“Okay.” Tracy storms into my office during her mid-morning break. “Spill.”

I don’t take my eyes off my computer monitor. “Hang on one second.”

Tracy throws herself down into the chair on the opposite side of my desk. She watches as I carefully calculate the results collected from a focus group study and add them into a report for a local club who hired us to do some pre-debut promotional work. I click save and double check to make sure everything is right before I turn my attention to my best friend.

“What do you need?”

“I want to know what happened to you this weekend,” Tracy demands. “And I want all the details. Don’t even think about leaving anything out.”

“What are you talking about?”

Tracy rolls her eyes and points at my face. “Don’t play dumb with me. You’re glowing. That means two things. Either you fell in love or you’re pregnant.”

“How about none of the above,” I mutter even as my face flames bright red.

“I don’t buy that,” Tracy says. “Tell me what happened. Now.”

“Remember the other day when I got that weird text from someone who promised they could help with my … problem?”

Tracy nods. “Yeah. The one we got right after the Many Miles Auto Parts teleconference.”

“It wasn’t.” I twist my fingers together and can’t contain my smile. “It was a guy in my apartment building.”

I quickly fill Tracy in on everything that happened over the weekend, starting with my disastrous date with Dan the doctor and ending with how yesterday, Garret and I spent the entire day in bed, getting up only when Harlan needed to be taken out or we needed something to eat.

“Are you going to see him tonight?”  Tracy is practically bouncing up and down in her chair.

I blush. “Yeah. I think so, but we don’t have any formal plans or anything.”

Tracy squeals and leaps up from her seat. She runs around the end of my desk and throws her arms around me.

“I’m so happy for you, Erin.” She squeezes me tighter. “Your first grown-up relationship.” She winks, taking any sting from the words. “And it’s about damn time.”

“I don’t know about first, but it’s lasted three days, and for two of those we were together the entire time, so it’s certainly outlasted all of my other relationships. By lightyears.”

“When do I get to meet this sex god that can practically make you come with just a glance?” Tracy settles a hip on the corner of my desk. “Or do you plan on keeping him all to yourself?”

“I don’t know.” I pick up a pen and twirl it between my fingers. Garret and I were so busy learning everything we could about one another’s bodies that we didn’t talk about whether or not we were keeping our relationship secret or not. “I get the impression he’s not a very social person.”

Tracy’s brows shoot up and her mouth thins. “Do you mean like he’s anti-social?”

“No, nothing like that. He has friends and social skills. He’s just the kind of guy who prefers doing things by himself.”

“Good.” Tracy’s expression relaxes. “Because anti-social isn’t cool. Serial killers are normally antisocial. I’d hate for you to end up chopped into little tiny pieces and stuffed into a garbage can.”

“Yeah,” I say dryly, “I’d like to avoid that scenario.”

“Oh, yeah.” Tracy’s posture straightens. “Speaking of serial killers.”

“A statement that never ends in anything good,” I mutter.

Tracy ignores me. “I ran into your stalker.”

“Dillion?” That is a surprise.

“The one and only,” Tracy confirms. Her brow furrows. “It must have Saturday morning. Yeah, I was getting groceries. He cornered me when I was trying to decide between a healthy cereal or one that’s covered in chocolate. He told me he had a new and exciting job.”

“You’re kidding.” I can’t help laughing. “He’s an accountant that specializes in taxes. How exciting a job can he possibly get?”

“Beats me, but he was pretty proud of it. I suppose when you spend your whole day crunching numbers and looking for tiny deductions, the threshold for excitement is pretty low. And this is the same guy that has spent more than a year chasing you around, and you only went out, what twice.”

“Once.” And it remains one of the most boring nights of my life. “He was here the other day. I ran into him in the parking lot. I was in the process of setting up a date with Dan. I bet he stopped by to tell me all about his new job, but I didn’t give him a chance.”

Tracy shakes her head. “I really wish you’d do something about him. The fact that he’s still infatuated with you isn’t healthy. And before you say it, I know, he hasn’t really done anything that you can complain about, but I still say that it’s creepy how he just randomly shows up in various spots from time to time.”

“But other than showing up from time to time, he hasn’t done anything, not one single thing, to make him a threat.” I pick up a pen and chew on one end for a second. “If he did act inappropriately, I’d file a restraining order against him.”

“I think you should at least talk to the police about him. I’m telling you, there’s something about Dillion. He should have moved on my now.” Tracy hops off my desk and stretches. “I suppose I should go. I’ve got a half hour before my meeting with the owners of a new jewelry store that just opened in the mall. They want to talk to me about some online marketing ideas for some sales they’ll be having this summer.”

“Um, Tracy, before you take off…” I take a deep breath to help steady my suddenly shaking nerves. “There is one thing I’d like your opinion on.”

If Tracy was a dog, her ears would have just pricked up with interest. “What?”

“This guy, he was married before.” I take a deep breath. Saying anything about Garret and his late wife feels wrong, like I’m traipsing on sacred ground, but I really need to talk to someone about what I should do. “She passed away a few years ago. And, well, obviously it was a really happy marriage and he still misses her, still loves her, and I’m, I don’t know, I guess I don’t know how to handle it. The other night he mentioned her and it really set me off.”

“Mentioned her how?”

“What do you mean?” I ask.

“Like, did he call out her name while the two of you were going at it?”

“Oh, God, no.” I shudder. “That would be horrible. No, nothing like that, it was something about how the two of us would have been friends.”

Tracy winces. “I guess there are worse things he could have said.”

“Yeah.” Feeling chilled all of a sudden, I rub my arms. “For some reason it really set me off. I can’t stop thinking that he’s comparing everything I do, everything I say to her. Then I start wondering if he wants me to be just like her, or if he is simply with me because he’s lonely.”

“How many girlfriends has he had since she passed away?”

I shrug. “We haven’t really talked about it, but I don’t think there have been any. A few of the things he’s said makes me think that he’s pretty much been celibate.”

Tracy lets out a long, low whistle. “Wow! I don’t think I know anyone other than my great uncle Pete and Catholic priests who are celibate. Even senior citizens seem to spend a lot of time dating. If he really hasn’t been with another woman since losing his wife, I’d say he was pretty devoted to her.”

“Would you date him?”

Tracy considers the question. “Honestly, probably not. I’m too self-centered to want to run the risk of standing in a first love’s shadow.”

My shoulders slump and my heart twinges painfully. “So, I should end things now?”

“I didn’t say that. This is the first guy, ever, who has ever twisted you up inside, which makes him pretty special. And the fact that he’s remained faithful to his wife all this time also says something about his character. It sounds like you found a genuinely good guy, and you and I both know that there aren’t many like that who are still on the market.”

I blow out a sigh. “You do know that I was hoping for a black and white answer, right?”

Tracy’s smile is just a little whimsical. “Sorry girlfriend, I can’t give you that. But if I was in your shoes, I guess I’d give it some time, see how things progress. If you decide that you really love him and think he’s worth the effort, then I guess you’ll be willing to put up with his first wife’s memory.”