Tobias couldn’t sleep. He kept coming up with different ways to break the news of his past to Harper. But no matter how he framed what he’d done, he imagined her being too horrified to take a chance on him.

He kept trying to convince himself that he’d served his time, paid the price, and now that he was out of prison, he could build whatever he wanted with his life. That was what the psychologist had told him. To put Soledad behind him and move on. But what he’d done at seventeen, and the thirteen years he’d lost because of it, would affect him for the rest of his life—which meant it would also affect anyone he was associated with.

Harper deserved better.

He must’ve dropped off at last, and then he slept like a rock, because it was late in the day when he opened his eyes again. He could tell by the color of the light slanting through the blinds.

He immediately rolled over to check his phone. He thought it had made a noise, which was what had finally dragged him out of unconsciousness—that maybe Harper was trying to reach him.

But he’d missed no calls.

That was when he realized someone was at the door.

As he threw on some sweat bottoms and a T-shirt, he noticed that Harper had left her necklace on his dresser.

He picked up the delicate chain and stared down at the pendant, a gold swirl that contained a fairly large diamond, and tried not to sigh as he put it back down. She was way out of his league.

“Tobias?”

Uriah’s voice came to him from outside.

“Coming!” he called and glanced around the house to be sure there were no other signs of Harper’s having been there as he made his way to the door. He knew she’d be embarrassed if Uriah found a pair of her panties lying on the floor of his living room. But it looked as though she’d remembered everything other than the necklace.

“Hey,” Uriah said as soon as Tobias opened the door.

Tobias squinted out at the bright light. “What happened to the fog?”

“Burned off not long after you got in this morning.”

Tobias arched an eyebrow at his wry response. “You’ve been checking the security feeds again, I see.”

“Actually, I haven’t. Carl mentioned it to me.”

“How would he know?”

“I guess he was up going to the bathroom when you came in. Said you’ve been running around all hours of the night.”

Tobias folded his arms. “Part of his campaign to get you to give me notice?”

“He’s not your friend. I’ll be up-front about that. But don’t feel bad. I don’t think he’s mine, either.”

“At least you recognize that he’s a wolf in sheep’s clothing.”