Two people were edging around us to leave, and he turned to ask them about their tour. The loss of his heat was like a rug being yanked out from under me. My head was spinning but I managed to stay upright.

I tossed my crushed muffin in the nearest garbage and peeled the wrapper off the second one. I waited until I was in the hallway to stuff it in my mouth. Sweetness bathed my taste buds. Muffins, my old friends. The effect was diminutive compared to the excitement zinging through my bones.

Aiden King was going to call me.

Can I have your number?

He could ask for anything and I’d give it to him. I was that lost to his magnetism. Always had been. If a guy like that wanted to be with me, I would never give him up.

The last two months of my life couldn’t be real. This stuff didn’t happen to me.

This weekend, Aiden had flown me to catch a show on Broadway. Freaking Broadway.

Mom had always wanted to go to a show on Broadway. But Dad had chosen to use his extra money on his mistresses. My stepdad, Randall, would love to take her, but going to the movie theater had been challenge enough while raising three kids and working long hours.

Aiden had made it happen for me. Two months into dating, and we were walking through Times Square, living my mom’s dream. Mine too, aside from a visit to the New York Public Library. Nine divisions and eight of them were special collections. Forget about the materials inside—which I couldn’t—the architecture alone would be stunning. Aiden might get bored while I gushed over the library’s shelves and what was on them, but well, I was a librarian.

But we weren’t at the library. At the moment, I was his date and in Times Square. I would summon as much sophistication as possible. The sun had set, but people swarmed the sidewalk, and horns and sirens blared around us. A concrete jungle. He had my hand in his as we wandered with the crowd filled with gawkers like me and locals who walked as if life was too busy to slow down and enjoy the TV screens anchored above—monitors taller than my apartment building.

I was in New York. With a guy who could pass for a Disney prince.

I’d had a nice college boyfriend. He’d treated me well. We’d been barely more than good friends and then we’d gone our separate ways. I’d tried dating after I was done with my master’s degree and had settled into my job at the library.