It was nearly nine when she picked up her phone to make her weekly call to James. She had gotten in the habit of calling him at night, so that when they finished she could curl up in bed and pretend that Asher had heard every word. That he cared about her and that it was killing him to be so far away from her.

At what point did she let go? She wondered. Asher had been concerned that her feelings weren't real, that they were only circumstances. How could she prove otherwise to a man who refused ...