her an impatient look, making it clear he thought her words were absurd. He pulled her

inside and shut the door behind them.

Kate wasn’t aware of exactly how it happened, but they ended up sitting side-by-side on the

couch. Aaron’s eyes looked steel gray in the dim light of the living room as he gazed at her soberly.
“Did something happen with Hugh?”

She nodded, shaking with anger and outrage. “He dumped me. The bastard dumped me.”
Aaron inhaled thickly and let it out. She heard the breath, even though she wasn’t looking at him.

“I’m sorry. What happened?”

“I don’t really know.” She felt fuzzy, as if she’d drunk too much—although she’d only had one

glass of wine with dinner. She also felt numb, as if someone had knocked her in the head but she
hadn’t yet processed the impact. Mostly, she just felt mad. “We started to argue and then couldn’t
stop.”

“What did you argue about?” Aaron’s tone was soft, careful. He’d never been excited about Hugh,

but he would also never want to see her hurt.

“About you, mostly. He thought it was inappropriate that I’m so close to you. He called it

‘intimate’—making it sound like there’s something dirty about our friendship.”

When Aaron didn’t respond, she darted a glance over at him. He sat stiffly beside her, staring

down at the floor. Finally, he said, “I’m sorry if I got in the way of your relationship. I shouldn’t have
been hanging out at your place earlier.”

“No. It’s not your fault. He was being stupid and possessive. Besides, there was a lot more to it.

He used that as an excuse to get into how bad I am at relationships. Saying I’m too cold and
controlled and I hold back too much to be with someone for real.” Her voice cracked at the memory
of the words, at how they’d made her feel. “Bastard.”

She sat for a minute, glaring down at a blank space in the air, but her anger was morphing into

something else. “I don’t think he was right about me,” she said at last.

She tightened her hands, pressing them into her thighs in an attempt to restrain the sharp crack of

emotion. She tried to summon her righteous anger again at the selfish, insensitive way Hugh had
behaved.

“Of course he wasn’t right. How can you even think that?”
“I don’t. He’s just an ass. But I’ve never really been in a long-term, serious relationship. I thought

I just hadn’t found the right guy.”

“You probably haven’t.”
“But you were saying the same thing earlier today about how I’m too rigid. Maybe the problem

has always been me.”

“The problem isn’t you.” Aaron’s voice was gruff, deeply comforting.
“He said he needed to be with someone more open and giving. Someone who doesn’t always hold

herself back. Someone softer, he said.” Her whole body started to shake as her throat constricted
around the words. She’d been so furious when he’d said that to her, and she’d lashed out in response.
But now the words had had time to fester.

“He’s an idiot.”
Despite herself, she let out a huff of bitter amusement. “That’s nice of you to say, and I know he

was being a jerk. But I am kind of hard and unyielding, and I try to administrate the whole world. Isn’t
that what you were trying to tell me before? Maybe I can’t really give enough to be in a good
relationship.”

“Of course you can.” Aaron bit the words out in the tone he rarely used, the one that showed him

to be furious. “Stop blaming yourself. Hugh was just dumping his own issues onto you. And nothing I
said earlier implied you were hard or unyielding. You’ve been my friend all these years, and you’re
the most generous person I’ve ever met. You’ve given me more than I can begin to measure. That’s
proof you can do relationships.”

She felt comforted despite herself, but the swell of pain in her chest kept rising into her throat.

She had to clasp her hands together to keep them from shaking. “I meant love relationships.”

Aaron didn’t respond to that. He looked away briefly.
“I really want one,” she admitted in a wobbly voice. “For someone to love me like that.” She’d

never admitted it out loud before, since it made her feel weak and predictable.

“I know you do,” Aaron said, almost gently.
“I really thought Hugh was it.”
“I know you did.”
“I thought he was the guy I’d been waiting for all this time. Things really seemed to be falling in

place with him.”

“I know they did.”
Aaron’s responses were oddly reassuring, as if they validated her feelings, however wrong they

had been.

“I know it was stupid, but I’d made all these plans. Now the whole thing just fell apart. It feels

like everything is falling apart.” Her attempts to stop shaking failed utterly, and her words broke
down in a stifled sob.

He pulled her into his arms, drawing her tightly against him. “I know it does,” he murmured

against her hair.

She let go for a minute, shaking against him and releasing the tight knot of hurt and

disappointment. He was warm and smelled like Aaron. His arms were tight around her, and he felt
strong, utterly safe.

She didn’t cry for very long. In fact, she was surprised by how much better she felt after just a few

minutes.

She’d only been with Hugh for a month, after all. It was only her plans and dreams that had really

been crushed.

“Sorry for waking you up,” she mumbled, still slumped against him. She didn’t want to pull away.

She liked how it felt to be held by him. They hugged a lot, but they didn’t usually cuddle together like
this.

“I wish you wouldn’t say such ridiculous things.”
She exhaled a laugh, and this time her amusement wasn’t bitter. “You know what the worst thing

is?”

“What?”
She felt a light brush against her hair, almost as if he’d kissed her. He’d probably just adjusted his

head. She kissed him sometimes, but he never kissed her.

“The worst thing is you were right.”
“About what?”
“About how he was more an imagined piece of my plan than the real thing. I was never really in

love with him.”

“You weren’t?” He sounded guarded in a way she hadn’t expected, but her mind was too fuzzy to

work through why that might be.

“No.” Her face was still pressed against his shirt, and the fabric was slightly damp now. “It

sounds awful, but I’m not sure I’m even going to miss him.”

“That’s good, right?”
“I suppose. But it proves I’ve been a total idiot, and I don’t like feeling that way.”
“It’s probably good for you.” Aaron’s tone was dry and natural again—familiar. “You’re too

smart, competent, and beautiful for your own good. Everyone should feel like an idiot occasionally.”

She giggled. Then realized what he’d said. She pulled out of his arms enough to look up at his

face, although her body felt chilly where it had been pressed against his. “You really think I’m smart,
competent, and beautiful?”

He rolled his eyes. “You know perfectly well I do.”
“But I mean really. Even if we weren’t best friends. You’d think I was someone to be interested

in? Someone to love?” After she spoke the words, she regretted them—since they sounded too needy,
and she didn’t like being needy.

His face twisted briefly. She didn’t know why. “This is the truth, Kate. I don’t understand why

every man in the world isn’t in love with you.”

The hoarse words surprised her so much she stared at him. Then her face crumpled and she

reached out, letting him draw her into his arms once more.

This time, she didn’t cry. She just leaned against him, stroking his back and shoulders through the

soft cotton of his t-shirt. His body was lean and hard, and she was suddenly aware of it.

She was also aware of his warm breath as it blew against the bare skin of her shoulder. She could

hear and feel him breathing—noticed it in a way that didn’t make any sense.

She felt something brush against her hair again, and this time she looked up to see what it was.

When she did, her lips were just an inch away from his.

He wasn’t smiling, but his eyes were warm in the way she’d known—she’d loved—for so many

years. As she gazed up, she saw the warmth intensify into something tense, something hot.

His hot tension was somehow contagious. She suddenly felt it in her chest, in her belly, between

her legs.

It was impossible not to recognize. It was wrong. It should have terrified her.
But it didn’t.
At this moment, it was exactly what she needed.
Without questioning the impulse, she leaned up and forward, closing the small gap between their

mouths. Her kiss was gentle, tentative—just her lips brushing lightly against his—but shivers of
excitement ran through her body at the touch.

She’d started to draw back when Aaron finally responded. Without warning, he took her face in

both of his hands and kissed her hard. He was hungry and urgent and shifted the mood in an instant.

She sucked in air through her nose as he deepened the kiss, his tongue demanding entry and then

tangling with hers. Pleasure and need welled up with equal force, and she clutched at his hard
shoulders, desperately needing to hold on.

When he finally pulled his mouth away, he didn’t draw back. He leaned his forehead against hers

and breathed, “Kate.” He was hot. Coiled so tightly she could feel it in his body.

“Aaron,” she replied, breathing in embarrassing gasps. She was trembling again, but for an

entirely different reason now. Arousal pulsed in her so intensely it ached. “What…what…”

Instead of answering her unfinished question, he kissed her again.
Maybe that was answer enough.
Kate didn’t even try to process what was happening. She gave herself over to the embrace, to the

desperate need coursing through her. They kissed eagerly until she clawed at his shoulders and he
eased her down onto her back on the couch.

“Aaron,” she breathed as he mouthed his way down her throat, sucking on her throbbing pulse

until she couldn’t stop squirming beneath him. She was so turned on it was almost embarrassing—
since he hadn’t done any more than just kiss her yet.

His teeth grazed the sensitive skin at the hollow of her neck, and she arched up helplessly. “Oh,

God, Aaron!”

He lifted his head and gazed down at her, as if checking something in her expression. She’d never

seen his eyes like this before—primal, almost black—and they made her shiver.

He leaned down and kissed her with surprising tenderness, gently tugging at her bottom lip as he

pulled away.

Suddenly, her chest ached as much as her arousal.
She was soon distracted from the surge of emotion when Aaron’s hands slid behind her back until

he’d found the zipper on her dress. She wrapped her arms around his neck and mouthed his jaw as he
unzipped her, loving the feel of his rough bristles against her swollen lips.

He stared down at her possessively as he slid her dress down her body.
Despite the overwhelming sensations, a flash of humor couldn’t be suppressed. “What are you

staring at? You saw me in my underwear just a few hours ago.”

He made a choked sound and smiled—his characteristic grin transformed into something else.

“And I almost dragged you into bed then too.”

She grabbed handfuls of his t-shirt and managed to pull it over his head. Then she ran her hands

over his hard chest. She would have caressed him more, but her efforts were hampered by his
reaching around to unhook her bra.

As he pulled the lace fabric away from her skin, he murmured hoarsely, “Beautiful.” He eased her

back down onto the couch and cupped both breasts in his hands, twirling the nipples with his thumbs.
“Very expeditious.”

She couldn’t process his words because her vision blurred with pleasure. She pressed up into his

hands with a breathless sound.

Then he leaned down to mouth one breast, brushing and teasing it until she moaned in delicious

frustration and couldn’t keep her hips still, shamelessly trying to rub her arousal against his weight.

He’d moved to the second breast when something finally clicked in her mind. She connected his

last words with their conversation earlier, and they suddenly made sense.

She shook with half-suppressed amusement, even as he gave her nipple a gentle tug that made her

jerk in need.

He lifted his head at her laughter, his forehead wrinkling. He was perspiring slightly, his skin

glistening in a way she liked.

His obvious confusion made her laugh harder, and soon he was smiling in response.
He’d always smiled when she did. She couldn’t remember a time when he hadn’t.
“I’m glad you’re having a good time,” he said at last, his voice slightly strained despite the

warmth in his eyes. “But I’ve got to say it’s not good for my ego to have you laugh at my attempts to
please you. You might at least pretend I’m halfway competent.”

She giggled uncontrollably at his aggrieved tone. “Believe me, you’re more than competent. I just

finally got the ‘expeditious’ comment.”

“Ah. I see. It was a delayed reaction. You’re not usually so slow.”
She gave a huff. “I was distracted. But, in the interest of restoring your damaged ego…” She

grabbed one of his hands and slid it down her abdomen and under the waistband of her panties.

His expression changed as he caressed her intimately and realized how wet she was.
Kate gave a little squeal of pleased surprise when he yanked down her panties with a sharp jerk

of his hands.

She made a different sort of sound when he slid two fingers into her slick channel. “I guess that

means your ego is restored.”

He made a guttural sound of affirmation as he lowered his mouth to one of her naked breasts as he

fingered her. It wasn’t long before her body tightened with pleasure, and she reached up past her head
to grab the armrest of the couch to hang onto.

She’d always been able to reach orgasm during sex, but she couldn’t remember ever losing

control so quickly before. Improbably soon, she could feel a climax coiling deep inside her.

She heard herself making silly sounds of pleasure as her body started to shake. “Gonna come,”

she mumbled, gripping the soft fabric of the couch, her inner muscles clamping down around his
fingers inside her.

His mouth around her nipple, Aaron hummed in approval, the vibrations from the sound

intensifying the sensations.

When she felt his teeth graze her skin, her climax broke, and she shuddered and moaned as waves

of release washed over her.

She was still gasping as her body relaxed in satisfaction. He lifted his head and gazed down at

her, his eyes even more hot and possessive than before. Tremors from her climax continued to flutter
as he gently withdrew his fingers, sliding them deliciously against her clit as he did.

She grinned. “At the risk of over-inflating your ego—which should be in pretty good shape at the

moment—you’re really good at that.”

He smiled back. For a moment, neither looked away, sharing a look of absolute understanding.
She was suddenly struck with the knowledge that this was Aaron—Aaron—and she’d never

dreamed of being with him this way.

Even now, she wasn’t sure why they were doing this, what it meant, how wrong it really was.
Before she could think through the implications, however, he leaned down and kissed her hard

again, slipping one hand under her bottom and using the other to wrap one of her legs around his hip.

She moaned against his mouth at the feel of his body against her aroused flesh. He was hard. She

could feel him beneath the rough fabric of his trousers.

She rubbed herself against him eagerly as the kiss grew deeper, more urgent.
He groaned low in his throat, and the uncontrolled sound made her want to preen.
Aaron wanted her. He really wanted her. She could hear it, feel it, sense it.
When their mouths finally broke apart, she could see how much he wanted her from the tension in

his face and the hard bulge at the front of his pants.

She reached out instinctively and massaged him, loving how he huffed in response.
Suddenly impatient that he wasn’t yet as naked as she was, she started to undo his trousers.
“Should I try to find a condom,” he asked hoarsely, helping her pull off the remainder of his

clothes.

“You’re healthy, right?” She reached out to take his erection in one of her hands and brushed

along its length with her thumb.

“Yeah.” He jerked his head to the side as she stroked him.
Thrilled with his response, Kate caressed him more firmly. “Me too. I’m on birth control. We’re

fine.”

“Good. I’m not sure how much longer I can wait.” He moved over her again, causing her hand to

slip off his hard length.

She parted her thighs to make room for him, and he settled between her legs. She shook with

eagerness as he lined himself up at her entrance.

Just before he slid in, he lifted his eyes from where they were on the brink of intimate connection.

“Kate, are you sure about this?”

She didn’t know the answer to that question and didn’t want to think about it anyway. Almost

groaning with impatience, she slid her hands down his back until she gripped the tight flesh of his ass.
“Would you hurry up?”

He made a choked sound that might have been a laugh and then pitched his hips forward, easing

himself inside her.

Her body stretched and clung to the penetration, and she released a pleased sigh as he pulled back

once and reentered at a slightly different angle.

“Good?” he asked when he was fully sheathed inside her. He held himself up on his forearms, his

gaze hot as it raked over her naked body and flushed face.

“Yeah. Good.” She arched up slightly, feeling tingles of sensation at the tight friction of his flesh

against hers. “So good.”

He slid one hand down her thigh the way he had earlier, raising her leg until she’d wrapped it

around his hip. She lifted her other leg as well, and they both moaned as he sank inside her more
deeply.

She reached up, tangling her fingers in his disheveled hair and then pulling his face down so she

could kiss him. As they kissed, he started to move above her, inside her, building a steady rhythm that
she couldn’t help but match with her hips.

As their hungry motion intensified, the kiss fell apart. Kate arched her neck and closed her eyes,

focusing on her building need, while Aaron lowered his face to the crook of her neck as the speed of
his thrusting accelerated.

“Kate. Kate. This is what I want.”
Her heart and her body felt so good she couldn’t help but whimper in pleasure. “I want it too.”
His motion above her was hard, steady, almost primal. “This is what I want.”
She’d never imagined Aaron would be like this in bed. So fierce and passionate. She’d never

imagined him in bed at all.

“Me too. Me too. So good.” She clawed at the back of his shoulders as she felt a climax

tightening. She pumped her hips shamelessly, trying to get as much friction as she could.

She cried out as the orgasm crested.
He groaned as she shuddered beneath him. When he froze for a moment, she thought he would

come too.

But he didn’t. Even as she came down from climax, he started his rhythmic thrusting again,

repositioning himself slightly.

“Oh God, Aaron,” she rasped, her body torn between sated exhaustion and renewed desire. She’d

never felt like this before—like this was all she needed but like she could never get enough.

His eyes held hers as they moved together. He was obviously enjoying this. He was obviously

totally into it. But she knew him so well—better than anyone else.

And she suddenly realized something.
Lifting her hand to cup his cheek, she murmured, “Aaron, why are you holding back?”
His motion faltered briefly, but he didn’t respond.
He didn’t have to.
“I want this. I want you. Please don’t hold anything back.”
He closed his eyes to mask whatever his expression would have revealed, but something changed

when he stared down at her again. He straightened his arms and braced himself above her before he
started to move in a different, rougher rhythm.

It might have been what he needed, but it was what she needed too. He thrust into her hard and

fast, and the pleasure rose until it was almost unbearable. She kept trying to get her legs higher around
his back, and every adjustment made it even better.

Soon, Aaron was grunting as he drove into her, and she was crying out in silly, shameless sounds.

She wasn’t usually so uninhibited, but she couldn’t seem to keep quiet. Everything was too good, too
deep, too much.

“Gonna come again,” she mumbled as she felt the pleasure rising. “Gonna…gonna…”
“Come,” he grunted, his face damp with perspiration and a wild, hot look in his eyes.
She came then with a sound like a sob. She clawed lines down his back as she tried to process the

feelings, and the pleasure was finally easing when Aaron froze on a rough sound for just a moment.
She was aware enough to watch as his face twisted helplessly. Then his motion fell out of rhythm
completely as he let everything go.

She’d never seen anything like it—like the sight of Aaron’s release. It was just as overwhelming

to her as her own climax.

She gasped in pleasure as she felt his release inside her. Then gasped with a different kind of

pleasure as his elbows buckled and he collapsed on top of her.

She wrapped her arms around his hot, relaxed body, loving the feel of it, loving how fully he’d let

go.

She felt him mouth at her neck almost clumsily, as if he didn’t have energy for concentration or

even to lift his head. His bristles were scratchy against her skin. His body was so hot it seemed to
burn her.

He was Aaron. For fourteen years, she’d loved and trusted him more than anyone except her

mother. She’d thought she’d known him in every way.

But she’d never known him like this.

Three

Kate didn’t think she fell asleep, but a few minutes later she was groggy and disoriented, as if

she’d dozed off.

She was hot, cramped, and just a little sore—and after a minute she registered it was because

Aaron was still lying on top of her.

He breathed deeply, slowly. She could feel every inhale as his chest pressed against hers, every

exhale as his breath blew against the skin of her neck.

When they were sixteen, they’d stayed up until dawn one night watching the entire first season of a

sci-fi show. Kate’s mother had been working a night shift at the hospital, and when she got home
she’d been very upset over finding them both asleep on the couch. Kate and Aaron had been
embarrassed and awkward at the time, but afterwards they’d laughed hysterically at the idea of doing
anything naughty together.

So many years ago now.
Aaron wasn’t that same boy anymore. He was a man now. A man who’d made her feel more

pleasure than she’d ever experienced before.

Not the boy—her best friend—anymore.
A slice of panic ripped through her chest at the recognition, and she inhaled harshly in response.
Aaron hadn’t said a word since he’d come, but now he raised himself up on straightened arms to

look down on her. His eyes were steel grey again in the dim light of his living room. They were
strangely urgent. Intense in a way that didn’t match the sated languor of his body.

“Are you all right?” he asked quietly.
She wasn’t all right. Since she’d been fifteen years old, her world had been neatly arranged with

everything clearly and safely in its place, the only way to prevent the chaos and instability of her
early years. Aaron had always been part of that life—the good life she and her mother had built away
from her father.

If you had something good, you didn’t risk it. Not in thoughtless surrender to a momentary

impulse.

In a momentary impulse twelve years ago, her mother had accepted her father back into their

lives, and they’d almost lost their good, secure world as a result.

In a momentary impulse an hour ago, Kate might have destroyed everything good and secure she’d

had with Aaron.

She wanted to push him away and run, but she couldn’t bear to hurt his feelings that way.
She still loved him more than anyone else.
“Yeah.” Her voice cracked, despite her attempts to hide her panic. “I just need to go to the

bathroom.”

He heaved himself up to let her out from under his weight, and she stumbled as she scrambled off

the couch.

She could still feel him inside her. The length and breadth of him. The gush of his release.
She grabbed her dress from the couch. She’d somehow ended up lying on top of it, and the dress

had suffered the consequences. She pulled it on over her head as she walked to the bathroom so she
wouldn’t be naked.

She tried to move normally but utterly failed.

She could feel Aaron’s eyes on her as she turned the corner to the hallway.
Then she ran the last few steps to the bathroom, locking the door behind her.
She started to clean herself up, but it wasn’t enough, so she turned the shower on hot, peeled her

dress back off, and step beneath the spray.

The sight of his soap and shampoo—the kind he’d used for the last fourteen years—tightened a

sob in her throat.

Things could never go back to the way they had been. Aaron could never again be who he’d been

to her all these years. Her life might never fall back into place.

And it was her fault. For being weak. For being stupid. For turning to him selfishly because she’d

been needy and insecure. For turning their friendship into something it wasn’t.

She started to sob for real, her body shaking so violently she had to bend at the waist, the hot

water pounding down on her back.

She stifled the sounds as much as she could, although the effort seemed to crack her chest. She

didn’t want Aaron to hear.

It took her a while until she pulled herself together, and she didn’t turn the shower off until she

had.

She dried herself off with a clean towel, which had been haphazardly folded with several others

on a shelf. The clothes Aaron had worn to work were strewn on the bathroom floor. She was always
picking up after him. Sometimes, when he got too busy or distracted, she’d do his laundry for him.

Instinctively, she picked up a slate blue dress shirt so it wouldn’t get any more wrinkled than it

already was. She lifted it to her face. It didn’t smell bad. In fact, it smelled warm and pleasant—like
Aaron.

“Kate?”
Her throat tightened dangerously at the sound of his familiar, worried tone. “Just a second.”
She thought she’d sounded natural, but evidently he wasn’t fooled.
“Please don’t be upset all by yourself in there. We can talk about it.”
“I know.” Her voice cracked in a way she hated. Why the hell did he always have to be so

thoughtful? Why was he always able to read her so well? “I just need to get dressed.”

“Okay.”
She had to fight off the impulse to cry again as she pulled her dress over her head. It smelled like

sex and made her stomach ache, but she didn’t have anything else to wear.

She wasn’t the kind of person to fall apart like this. She could always make a plan and fix things.
Maybe there was some way to get their lives back into order without losing what they’d always

had.

She towel-dried and finger-combed her hair as best she could. Her bra and panties were still in

the living room somewhere. The memory of Aaron’s taking them off made her face flush hot.

When she came out, she found him sitting on the sofa, staring down at the floor.
He’d pulled on his t-shirt and pants but still looked like he’d just rolled out of bed. His hair stuck

out in all directions, and he desperately needed to shave.

And she wanted him. Viscerally. She wanted him. Not just in her life but in her bed. In her body.

Again.

She couldn’t look at him like a friend anymore.
Her face crumpled at the realization.

Aaron had looked up as she entered so he saw her reaction. “It’s not that bad,” he murmured.
“Yes, it is.” Her knees were suddenly weak, so she hurried over to sit on the hard chair in the

seating group. She couldn’t sit beside him on the couch—not after what they’d just done there.

“No, it’s not.” Aaron’s voice was calm, controlled, utterly natural. His eyes met hers evenly. “It

was sex. Just sex. It doesn’t have to change things. It doesn’t have to matter.”

She gaped at him, bewildered and now irrationally hurt that what meant so much to her apparently

didn’t mean anything to him.

Evidently he could fuck her and just forget it—like she was any other woman.
She couldn’t let him see her reaction, though. Not if they were ever going to get through this.

“Okay. It was just sex. It didn’t mean anything. That’s fine then.”

She took a shuddering breath as she stood up and then leaned over to pick up her bra and panties.

She had to get out of here soon.

“Come on, Kate—I didn’t mean it like that. I just meant—“
She couldn’t let him finish. She walked out of his apartment before he’d finished his sentence.
When she crossed the hall to her apartment, she locked the door behind her. It was a good thing,

too, since Aaron started pounding on it a few seconds later.

“Kate, let me in.”
His outraged tone made her want to cry again, but this time she didn’t indulge it. Ruthlessly, she

stifled the emotion.

Needing to do something constructive—when there was absolutely nothing constructive to do—

she pulled on a pair of clean underwear, an oversized t-shirt, and a pair of yoga pants and then took
her wrinkled dress, bra, and panties to the closet with her stackable washer and dryer.

She turned the washer to the delicate cycle and started the water. She checked the tag in the dress

to make sure it was washable—although she already knew it was—and then just stared blindly as
water filled up the basin.

She wasn’t surprised when she heard a key in her front door. They’d always walked into each

other’s apartments without invitation. There was no reason to assume that would change now.

She was adding expensive detergent to the water when Aaron found her, but she didn’t turn to

look at him. She just put her clothes into the water, wishing she could wash away the entire night.

She sensed a strange, tense vibe to the way he watched her, but she couldn’t turn to check his

expression.

Finally, Aaron said, his tone stiff and unfamiliar, “Washing me off your clothes and your body

isn’t going to wash me out of your life.”

She ducked her head briefly as a sob threatened. He didn’t understand at all.
This was so much worse than breaking up with Hugh—which had wounded her self-esteem but

not her heart.

She’d never lived a happy, stable life without Aaron. He’d been part of it from the beginning, just

days after she and her mother had moved to town and started building a good world for themselves. In
some ways, her friendship with Aaron had been the bedrock of her life. Once it was cracked,
everything else might fall apart.

“So now you’re not even going to talk to me?” He sounded tired, almost bitter. She still didn’t

dare to look at his face.

“What is there to talk about?” Pleased that her voice hadn’t broken, she stopped staring at the

sudsy water in the machine and closed the lid.

“I think there’s a lot to say. Would you please look at me?”
She let out a shaky breath and turned to meet his eyes. He was right. She couldn’t act like a child.

She had to face this—no matter how much it threatened to crush her.

“I’m sorry,” she admitted. “I just don’t know how to deal with this. I know it’s not your fault, but

we never should have done that.”

“It’s partly my fault.” His eyes were strangely cool. Watchful. “You didn’t just jump me out of the

blue. But I didn’t intend for it to happen. I just…wasn’t thinking.”

“I wasn’t either. But it’s changed everything, Aaron. I don’t know how we can be friends like we

were.”

Something strange twisted on Aaron’s face. She didn’t understand it at all. “Maybe it’s for the

best.”

She actually gasped at the pain of that remark—that he could see something good in the crumbling

of their friendship, which she’d always assumed he needed as much as she did. “For the best?”

She turned away so he wouldn’t see her expression.
It was a futile effort. He just put a hand on her shoulder to turn her back around to face him.
“Kate,” he said, his eyes transforming into that intense heat she remembered from their

lovemaking earlier. “Kate.”

She stared up at him, mesmerized. Her mind clearly wasn’t working, since she had no idea what

to expect. She wasn’t prepared when he took her face in one of his big hands and then leaned down
into a kiss.

She responded immediately—that same hunger, pleasure, and excitement swelling up at the touch

of his lips. For a moment, she gave into the feelings, letting herself drink in Aaron—Aaron—so
familiar and yet absolutely new.

Then she came back to her senses with a hard thud. She broke the kiss abruptly and pushed him

away as another wave of panic slammed into her.

She felt vaguely sick, the way she had as a child when she’d had no idea what to expect from day

to day, when nothing in her world had remained in its place.

“No,” she gasped, wiping at her mouth with her hand. “I don’t want that. I don’t want that.”
She did want it, but her world wasn’t going to survive it.
Aaron just stared at her, something aching on his face.
It hurt so much she had to harden her voice to keep it from breaking. “I’ve never thought about you

that way.”

“I know you haven’t. But—”
“No. There’s no ‘but.’ We can never be that. And now I’m not sure we can ever be anything.”
There was a long silence before Aaron replied. “I see.”
He was stiff, unnatural, entirely un-Aaron-like.
Her adorable, rumpled friend had vanished, and some hard, silent, sexy stranger had taken his

place.

She wanted Aaron. Needed him. Missed him already. And he was getting farther and farther away

from her.

“If that’s your final word, then I’ll go.”
She’d hurt him—she could hear it in his cold voice—but she had no idea how to fix it. “Okay,”

she croaked.

“We can talk later.”
“Okay.”
Then he just walked out the door.

Four

Kate stood staring at the closed door of her apartment for a long time before she could make

herself move.

She’d messed up. She’d really messed up.
She never should have gone over to Aaron’s apartment earlier. She never should have given in to

the urge to have sex with him.

And she never should have handled the aftermath so badly.
She was used to being competent and in control.
She wasn’t used to being such a mess.
But there must still be a way to fix it, to put things back together again into the safe, orderly

existence she needed. The world where Aaron was her friend.

She grabbed a bottle of water from the door of her refrigerator. Aaron always mocked her

because her refrigerator was so neat. Bottles of water—both flat and sparkling—and his favorite beer
in tidy rows on one shelf. Produce tucked into drawers. Every surface immaculately clean. A couple
of years ago, he’d rearranged everything just to tease her, and she’d pretended not to react, not to
care. She hadn’t wanted to give him the satisfaction, but even such a small change had completely
unsettled her.

She fought against that memory and instead went to find her notepad and pen and take them to the

sofa.

There were only a few pages left of this notepad, but Aaron had already restocked the pads in her

drawer. He’d never let her run out.

She stared down at the long piece of paper on her lap—line after line waiting for her to fill up

with a list, an organized attack, a way to fix this mess.

She needed a plan.
She was always good at making plans and following through on them.
She looked at the empty page for a really long time.
She couldn’t help but remember Aaron’s words from earlier that evening. He’d said she lived by

a pre-planned agenda. He’d said her lists didn’t really keep her world in order, no matter how hard
she tried.

He knew her better than anyone. He would know what was wrong with her now.
For a moment, she tried to imagine what could happen now—what life might look like with her

secure world and Aaron’s role as her friend shaken out of their normal positions.

All she could think about was the sickening instability of her first fourteen years.
She couldn’t—she just couldn’t—live a future that felt like that.
She was suddenly aware that something was on her coffee table that hadn’t been there before.
The deep red roses she’d toppled earlier were now stuck haphazardly in a vase Aaron must have

taken from the top shelf of her kitchen cabinet.

Beside the vase was a folded piece of paper. She picked it up and read the note.
I know—they’re not perfectly arranged anymore, but I like them better this way. You’ll never

admit it but, if you give them a chance, I think you might like them too. A.

She stared at the note in momentary incomprehension. Then she stared at the roses for a long time.

She didn’t know if Aaron had tried to arrange them or if he’d just stuffed the whole bunch into the

wide mouth of the vase, but there was something unexpectedly lush and appealing about the profusion
of rich color and the way the petals spilled messily over each other, some of them dropping to the
table surface below.

Hugh had given her the roses—an elegant, ridiculously expensive arrangement. Orderly,

predictable, and soulless. Her first impulse was to throw them in the trash now, but she stopped
herself before she did.

Now the roses looked more like Aaron than Hugh, and she didn’t want to get rid of them.
She wondered what Aaron was doing right now. If he was all right. He might have acted cool as

he left, but she was afraid she’d hurt him.

On that thought, she jumped off the sofa and ran across to the hall to his apartment.
She knocked. When he didn’t answer, she knocked again, calling through the door, “Aaron,

please. I’m sorry. Can I come in?”

He still didn’t answer. She tried the door, and it was open. “I’m coming in!”
The living room and kitchen were empty. The hallway and bathroom were empty. The bedroom

was empty.

But she saw the drawer where he kept his gym clothes was hanging open in the dresser, so she

guessed where he might be.

She left his apartment and walked down to their floor’s workout room at the end of the hall.
It wasn’t even five in the morning, so the treadmill, stair climber, recumbent bike, and elliptical

trainer were empty except for Aaron.

He was running hard on the treadmill.
She stood in the doorway and stared at him.
He was the same Aaron he’d always been—disheveled hair, lean body, clever eyes. But he was

something else now. Something more.

He couldn’t have been running for more than twenty minutes, but his shirt and skin were soaked

with sweat. The outline of his broad shoulders and the rippling muscles of his arms and abdomen
were clearly visible through the damp fabric.

Both her body and her heart responded to the sight.
She had no idea how it had happened. How her Aaron had turned into this.
But she still wanted him in her life. Needed him. That wasn’t going to change.
He broke his run abruptly when he saw her standing in the doorway. He adjusted the controls on

the machine and gradually slowed to a walk.

She waited without speaking until he stepped off the treadmill.
As he wiped off his drenched face with a towel, she came closer.
“I’m sorry, Aaron. I’m so sorry.”
He sighed as he lowered the towel. “I know. I’m sorry too.”
She blinked. “I was the one who made a mess of it. You didn’t do anything.”
“Didn’t I?”
“What did you do wrong?” This wasn’t going the way she’d expected. She’d thought she would

profusely apologize and he would forgive her and they’d figure out a way to work through this
situation.

Aaron’s expression was still strangely distant, though.
He reached over and picked up his bottle of water, taking a swallow before he responded. “I keep

having unrealistic hopes for you, even though I should know better. I get disappointed when they’re
not realized, and that makes me react badly.”

Kate’s throat ached as she processed his words, but she was going to respond in a mature way

this time. “I’m sorry…” Her voice broke so she tried again. “I’m sorry if I’ve been a disappointment
to you. I know I’m a mess, but I can do better. Please don’t give up on me.”

He turned away and gave a huff of bitter laughter. The sound of it hurt as much as anything had.
“Aaron, please,” she begged, reaching out to grab his sweaty shirt. “I know I didn’t treat you

right. I just panicked, and I’m so sorry. But I can’t lose you. I just can’t. You’re the most important
thing in my life.”

He met her eyes, and she didn’t understand the expression there. “Mine too.”
She let out a shaky sigh of relief. “So it’s going to be all right. We can work this out.”
Aaron gently extricated her hands from his shirt. “I don’t know if we can.”
His tone sounded so final it terrified her. “Yes, we can. We’ve gotten through so much together.

Why shouldn’t we be able to get through this too?”

Aaron looked away briefly. She could tell it was hard for him to say the next thing. “Because I

don’t feel about you the way you feel about me, Kate. I just don’t, and I can’t seem to change it.”

She took a step back, as breathless as if she’d been kicked in the gut.
Had he somehow stopped loving her and she hadn’t known?
“I…I see,” she managed to say.
He rubbed his forehead with his hand and continued, “I know it’s wrong because it’s not what you

want, but I can’t seem to talk myself out of it. Every time I look at you, I want you. Not as a friend. I
want you in my arms. I want you in my bed. I want you all the time.”

The bottom fell out of Kate’s world again—for the second time in less than a minute.
Aaron plowed on, as if now that he’d started he couldn’t stop. “I know you’ve never thought about

me like that. And, after tonight, after you still don’t want me despite how good we were together, I’m
going to have to accept that you never will. But I can’t seem to change how I feel, and it’s always
going to get in the way of our friendship.”

Kate couldn’t think, couldn’t breathe, couldn’t speak.

Her legs weren’t doing a good job of

supporting her, so she slid down the wall to sit on the floor.

Aaron lowered himself beside her, leaning against the wall just like her. “I guess this means

you’re surprised,” he said, sounding a little more like himself now. “I thought my feelings would have
been pitifully obvious for a long time, but I guess not.”

They sat in silence for a full minute. She could hear his breathing in the quiet room.
“Kate,” he said at last. “I’m not trying to rush you, but if you don’t say something soon I might

have a stroke.”

A choked laugh surprised her, but the amusement didn’t distract her for long. She desperately

needed to explain something to Aaron, and she wasn’t sure how. “I…I do want you.”

He blinked. “What?”
“You said that I don’t want you, despite how good we were together. And the truth is…I do. I

do.” She couldn’t look at him, so she focused on one of the pedals of the recumbent bike.

He obviously knew she wasn’t finished. “But?”
“But,” she forced out, “I’m scared.”
“Tell me what you’re scared of.”

“I’m scared of jumping into something on impulse and then losing everything.”
He reached over and put his arm around her, pulling her body against his. She huddled against

him, despite his sweaty shirt. “I don’t think that’s going to happen, Kate.”

“How do you know? How do you know?”
“Well, it’s been fourteen years, so we’re not really jumping into anything on impulse. It’s been a

long time coming.”

“Yeah. I guess.”
“I’m not anything like your dad, you know.”
She sucked in a sharp breath. “I know that. I never thought you were. It’s not that you’re like my

dad. It’s just that he taught me it’s better to be careful, to not take risks when you have something
good, to plan everything. If not, things can get…get awful.”

“They don’t have to get awful. They can get better.”
“Maybe.” For the first time, she was torn between the fear and something else. Something new

and warm and excited.

Aaron didn’t respond immediately. If she was reading the tenor of his silence accurately, he was

thinking hard. Finally, he said, “Tell me what you’re afraid would happen. The worst case scenario.
Everything falling apart. What would that be?”

She chewed on her lower lip as she made herself think through the question honestly. “That would

be losing you.”

He let out a breath, and she felt his body relax. “That’s not going to happen. I’m not going

anywhere. You can throw me out, but I won’t leave. I’ll just keep pounding on your door.”

Absurdly, she almost laughed at the visual, but this was serious so she made herself try to explain.

“But sex changes things. You can’t pretend it doesn’t.”

“Of course, it changes things. But we’ve been together for fourteen years. Do you really think sex

is going to make us love each other less, make us less committed? We’d be what we’ve always been.
Only more.”

Only more.
It sounded perfect. Exactly what she wanted. What she’d always wanted but hadn’t known.
But it was too new, and she couldn’t yet trust it.
“I have too many issues,” she said after a moment. “Even if I wanted to, I’d just make a mess of

this.”

“Everyone has issues. Whatever’s leftover from life with your father hasn’t gotten in the way of

our friendship. I don’t think it would stop us from being more. It’s just a question of whether you want
to work through it. With me.”

She was having trouble breathing. Part of her wanted desperately to say yes—to claim Aaron in

every way—but that would be a final step, one she couldn’t take back.

The fear paralyzed her.
She knew Aaron was waiting. His body was tense beside her. She had to say something, so she

managed to force out, “Can I…can I think about it?”

“Of course. This is obviously what I want, and I think it’s the best thing for both of us. But I’m not

giving you an ultimatum or trying to pressure you.”

He stood up and reached down to help her to her feet, and his mouth twitched irrepressibly. “You

can make lists of pros and cons and anything else you need to do to decide.”

She almost laughed. She started to leave, since there wasn’t anything left to say, but she turned

around before she reached the door, suddenly concerned she wasn’t being fair to Aaron, that she was
taking advantage of him in some way.

His expression softened when he saw her expression. “I’m fine, Kate. And I’m not going

anywhere.”

“Please don’t,” she whispered.
She left the workout room and started walking down the hall.
It was all new to her. That was why it was so overwhelming. Aaron had always belonged in one

compartment of her life, and now he was trying to spill over into everything.

But that didn’t mean she was going to lose him.
She’d trusted him all these years, and he hadn’t let her down. She could trust him in this.
They could be everything they’d always been.
Only more.
She hadn’t yet reached her apartment door when she froze in the middle of the hall.
She suddenly realized he was right. He was right. And she was absolutely crazy not to claim so

much more when it was offered.

She might have a few issues to work through, lingering fears about a life that didn’t feel secure,

but she wasn’t going to let them shape her future. And she wasn’t a complete idiot.

Her world wasn’t going to fall apart just because Aaron moved out of the friend role.
Her world could instead get better.
A surge of dizzy excitement rushed through her as she turned on her heel and hurried back to the

workout room.

Aaron was still there. He’d been finishing off his bottle of water, but he lowered it abruptly when

he saw her, almost choking as he swallowed the last gulp.

She was breathing unevenly now. Everything was about to change. “Okay.”
She saw him tense up. “Okay what?”
“Okay. Okay. I’m still kind of scared, but I want to…to do this.”
She’d thought he would look happy—as excited as she was starting to feel—but he looked rather

stunned instead. “You want to do what, exactly?”

Frowning, she explained, “I want to be with you. What did you think we were talking about just

now?”

“Are you just saying this because you don’t want to hurt my feelings?” Aaron walked toward her,

peering at her closely.

“No, of course not. I just decided…I want more.” The last of her fear faded as she spoke, as she

explained herself to an uncomprehending Aaron, and now she reached out to grab his damp shirt. “I
want you.”

He reached up to cover her hands on his shirt. “Just to be clear. I’m not talking about a friends

with benefits thing. This is serious for me.”

“It’s serious for me too. I could never have casual sex with you. Surely you know that.”
His expression was briefly torn between reluctance and hope—as if, now that he was getting what

he wanted, he couldn’t really believe it. “It’s really serious for me. I’m not trying to put too much
pressure on you, but you need to know this. I’m in too deep to try it halfway and then pull back.”

The words were like a balm to her wounded soul. She’d never before known they were the words

she needed to hear. “What’s going on here, Aaron? You’re the most important relationship in my life.
It’s just as serious for me as it is for you. That’s why I’m so scared. Why are you balking about it
now? If you’re going to change your mind about this, after I’ve finally worked myself into doing it,
then I’m just going to have to wring your—”

She wasn’t able to answer because he was suddenly kissing her. And she was kissing him back.
She wrapped her arms around his neck and gave herself up to the kiss. He was urgent, hungry,

almost desperate, and it matched her mood exactly.

Her chest was exploding with excitement when he finally broke off the kiss. He started to pull

away, murmuring dryly, “Sorry. I’m all sweaty.”

She choked on a laugh and pulled him back toward her. “Why the hell would I care about that?”
Despite the deep passion in his expression, he still seemed to be holding something back, and she

knew it for sure when he said hoarsely, “Kate, I want to make sure you know this. There’s not going
to be any way back from this for me. I’m in it all the way. So if you care about me at all, you won’t
start this if you’re likely to change your mind later on. You won’t do this unless it’s…it’s real.”

She knew Aaron better than anyone, but even she hadn’t realized this kind of passionate intensity

was part of his nature.

Never dreamed it could be directed toward her.
“It’s real, Aaron. I’m not saying it will always be easy, and I might…I might get scared

sometimes. But I’m in this all the way. It’s funny, since I was so sure it was going to mess up
everything, but it actually makes perfect sense. I couldn’t have worked it out better if I’d planned it. I
just needed one last piece to fall into place.”

She could see he finally believed her. Something blinding shattered in his eyes before he covered

it with a familiar downward smile. “One last piece? What was that?”

“That was you.”

***

They ended up going back to her apartment, but then Kate wasn’t sure what to do. She felt jittery

with excitement but also a little awkward—and absolutely exhausted. It wasn’t even dawn yet.

It had been a really long night.
“What do you want to do?” Aaron asked, either sensing her mood or feeling it himself.
“I think I’ll take another shower,” she said, “And get some sleep, if that’s all right.”
“Of course.” He glanced down at himself. He was still sweaty from running. “I need a shower

too.”

She stretched up to kiss him briefly. “You do. Go to your apartment and take a shower. Then you

can come back and get in bed with me.” When she saw the shift in his expression, she chuckled. “To
sleep.”

She got in the shower—the third shower she’d taken in less than twelve hours—and had a sudden

realization that she’d somehow gotten together with Aaron overnight.

It was surreal. She wasn’t sure how it had happened. But it made her want to hug herself with

delight and tremble with fear at the same time. She tried and failed to imagine what their lives would
look like from here on out.

Whenever she’d started dating someone in the past, she would visualize an entire future with him

—playing out various scenarios and plotting out details all the way down to what kind of car they
would have and how they would decorate their bedroom.

But she couldn’t seem to do that with Aaron. She knew him too well. Had no way of imposing a

future on him based purely on her inclinations.

She was just soaping up, trying to keep her hair out of the spray since it was still damp from her

last shower, when a sudden gust of cold air startled her.

She gave a little squeal when Aaron stepped into the shower with her.
“What are you doing?” she demanded, even though the answer was clear when he reached out to

pull her naked body against his.

“Taking a shower.” His intensely tender expression belied his bland tone.
“I thought you were going over to your place.”
“I was, but then I started to worry about your talking yourself out of things while you were in here,

and I didn’t want to risk it.”

She laughed and wrapped her arms around his neck. His body was hard and slick against hers.

“I’m not talking myself out of anything. It’s just that it’s all new to me. You’re eventually going to
have to believe me.”

“I do.” He kissed her. “It’s just new to me too.”
They kissed for a while, but she was too tired to feel any real momentum to desire. Aaron didn’t

have that problem, though, and soon he was hard against her.

She took him in both hands and worked him over until his body clenched up unmistakably and then

relaxed with a shuddering breath. She loved watching his face as he came. Loved being able to give
him what he needed.

She’d always taken care of him, but it was particularly enjoyable to take care of him like this.
She was rinsing off his release—not much since he’d come not long before—when he pulled her

into his arms.

“Thank you,” he murmured, a thickness in his voice that was becoming more familiar. “Do you

need anything?”

“No. Too tired for anything else now.”
They got out of the shower a few minutes later, dried off, and then got into bed.
Kate was so sleepy she could barely concentrate, but she didn’t object when Aaron pulled her

into his arms.

It felt just about right. She fell asleep almost immediately.

***

When she woke up a couple of hours later, she was in a strange position. She’d moved down

Aaron’s body as she slept and ended up with her cheek pressed against his flat belly. One of her arms
was wrapped around him, clinging to his hip.

She shifted, stretching out her legs, which had been curled up tightly against his leg.
Aaron had been asleep too, his breathing slow and steady and his body completely relaxed, but

her shifting must have awakened him. When she looked up at his face, his eyes were open and soft on
her face.

“What are you doing down there?” he asked.
She smiled and repositioned herself so her head was in better proximity to his. “I can’t be held

responsible for what I do in my sleep.”

“Is that right?”
“Yes, it’s right.”

He leaned down to kiss her.
“Did you sleep the whole time?” She slowly brushed her palm across the lean muscles of his

chest and abdomen, amazed she had the right to touch him like that.

He shook his head. “I was half afraid I would wake up and find none of this had really happened.”
His expression was teasing, but his words made her stomach clench. “It did happen. You said you

believed me when I said it was real.”

“I do believe you. You just don’t know how long I’ve wanted this. It’s going to be a transition for

me to finally have what I’ve wanted for so long.”

She raised her hand to his rough cheek. “If you’ve wanted this for a while, why didn’t you do

something about it before?”

“What was I supposed to do? Haul you into a kiss when you were lecturing me about putting up

my laundry?”

“You could have said something.”
“I know. Maybe I should have. But I knew you weren’t in the same place, and I knew how you

would react.”

“How would I react?”
“You would have thought your perfectly constructed world was falling apart, and I would have

borne the brunt of it.” He kissed her hair lightly to take the sting out of the words.

Her belly twisted in concern, thinking about how right he was, how blind she’d been, how much it

must have hurt him for her to not consider him as anything but a friend.

“That wasn’t a complaint. It was just an explanation. Maybe I was just being a coward, but I felt

trapped between my feelings and what I knew would happen if I said something. You mean too much
to me. I couldn’t take the risk.”

She nodded, understanding completely. “No need to explain to me about being afraid to take risks.

I’m sorry it took me so long to come to my senses.”

“It didn’t take you that long really.”
“Fourteen years?”
“No. It was less than an hour between the time you realized what I wanted and the time you

realized you wanted it too. That’s a pretty quick turnaround for someone who prides herself on her
rigorous planning.”

She chuckled at the irony in his tone. “Then I’m sorry it took me so long to even recognize we

could be something more than friends.”

“Don’t be sorry. You’ve been a better friend to me than I deserve. And I think the timing was just

about right.”

She smiled, warmed from the inside out. “Me too.”
They kissed for a minute—gentle and tender. Then her curiosity got the better of her. She pulled

away enough to ask, “So exactly how long have you wanted something more from me?”

He glanced away almost diffidently, which just heightened her curiosity.
“Aaron,” she prompted, turning his head so he looked back at her. “How long?”
“Honestly,” he said, his voice almost rough, “I’ve been crazy about you from the first day we

met.”

“No!”
“It’s true. I think I’ve always wanted more.”

“That can’t be right,” she gasped, sitting up straight in the bed. “You’ve dated a ton of other

women. You were married.”

He sat up too. “I wouldn’t say I’ve dated a ‘ton’ of women, but, yes, I kept trying to talk myself

out of it and fall for someone else.”

“But your marriage?”
He swallowed hard—she could see it in his throat. “I did love Carole, and I was genuinely

committed to her. I did everything I could to make it work. But I do think part of the problem with the
marriage was that she wasn’t—and couldn’t be—you.”

“You told her?”
“No. But, no matter how hard both of us tried, I could never get as close to her as I was to you.”
Kate stared down at her hands, which were twisting together anxiously.
“Please don’t tell me I’ve creeped you out with this embarrassing confession. I promise I’ve

never been obsessive or stalkerish about it. You were always my friend. That much has always been
real. I just always wanted even more.”

“I wish I’d known,” she murmured, torn between guilt and an irrational exhilaration.
“No, you don’t. Can you really tell me, if you’d known I had a thing for you, that you ever would

have become my friend back in high school?”

“No,” she admitted. “I wouldn’t have.”
“Then there’s nothing to regret. Because, without your friendship, my life wouldn’t have been

nearly as good. I wouldn’t have traded the years we’ve had for anything. Not for anything.”

“Me either.” She reached out for him, letting him pull her down so they were lying together again.
She was almost dazed with this new revelation, but her surprise was slowly transforming into joy.
She couldn’t think of anything to say that would come close to answering what she’d heard from

him. So she just whispered, “I love you, Aaron.”

It must have been the right thing to say. He looked downward in his characteristic way, and when

he lifted his head, he was smiling—pure and absolute. “Good. Because I love you too.”

They lay in each other’s arms for a minute, not needing to say anything. He was warm and strong

and tense with emotion. He was hers.

She felt a brief flicker in her happiness as she started to reflect on how he must have felt all this

time, with her constantly treating him as if he wasn’t worthy of being desired this way.

She was about to get upset about it when he said curtly, “Stop it.”
“What?” She blinked at him in confusion.
“Stop it. Stop brooding. You’re not allowed to beat yourself up about it.”
“But—”
“No ‘buts’. Just stop it.”
His grumpy objection actually made her feel better, but she frowned at him anyway. “Wow. Give

a man a little sex, and he turns immediately from a nice guy into a bossy jackass.”

He chuckled warmly. “Just think how bossy I’ll be after we’ve had a couple of decades of sex.”
“I think I can probably handle it. I’m good at managing bossy jackasses.”
“Good,” he murmured against her lips, “Because I’m afraid you’re stuck with me.”
They kissed more deeply. Then the embrace became even deeper. A few minutes later, when she

was crying out on a taken breath as he pleasured her with his mouth, her eyes happened to land on the
clock next to her bed.

It wasn’t even eight o’clock in the morning yet.
It might have been a miracle or just the normal workings of an inexplicable universe, but her

world had completely reshaped itself.

All in one night.

About the Author

Noelle handwrote her first romance novel in a spiral-bound notebook when she was twelve, and

she hasn’t stopped writing since. She has lived in eight different states and currently resides in
Virginia, where she teaches English, reads any book she can get her hands on, and offers tribute to a
very spoiled cocker spaniel.

She loves travel, art, history, and ice cream. After spending far too many years of her life in

graduate school, she has decided to reorient her priorities and focus on writing contemporary
romances. For more information, please check out her website: noelle-adams.com