After several seconds, Sabrina finally shook her head. “Say that again.”

“You heard me the first time.”

“I know that. I’m just . . . You and Baz. Holy shit.” Then Sabrina started to smile. “Ho-lee shit.” Sabrina reached across the table and smacked Tru on the arm. “I knew there was something going on between you two.”

Grimacing, Tru looked down into her coffee. “Don’t sound so thrilled. I screwed up badly. This is awful.”

“Wait, why is this awful? Did you guys fight afterward?”

“No, we didn’t fight. We barely talked. I didn’t know what to say. Jesus, Rina, I screwed up and now I don’t know what to do about tonight with Cory.”

“Do you know anything about him?”

“We talked at dinner the other night. He seems nice, doesn’t he?”

Something flashed in Sabrina’s eyes but it was gone in a blink. “Yes, he is. I mean, I haven’t spent a lot of time with him”—and now a blush pushed into Sabrina’s cheeks—“but he’s good friends with Jared so you know he’s not a serial killer or anything like that. He’s gorgeous, yeah, but . . .”

“But what?”

Sabrina grimaced. “But you know how I feel about Baz. I think he’s one in a million and I don’t want to see anyone screw with his head.”

That hurt and Tru sat back in her chair, which immediately made Sabrina shake her head.

“I’m not saying you are. Not at all. That’s not what I meant. Damn it. I’m sorry, Tru. You’ve become one of my best friends in such a short time and I wouldn’t do anything to hurt you, but Sebastian . . . he’s special. You know that. I don’t want to see either of you hurt.”

“So what are you saying?”

“I’m saying, I think you’ve been wrapped up in work way too long and you need to get out and meet people. You need more of a life outside of work.”

“I came to your place last night and look what happened.”

“And that was the first time you’d been out in weeks, wasn’t it? I mean, even the dinner we were at Wednesday night was work— Wait, you and Sebastian disappeared then, too. Did you—”

“No, we didn’t.” She sighed. “But it wasn’t completely innocent, either.”

“And . . .”

“And we fooled around. No big deal.”

“Except it is. Neither of you has been with anyone in months, and then suddenly you’re all over each other? And now you’re trying to tell me it doesn’t mean anything?”

Tru wanted to stomp her feet in frustration. “I didn’t say it didn’t mean anything. It just means I don’t know what the hell it means!”

Shit, that was kind of loud. Tru glanced around to see if anyone was giving them the evil eye but no one seemed to notice them.

And she obviously hadn’t offended Sabrina, because the girl just sat and stared at her with a knowing look on her face.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to yell at you.”

Sabrina’s smile returned. “I get that you’re frustrated, Tru. But why? Because this doesn’t fit into your plan? Trust me, I get having a plan, but sometimes you really need to let go a little or you’re gonna miss the really interesting stuff that’s happening outside the plan.”

“And I understand, but that still doesn’t tell me what I’m supposed to do about tonight. Do I cancel on Cory or don’t I? I mean, Sebastian hasn’t asked me out. Maybe it’s just all about sex with him. And I’m not saying that the sex wasn’t good, but maybe he doesn’t want to have anything to do with me outside of sex. And I’m worth more than that.”

“I totally agree. But sometimes, you can be a little, um, intimidating.”

Tru felt her eyebrows rise. “You think I intimidate Sebastian? Seriously? The man gets under my skin every chance he can. He deliberately makes me crazy.”

“That’s how Baz is with everyone.”

“Now we’re back to the idea I’m not really all that special to him.”

“No, see I don’t think that’s right, either. He hasn’t had sex with anyone else since he got out of rehab. He didn’t tell you that, did he?”

No, he hadn’t. And yeah, that might change things. “Of course he didn’t tell me that. We talked about music and the band a little and his relationship with Nik.”

“Things he doesn’t really talk about to anyone. But he talked to you, which is kind of amazing.”

“So you’re telling me I should break off the date with Cory and wait around for Sebastian to maybe call me?”

Sabrina wrinkled her nose, her consternation clear. “Well, no. So maybe Baz needs a little kick in the ass and this date will do it.”

“So I use Cory to make Sebastian jealous?”

Sighing, Sabrina rolled her eyes. “Jeez, is this how your brain works all the time? How do you ever get anything done when all you do is look at all the angles?”

Tru slumped back in her chair, picking at her crepe with her fork. “And now you see my dilemma.”

Silence fell between them, although the bustle of the Friday-morning crowd in the market provided a dull roar around them.

After at least thirty seconds, Sabrina huffed and stuck her tongue out at Tru. Combined with the high ponytail and no makeup, she looked about sixteen. Tru felt at least five times that age.

“So I guess we need to figure out what you’re going to wear tonight.” Sabrina eyed her. “Do you think you could really like Cory?”

“That’s the six-dollar-question, isn’t it?”

Sabrina’s mouth quirked into a grin. “Where do you come from that questions only cost six dollars? Around here, they’re worth at least a few thousand.”

“Life’s a lot simpler in the Midwest, honey.” She let loose the drawl she’d worked so hard to lose in Hollywood and watched Sabrina’s eyes brighten with amusement. “And a hell of a lot cheaper.”

“Well, the little I know about Cory is that he won’t take you somewhere cheap. The guy’s a lawyer, a Philly assistant district attorney, who Jared thinks is going to be a federal prosecutor one day. He’s worth millions, or at least his family is, although I believe there’s lots of family friction and drama. If Greg ever decides to do a thriller, he could use Cory’s life story.”

“Really? He seemed pretty levelheaded.”

“Oh, he is. Totally. But he’s also the kind of guy who likes to bungee jump off cliffs and ski down mountains they have to drop you on top of from a helicopter.”

“Seriously? Wow, I didn’t get that vibe off him at all.”

“Me, either, the first time I met him. I thought he was this buttoned-up lawyer. And then he smiled.”

Yeah, and then he smiled. Tru remembered that smile from Wednesday night. It’d hit a chord inside her. But it hadn’t made her want to rip his clothes off.

Maybe all she needed was to spend time with him.

But why do that when you’ve already met the man who makes you wet with just a grin?

“Maybe I should just call it off.”

“No.” Sabrina shook her head decisively. “I think you should go. And I totally think you should knock him on his ass because you can. But . . . I don’t think you should write off Baz. I think he really likes you. And I’m pretty sure the feeling’s mutual.”

*   *   *

Baz tried to keep busy in the studio while he waited for Tru to return but wound up pacing the halls.

Greg had gone somewhere and Baz had decided to record a little more of the music floating around in his head, but he gave up after half an hour. It didn’t sound bad. It just didn’t sound . . . right.

Setting his guitar in the stand, he headed out into the hall. He gave some serious thought to hitting the gym Greg had had installed in the complex but mindlessly running on the treadmill wouldn’t be good. If he wanted to run, he’d go to Fairmount Park.

What he really wanted to do was talk to Tru.

And say what?

Good fucking question.

“Shit.”

Still standing in the hall, he reached into his pocket for his phone. Old habits died hard. He realized he’d been about to call Nik and see if he wanted to get together, play some music, shoot the shit. But Nik still hadn’t called him back.