Carolyn is sitting on the couch in the living room when I get back, even though it’s almost midnight. She has several binders spread out on the table in front of her and a pencil tucked behind her ear. When I step through the door, she starts in on me in a panicked voice.

“Quinn!” she cries, then grabs up her phone from the table. “Oh, my God, it’s late.” She gives her head a little shake as if to clear some cobwebs, then gives me a second look. “Wait. Have you been at work?”

“No,” I say, laughing. “But it looks like you have. Is this stuff for the boutique?”

“Yeah,” Carolyn says with a little sigh. “I left some details to finalize after I was done with the other job, but it turns out there’s more to do than I thought.”

“Shit.” I drop down onto the couch next to her. “When are you planning to open?”

“Next Friday.”

“You’ve got time, then,” I say lightly.

“Not much time.” She blows her breath out through her lips. “I mean, the store is mostly set up, but I still have things to go through and—” She waves a hand at the binders. “You know.”

I nod sagely, though I wouldn’t know the first thing about running a boutique. All I know is how to shop in them.

Carolyn laughs. “It’s good to know I have your support.”

“You totally do.”

She narrows her eyes. “If you weren’t at work, where were you? I’m dying to know.” Then she puts a hand over her mouth. “It’s none of my business.”

I need to share this—at least part of it—with a friend. My former best friend isn’t an option, and I don’t have a sister. Carolyn is the closest person to me.

I can trust her.

“Swear you won’t say a word about it.” I look her straight in the eye.

Her face instantly lights up. Everyone loves gossip, and it’s a pretty safe bet that Carolyn, like anyone else, loves secrets. “I won’t,” she says solemnly.

“I’m serious, Care.”

“I’m serious, too.”

I take a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Maybe we should have some wine.” I only had a single glass at Christian’s.

“It’s midnight!”

“It’s the perfect time.” I leap up from the couch and cross into the kitchen while Carolyn tucks some stray papers back into her binders. When I come back with two glasses of white wine, she’s tucked her legs underneath her and is leaned back into the arm of the couch.

“Don’t keep me in suspense, Q. It’s not fair.”

“Okay,” I say, settling in and pulling a blanket over my legs. “I was at Christian Pierce’s apartment.”

Carolyn’s eyes go wide, and the wine glass freezes halfway to her lips. “What?”

“I don’t know—” I break off, searching for a way to make this seem less crazy than it probably is. “The other night when he helped me with my luggage, there was something…between us, you know? And then we ran into him at the Swan, and then—Care, you’re never going to believe this. He’s my client at HRM.”

“Your client?”

“Literally, he’s my only client. That promotion I told you about?”

Carolyn nods and sips quickly at her wine. It’s like she doesn’t want to have any in her mouth to spit out at my next outrageous statement.

“They assigned me to the Pierce account. And my only project for the foreseeable future is enhancing Christian’s image.”

“Oh, my God,” she says quietly. “How did that end up with you at his apartment?”

“We had our first meeting yesterday. And he kissed me.”

Carolyn laughs out loud, the sound petering out into a giggle in the end. “That guy cannot keep his dick in his pants. Is that why he needs PR services?”

“I’d imagine.” I can’t stop myself from blushing. “He got promoted at Pierce Industries, so…”

She takes one look at my face, and her mouth drops open. “Why is your face so red? Did you sleep with him?” Her voice is rising in pitch. Before the end of this conversation it’s going to sound like she inhaled the helium from a balloon.

“Yes!” I cry, covering my face with my free hand.

“Quinn!” Carolyn admonishes, then dissolves into laughter. “It was a one-time fling, right? I mean, he’s hot—I’ll be the first to admit it.”

“I don’t know if it’s a fling or not.”

I look back into her eyes, and her expression gets serious.

“You could lose your job over that, right?”

“Yeah.”

We’re both silent for a moment, deep in thought. Then Carolyn says, “Well, was he any good?”

“Oh, my God,” I groan. “He was so good.”

We both laugh, so hard that tears come to my eyes. I brush one away as the laughter tapers off. “But seriously, Care—there’s something—we have something that’s—”

She holds up one hand. “Don’t bother explaining yourself to me.” Her eyes are glittering with excitement. “I can’t believe the two of you hooked up. No—I can believe it. The way you two were talking at the Swan…there’s some serious attraction there.”

“I’d say.”

“Be careful, Quinn. He tends to be—”

“I know. I’m managing his reputation, remember?”

She nods again, a wistful look on her face

“There was one weird moment at his place, though.”

Carolyn perks back up. “What was it?”

“He had arranged dinner for…after.” My roommate covers her mouth with her hand to stifle another peal of laughter. I smile, shaking my head. “And while we were eating, I mentioned his tattoo.”

There’s a flash of confusion on Carolyn’s face, and then her expression softens into sympathy. “And he got weird about it?”

“Yeah. He totally froze up. Tried to cover up his reaction, but it was obvious I had touched upon a sensitive subject.”

She shifts position on the couch, clearing her throat. “There’s a reason for that.”

“Please share.”

Carolyn considers me thoughtfully. “Did you get a file about his background when you took him on as a client?”

“I haven’t read through all of it yet.”

“This will probably be in there somewhere, so I guess in the end I’m not telling you anything you won’t find out sooner or later.” She swallows. “Christian had a twin brother.”

“Had?”

“Had. Jess and I were best friends with the two of them in boarding school.”

A sinking sense of dread fills the pit of my stomach. “What happened to him?”

“He died. Not long after they turned eighteen.”

I look down into my wine glass, my heart breaking for Christian. “How?”

“I heard it was a drug overdose, but Chris almost never talks about it.”

“Jesus. Is the tattoo for his brother?”

“No. Eli—his brother—had the same one. They got matching tattoos the same week that he died.”

“Oh, man.”

“Don’t worry about it, Q. If he moved on in the conversation, it’s probably fine.”

I bite at my lip, then nod. “We did go back to bed after that.”

Carolyn rolls her eyes with a gigantic grin. “I’d say it’s more than fine.”

My wine glass emptied, I stand up from the couch, suddenly bone-tired. “Thanks for telling me all that, Care. I’m going to head to bed.”

“Me, too.” She rises from the couch with a yawn and goes to turn out the lights.

I’m almost to my bedroom when she calls after me. “Don’t think you’re off the hook, though. I want updates!”

I can’t wipe the stupid smile off my face. “You’ll get them. Don’t you worry.”