You’ve known him for about five minutes, so maybe you don’t actually know him, I remind myself.

There’s only one way to play this. I smile in return, rolling my eyes as I do. “That is so cheesy,” I say, but I make sure to look pleased, tugging my lower lip between my teeth to really sell it.

It must work, because his shoulders droop slightly with relief, and then he steps forward, sliding his arms around my waist.

Pressing my forehead against his chest, I breathe him in. You’re being stupid, I tell myself. I’m so used to men lying to me, manipulating me, that now I see it where it doesn’t exist. Maybe Eddie is the type to go a little over the top when he’s into someone. There could be all sorts of stuff about him that I haven’t worked out yet.

“Are you the boyfriend?”

We both turn to see John standing there on the stairs in his T-shirt and loose sweats. He’s barefoot, his hair greasy and sticking up in spikes, and observing them near each other, it’s hard to believe he and Eddie are from the same species.

“So it seems,” Eddie replies, his voice easy, but I can feel him stiffen slightly, his muscles tense.

“Cool,” John mutters, his eyes darting between the two of us, clearly trying to make sense of what’s happening here.

Eddie is still smiling at him, still friendly and relaxed, but there’s something radiating off him, something dark and intense, and when I glance down, I see that his hand is curled into a fist at his side.

John doesn’t notice, though, walking down the steps to stand right in front of us. This close, I can smell his sweat, smell the sugary scent of whatever cereal he was eating.

“Jane owes me two weeks’ notice before she moves out,” he says, and Eddie’s eyebrows go up.

“I don’t,” I say. “That’s not even a thing.”

“It is,” John insists, and I see this as the desperate grab for control that it is. Doesn’t mean it sucks any less, though, and my face has grown hot in that dull throbbing way, a blush creeping up from my chest.

“Send the paperwork over to my lawyer,” Eddie says, fishing around for his wallet before pulling out a business card. He keeps grinning at John as he hands it to him, and I see John’s eyes flick between the card and Eddie’s face before he takes it.

“Will do,” he says, but I know this is the last we’re ever hearing from John Rivers. His kind of bullshit only barely works against women with no options. Against someone like Eddie? With his nice car and casual use of “my lawyer”? John has nothing.

But he can’t keep from delivering one last parting shot.

“Good luck, man,” he says, his gaze skating over to me. “She’s a fucking handful.”

The shame that rises up in my throat threatens to choke me. I hate this, that Eddie now knows this asshole was a part of my life, that he fully understands just how shabby everything was before he found me.

Slipping an arm around my waist, Eddie gives me a brief squeeze. “Janie, would you go grab my phone out of my car? I want to be sure I get John’s phone number in case there are any other issues.”

It’s not the reaction I expected at all, which is maybe why I just nod and start to cross the parking lot to Eddie’s car.

I’ve just reached the back bumper when I glance over my shoulder at Eddie and John.

They’re standing closer now, Eddie’s head lowered as he speaks to John.

He never lays a hand on John, never uses his superior height to loom over him or threaten, but there’s something there, etched in every line of his body, that speaks of violence. That makes me think he wants nothing more than to send John through the windshield of the nearest car.

And John, stupid though he may be, sees it, too. His face goes even paler, and whatever Eddie is saying, smiling all the while, has John backing up the steps, his hands deep in the pockets of his sweatpants. In his haste, he actually stumbles, arms pinwheeling, and Eddie makes no move to steady him, letting him flail before John rights himself. With one final dirty look at me, he turns and heads back up to his apartment.

His now. His alone. Never mine again.

Eddie walks over to the car, then, his gait loose and rolling again, all that tension vanished like it was never even there.

And when he reaches me, he holds out his hands, takes mine, and squeezes.

“Please tell me that douchebag wasn’t your ex,” he says with a grin, and I’d be lying if I said a little shiver of lust didn’t go through me. Is it because of his proximity or because protecting me from John is a turn-on?

In any case, it’s not totally feigned when I press closer and say, “Please have a better opinion of my taste in men.”

Still grinning, Eddie leans forward and kisses the tip of my nose. “How can I when you’re in love with me?”

11

It takes forever to plan my first “accidental” meeting with the ladies of Thornfield Estates. The moment had to be perfect, after all—I was only getting one shot at this, and I wanted to be sure I nailed it. I’d thought about trying to engineer something in the village, bumping into them at Roasted, maybe just strolling down the sidewalk, bags from one of the pricier boutiques hanging off my arms.

I’d spent hours imagining that scenario, and while it was satisfying, it didn’t have quite the impact I wanted.

Then I’d thought about being really bold and just texting them, inviting them over for lunch at Eddie’s, but the house still held too much of Bea, and I was worried that I’d look like a pale imitation standing in her space.

Then I remembered that Emily Clark and Campbell Reed both loved to walk the neighborhood in the mornings, and suddenly I knew exactly how I wanted that first meeting to go down.

So here I am, walking the sidewalks of Thornfield Estates, Adele on her leash pulling me along.

Walking a dog when you’re not being paid to do it is actually kind of fun. The weather is nice, Adele is well-behaved, and I like how she looks back over her shoulder at me whenever she spots something new, wagging her tail, giving me her little doggy smile.

Or maybe I just like her more now because she’s mine. Mine and Eddie’s together, bought after Bea was long gone.

I’m so busy thinking about that, this idea of Eddie and me having something that’s only ours, that I almost miss the moment when Emily and Campbell see me.