He let himself into his apartment and took a long shower and nap, needing to rebuild his energy and regroup. He’d lost himself in Justine, wanting nothing more than to be with her, in her.

Consumed by her.

He had a feeling she felt the same way, a bit overwhelmed by it all. They’d mutually agreed to spend the day apart, taking care of chores and odds and ends. Fortunately, instead of their separation turning awkward, it felt natural, and he didn’t sense that he’d offended her at all by agreeing to part ways for a while.

Xavier knew that made sense. He’d been so wrapped up in Justine he hadn’t wanted to leave. Must be in the new, obsessive phase of this relationship. He tried to convince himself it would pass, but after waking several hours later, he missed her even more.

And that wasn’t good at all.

He tried to distract himself by getting in a decent workout, going for groceries, and cleaning up his already spotless apartment. Then he worked on a few more panels for Aunt Truth.

As he drew and answered advice questions, he wondered if he’d ever answered one of Justine’s. Most of those inquiring never used their real names or email addresses, but every now and then someone did.

He wondered why Rosie hadn’t confided in her favorite niece that she was in fact Aunt Truth. But since she hadn’t, he hadn’t felt comfortable telling Justine about her aunt’s secret identity. Or his part in Aunt Truth’s columns. He needed to talk to Rosie to ask why.

After another hour of work, he figured to go downtown and grab a drink or ice cream. He wanted to ask Justine to accompany him, but he didn’t want to seem pushy. Plus, anytime he thought about her, he recalled how good she felt wrapped around him, how she tasted of sex and sweet cherries, a lingering aftereffect of her shampoo and soap.

He had it bad for her, no doubt. But as much as he fixated on her looks, it was her smile, her joy with life, that had him truly enchanted. So intelligent and compassionate, yet Justine was less than perfect with her insecurities and vulnerability.

It was that imperfection that drew him to her. She was perfect because she wasn’t perfect.

No, Justine was the whole package—personality, smarts, and looks.

A woman he could easily envision a forever with.

But he knew better than to think of happily ever after.

Worried when he’d previously been so happy, he hurried out of his apartment and downstairs, on the hunt for ice cream, when he saw his mother and Top laughing near the fountain. He stopped at the foot of the stairs and watched, not liking all the closeness he was seeing.

“Oh, wow. How’d you get to be so handy, Max?”

Xavier gaped at the surly Max Dixon grinning like a kid at Christmas. Holy shit, was that a dimple? And had she called Top by his first name? The guy had allowed that?