He’d also asked if she still loved him, if she’d really enjoyed sex with Tobias more than she’d enjoyed sex with him and whether she’d be willing to leave the girls with Karoline and come to Europe and finish off the tour with him. She’d said she’d always love him…to a point. She’d avoided the question about Tobias. The two men couldn’t be compared in that way; they were so different. She’d told him that she hadn’t meant to say anything negative about their sex life, because it had been good—until the end, at least, when Axel had become so distracted that he never felt present when they made love.

And she’d refused to leave the girls for Christmas.

But as far as she was concerned, that was all private—strictly between her and Axel—so she was relieved when Karoline let the conversation drift away from him and they began to talk about their trip to Disneyland and what the girls wanted for Christmas. They hadn’t been able to do much shopping while they were in LA because they’d had the kids with them, so Karoline suggested they drive to Santa Barbara to finish up sometime soon.

Harper agreed and then, after they’d all had another drink, Karoline got up to dance with her husband.

The alcohol was giving Harper a buzz. She was finally relaxing, enjoying the atmosphere and the twinkle of the Christmas lights that were strung around the place. But Tobias had been on her mind since she’d seen him. Whenever Terrance and Karoline weren’t watching her, she craned her neck to see if he was still in the bar. And when her sister and brother-in-law disappeared into the crowd, she looked again.

Sure enough, he was exactly where he’d been before, playing darts. She was relieved when she saw him. She didn’t want him to leave. She wanted to talk to him, to try to explain why he hadn’t heard from her.

But she couldn’t catch his eye. He never looked her way, seemed determined not to.

Karoline and Terrance kept dancing even after the first song ended, so, hoping for a chance to apologize or at least feel better about how things had ended between them, and having drunk enough to summon the nerve, Harper walked over to Tobias and his group.

As soon as Tobias’s friends glanced up at her, however, she regretted being so bold. What had she been thinking? What was she going to say? She’d interrupted their game!

“I, uh…” She wiped her palms on her new skinny jeans. “I just wanted to say…hi,” she finished lamely.

Tobias didn’t seem pleased that she’d made the effort; he seemed reserved, guarded. “Hi,” he responded.

The man in the wheelchair looked between them. “You two know each other?”