When she folded herself down to him, trembling still, his arms locked around her.

Love me, she thought. Her heart was raw with loving him. Tell me. Why won’t you tell me?

He shifted her so that she could curl against him, so he could hold her there. “Will you stay?”

Kate closed her eyes. “Yes.”

They lay quiet in each other’s arms. But neither slept for a long time.

He woke reaching for her. Confusion came first as he struggled to remember where he was. He was alone in bed, in the dark. Groggy, he glanced over at a faint sound, and saw Kate, in the faint wash of light through the window, slipping into her robe.

“What is it?”

“Oh, I didn’t mean to wake you.” Whispering she stepped over to the side of the bed, bent down to kiss his cheek. “I have to go. Dance class.”

“Huh? You’re teaching class in the middle of the night?”

“I’m taking class—and it’s not the middle of the night. It’s nearly six.”

He tried to clear his brain, but it objected to functioning on four hour’s sleep. “You’re taking class? I thought you knew how to dance.”

“Smart aleck.”

“No, wait.” He grabbed for her hand before she could move away. “Why are you taking class? And why are you taking it at six in the morning?”

“I’m taking class because I’m a dancer, and dancers never really stop taking class—certainly not if they’re performing. And I’m taking it at seven in the morning because I have a dress rehearsal at eleven. Now go back to sleep.”

“Oh. Okay.”

“Nick and Freddie are going to take you around later, wherever. Maybe you can drop by the theater.”

She waited for a response, then leaned down. “Well,” she muttered, “you didn’t have any trouble taking that particular order.”

She left him sleeping and went to prepare for a very long day.

“Are you sure it’s okay?” Brody looked dubiously at the motley crew approaching the stage door. Three adults, three kids and a small, mixed-breed puppy.

“Absolutely,” Freddie assured him. “Kate cleared it.”

He still wasn’t convinced, but he’d already discovered it was hard to argue with either Kimball sister.

Especially on five hour’s sleep.

The kids had bounded awake by the time Kate was taking her class. And they’d created enough noise to wake the entire island of Manhattan. Anyone deaf enough to sleep through it, would have been jolted awake by Mike’s high, ferociously joyful barking.

They’d had breakfast in a deli, which had delighted Jack, then had proceeded to walk their feet off. The Empire State Building, souvenir shops. Times Square, souvenir shops. Grand Central Station. God help him, souvenir shops.

Brody decided horning in on Kate’s rehearsal wasn’t such a bad idea after all. It was in a theater, and last time he checked a theater had chairs.

“Lips zipped,” Nick warned. “Or they’ll kick us out. That goes for you, too, furball,” he added, scratching Mike behind the ears.