Page 103 of Moonlit Colorado

My heart rate jumped, and my fist tightened on Dane’s shirt over his chest. “He found Vincent?”

“No, but he’s got some progress to share. More than the NYPD has done.”

Even with the clear images and video of Vincent that I’d provided, the detective assigned to my case hadn’t made any progress in the last two weeks on finding my attacker. They hadn’t been able to find Lexi either, the woman Vincent had been threatening. It was infuriating. Dane had been putting whatever pressure on the police that he could, but it hadn’t made a difference so far. The detective kept telling us to be patient.

Dane was still convinced his brother knew more than he was sharing, but Kip and Bristol had left for their honeymoon only a couple of days after the wedding. I didn’t know the exact date they would be back. Things were more tense than ever between Dane and his father. It was something he didn’t like talking about, but I could tell that it weighed on him.

“You’re welcome to come with me tomorrow when I meet with Warren,” Dane said.

I had made him promise to share everything he learned, and he’d been doing that. But I already had plans for tomorrow.

“Ayla’s going to be in town. Ashford’s sister-in-law. I’m supposed to have lunch with her.”

“Right, I forgot about that. I could reschedule with Warren if you want.”

Part of me wanted to be there for the update, just so I could get every scrap of information that could lead us to the man who hurt me. But it was also a relief, knowing I had Dane on my side. I wasn’t in this by myself. As much as I wanted to be independent, I could also lean on him. I could trust him to handle certain things. Which was a big deal for me.

And he would share it all with me later, anyway.

“No. Go ahead and meet with him. I appreciate it. Everything you’ve been doing… I don’t think I tell you enough how grateful I am.”

He cupped my cheek, angling his head to meet my gaze. “You don’t have to. I’m grateful foryou.

“Then we can call it even.”

“I’d rather not keep score at all.” Tension flitted across his features before it vanished. And then he was kissing me again, helping me forget about anything except the two of us, right at that moment.

* * *

I met Ayla at a tiny Italian place. She was already there when I arrived, tucked into a table at the back so she would be less noticeable. She’d offered to have her driver pick me up from Dane’s apartment earlier, but I’d wanted to take the subway and walk. It felt good to know I could find my way around this metropolis all by myself.

She jumped up when she saw me, opening her arms for a hug. “It is so good to see you! When I heard from Ashford that you were in the city, and I realized I was going to be here at the same time, it felt like Christmas came early.”

Ayla’s older sister, Lori, had been married to Ashford years ago. After Lori’s death, Ayla and Ashford had been estranged for a long time. But they’d reconnected last summer, around the same time that Ashford got together with Emma.

Ayla and my brother had worked through a lot of things related to Lori’s death. Now she was an important part of Maisie’s life. My fellow aunt.

But Ayla was also one of the most famous pop stars in the world, which made it difficult for her to visit us in Silver Ridge as freely as she liked. Still, we had grown close in the last year and a half, and I was glad to call Ayla a friend. She was a world-famous celebrity, but she was also down-to-earth with a great sense of humor.

We both sat down and ordered some sparkling waters and appetizers. “I’m thrilled to see you too.”

“Even if the reason for you being in town for so long absolutely sucks.” She studied my face. Most of the bruises had faded, but I still had the bandage over the bridge of my nose to cover where it was healing. “It’s up to you if we talk about that, or?—”

“Second option, please.” I was already anxious about Dane’s meeting with the investigator and what he would learn. I wanted to focus on the good things in my life, and of course hear everything about how Ayla had been doing.

“Got it. So, what do you think of New York?” Ayla leaned forward with her elbows on the table. “Isn’t itamazing?”

We talked about the city while we nibbled on antipasti. She said she appreciated that the paparazzi wasn’t as bad in New York, but Los Angeles was her home base, and she didn’t see that changing any time soon.

“And Mr. Dane Knightly?” she asked. “Is he as charming as his reputation claims?”

“More.” Though it was bizarre that Ayla had heard of Dane’s reputation on her own. Sometimes I forgot about the billionaire thing. “But he’s also sweet and wonderful and pretty much my dream guy.” No, that wasn’t even true. Before, I didn’t even dare to dream that I’d find a guy like Dane.

“Then why’d you frown when you said that?”

“Did I?” I hadn’t even realized it.

Ayla tucked a lock of platinum-blond hair behind her ear. “You know, when you walked in, I thought there was something different about you. Like you take up more space than you used to.”

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