“We decided that… Well, considering what’s going on with Axel, we realized we were crazy to get involved with each other.”

“Get involved? You were just going out to dinner. Trying to have some fun while you’re here. Lord knows Axel’s been having a ball, traveling the world, making a fortune, being recognized and worshipped everywhere he goes. I won’t mention the groupies and what he’s likely doing with them.”

Yes, she knew all of that. But this…connection with Tobias went much deeper than simply going to dinner and having some fun. Axel might be sleeping around, but there wasn’t any woman in particular he’d fallen in love with, or he wouldn’t be saying the things he was saying to her. He’d gotten drunk on his fame and demanded his freedom so he could fully explore it, had wanted to revel in the attention he was getting and all the women who were throwing themselves at him.

It was different for Harper. She was starting to have feelings for Tobias. To think about him in ways that made her nervous. To want to be with him again—not only to make love but just to hang out, spend as much time with him as possible.

She’d even started to wonder what he might be like as a stepfather, were they ever to get serious. Seeing Piper sitting on his lap as she walked into the living room had felt strange but not entirely unwelcome, and that rocked her to the core. With everything that’d happened since she met Tobias and with what was happening with Axel now, she felt torn. So she wasn’t making things easier for herself by getting to know Tobias; she was making them that much harder.

“I like Tobias, Karoline,” she said softly.

Her sister was bent over, cleaning a lower cabinet. “You already admitted that. And I can see why. He seems like a nice guy,” she responded as she scrubbed.

“No, I mean I really like him.”

Snapping up to her full height, Karoline turned to face her. “How is that possible? You barely know him!”

Harper kept her gaze on her hands, which were toying with the strap of her purse. “Doesn’t matter. There’s something about him that… It’s hard to explain. I’m really attracted to him—so much that it isn’t fair to continue to see him if I’m even considering getting back with my husband.”

“You’re kidding me,” Karoline said. “You’re not saying you’re falling in love with him…”

“I don’t know if I’d go that far, but…I feel something.” What she didn’t add was that maybe what she felt was her fault. She’d let their relationship become physical, which certainly didn’t help her keep things in perspective.

“So your answer is to get back with Axel?” Karoline asked.