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kisses.
    She’d never loved him. The truth was, what hurt the most was losing her dream of the boutique. She couldn’t start a business without Jeremy, she didn’t have the remotest idea how to create a business plan or legally register her company or build a clientele. All she knew how to do was design jewelry that was funny and weird and definitely not for everyone.
    She’d had such big dreams. And when he’d broken up with her, he’d ended them.
    No. She’d done that herself, by never lifting a finger to pursue them.
    “Who’s your date, Lilley?” Nadia said hopefully through her tears. “Have you met someone?”
    Maybe Jeremy had cheated on her, but she’d abandoned and rejected him for months. Maybe Nadia had taken her boyfriend behind her back—but hadn’t Lilley begged her roommate to please, please make her excuses to Jeremy as she scurried off to work?
    They’d been wrong. But Lilley had been a coward from start to finish.
    Trembling, Lilley faced them. “I’m here with … with …” She swallowed, then lifted her chin. “A friend. I’m here with a new friend.”
    She turned to Jeremy.
    “And you were right,” she said. “I was never there. Not for you. And not for our business. I had all these dreams, but I was afraid even to try. I’m—I’m sorry.”
    Jeremy blinked, and the angry light in his eyes faded. “I’m sorry too,” he said. “You’re a nice person, Lilley, sweet and generous. You didn’t deserve to find out about Nadia and me that way.” He gave her an awkward smile. “I always liked you. But after you moved to San Francisco, you just … disappeared.”
    “I know.” Her throat hurt. Every time Jeremy had made an appointment for them—at a bank, with a potential investor, with a real estate agent—she’d suddenly had somewhere else to be. She’d hidden behind her work. Her fear had won. “I’m sorry.”
    “Can you ever forgive me, Lilley?” Nadia whispered.
    Lilley tried to smile. “Maybe if you do the dishes for the rest of the month.”
    “I will. Two months. Three!”
    “And I’m sorry the boutique didn’t work out.” Jeremy rubbed the back of his sandy-blond head sheepishly. “I still think your jewelry is fantastic. You’re just not ready to take the plunge. But maybe someday …”
    “Right,” she said over the lump in her throat, knowing it was a lie. “Someday.”
    Her roommate was openly crying as she leaned forward and hugged Lilley, whispering, “Thank you.”
    Lilley’s throat hurt as she watched Jeremy and Nadia disappear into the crowd. Then she heard a dark, sardonic voice behind her.
    “You didn’t tell them about me.”
    She whirled around. “Alessandro.”
    “I was waiting to see you take your revenge.” His tall, muscular body moved with a warrior’s grace as he held out a flute of champagne. “Why didn’t you tell them?”
    “Because Jeremy was right. I never wanted him. Not really.” She took the champagne flute from his hand and said softly, “If I don’t have the guts to pursue my dreams, I shouldn’t be angry if other people do.”
    “You could have made them suffer.” His dark eyes were puzzled, almost bewildered. “I don’t understand.”
    “That makes two of us,” she whispered, and took a long drink of champagne. The bubbles were a cold shock against her lips as she tilted back her head, gulping it all down. She closed her eyes, waiting for the alcohol to reach her brain and make her forget how she’d been so afraid to risk failure that she’d made it a self-fulfilling prophecy.
    What was the point in her avoiding risk, if she ended up losing everything anyway?
    “You’re crying.” Alessandro sounded aghast.
    She exhaled, wiping her eyes. “No.”
    “I saw his face when he looked at you. He could still be yours for the taking, if you chose.”
    Lilley thought of the stricken expression on Nadia’s face. Thought of the way Jeremy’s hand had lingered protectively on her roommate’s back.