As she stood under the steady stream of warm water, she felt some of her stress dissipate. Stress associated with the stalker, that is. Another kind of stress seemed to settle upon her, though. She would be leaving. Going back to her lonely, public life. She imagined Shelly had been trying to reach her, and honestly, she hadn’t given her assistant a thought in days. In fact, she hadn’t really given her life much thought either. No matter how much she wanted to pretend otherwise, she was Danielle Stevens, not Dani Strauss. She had responsibilities. She had commitments to honor. And for a few days, all of that had been swept aside. She’d simply been Dani Strauss…a woman. And really, the past week was almost like a dream—chased by a stalker, protected by a beautiful woman…a woman who had become her lover.

How long had it been since she’d called someone her lover? Had she ever? She and Traci had been fumbling teenagers. And Tara? They’d had a secret affair for a year, an affair that was physical, never emotional. It had been enough. It had been enough to keep her sanity…barely. But it wasn’t enough for Tara. Or perhaps it was too much. After Tara’s death, she hadn’t sought out anyone else. She hadn’t dared. But then she’d gotten “discovered,” her life had changed, and she’d found it easy to play the part. She’d been pretending her whole life anyway. Pretending to be someone she wasn’t. She had resigned herself to the fact that she would never have anyone—a lover—in her life. She would continue to play the part, continue to pretend. Until it choked the very life out of her.

She was at that point, wasn’t she? Isn’t that why she’d vowed this would be her last movie? Wasn’t that why she wanted to disappear, fade away?

But fade away to what? To where? Was she ready to be Dani Strauss, lesbian? Was she ready to quit hiding who she was? Was she ready to go back home? See her parents? Her sister?

Was she ready for all of that?

Was she ready to say goodbye to Harper?

She turned the water off and reached for a towel, wondering what was going through Harper’s mind. She seemed a little distant, withdrawn. She’d been under stress this week too, Dani reminded herself. The Raggedy Ann dolls had brought back horrible memories for her. Add to that, Harper must be feeling some guilt for having slept with Dani. Did she view it as cheating on her dead lover?

She stared at herself in the mirror. And here she was, hoping to have one more night with Harper. One more night where she could be Dani Strauss, lesbian. One more night where things would seem…natural. No pretense. No games. Just two regular people…making love.