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trip.”
    Mason’s eyebrows snapped together in consternation. “Hey, I can cancel my plans for tonight. Let’s go for a drink. You look like you need one.”
    Charles shook his head. “No. I have work waiting for me. And a long day tomorrow.”
    “Something is bothering you. I’ve never seen you like this.”
    “Like what?” Charles asked impatiently.
    “Guilty?” Mason said slowly. “Like you’re holding in a secret that’s eating at you. You didn’t embezzle money or anything, did you? Is that why your company has been doing so well lately?”
    “Don’t be a fucking idiot.”
    “We’ve been friends long enough you can be honest with me. I know some awesome lawyers.”
    “I didn’t steal anything.” When Mason looked like he was going to ask another question, Charles said, “I didn’t kill anyone, either.”
    Mason took a flute of champagne from a passing server and downed it. He made a face and handed the glass to the next server who walked past them. “I’ll never understand why they can’t serve good beer at these events. Now, spill. What’s going on?”
    “It’s been a long day. I rushed from work to pick up someone at the airport, then came straight here. I’m tired, not guilty.”
    Mason winked at a woman across the room and then continued, unconvinced. “Who flew in?”
    “Melanie.”
    Mason choked, gasped for air, and asked, “ The Melanie? She’s in New York?”
    Charles nodded, then looked away.
    “No wonder you can’t concentrate. What the fuck are you doing here?”
    “I couldn’t not show. I was the main speaker.”
    “But you could leave now.”
    “I told you, there is nothing between us. My sister asked me to meet her at the airport when she landed and I did. That’s all that happened. That’s all that is going to happen. There is no reason for me to see her again before she leaves.”
    Mason put a hand on his shoulder. “This is so pathetic it’s adorable. I may have to hug you.”
    Charles shrugged his touch off. “You’ve spent way too much time in California with your touchy-feely friends. Keep your damn hands to yourself.”
    Mason laughed. “Hopefully, that’s not what my date will tell me tonight.”
    Charles looked at his friend and gave him a reluctant smile. “She will if she has any sense.”
    With a shameless grin, Mason said, “I can’t help it if women lust for me. It would be wrong for me to deny them what they crave. I’m not cruel like that.”
    “Are you ever going to grow up?” Charles asked.
    “Not unless I find a good reason to.” He covered his heart with one hand dramatically. “Maybe someday I’ll meet my Melanie and reform my ways. But tonight it’s Danielle and maybe Tina if they’re interested in that possibility.”
    Charles rolled his eyes.
    Mason laughed again. “You’re such a prude. Is it the cold weather that does it? Makes you all uptight out here? You’ve got to learn to relax.”
    “You relax enough for both of us.”
    They stood shoulder to shoulder watching the crowd below. Suddenly serious, Mason said, “I can’t believe the woman you have the hots for is in New York and you’re going to piss away the opportunity.”
    Charles frowned. He saw her in his mind again as vividly as if she were sitting before him. “I suppose I should call to confirm that she settled in okay.”
    Clapping a hand on his friend’s back, Mason said, “Whatever you need to tell yourself, Charlie.”

Chapter Three
    T ucked into her hotel bed, Melanie closed her eyes with relief when the local news station finally began to highlight the weather. She was used to sleeping to the quiet country sounds of nature and had been a light sleeper since the day sh e’d brought Jace home from the hospital. The walls of her hotel were thin enough that she heard the occasional conversation and one woman’s repeated high-pitched laugh. Sh e’d turned on the television hoping the noise would help her sleep better. That didn’t happen .
    Sh