In the sunroom of our New York mansion, tea is being served. Across from me in the opposite seat, Candy Badham admires the antique porcelain set I’m using and breathes in the flowery aroma of the cornflower and marigold-infused Earl Grey. I’ve also prepared and presented scones, clotted cream, jam, and tiny sandwiches and petit fours I put together in my wonderful, food-porn kitchen.

“How divine this is!” she says. “If you continue feeding me this way, I might become a permanent fixture here and never go on tour again!”

To the right of me, my mom pipes up from her seat. “I know our informal tea club has a certain level of decorum,” she says, “but next time you’re in the states, can you bring Jason Savage along? I love his films.”

Candy laughs. “If I can drag him off his latest movie set. He’s on a career-high roll, that one.”

She smiles at my mom, who’s never seemed happier. Just before my wedding to Travis last year, Mom got a new, sleek, short hairstyle with blond highlights, and her smile makes her look a decade younger. She’s more than content in her new job as an accountant at Travis’s main office here in the city, and the perks of living nearby are only bonuses. This is the second tea she’s taken with Candy, who seems to have adopted her as her own “mum” in place of her dearly departed one.

My brother Tate, who’s sitting to the left of me with a star-struck grin on his face, has also shined himself up for this second tea. He got rid of his eyeglasses in favor of contacts, and believe me, he’s using that new, improved teenaged gaze on Candy as she sits there in her usual tight top and skirt. Although his attentions are lost on Candy, who treats him like her own little brother, I hear he’s got quite the Romeo charm where he goes to private high school just outside the city.

Tate drags his worshipful gaze away from Candy and grabs a few cucumber sandwiches for his plate. “Forget Jason. Just let me know if you need a date to the MTV Music Awards. I can arrange my schedule.”

“Cheeky,” she says.

Tate actually blushes, but Candy looks amused.

I take it all in from my chair as I sip my tea. Things couldn’t be better. Even my father Gary found his true place in my life—or should I say out of my life? A week after Travis beat the crap out of him, Gary got arrested for stealing credit cards and is currently serving time.

Yes, sometimes justice finds its way, even if it takes a while.

When I feel a sensual tickle on the back of my neck, I know Travis has found his way to me, too, just as he always does. He comes to the back of my chair, resting his hands on my shoulders. My nerve endings come alive, responding to him, wanting him just as much as I did on that day when we first met.

“Sorry to crash the tea party,” he says.

Candy’s toasts him. “Join us?”

“I’m afraid not.”

I know he’s not refusing because he thinks Candy is still one of those people who “never does anything out of the goodness of their hearts.” He’s been taking down those walls that his family forced him to put up around himself and has come around to opening up instead of closing up, acknowledging that people can be more than they at first seem.

“Oh, well,” Candy says. “We’ll merely have to train your little princess to enjoy tea without your guidance, Travis.”

He smiles. So do Mom and Tate as my husband gets to a knee beside my chair and slips his hand to my swollen belly. He rubs me and our future daughter, and I place my hand over his. Our gazes connect, a live wire of electricity that runs hot with the love we share. It isn’t until Candy clears her throat across the table that I realize there’re other people in the room.

Tate’s phone dings with a text, and he stuffs a sandwich into his mouth. “Gotta go in a half hour,” he mumbles around his food. “I’m headed to the Park with the hottest girl in school.”

“Adorable,” Candy says. “I miss that flush of first love.”

My mom sighs wistfully and casts an adoring glance at Travis before drinking more tea. She and Tate have no idea where my first flush with Travis came from—they think we met while I was working in the city. That’s how it’ll stay.

The true story is wonderful in its own way, but we want to keep it for us and us only.

Travis stands, taking me by the hand to help me out of my seat. “Not to be rude, but can I steal my wife for a bit?”

Everyone’s agreeable, and Travis leads me out of the sunroom. We hold hands as we walk through the mansion into the main gallery.

“Are you packed?” he asks me.

“Yes. After tea, I’ll be set to head out.”

We’re sneaking off on one of our trips later today. He always surprises me by spiriting me away every month, no matter what kind of pressing business he might have. This time we’re road tripping to Philadelphia, but my favorite places so far have been New Orleans and San Francisco—cities where I can see awe-inspiring buildings up close, where I can live through experience rather than studying architecture in a classroom. I’ve started classes at NYU, and even though I’m on break now, I still want to keep learning as much as I can.

Life couldn’t be more beautiful.

Travis kisses me softly, holds me close, whispering in my ear. “I didn’t just bring you out here to check if you’re packed, you know.”

“I figured that.”

He caresses my baby belly again, then slips his hand lower, under my filmy sundress. I gasp, almost as if the naughty thrill is a new sensation. Our passion never gets old, and as he strokes me and guides me into the nearest room, he kicks shut the door behind us.

It’s a lower-floor guestroom, and when he kisses me, he utterly consumes me. But I pull slightly away from him, leaning back in his strong arms.

“I’ve got company,” I say in a weak protest.

“They’ll never know.”

“I think everyone knows what happens whenever you get me alone.”

He looks at me. I look at him. A world of possibility explodes between us as he brings me back to him, loving me with his kisses, enchanting me with everything about him.

Taking me to a place I’d never believed was real until my soul mate brought me there.