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Prologue

No one will notice if I sneak outside for aat the cuff of her sweater, Lauren McDonald crossed the roo outside A cold blast of air hit her head-on, a stark contrast to the warmer temperature inside the apartment, but it didn’t deter her

Outside, she took a deep breath and exhaled as she took in the view of the city Fro, or the Pru as Bostonians called it, lit up with the official logo of the New England Patriots, ere at thatthe Super Bowl by two touchdowns

I can breathe again The thought made no sense because the penthouse aparte than her own ho perfume, she’d felt starved of air Lauren looked back inside at the party’s other guests She caught a gliovernor’s son, and Henry Fuller, so defense attorney and owner of the don Boston apartment

When Kevin had invited her to the Super Bowl party, she’d realized it would be different fro the people Kevin called friends, how could it be anything else? And she’d been correct This party didn’t have any plastic bowls filled with chips and salsa There were no buffalo wings and pepperoni pizza fro into the rooame like he had the year before Oh no, none of that for this refined crowd

Instead, a professional wait staff served clams casino and sushi A trained bartender ne was chilled in the event the Patriots won tonight The entire evening feltreception than a football party with friends

In ht was more like the fundraisers and other social events she attended, thanks to her friendship with Callie Talbot The only real difference between those events and this one was she had Callie and her family around at those times Both the Talbots and the Sherbrookes made an effort to make her feel welcome

With the exception of Kevin Walsh, her date, she couldn’t say the sauests were cordial, they made little effort to include her in their discussions which revolved around topics she couldn’t relate to The to with had launched into a comparison of their favorite haunts in Monaco While Callie and her faht also have favorite spots in the tiny country so popular a the wealthy, they’d find a topic thather

Kevin was like that, too Since their first date, he’d gone out of his way to find things they had in coly, they had a lot of the same interests They liked the same music, had similar tastes in movies, and both enjoyed the theater

Souests didn’t bother her tonight Although the reaction had dissipated soot all tied up at events like this one She’d becoht, however, that was not the case With the exception of the nausea caused by Sheila’s perfume, she felt relaxed, if not somewhat bored with the other women’s conversation

A fat snowflake landed on her ar the sky had sparkled with stars and a large fullthe clouds The ist had called for a forty percent chance of snow tonight, and it appeared as though he’d been correct Even with the snowflakes drifting down, Lauren re a few more minutes away from the world inside the apartment

“There you are I’ve been looking for you” Kevin’s hand settled on her waist and pulled her close “What are you doing out here? Are you okay?”

She heard the concern in his voice The polite thing would’ve been to find him before she went outside “I’m fine Just wanted soaain The city looks beautiful froo back in if you want” Lauren ht that he belonged on a movie set rather than inside a corporate office struck her She’d had the very sa he’d first approached her

She’d accompanied Callie to a fundraiser in New York several weeks earlier When she’d walked into the Waldorf Astoria, the last thing on her mind was a boyfriend It’d been eleven months since her last relationship ended, and in that tile date Yet, when Kevin approached her she hadn’t shied away In fact, when she saw Callie start back for their table, she’d thrown her a don’t come back just yet look Froht Then before she left, he’d asked for her nuiven it to him, she’d half expected hiuests in attendance, she didn’t havetheir lengthy conversation, she’d told hi evening he called, and the next weekend they went out

“Let’s stay out here for a few more minutes The half-time show just ended” He cut off any rebuttal with a kiss

The waroosebumps Lauren threw herself into the kiss She could taste the alcohol on his breath It had to be a cocktail from the bar She’d never seen Kevin touch a beer Instead, he always ordered Manhattans and Old Fashions, drinks that seeeneration

Kevin pulled his lips away “I’ yourself?”

“Yes, very much”