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sputtering while Angie gaped at them, her arms stacked with three boxes of Isosceles cologne.
    â€œIt’s good to see the two of you getting to know each other better.”
    They both turned their attention to Lilah. “Are you okay, missy?” Angie asked.
    Lilah felt the giggles bubble up from inside her. She pointed a finger at Tyler. “He—he is a good kisser!”
    Angie dumped the boxes on the bed. “Okay, she’s drunk. She’s been telling me all night that she needed to eat something, and I should have listened to her. I’d better get her back to the hotel.”
    Tyler came to his feet. “I’ll help you get a cab.”
    Moments later Lilah felt her shoes being shoved onto her feet. Tyler was standing back, watching her.
    She gave him a big smile. “It was so nice sharing a bed with you.”

    There’s someone in my bed! Lilah’s mind screamed as she came into consciousness. As the world began to take shape around her, she realized she was lying in her hotel room and the body next to her belonged to Angie. There was no mistaking the soft, gurgling snore she’d endured all through college.
    The clock radio on the night table read 1:22 a.m. Lilah sat up straight and a slow, steady throb began at her temple. She trudged to the bathroom for her toiletry case that housed her ibuprofen, and took a swig of water straight from the tap to swallow the pills.
    â€œOh, what a night,” she whispered, sinking to the floor. A sting of heat rushed her cheeks as she remembered making out with Tyler Martin. “What the hell am I doing?”
    She glanced out into her darkened hotel room and wondered, yet again, why she was even there. Lilah’s mind began to fill with thoughts like a tub filling with water. A few moments more and she’d overflow. There was only one outlet for her when that happened.
    Using the light from the bathroom, Lilah crept into the room and settled herself at the tiny desk where she’d set up her laptop. After connecting to the Internet, she pulled up her blog.
    She’d first discovered online Web journals when she was updating the Web site for her real estate firm. She employed the technology then in hopes of generating repeat traffic to the site. Later, after her divorce, she’d begun a personal blog to cope with her sadness and frustration. To her surprise it had become a therapeutic outlet as other divorced women rallied around her blog until it ultimately evolved into a virtual support group.
    She began her Lilah’s List blog before coming to New York. She wanted to have a lasting memory of the experience. Now Lilah wasn’t so sure she’d want to remember it. She was already off to a rocky start.
    Feeling her embarrassment rising again, she began to type.

    I made out with a stranger last night.

    As she channeled the words through her fingers, Lilah was able to release her misgivings. Now it was as though it had happened to someone else, she thought as she completed her entry.

    So, while my first day didn’t go quite according to plan, it wasn’t a total loss. I checked a whopping four items off The List!
    30. Crash a party. Sure, Lady Luck tossed me a bone in the shape of Reggie Martin’s brother, but at least I had the chance to give that bullying bouncer a piece of my mind.
    28. Kiss a stranger. Which must be why I had so little of my mind left when I checked this one off. Tyler Martin wasn’t a perfect stranger. But I hadn’t seen him in over ten years, so I think it qualifies.
    31. Do something scandalous. I know it’s not much by most standards, but I think making out with a virtual stranger in public is as scandalous as it gets for me.
    43. Fly first-class. Blah. I may have to try this one again to see what it’s like when you’re not paralyzed with fear. But for now, check!

    â€œWhat are you doing?”
    Lilah had been so engrossed in her blogging that the sound