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know Kane and Kelly, and this is Steffi.”
    Allegra took a step back. “Yes, I know. She’s walked for me before.”
    “Hello, Miss Simpson,” Steffi said in her German accent.
    “I take it you’ll be at Fashion Week. I’ll see you there. I’m sorry, but my plane is waiting.”
    Allegra hurried from the room. “Allegra, wait!” Finn called, but she was already out the door. “Dammit!”
    “I’m so sorry, man. I thought it was over,” Kane said apologetically.
    “I did, too. But if it wasn’t before, it is now.”
    “Why don’t you take my invitation to Simpson Fashion’s party?” Kelly opened her purse and pulled out an embossed envelope. “I think you still have a chance. Only someone who cares would look that devastated. Fight for her, Finn.”
    “Won’t you need this?”
    Kelly laughed. “I’m a model, I can get in anywhere I want.”
    Finn grabbed the invitation like a lifeline. “Thank you. Now, let’s get to New York. I have a woman to win back.”
     
    * * *
     
    Allegra stepped into her family’s condo in New York City and dropped her bag with relief. She had made it from the airport to her condo without anyone seeing the tears in her puffy, bloodshot eyes. She had to get over him. She had to forget him.
    She wheeled her carry-on bag to her room where her suitcases waited to be unpacked. With a sigh, Allegra fell back onto the bed and stared up at the ceiling. She had messed up by not telling Finn the truth from the beginning, but she had been too scared to admit her weakness, too afraid to be lectured, too afraid to admit it was a problem, and too afraid to not be the perfect, nice one. Allegra felt as if she had just run a marathon. She was exhausted with grief and knowing it was all her fault that she pushed Finn away.
    She shut her eyes, and before she knew it, she was asleep. Dark dreams filled her mind. Dreams of being watched, being judged, and being scolded in harsh whispers. Dreams of a touch she didn’t want—a hand trailing down her arm before disappearing into the mist of her dream, leaving behind a smell of cologne that wasn’t Finn’s. Knowing it would never be Finn’s, her heart broke all over again.
    Allegra’s eyes shot open. Tears had filled them, and as she took a deep breath to calm herself in the room gone dark with night, she breathed in the cologne from her dreams.
    “Great, now I’m really going crazy.” Allegra shook her head to clear the fog and looked at the clock. Eight-thirty. Crap! She bolted from the bed and ripped open her suitcases.
    She hurried to hang her clothes in the closet and stripped naked. She had to meet David and Josh from Bellerose in thirty minutes. Grabbing some perfume, she spritzed herself in lieu of a shower. She struggled to get on a pair of the tightest skinny jeans she owned. Jumping to the bed with the pants stuck at her knees, she fell onto the bed and started wiggling her hips. She contemplated calling the maintenance man to bring some pliers when she finally got them over her hips. Sucking in her tummy for all she was worth, she managed to get the damn jeans buttoned.
    Struggling to sit up, she opted to roll off the bed and onto the floor where she crawled to the closet, pulled herself up, and breathed for the first time. God, she couldn’t wait for these jeans to go out of fashion. She grabbed a loose caramel-colored sweater and brown leather knee-high boots. Her perfectly blown-out hair was smashed on one side and sticking out the other. Opting for casual elegance, she whipped it into a loose bun and swiped on some clear lip gloss before doing lunges out her door in hopes of loosening her jeans.
     
    Finn sat at dinner with the head of the advertising department for a deodorant company. He was going on and on about Kane starring in the commercial tomorrow. Finn should be excited; it was a great opportunity for Kane and for Simpson Entertainment Agency. But all he could think about was Allegra’s face full of pain as she