He grinned at the shot of Lauren catching the bride’s bouquet, the shock on her face clearly visible. Telling himself that he really wasn’t being a stalker or voyeur, Ben copied a dozen or so of his favorite photos to a flash drive, which he would then transfer over to his desktop computer back at the brownstone. He would add them to his already sizeable collection of Lauren photos – the ones that he had never quite been able to make himself delete.

***

Early August – Sausalito, California

“Well, it looks like you’ve been taking good care of my girl here, Manning, so I suppose I don’t have to kick your ass today.”

Nick Manning – all six feet, six inches and two hundred plus pounds of him – glared at the tawny haired woman who was more than a foot shorter and weighed over a hundred pounds less than he did. Not for the world would the former pro football player admit that Lauren’s wary approval made him feel a bit more at ease in her rather intimidating presence.

“Yeah, lucky me,” Nick drawled sarcastically. “And Angela is my girl.”

Lauren flicked her fingers against his temple, smirking when he flinched at the sharp pain. “Took you long enough to admit it, you jackass. And after all the hell you put her through for the past few years, I hope you have a game plan all set out for how you’re going to make it up to her.”

“Lauren,” admonished Angela gently, shaking her dark head. “Don’t, okay? I don’t want to think about the past right now, just enjoy the present. Especially since – well, you know.”

“I get it.” Lauren squeezed her best friend’s hand reassuringly. “And I’ll play nice so long as Nick does, too.”

Nick was saved from having to dream up a polite response by the buzzing of his cell phone. He grimaced as he saw the caller ID. “Sorry, Angel,” he told Angela regretfully, using the pet name that only he called her. “It’s Hayden Carmichael, probably calling from the French Riviera or wherever he’s sailing his yacht today. I’d better take this.”

“It’s okay,” Angela assured him, smiling as he pressed a kiss to the top of her head before walking back inside the house to take the call.

“I assume that’s the Hayden Carmichael he’s talking to?” inquired Lauren. “The filthy rich media mogul?”

Angela nodded. “One and the same. Nick went to Stanford with Hayden’s oldest son, and he’s been one of Nick’s best clients for years. And one of the very few people he drops most anything to take a call from.”

Lauren refilled her coffee mug from the thermal carafe resting in the middle of the table, before adding copious amounts of cream and sugar to it. She held the carafe up to Angela, who shook her head.

“Well,” mused Lauren, “I guess if I had a client who was considered one of the twenty wealthiest men in the world that I would drop whatever I was doing to talk to him, too.” She eyed the basket of assorted muffins, croissants, and pastries that she had brought over earlier this morning. “Do you have dibs on that cheese danish by any chance?”

Angela smiled. “No, it’s got your name on it. And before you ask, Nick never eats that stuff. In fact, he’ll probably make you take it all back with you when you leave.”

Lauren shook her head as she reached for the coveted pastry. “No can do, Angie. I fly back to the Big Apple tomorrow. On a red-eye, of course, with a connection in St. Louis. So that means you’ve got to eat all this yummy stuff by yourself.”

Angela made a little face at the lavish assortment of breakfast treats. “You know, I have gained quite a bit of weight back. Everyone doesn’t have to try and force feed me any longer.”

Lauren eyed her tall, slim friend critically. “Ten more pounds. Then you’ll do. Then you’ll look the way you did that first day you told me about Nick. Well, sort of told me.”

The day she referred to had happened almost five years ago, when Angela had been seeing Nick for a few months already – during their first go-round, anyway. Lauren had been astonished to see her friend looking so happy and healthy and so beautifully dressed. It had been obvious that a new man in her life had been responsible for all those changes, but Angela had been maddeningly closed-mouthed about any details. She had been with her mystery lover for almost a year when he had decided she’d grown too close, had fallen in love with him, and he had broken things off with an abruptness and a finality that had shattered Angela emotionally and physically.

For a long time afterwards, she had been a shell of her former self – skinny nearly to the point of emaciation; withdrawn, moody, lifeless, joyless. Lauren and Julia had despaired of ever getting her back to normal, of her ever being happy again.

And then Nick had re-entered her life a few months ago, leaving the failing stock brokerage firm where he and Angela had first met, and joining her current firm. And it had been his presence in her life again – no matter how infuriating it had been – that had made her feel truly alive once more. But she had resisted his attempts to lure her back into his life, refusing to let him manipulate and control her as he had in the past, and Nick had been too set in his domineering ways to meet her halfway. At least until the accident.

Angela had suffered what could have been a fatal head injury during a trail race she’d participated in less than two weeks ago. After an argument with Nick two nights prior to the race, coupled with the sudden onset of heat stroke, she had been distracted and dizzy when she’d stubbed her toe on a rock and fallen hard. Only the quick actions of the paramedics on site, and subsequently the doctors in the emergency room, had ensured that the subdural hematoma she’d suffered hadn’t been far more serious.

But as tragic as the accident could have been, it had also had two very positive outcomes. For one, it had helped mend some long damaged fences with her parents and older sisters; and, more importantly, it had made Nick realize just how much his Angel meant to him.

They were together now, though exactly what that meant Lauren didn’t know for sure. But Angela was comfortably ensconced at Nick’s jaw-droppingly beautiful waterfront home in Sausalito, and it looked like she was planning to stay put for some time to come. Nick had even hired a nurse to look after her upon her release from the hospital, though Angela had insisted she was perfectly all right now. The nurse had been dismissed two days ago, and Angela was determined to return to work on Monday.

Angela rolled her eyes at Lauren’s last remark. “Between you and Nick – that’s exactly what he said, too. Ten more pounds. And the way he’s been stuffing food down my throat this past week I’m shocked that I haven’t already gained twenty.”

Lauren smiled. “Let the man fuss over you, hmm? He does have an awful lot to make up for, you know. Though it seems he’s already made a lot of progress towards that goal.”

“Nick’s been great,” Angela agreed wistfully. “Showering me with attention, making sure I don’t overdo. He’s either cooked dinner or brought takeout every night that I’ve been here. And, well, speaking of that – he wants me to move in here with him permanently.”

Lauren’s eyes widened in shock. “Are you shitting me? Jeez, when that dude makes up his mind about something he does not screw around, does he? I mean, when you were seeing him before you didn’t even know what city he lived in, and now he wants you to move in? Angie, you should have fallen and hit your head a long time ago if this is the way he’s reacting.”

“Gee, why didn’t I think of that?” Angela replied drolly. “But you’re right. Nick seems determined to make up for lost time. I’ve even met his mother – well, on the phone at least. Did you realize his mom is Sheena Sumner, the actress?”

For the second time in less than a minute, Lauren’s jaw hung open in surprise. “No ‘effin way! That woman gave birth to someone like Nick? I mean, no offense, but almost every role I’ve seen Sheena Sumner in she was playing the ditzy blonde in some comedy. And, well, Nick doesn’t really seem like he laughs much, you know?”