“Finally, I get to see my sister,” Kelly complained with a teasing smile as I opened my door.

“I just saw you the other day.” Thinking about it, I realized it had been a little bit longer since I’d last seen her than I thought.

Kelly rolled her eyes and followed me inside, making our way to my kitchen as we talked. “It was not just the other day. You’ve been spending all your time with your new boyfriend. I mean, I get it. He’s gorgeous, but I guess it’s just annoying that he cuts into so much of my sister time. Plus, it’s also jealousy because you get to spend so much time with that man.”

I leaned up to grab us each a wine glass and looked back at her over my shoulder. “He doesn’t cut into that much of your sister time. You’re here with me right now, aren’t you?”

“Yeah, I guess I am, but since you only texted me this afternoon, I can only stay for this one glass. After that, I’m off to an event I have to cover tonight. What’s he busy with tonight, anyway?”

“Who says he’s busy?” I asked as I poured some merlot and held up a glass for her.

“Oh, please,” Kelly scoffed. “You’ve been with him every night since you two started dating. Do you honestly expect me to believe that you took the night off from him to see me if he’s not busy?”

“I do, actually. He’s out celebrating with the guys. He invited me, but I wanted to see you.”

We carried our wine to the living room and sank into our usual positions on my couches. I pulled a pillow onto my lap and sat back.

“He’s out celebrating?” she asked, apprehension clear in her eyes. “Don’t you think you should be with him?”

“You’re confusing me. One second you’re complaining that I’m not spending enough time with you, and the next, you’re telling me that I should be with him?” The crisp merlot was cool and just what I needed for my own mini-celebration with my sister.

The buzz around the album was at an all-time high, and I was proud of having achieved what I had.

She sighed, folding her legs under her as she got comfortable. “I know. I know. But aren’t you worried about what he’s going to get up to out there, alone with the guys?”

Echoing her sigh, I nodded. “A little, but I need to learn to trust him if this is going to work.”

“I guess, but with a history as sordid as his, do you trust him?”

Pressing my lips together, I rolled my head from shoulder to shoulder as I thought, bringing up my free hand to massage the muscles in my neck. “I have to. Or, at least, I have to try. There’s no way I’m babysitting him around the clock to make sure he keeps it in his pants. He needs to be able to navigate that aspect of his life as a taken man without my holding his hand every step of the way if it’s going to work between us.”

“Jared Larsen as a taken man. Now there’s a foreign concept. You keep saying if this is going to work. Do you think it won’t?” She took a swig of wine as she waited for my answer.

“I don’t know. I guess you never know at the beginning of a new relationship whether it has staying potential long-term, but I honestly just don’t know whether he really is ready for anything serious in the long run. A part of me keeps waiting for the other shoe to drop, for him to realize that dating me really means no more one-night stands with supermodels, and then he’ll run away screaming.”

“If anyone is worth giving that up for, it’s you,” Kelly assured me. “He’s gone this far with you. I don’t remember there being a time when he was photographed with any woman more than once, and I know that it hasn’t been official for all this time. He’s been only with you for what? Going on two months now?”

I nodded and took another sip of my wine. “Just about. It’s not like he hasn’t partied or been out with the guys since we met, but tonight is the first time since we made it official, so I guess this will be a good test for his self-control. His first taste of having to hang back and watch the others pick the women they’ll go home with while knowing he’s going home alone. I don’t know how that’s going to go down.”

“You think he’ll be able to control himself?”

“Honestly? I don’t know. I think that man can do anything he sets his mind to. The question is whether he really has set his mind to this, or whether reality’s going to slap me in the face tonight.”

She picked a piece of lint off the red couch and mirrored my position by placing a pillow in her lap and hugging it to her chest. The wording on her pillow was faced toward me, and I chuckled softly when I read the “Live the Life you Love” quote on it. It seemed fitting for this conversation.

“Ironic you should have chosen that one.”

Kelly’s eyes followed mine and dropped to the pillow. She giggled and squeezed it. “Yeah, I guess it is. Jared does seem to live the life he loves, doesn’t he?”

“That he does. I just wonder if he’s going to love this part of it.”

“You seem to be loving this part of yours,” Kelly observed, and I smiled. Despite my uncertainty about our future, I really was loving everything about my life at the moment.

“I am. Say what you will about Jared’s self-control, but he’s been teaching me when it’s okay for me to let go of mine.”

“He actually manages to get you to loosen up and let go sometimes?” she asked, her manicured eyebrows rising as if she didn’t believe me.

“He does. It’s been fun. Everything about being with him has been fun. He’s been really good about showing me how to just get out of my head sometimes and enjoy life.” Thinking about Jared was making me miss him. It was crazy, since I’d woken up beside him just this morning, but I couldn’t help it.

Kelly’s lips spread into a wide, genuinely happy smile as she watched mine do the same thing. “I’m so freaking jealous of you right now, but you deserve every ounce of the happiness he’s making you feel.”

“Thanks,” I said. “Enough about me. What’s going on with you?”

Kelly played with a strand of her hair, rolling it around her finger, and chewed on her bottom lip. “Not much. The blog has gained another hundred or so subscribers. No doubt it will explode if, and when, it comes out that my sister is dating the Jared Larsen.”

Rolling my eyes, I chucked a pillow at her, and she squealed, but caught it. “Don’t you dare say anything. I want to keep it quiet, at least until the announcements about the album are done. The media needs to be focused on the music, not Jared’s love life.”

“But his love life is so much more interesting,” she teased and took another sip of wine. “You know I won’t say anything. Do you think you could get that beautiful boyfriend of yours to agree to give me an interview, though?”

I giggled a little at her tenacity, but then I nodded. “I’ll talk to him about it. It’s up to him whether he wants to do it or not. Otherwise, you’ll have to go through the proper channels just like everyone else.”

She dropped her chin to give me a pointed look. “Going through you is going through the proper channels.”

“I know, but if he doesn’t agree to your unofficial request, you know the drill,” I told her.

She nodded, but then grinned wickedly. “You could, you know, use your influence on him to agree to an interview with me.”

“And what exactly is it that you would have me do?”

She pretended to study her fingernails nonchalantly, then laughed as she widened her eyes innocently. “Oh, I don’t know. Maybe you could withhold sex from him until he agrees.”

“That’s not happening. He’d probably turn you down on principle if he knew that you even suggested it. So, I’m going to do you a favor and not tell him. If he agrees, and if it fits into my promotional strategy, we’ll set it up sometime.”

I tried my best to keep my voice stern, but I failed, smiling all the way through. Kelly nodded, turning her wrist to check the time on her watch. “Crap. I’ve got to go.”

Downing the last few sips of wine, she gathered her purse from the kitchen where she’d left it and rushed to my door, pausing to give me a quick hug before she was gone.

I exhaled a deep sigh and locked my door behind my sister. I’d been hoping to spend a bit more time with Kelly tonight, but she was right about my invitation having been last-minute. I padded to my bedroom to change into my pajamas, and once I was back on my couch, settled in with a fresh glass of wine and my e-reader, I fired off a text to Kelly to thank her for coming for her quick visit.

It had been good to see her, however briefly it might have been. My phone still in hand, I decided to send a quick text to Jared, too. I didn’t want to check up on him or anything. I just missed him, and I wanted him to know.

Me: Hope you’re having fun. I am.

Snapping a quick picture from my tummy down. It showed my e-reader, wine, and my legs with my Batman pajama shorts hitting just above mid-thigh. I attached it to my text and sent it off.

A couple of pages into my new mystery novel, my phone buzzed on my stomach, and I smiled when I saw that it was a reply from him, even though he was out with the band.

Jared: You just had to include those legs, didn’t you? I want them wrapped around me. Would’ve been having more fun if they were.

Clearly unable to help himself, he ended the text with a series of rather suggestive emojis. I laughed out loud and opened the picture he’d attached. It was a selfie of him with his bottom lip sticking out as he wagged a finger at me.

It was adorable. How was it possible that he managed to make my heart beat faster without even being with me?

Dancing blue bubbles at the top of my screen told me that he was typing again, and his message popped up a couple of seconds later.

Jared: I gotta go. Nick’s making me take a shot for being boring. See you tomorrow? Sleep well, honey.

Me: Boring? Do I even want to know? Actually, no. I don’t. FYI, honey doesn’t work either. Neither does sweetheart. All of the above are for use by parents or if you don’t know someone’s name. Sorry. Sleep well, rock star.

His next reply came in lightning fast. I barely pressed the button to bring my reader back to life when my phone went off again.

Jared: You have issues. That’s 2 shots for me now. Thanks for that. Rock star?? Only if you mean in bed… Good night, Alicia. (See, I know your name ;-))

Me: Better not make it 3 shots. Have fun… You know, the monogamous kind… xoxo

He replied with a picture of his ring adorned thumb up, but it looked like he’d taken the picture under the table. Lord only knew what those guys were feeding him for texting with me.

I rolled my eyes and laughed at their antics. I hoped said antics wouldn’t be the reason for another late night/early morning call, and I got back to my book.

An hour or so later, my eyelids were heavy, and I decided it was time for bed. It was still early, but an early night for a change was exactly what I needed. As I was getting ready for bed, cleansing my face from the remnants of the day with a soft makeup wipe, I swore I heard a scraping noise.

Listening carefully, I rubbed my eyes with the wipe and tossed it away, but everything seemed to be quiet outside of my bathroom. After moisturizing and brushing my teeth, I flipped off the lights to my bathroom and was headed to bed when I heard another scrape.

Odd.

I remembered locking the door when I saw Kelly out, but maybe I hadn’t latched it properly or something. Using the flashlight app on my phone, I made my way back to the door and gave it a jiggle. It was locked.

Stupid mystery novel must have messed with my imagination.

Yawning, I stretched and was on my way back to my bedroom when I noticed that there was a fresh breeze on my skin. I froze, and my head whipped to my kitchen. Sure enough, the window was open.

I thought back to earlier when I was in there with Kelly, and after when I was refilling my wine. The window had definitely been closed. My spine tightened like it had a live wire attached to its base.

Thankful that I decided to use my phone for light, my fingers flew across the keypad. 911. The operator answered within seconds, and I reported an intruder, rattling off my address.

Before I could finish the call, a shoulder connected to my side, and I was tackled to the floor. A sharp pain shot through my hip when I landed on it. My attacker and I went hurtling across the polished wood from just inside my kitchen to the hall.

What felt like cord was being clumsily tied around my neck, and I lashed out. My hips bucked, and my arms swung while my attacker started shrieking. It was mayhem.

I couldn’t see anything in the dark, and I didn’t have time to think. My body was nearly paralyzed with fear while my mind kept screaming for it to fight. Instinct kicked in, and my arms flailed around wildly for a weapon. My knuckles smashed into what my mind knew to be the side table in my hallway, and by some miracle, I managed to grab on to the vase that I kept but never got around to buying flowers for.

Fingers closing around the heavy crystal, I picked it up and swung around the area where I thought my attacker’s head ought to be. There was a sickening crunch, and then the shrieking stopped, and whoever was sitting astride me collapsed.

I scrambled out from underneath them, surprised to find that they didn’t weigh much, and I shot to my feet, my hand desperately seeking out the light switch. Blinking from the sudden brightness when I found it, the first thing I noticed about my attacker was a lean, slender form and a hoodie and ski mask that looked familiar.

Terrified as I was, my mind flashed on the day in the security office after my car had been egged, and the garments looked suspiciously similar. Heart pounding and my hands shaking, I kicked my attacker’s leg to see if there was any voluntary movement. There wasn’t.

Whoever it was was still breathing, but they were out cold. I edged closer. My heart felt like it was about to fly out of my chest, but I had to know. I gave myself a solid couple of feet to go around to my attacker’s head, and I edged in slowly, trembling almost too badly to do what had to be done.

Jerking back a few times, as if the person was going to catch my hand, or was a snake about to raise its head and bite me, I eventually managed to grab hold of the ski mask from the top of the person’s skull and yanked it off.

I blinked once. Twice. Tried to make sense of it.

The person lying unconscious by my feet, the person who had vandalized my car and had just tried to strangle me was none other than Jenny, a.k.a. Madison Green.

Fuck.