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.She was a gorgeous redhead, but Kane didn teven seem to notice her. Hey, Courtney said, grinning at me. Aren t you going to introduce me? I suppressed a sigh, knowing that was code for your man is hot. Kane, this is my friend,Courtney. I watched him carefully, remembering how Brendan had had to wipe the drool from his chin thefirst time he met her.Kane gave nothing away as he shook her hand, claiming it was a pleasure tomeet her.Her eyes widened when she zeroed in on his wedding band. Oh, I& Knowing what she must be thinking, I rushed to fill her in. Kane and I got married in Vegas lastweekend. I held up my band in case she needed further proof.She laughed, looking stunned. You re kidding, right? I d told Courtney I wasn t sure I wanted to get married, so I couldn t blame her for beingconfused.Especially since I d only mentioned Kane a couple of times in passing, referring to him asBrody s hot older brother. Not kidding, Kane assured her.He bent to kiss me, framing my face with his hands before hereached for his suitcase. I ll call you later, okay? Sure. I could tell Courtney was a little breathless just from watching our kiss.She wasn t the only one.Being on the other side of Kane s lips was a surreal experience. Have a safe flight. Iknew it was a stupid comment, since he had no control over it, but I sensed Kane s safety would be aconcern at the forefront of my mind from now on.Courtney and I watched him step onto the elevator before Boots crawled out of his bed, lookingfor love.I knelt to scratch him under the chin while Courtney said, Sorry I couldn t keep an eye on thislittle guy for you last weekend. She d had to drive to Knoxville to visit her father, who was in thehospital after a slight stroke. No worries.Brendan was able to take care of him for me. Well& ? Courtney said, gesturing to my apartment. Aren t you going to invite me in forcoffee? You have to know I m dying to hear how the hell this happened. I knew she was referring to my impromptu wedding, but since we hadn t been friends long, Iwasn t sure I was comfortable sharing my secrets with her.Nevertheless, I invited her inside and Iheaded to the kitchen.After making the coffee, I carried a box of pastry Kane had bought into the living room, and wecurled up on the couch.I was wearing sweats, no makeup, and my hair was disheveled, whileCourtney looked like a fitness model.What a way to start the day. Okay, so tell me everything, she said, curling her hands around her mug. How the hell didyou go to Vegas for your sister s bachelorette party and come home married to the groom s brother? The more I thought about it, the crazier it sounded.Would anyone believe it had been a spur-of-the-moment decision made by two people who d never even expressed an interest in getting marriedbefore? You saw him, I said, hoping I could hedge her question. Can you blame me? Hell no, he s gorgeous.But marriage is a big step.You told me you couldn t see yourselfmarrying Brendan and that was a big part of the reason you broke up with him. True. I took a sip of coffee, thinking about all of the reasons it had been so easy to say thosetwo little words to Kane. Kane is& different.Would you think I was crazy if I said I ve had a crushon him since I was seventeen? Really? Courtney asked, her eyes lighting up with excitement. Tell me everything.Did heknow you were crushing on him? Did you ever act on it? Did he feel the same way? I laughed at her enthusiasm.She was a romantic still holding out hope she d meet her ownPrince Charming someday. No, no, and no. When she frowned, I said, If I d told him how I feltabout him back then, he would have said I was too young for him, and he would have been right. Kane had always been mature, since he d had to grow up so fast after his mother s death.WhileI was thinking about senior proms and acing exams, he was already a cop, worried about workinghard and earning promotions. But you re not too young for him anymore? she asked, raising an eyebrow. I guess thirty andthirty-eight isn t as big a deal as seventeen and twenty-five.So how did it happen? Were you stunnedwhen he asked you to marry him? He hadn t asked so much as suggested it, but for the sake of keeping up appearances, I said, Uh,yeah, I was shocked, to say the least. I know you guys hung out when you were in Tampa, but you said nothing happened because youwere still with Brendan. She curled her long legs under her, making me wish I wasn t so vertically challenged. I didn t realize you d kept in touch. Leading her to believe my relationship with Kane had been building slowly was the only way tosell this relationship, so I said, What can I say? We started out as friends, and it evolved into morewhen Brendan and I broke up. True, all true, I reminded myself when I felt a twinge of remorse fortrying to deceive my friend. So is he going to move here or what? If only. We re still figuring things out. I was a terrible liar, and since this marriage was thebiggest sham I d ever tried to pull off, I d have to choose my words carefully. Kane heads up aSWAT team in Tampa and God, that s so hot, Courtney said, fanning her face. He looks like that and wears a uniform?No wonder you jumped at the chance to marry him. I laughed, thinking her assessment wasn t far from the truth. Anyhow, we ll talk every day, andhe ll visit a couple of times a month until we can figure out the logistics. Think you d ever consider moving back home to be with him? I d come to think of Nashville as home because I knew it was the place where I could make mydreams come true.But Tampa was where my memories lived, along with the people I loved most. You know why I came here.If you want to make it in country music, this is the place to be. So you think Kane will get transferred here? I& When faced with the impossibility of making this work, my gut clenched, reminding mehow stupid it would be to fall in love with a man I could never have. Um, I have to grab a showernow, Court.Sorry, but I have a meeting with a record label in a couple of hours.They re interested inone of our songs. Oh, how exciting, she said, setting her mug on the table before she stood.Boots jumped up on the spot she vacated, clearly appreciating that it was still warm as his eyesdrifted closed. Yeah, too bad we won t be the ones cutting it. Not that I had much reason to complain.At leastit was a paycheck.When I walked her to the door, she said, Well, congratulations on the whole marriage thing.Icouldn t be happier for you. Thanks. I d have shared her happiness if only I could convince myself what Kane and I hadwas real. Chapter EightKaneAfter a grueling day and night, my third without Macy, I just wanted to fall into bed, pull the coversover my head, and shut out the rest of the world, but my brother had other ideas. Look, man, I said, when I opened the door to Brody. I m wiped out.Had to work all night.Can this wait til tomorrow? It won t take long, he assured me, closing the door before he followed me into the livingroom. Fine, I said, scraping my hands over my face as I sank into the sofa. Say what you have tosay, but make it quick.I gotta get some sleep. One word Macy. How did I know this would be about her? He d been blowing up my phone ever since I got backfrom Nashville.I knew it would only be a matter of time before he showed up on my doorstep,demanding answers. What about her? I asked. Why d you go to Nashville? To see the sights
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