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CHAPTER ONE

JULY

After leaving the police station we headed back to Braden’s place As he turned the key in the door to his apartment, I heard rapid click click click sounds followed by a whoosh and then a thud and a scra to peel himself off a wall Bruno still hadn’tthe door open, Bruno aiting there to greet us as if nothing had happened He gave us a happy yip and wagged his tail so hard that it almost shook his little Chihuahua butt off

I reached down to pick hie s overlooking Rittenhouse Square I loved the way that those s ht provided a breathtaking view of the twinkling city lights It was a hot, clear sunny day in Philadelphia and the Square was filled with people walking, playing, reading … and as that guy doing? Okay, I didn’t see that and it was not going to be stuck in ht I moved away from the s Braden had tossed his keys on the kitchen counter and gone into the bedrooe into uard the place for Moue hanging out of his mouth I took that as a "yes" Actually, I took it more as a "do you really need to ask?" I knew that while the world , Bruno saw himself as a ferocious killer

I wandered around the apart to look again at the pictures hanging on Braden’s wall, the Harvard Crew he roith, Braden with Adaeto, Braden with his family in Martha’s Vineyard, and finally, thedebonair in his tux and own at his family’s fundraiser last month I smiled and felt all warm and fuzzy I had made "the wall"

I went over and sat down on the soft leather couch and settled Bruno on my lap, where he promptly flipped over with a not terribly subtle hint that he wanted a belly rub I obliged What could I say? The dog had grown on ood as always Just to let you know, that was pretty daood You kno Phoenix was hot but the tropics were hotter? Well, Braden was like the planet Mercury Not everybody could rock khaki shorts and an old Phillies T-shirt like he could He was like a big, blonde, blue-eyed, Norse god Notice I didn’t say Greek God by the way Have you ever seen a statue of a Greek God? Well, trustleaf could cover

He sat down next to Bruno and me and took out his cell First he called Adam, who as it turned out, ith Mark, who as it turned out, ith Caether at a local sports bar I guess they ar up We had decided that despite soht was officially on

We still didn’t knoho had senth ould be cautious, ere going to go on with our lives as usual anyway Of course thatto have to talk uard lar alarm inup with Adae frooing to be in DC this weekend They’ll be ho friends until Sunday ested that we spend ti out by the pool and there’s a music festival in town on Saturday"

"That sounds fun Are we going to tell theet ho toward the kitchen

I started to get a little nervous I hadn’t even co Braden, let alone eous, he was so sexy He had this way of looking at ave et darker and he would get this cocky grin on his face like he knew a hundred and one ways to make me see God I called it his "hot Braden sex look" and itabout when he looked atin bed with him was almost like an out-of-body experience except, believe me, you didn’t want to leave your body if you were in bed with Braden

Even h, he was also strong, well-grounded, confident, coly co we just clicked and it was like we belonged together We spent our evenings talking about books, history, politics, law, and a s Then ould cuddle up and watch shows on PBS that would eriatric cron at the senior center Even though we argued passionately in court sos and we usually saw eye to eye The only tense point between us was the potential risk that was inherent in our respective jobs We loved each other sothe other was devastating

As I was saying, though, his answer made me a little nervous because it still kind of blew my mind that this man who I had fantasized about for months, and never expected to even date, actually wanted to ood self-esteem and I was decently self-confident, but facts were facts I could be pretty eccentric and rather aard at times I made corny jokes and odd observations I was the queen of too e to trip while standing in place I had some unconventional ideas and my life often resembled an episode of I Love Lucy Let’s just say that I was an acquired taste Luckily, it seemed that Braden had acquired me, so I wasn’t sure why he didn’t want to let his parents know that he had proposed the night before

"Why don’t you want to tell the up and following along after him

"I didn’t say I didn’t want to tell them," he answered over his shoulder "But I’d like to ask you properly and give you a ring first I’et hoerator and took out a bottle of water, offering it tohimself