Although she hated to blame every bad emotion that slipped through her on the loss of her twin, losing Arianna had helped erode her ability to have faith in others. But it was time she stopped using her sister’s death as a crutch. She had to own up to her wariness and deal with her feelings and problems. “It’s simple as that,” she said to St. Ives. She flipped on the hair dryer and he took off like a shot, jumping off the counter and streaking into the bedroom.

“Chicken!” she called over the roar of the dryer. God, she loved that cat. Sometimes she thought she should adopt a dog, one that would bark wildly if anyone came near the house and stay by her side when she went out for a run, but St. Ives would never stand for it.

Once her hair was dry and semi-manageable again, she turned off the dryer and put it away only to find the cat back in the doorway. “Yeah, a whole lot of protection you are,” she said, and scooped him up, holding him close, listening to him purr. She’d adopted him as a kitten after the loss of the tuxedo tom she’d had since high school, a pet she’d shared with Arianna. When Jeeves had died at twenty, Brianna had doubted any animal would ever fill the void in her heart. But months later, she’d visited the local animal shelter and found the love of her life in a saucy little orange kitten. “Must’ve been the way you bit my hand when I picked you up,” she said, reflecting on the day she’d brought him home.

Funny how she could commit to a fluffy little animal when she’d failed at every serious relationship with a man, even Max Strahan, the one man she’d thought she might marry. Max, too, had lost a twin. She’d met him at a meeting; they’d hit it off and since he wasn’t her client, she’d agreed to date him. After a few months, when he’d proposed, she’d been surprised and flattered. Although she’d had a few doubts, she’d thrown caution to the wind and accepted. A mistake. After wearing the diamond for a week, she realized that the engagement didn’t feel right; she sensed that their relationship was based on mutual needs and mutual losses, and they were trying to fill a void with each other, rather than truly being in love.

When she’d explained as much to Max, he’d not been heartbroken as she’d expected, but furious. He’d accused her of “leading him on” and “playing with his heart.” Worse yet, red-faced, the veins throbbing in his neck, he’d taken the ring she’d returned and sworn he was going to throw it in the river.

Whether he did or not, she never knew.