He was shocked when he felt arms sliding around his waist and someone purred, “Good morning,” against his back.

Jerking around, he gaped at Alexia standing closely behind him. “Lex . . . What are you doing?”

She smiled, reaching out to touch his arm. “Just saying good morning, silly. How did you sleep?”

“Er . . . fine, thanks. And you?” Something about the way she was looking at him made him uncomfortable. He turned to finish wrestling the bag from the trash can, figuring it was probably just his imagination. She was leaving today, right?

“I slept great after our dinner.” Again, she reached out to touch him and this time, he knew something was definitely up. “Thank you for listening to me last night. I know it seems crazy after all this time and everything that happened, but we need to know before the moment is lost, right?”

What in the hell was she talking about? Apparently, he had been privy to this conversation last night, but damned if he could remember much about it. Why had he let himself have that last Jack and Coke? He remembered bits and pieces about her wanting to go back to school. That had to be it. “Um . . . yeah, of course.” That’s it. Try to keep your answers general so she won’t know that you’re winging it. When she beamed her approval at his reply, he figured he was convincing enough. Time to get out of here before she put him in the hot seat again. “I’m . . . I’ve got to get ready for work.”

“Oh, of course.” He was just turning away when she threw her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly. “I’m so happy we’ve decided to see if there is still something between us. I’ll call Carter today and tell him that I need more time.” She shyly gave him a light kiss on the mouth. He had never been more grateful that she was a timid person because otherwise he had a feeling that kiss would have involved tongue.

“Lex . . . I . . .” Shit, he was scrambling, trying to figure out what to say without hurting her feelings. “Damn, I’m just going to be honest here. I don’t remember agreeing to anything last night. I had too much to drink and a lot of the evening is just a blur for me. I mean, you’re engaged to Carter and I’m . . . seeing someone.”

She took his hand, leading him to the small table in the breakfast nook. “I guess I did do a lot of the talking last night,” she admitted. “You did mention that you were seeing someone. The whole evening just felt so easy with you, so natural, and I know you felt it too.

“Being with you again has made me realize how much I gave up and that scares me. I love Carter, but you were my first love, Brant, and a part of me has never let that go. Don’t you think we both owe it to ourselves to make sure we’re with the right people? What if everything that’s happened to throw us back together is for a reason? Maybe in the end, we were always meant to find each other again.”

My God, how did he answer that? Sitting here beside her as he had done so many times in the past was making him think of things that he hadn’t in years. After everything that had happened between them, hadn’t he at times missed having her in his life? But if that was a thought he was even entertaining, where did that leave things with Emma?

Standing abruptly, he said, “Alexia . . . I need some time to think about this.” Without waiting for a reply, he took off to his bedroom. Frankly, he couldn’t take anything else this morning. He didn’t handle emotional upheaval well and this far surpassed that.

Brant made his way to his bedroom and slumped on the bed. He had thought that chapter of his life was over for good, yet here she was. He hadn’t allowed himself to really think about her in those terms knowing she was engaged to another man, but now . . . he was confused as fuck. He needed some space away from here to think. His perfectly sane, rational life had been blown all to hell. Two women? Stuff like that just didn’t happen to him.

When Jason called asking if he could take over Gray’s travel obligations, he jumped at the chance. He would be traveling with Mark DeSanto and as luck would have it, Mark needed to leave today. Yeah, he knew running wouldn’t solve his problems, but it would damn sure give him space to breathe.

Emma was surprised to find that she had arrived at the office ahead of Brant. She had even stopped at Starbucks to pick up coffee for them both on the way. She smiled when she put his cup on his desk. Love, it appeared, was turning her into a better person. Sure, they still found ways to nag each other during the day but mainly because it was a form of foreplay for them. She didn’t want nice Brant; she wanted the smart-ass that turned her on with just one sarcastic curl of his full lips.

She had just settled in at her desk when she noticed the message light blinking on her phone. She was surprised to hear Brant’s voice telling her that he was running late but would be there for his ten o’clock appointment. Why hadn’t he just called her cell phone? She pulled it from her handbag to make sure she hadn’t missed his call. When her phone showed no missed calls, she shrugged. He had probably called the office first, thinking she was there. It would have been silly to place another call, right?

Emma had been working steadily for an hour when she looked up to see Ella open the door. She dropped the pen she had been holding and grinned at her friend. “Hey, Els, what brings you to my side of the building?”

Ella’s pregnancy was more noticeable now and she looked so freaking adorable with her small baby bump. Even though she had never really thought about having kids, Emma had to admit to feeling a pang of longing at how her friend glowed. She had tamed the wild Stone brother and she had never looked happier. Emma was thrilled for Ella and envious all at the same time. She wondered idly if that made her a horrible person. When Ella settled into a chair in front of her desk, Emma realized that she had been so occupied thinking of all that was going right for Ella that she had missed the signs that there was also something wrong. It was there in the worry lines around her mouth, her eyes and in the smile that didn’t fully reach her eyes. “Is . . . something wrong?”

Ella sighed and rubbed her eyes. Emma sat up straighter in her chair. Were those tears in her friend’s eyes? “I just talked to Beth. I know you had been trying to reach Suzy yesterday. I think we all had at some point. It’s not like her to just not show up, right? I was worried when I found out that Gray, Jason and Claire all seemed to have disappeared as well. Beth tried to call them several times during the day. We were both concerned. When Beth arrived this morning, she pulled me aside to let me know what had happened.”