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the only real thing in his life. His marriage had been a phantom.
    Shit. He’d had to try one last time. He’d been with Julia almost twenty years.
    They’d been opposites. At first, he’d believed the old adage that opposites attract. She’d made his world exciting. And he’d made hers safe. She could count on him, lean on him, and at first, that had been what she’d needed. But she’d loved drama and passion, and after ten years of steadiness, she’d left.
    They’d tried again. And again. When she’d left him in Jackson and gone back to Raleigh, he’d thought it was the end. Hell, he’d wanted it to be the end, even before he’d met Eve. But he’d tried one more time, because Julia had asked. For the first time, she’d volunteered to try therapy. She’d wanted one more shot. After twenty years of love and history, he’d owed her that.
    Leaving Jackson had been the hardest thing he’d ever done, but it had been right. He and Julia had finally learned to speak to each other as adults, even about the stuff that hurt. Even about the most painful truth of all...that their marriage had been over for years. In the end, they’d walked away as friends.
    Which was more than he could say for him and Eve.
    He’d hurt her badly. But he’d make it up to her. She’d forgive him. She had to, because what would he do if she didn’t?
    Brian let himself into his room. He tossed his jacket over the chair and walked immediately to the window to stare out toward her studio.
    She’d walk that same path soon. She’d skirt around the square and come up to his room and she’d be here.
    This couldn’t be happening, because it was a mistake. He didn’t want to touch her like this, with anger and finality between them. He wanted this to start the way it should have, with all the love and yearning he’d felt for her two years ago.
    He should’ve said no to her ridiculous idea. But his no wouldn’t have mattered, because his body didn’t care about the hows and whys. His body was tight and energized with the knowledge that she’d be here in minutes, and his cock swelled with the anticipation of touching her. Finally.
    Brian couldn’t count the number of times he’d fantasized about it. In prurient ways certainly, but in smaller moments, too. In quiet moments, when she’d sneak past his distraction with some quiet joke that would catch him by surprise. He’d laugh then, at the unexpected humor, but also at the happiness she brought him, and he’d almost lean toward her. So many times. It had seemed the most natural thing in the world to lean in and kiss her.
    But he’d never let himself. He’d had to pay his dues. He hadn’t had a choice. And he didn’t have a choice now.
    He couldn’t walk away. It wasn’t possible.
    His hands shook. His heart pounded. This wasn’t happening. It wasn’t what he wanted. But he needed it more than life.

CHAPTER THREE
    S HE ’ D SHOWERED AND dressed for the party earlier, but Eve still stripped down and tried on ten different pairs of panties, hoping to find something that would make her feel sexy. It didn’t work. She didn’t own anything scandalous, and she wasn’t twenty anymore, so after a few long minutes of staring hopelessly at her not-quite-taut body, she pulled on a pair of black panties and a matching bra and left it at that. He could close his eyes and imagine something sexier, if that was what he wanted.
    She put on the only little black dress she owned, added the matching heels, then left before she could worry that she looked like she was trying too hard. This was the one memory she’d have of him, and she’d write it the way she wanted, with his hands sliding soft black fabric off her shoulders.
    And that image was all it took. Her anger fell away and her pulse quickened. She was on her way to Brian’s hotel room. To his bed. To his arms.
    As soon as her heels touched the walk, she turned without hesitation and moved quickly toward the next street. He was