Elise’s laugh had some tears in it. “I know. I have to keep pinching myself because he always seems too good to be true. But he’s mine. Damn, Ella, that hunk of thousand-watt hot over there is all mine.”

Both women looked to Brody, where he stood with Adrian, their heads close, laughing about something. Trouble most likely, but the best kind. Brody wore a pinstripe suit. He cleaned up very well. He even had a pocket square, red with white silk. He’d told her earlier that the red was for Elise and the white for Rennie. The man really was a dream. Adrian looked ridiculously handsome in his paler pinstripe suit, his hair longer than his brother’s. Even in the years she’d known him and Erin too, there were times when she had to pause when she remembered they were both so famous.

“Don’t take this the wrong way or anything, but holy crapweasels, he’s so hot.”

Elise tipped her head back and laughed. “He is. He totally is.” She linked her arm through Ella’s. “And speaking of hot, it’s not my imagination that Cope has been looking at you all day like he wanted to take a big bite of you. I’m thrilled for you.”

They walked through the crowd. Not so much a crowd, just a group of their closest friends. Laughter and conversation littered the air, falling into the place between the notes of the music the DJ was playing.

“This is all so lovely.”

Elise nodded. “It’s amazing to me that I have all these people who love me, love my kid, love the man I love so much.” Elise motioned at the guests. “I’m glad you’re here. Now, you were about to tell me what’s going on with you and Cope.”

“I don’t know. I don’t!” she said quickly when Elise turned to her and raised a single brow. “He seems different. But I’m different too. Or I’m trying to be. Anyway, I’m not Raven.” She tipped her head to where Raven and one of her friends had set up camp near Cope and flirted with him madly.

“Let’s be thankful for that,” Elise mumbled. “I assume you mean more sexually bold?”

Blushing like crazy, Ella nodded and then shrugged. “She’s bold all around. Goes after what she wants. Annoying or not, it’s a great personality trait.”

Elise shook her head. “Ella, you’re the boldest person I know, and I’m not just saying that. You’ve come back from some pretty dark stuff. You’re about to get your master’s degree, for heaven’s sake. You’ve put your life back together, and now you’ve found room for a man in it, and look at who you’ve ended up with? You didn’t even go for training wheels dating; you headed straight for the expert course.”

Ella laughed. “He sure isn’t the bunny slopes.”

“Listen, if he wanted that, wanted Raven, he could have it. But he doesn’t. He’s not hitting anything any of these women are pitching his way. I know you’ve noticed that, since you’ve been watching him all day as he’s been watching you. Just, you know, jump on him already.”

Ella hesitated, chewing her lip a moment, wondering if she even knew how to be in a normal romance with someone. It’d been a long time since she’d been in one.

She was scared of f**king it up with her baggage and issues. Scared she couldn’t measure up to these other women who were not her.

Elise turned to her, taking her hands in her own. Understanding played over her features. “You’re scared.”

Ella grinned briefly, thinking about how Elise had barged into her life and hadn’t put up with any excuses from Ella to keep her out. The friendship had happened suddenly, in the midst of Elise’s growing relationship with Brody. Elise had been in the café at closing, and the two women had gone out to dinner. Talking with Elise had felt so natural and easy, so it hadn’t entirely been a shock when the attack came up in the conversation. Ella didn’t talk about it very much, about the time before when she’d slowly begun to unravel as her own person. Of the day he’d forced his way into her apartment and tried to kill her. In Elise’s eyes Ella saw pity, but more empathy, far more understanding and most of all, acceptance.

Elise waited, letting Ella spool up the words however she needed to.

She let out a long breath. “Scared. Confused. Giddy. Off balance totally. I haven’t jumped on anyone in a very, very long time. He’s so . . . God, Elise he’s totally out of my league. He’s like, an expert at being a man. Not that I should be an expert or anything; that came out wrong.”

Elise’s shoulders began to shake until she let out her laugh and threw her arms around Ella. “I’m sorry, I am! You just do that thing when you’re all flustered and excited. Your voice gets higher and higher, and you sound like a cartoon. It’s adorable and makes me want to hug you.”

“That’s the second wonderful compliment I’ve received of that sort lately.” Ella knew she had a funny voice. She’d hated it until the eighth grade when, over the summer, she’d decided it was cool to have a voice like no one else’s. Most people still thought it was odd, but being complimented about it or having people appreciate it pleased her.

“Anyway, I don’t know what the heck to do with it. I don’t even know if it’s anything to be thinking about. He flirts with everyone. Now I’m part of that group, but what it means beyond that? Who knows? I like that it makes my belly fluttery, though. I haven’t had this sort of reaction to a man, well, in a very long time.” She shrugged, still smiling because it did make her happy, just being a silly, normal woman who was crushing on some totally unattainable guy.