She seemed so concerned I couldn’t help but laugh. “I think you’re experiencing a well known disease called love sickness.”

“God, I think your right.”

Dropping her hand, I took a step back and admired Mallory’s glow. She looked like she had just gotten back from a vacation in Mexico. If the beauty industry could bottle love and sell it as a skin cream, they would make a pretty penny.

“If you want, you can leave your stuff here and we can gossip some more over cups of hot cocoa.” Mallory said.

“That sounds amazing.”

Her welcoming kitchen mirrored the rest of the house. An ache pulsed behind my breastbone. Andrew and I could have had this if our hearts had room for each other. Sitting at the counter, Mallory handed me a mug.

It smelled heavenly and as I sipped the velvet mixture, my bones sighed. “If Clint wasn’t marrying you, I would.”

“We can probably work out an arrangement.”

I grinned. Mallory and I had a similar sense of humor that went unnoticed at work. While my apartment burning to the ground sucked majorly, I liked how it brought the opportunity for us to become friends.

“Have you guys set a date yet?” I wondered.

“We’re going to elope. I want the day to be about us and not pleasing our families.”

“So the wedding venue will be at the Detroit courthouse?”

Mallory’s lip curled. “No that building is butt ugly, but we are scouting different courthouses. Have you seen the one in Santa Barbara?”

“No, I haven’t.”

“It’s gorgeous. I have to show you.”

She jumped out her seat and retrieved her laptop. Setting it on the counter, Mallory pulled up pictures of the Spanish style courthouse. Her excitement was contagious and pretty soon we were discussing the logistics of plane tickets, what hotel to stay at, and honeymoon destinations. A knock at the front door interrupted our girl talk.

“I wonder who that could be,” Mallory mused. “I wasn’t expecting anyone. I’ll be right back.” Muffled voices were heard from the hallway. Seconds later, she came back with unreadable expression on her face. “It’s for you.”

I pointed to my chest. “Me?”

“Yes, you.”

“Who is it?”

Mallory grabbed our mugs and set them in the sink. “Go see.”

Uneasily, my feet walked into the hallway. Big Ted had no idea where I was, yet I didn’t doubt his ability to find me. Turning the corner, the air left my lungs. Andrew stood on the porch holding a can of paint and a paintbrush. Our eyes locked.

“Hey,” he said.

“Hey. How did you know I was here?”

“Monica told me.”

Of course she did, traitor. “I—I don’t know what to say.”

Andrew’s brown eyes laughed. “That’s a first.” He closed the distance between us and looked at me with sincere regret. “I’m sorry about last night. It’s not easy talking about what happened between Camilla and me, but trust me when I say I’ll tell you eventually. Just not now, ok?”

It wasn’t what I was hoping for, however, like Monica said, Andrew was allowed to have a past. I saw now my emotional outburst earlier this morning was caused by fear. Fear that Andrew would break my heart, fear of putting my trust into somebody and most of all, fear of the depth of my feelings for Andrew. Running away was my attempt at sabotaging the blooming relationship between us. Andrew obviously wouldn’t let that happen.

“Ok, but I’m sorry for snooping. It wasn’t right of me.” My eyes glanced at the paint can. “Should I dare ask?”

“It’s bright pink fuchsia. You told me that the only time you felt true happiness was when you painted your bedroom pink. I want you to feel that everyday, even if that means my house will end up looking like Barbie’s Dream World.”

Mallory was at the dining room table scribbling on a notepad when I walked back into the room. She glanced up and shyly tucked her hair behind her ear at the sight of Andrew. Aware of the effect he had on Mallory, he showed off his knee-weakening dimples. She practically swooned.

“Hey, change of plans. I’m going to stay at Andrew’s,” I said.

“I figured. Do you want any hot chocolate for the road?”

Andrew answered for me. “Yes, she does.”

Mallory and I laughed at his boyish enthusiasm. Getting up from the table, she poured hot chocolate into a thermos. Ever the gentleman, he thanked her and professed it as the best hot chocolate he had ever tasted. I had to agree, it was amazing.

Andrew set the paint can on the floor and dug into his front pocket. “If you don’t have plans tonight, I would love it if you and whoever else came to my art show tonight.

Due to the tumultuous twenty-four hours, I had completely forgotten about Andrew’s art show. I felt like a rotten human being. This was an incredibly important event in his life.

Mallory took the invitation with the utmost care. “I’ll check with my fiancé but I think we are free. What’s your medium?”

“Oils. Do you paint?”

“I do charcoal sketches and have recently started to sell them online since my schedule has freed up.”

“Can I see them?”

She lit up at his offer. “Really?”

“Yeah, I always love to see what my peers are doing in the art world.”

“My notebook is on the table.”

Andrew opened the notebook she had been scribbling in when we walked into the kitchen. He flipped through the pages. “Haven, why didn’t you tell me your friend was incredibly talented?”

“Because she never told me.”

Uncomfortable at the amount of attention on herself, Mallory waved away our praises. “It was a hobby I did in my free time until Clint encouraged me to sell them. I still have a lot to learn.”

“Don’t sell yourself short.” Andrew stopped on a particular page. “I love this one. What is it called?” He flashed the notebook toward Mallory and me.

Fluid lines smudged in a configuration of light and dark to create an outline of man was sketched on the white paper. It was good—really good. Hanging around Andrew, I was starting to realize everybody had a hidden talent like Matthew and his photography or Mallory and her charcoal drawings. I wonder what mine was. Grilled cheese artist?

“It’s called Man in Shadows,” Mallory said.

“I like that,” Andrew murmured.

She blushed crimson from head to toe. Finishing his assessment, Mallory wilted with relief.

“If you come tonight, I can introduce you to some people. They might be able to help organize a showing for your artwork,” Andrew generously offered. “I think you have a lot of raw untouched talent.”

I figured since Mallory’s personality border lined on shy, she would rather crawl into a hole then to let that happen, but once again she surprised me.

“Thank you so much. I would love that.”

“Great, then it’s settled. I’ll see you there.”

We said our goodbyes and Andrew and I exited into the bitter autumn air. He swung his arm over my shoulders, tucking my body against his.

“I’m glad you’re coming home with me. It was lonely there without you,” he said against my hair.

“I was gone for less than four hours.”

“Longest four hours of my life.”

Tipping my chin up, I met his eyes and grinned. “You are such a cheese ball.”

“You love it.”

I did love it more than I would have liked to admit. Andrew had the rare quality of wearing his emotions on his sleeve. Sometimes they weren’t ideal but you could always tell where you stood. Compared to the other guys I dated who’d played mind games, it was a breath of fresh air.

Andrew opened the car door. “After you, my lady.”

Climbing into the buttery leather seats, a sense of belonging washed over me. I belonged in this car with Andrew, heading home. Home. That was what Andrew’s loft was. The thought was paralyzing. What had happened to the barbed wire wrapped around my heart? It was supposed to be indestructible, yet Andrew had torn it down within three days. Before I could tip into a panic, the car roared to life.